Niger 2015: The price of desperation

This unfortunate trend was also experienced in Niger State when the Deputy Governor, Malam Ahmed Musa Ibeto, and a few other loyalists defected to the APC in what is a protest for the former not being chosen as PDP’S Governorship candidate. You would think the seat of power in Niger State or anywhere is designed […]

This unfortunate trend was also experienced in Niger State when the Deputy Governor, Malam Ahmed Musa Ibeto, and a few other loyalists defected to the APC in what is a protest for the former not being chosen as PDP’S Governorship candidate. You would think the seat of power in Niger State or anywhere is designed to be succeeded by an incumbent’s Deputy.  
The background to Ibeto’s bitterness was from the moment the incumbent Governor, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, endorsed a candidate other than him. Ibeto’s displeasure over that decision was not in doubt, and it didn’t take much to see that the man actually considered himself the worthiest successor, perhaps in his assumption that politics is meant to be built on the personal ambitions of an aspirant, and not lobbying for the will of a political party as it is in every true democratic space.
As it is with serving political leaders at the end of their tenure, it’s already a tradition to register support for an aspirant likely to represent the ideals which the leader seeks to implement or which he’s sure can be implemented by a particular aspirant. In the spirit of such popular political tradition, Governor Aliyu endorsed Malam Umar Nasko, his Chief of Staff and many-time Commissioner in his administration. This decision, even with the boss’s appeal that it’s the best, didn’t go well with the Deputy Governor. But, for him to have come out so openly to rebel against the decision of the man who chose him to serve as his Deputy, which he has done for almost eight years, only goes to prove how selfishness destroys the reputation of our self-centered politicians.
So, it didn’t shock anyone when Ibeto eventually defected to the APC as General Muhammadu Buhari visited Niger State for a presidential rally, seeing that as an avenue to launch an image of him as an actually principled politician, whereas what he has shown is simply a selfish bid and desperation to have it his own way. This goes against the philosophy of party politics that emphasises adherence to the dictate of the party and not the ambition of an individual. Sadly, Ibeto wanted the party to adopt his own version of democratic ideals, which is appealing to his private interests.  
What beats me now is the fact that opportunists of such low standard always present themselves to the people as heroes, in their distortion of the true narrative of their ambition and greed. This is because our politicians assume that Nigerians are not smart enough to see between their dishonesty. Politics is not built on selfish interests, only by collective struggles of the party stalwarts.
Ibrahim wrote in from Plot 41, Bay Clinic Road, Tunga, Minna, Niger State