Saraki’s peace moves

If newspaper reports that the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, had been reaching out to mend any broken fences with President Muhammadu Buhari and the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is true, then it is something to be commended and encouraged. Although one wonders what a particular report wanted to achieve with […]

If newspaper reports that the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, had been reaching out to mend any broken fences with President Muhammadu Buhari and the former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is true, then it is something to be commended and encouraged. Although one wonders what a particular report wanted to achieve with the title: ‘Saraki eats humble pie, reaches out to Tinubu”. I think that whether it is Saraki that is reaching out to Tinubu or it is Tinubu that is reaching out to Saraki to ensure that Babatunde Fowler, the President’s nominee for the Federal Inland Revenue Service job, scales the Senate hurdle, fence-mending is a mature and godly imperative. At least, that is how those of us who are not party men see it.
The APC threw the race to the various National Assembly leadership positions open whereas it could have resolutely zoned them ab initio. That way, it would have been easier to, in good conscience, release the hammer on the heads of defaulters. If President Buhari had also declared his preferred team for the positions, things could probably have been different. But, his official position was that he was very much prepared to work with whichever leadership team enthroned by the lawmakers.
It was a democratic and wise decision, no doubt. Leaderships enthroned by Members themselves have lasted, while those imposed from outside are often recipes for instability. They don’t often last. Count from 1999 to date. Nevertheless, it could have been politically correct at the same time to assert himself a bit, especially when things started getting out of hand. For instance, amidst walkout staged by Dogara’s camp and boycott by Senator Saraki’s supporters in protest of what they perceived as an ambush and predetermined straw poll, silence was the loud answer from the President because he didn’t want to be seen as meddlesome.
It would not have been a bad idea to stage a strong lobbying initiative or invite the aspirants to declare his preferences and then solicit the understanding and support of the rest aspirants. But the only intervention credited to him was the controversial meeting at the International Conference Centre in the morning of the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly. Furthermore, but for the President’s body language in refusing to meet with Senator Saraki so far, the general feeling among PDP and some APC faithful was that the quest to foist Ahmad Lawan et al on the National Assembly was totally a Bola Tinubu project. Lawmakers, true to their nature, rose in defence of the independence of the legislature, especially considering how the Lagos State House of Assembly was used to cage Babatunde Fashola.
Some Reps still say that Hon. Gbajabiamila could probably have won had he run as Femi Gbajabiamila, and not as Tinubu or anyone else’s acolyte.  As in Tambuwal’s case, they wanted a Speaker they could call their own. The APC should also have known that they were just one of the parties represented at the National Assembly; that   the minority do not just have a constitutional say on who becomes the Senate President, Deputy Senate President, Speaker, and Deputy Speaker, but they also have the right to vie for any of the positions. This would have guided them in properly weighing the implications of their slim majority in the Senate and also in adopting more acceptable candidates.
I am bewildered each time some party leaders and Senators argue that part of the President’s grouse was that Senator Saraki emerged with PDP support, while Senator Ike Ekweremadu emerged as the Deputy Senate President. But, didn’t Senator Lawan   unsuccessfully seek PDP votes? If the rumour is true, then those who have the President’s ears must have just been misadvising him. Besides, quotable quotes of Buhari and the APC as recently reproduced by a columnist show that both Buhari and the APC are fans of bi-partisan leadership in the legislature before now. Buhari reacted to Tambuwal’s defection from PDP to APC this way: “We will like to thank Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal for what he did yesterday. We were overwhelmed. Taking such a remarkable risk and sending everybody on holidays till December is an achievement”. Integrity includes defending the principle you believe in, both when it favours you and when it doesn’t. And the whole world knows that President Buhari is a man of integrity.
Meanwhile, this piece is not about apportioning blames or showering praise. It is rather about stating the obvious, mistakes made by stakeholders and that it is in the interest of the APC and Nigeria for the warring parties to end the blame game and sheath their swords.   There is time for everything. Therefore, although the Saraki media desk is yet to affirm or deny the report on the peace efforts by him, it is a move most imperative. Peace-building is not a sign of weakness. It takes real men. Thus, it rather portrays him as a man who can bend backwards in national interest.  However, peace thrives on reciprocity and humble pie shouldn’t be for Senator Saraki alone, but for all the gladiators to eat, even if for the sake of the Nigerian masses.
Usman wrote from Lekki, Lagos State.