Atiku’s defeat and the challenge of poll 2011

But in most parts of Africa, public office is usually not for service. It is lined with unspeakable goodies – an uninhibited access to the treasury, one of the most buoyant in Africa. Then of course, the near-Godlike adoration that the political incumbent enjoys – no traffic jams, no power failure; insulation from market forces […]

But in most parts of Africa, public office is usually not for service. It is lined with unspeakable goodies – an uninhibited access to the treasury, one of the most buoyant in Africa. Then of course, the near-Godlike adoration that the political incumbent enjoys – no traffic jams, no power failure; insulation from market forces including crippling strikes, armed robbery, assassination and kidnapping. Only the very high up are insulated from the vicissitudes of daily subsistence. Little wonder then, that they always want to stay there or return.

But there are lessons from the gang-up of those who jumped into the political fray with Atiku. They were said to be the movers and shakers of the nation, or of northern politics. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida; self-acclaimed evil genius –took Nigeria on an unquestioned roller-coaster ride for eight years. Then there is Aliyu Gusau; famed to be a quintessential spy, a man whose knowledge of national security was said to be second to none. Last was the rookie Bukola Saraki; they love his father’s dynasty so much they created a state for them. Saraki had it all – youth, education, opportunity but he lacked the needed connection with his generation to make it count. He was the member of the quad who could have been the candidate to beat. In the game of politics, none of them was truly ready to sacrifice personal ambition for even the sectional interest they purport to represent, none of them had the grip on their state or region that they claimed and the result came hauntingly out at Eagle Square.

Should anyone shed a tear for Atiku or laugh with Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, no. Practically, if our country was marooned on an island of hope, none of these people have the requisite qualification to make it worth our while. It is either another chance lost, or another occasion to work harder, after all, failure is the end of an era and the beginning of a new life. Let us accept that in this disjointed nation we have found ourselves, ethnic politics would not play well at the national level and those who, like weaklings hibernate under the canopy of their kith and kin would realise so at the end of the day.

But isn’t it evident now that none of the paper tigers has the capacity to pull punches if their combined weight could not even shake the inarticulate lad from Otuoke? Where is the root of the northern politician among the talakawa when the indices continue to show that our region, northern Nigeria remains the poorest of all? Our billionaires have not invested their money in factories to create jobs; the schools they’ve established are not for the masses they claim to represent and their years of octopus grip on power have not delivered us from stark underdevelopment, massive illiteracy and educational backwardness. At Eagle Square, with all their eggs in one basket, their consensus representative was outgunned twice over by the emergent maverick.

This is why nobody, either within the government or within the geopolity should ever pay any attention to the paper headlines that issues threat in the name of Gamji. When it mattered and Sardauna roared, the north heard – these ones, who do they represent but their own pockets, family and a few lackeys? They should stop invoking the spirit of the dead to cover their tracks. It was even laughable that the Atiku camp contemplated going to court. It claimed its supporters were disenfranchised. Whao. If they were readmitted, registered and made to vote, Jonathan would still have led by the gulf between earth and the firmament. Only politicians of the peculiar Nigerian breed could even do anything except return home with their tales in between their legs.

What is there to contest in court? All who saw the voting procedure are even arguing that if Attahiru Jega surpassed all his scruples and delivers to Nigeria what happened at Eagle Square, then we would have moved a notch forward? It’s that bad when the dying from sheer pain begins to wish for the unknown pleasures of hell to the suffering of now.

If indeed Arewa were to be so bent on retaining figurative political power at the highest level, what options are left? The remaining political parties have given only a glimmer of hope throwing a troika in the fray – Muhammadu Buhari, Nuhu Ribadu, and Ibrahim Shekarau. If voting went the way it did at Eagle Square, Jonathan could be injected with Obasanjo’s laughing gas. Now that every serious contender to the presidential race has been tainted with the northern tar and the gullible electorate made to see our region as seekers of political power by all means, the votes could only be split to the detriment of the region – nay, the nation. The challenge of post 2011 is not a regional one.

Our nation is at the crossroads looking for salvation in the light of global indices and how we stand in them. The ruling party has done nothing significant in almost 15 years of power and like the leopard cannot be expected to change its spot even if thrown in the best bleach. Nigerians of conscience must pull through these times and vote for candidates of their conscience at all levels. This talk of whether we vote or not the result are pre-determined is an insult not only on our collective intelligence but a ridicule on the sanctity of God.