The best fire insurance

The way he was eating that day after the breaking of fast, I thought politics was far away from his mind. We had been to three local governments that day, coordinating the distribution of essential commodities to party chieftains and community leaders. The weather was hot and we had to mingle with large, often unruly […]

The way he was eating that day after the breaking of fast, I thought politics was far away from his mind. We had been to three local governments that day, coordinating the distribution of essential commodities to party chieftains and community leaders. The weather was hot and we had to mingle with large, often unruly crowds. However, even as he finished with one plate, pushed it aside and lifted the cover of another dish, what Alhaji Gohe said showed that his old political brain was alive and well despite the fasting.
He said, “Alhaji, when we were leaving the mosque I saw Malam Maude trying to greet you but you did not seem to recognise him.” I said, “I recognised him quite alright. Is he not the state chairman of one party? He came up to me after the prayer and we greeted.” Gohe then said, “Have you sent some essential commodities to him for this fasting?” I said I didn’t. Even though we have distributed rice, sugar, milk and cooking oil to more than 500 people all over Tafki State, we did not include Malam Maude because he is not a member of our political party.
“That is a mistake,” Gohe said. “We must send some items to him as quickly as possible.” Why? I asked. Maude is not a member of our party, Everyone Must Eat Congress [EMEG] or even of the main opposition Get and Spend League [GSL]. Instead he is the state chairman of the small opposition Stomach Infrastructure Party, SIP. His party does not have a single member in the State Assembly. In the recent local government elections held in Tafki State, it did not get even a councillor so why should we worry about him?
“That is where you are wrong,” Alhaji Gohe said even as he launched into a new plate of food. “You have forgotten the old saying of our fathers, that having two houses is the best insurance against fire. In politics you cannot have only one exit out of your house. You must build your house like a rabbit builds its burrow. There should be many entrances and many exits. That is how a rabbit survives from hunters and forest fire.”
I was not sure what Gohe was getting at so I asked for a clarification. He said, “We are doing our best in this campaign for you to win the nomination of our party to fly the flag in the governorship election. I am confident that we will succeed with the help of God. However, we will not be good politicians if we do not have alternative plans. Since some powerful people are working hard to frustrate our victory, we must make a contingency plan on what we will do if they rig us out in the primaries. If necessary you can contest the election on the ticket of another party.”
I never thought of that. I also didn’t think it is a good idea. For one it can divide our attention and prevent us from pursuing our party’s ticket in a single minded manner. Secondly, it could open us to charges of anti-party activity if it is found out that we are secretly working with another party. Alhaji Gohe’s idea was however supported by Maikahon Karo. The two of them think alike like the old politicians that they are. Maikaho said, “We need to control a small political party even while we are working to get the ruling party’s ticket. This formula was invented by Atiku Abubakar. Even Obasanjo when he was president created the Accord Party and held it in reserve. In this politics you cannot afford to put all your eggs in one basket. In politics, when people think that you have nowhere to go, they yab you anyhow.”
We soon reached agreement that we should move to take over the Stomach Infrastructure League. The next day we took a big consignment of essential commodities to the house of its state chairman Malam Maude. He came straight to my house after sunset to express his thanks. Straight away he asked, “What do you want us to do for you? Three people have indicated interest to contest for our governorship ticket. We are planning to do indirect primaries. Before that there will be screening. If you want we can screen out all three of them and leave the ticket vacant until you come. If you win your party’s primaries, we can go ahead and adopt a candidate for our party but he will quit just before the election and throw his support behind you. You can even send the person you want us to nominate as our candidate, so you can be doubly sure.”
We thanked Malam Maude for his offer of total support. We agreed on how to reconstitute his party’s “state executive committee.” Tsinin Kusa will bring three people that will be elected into the reconstituted committee. While Malam Maude will remain the chairman, we will appoint a new secretary. It was agreed that Tsinin Kusa will follow Malam Maude to go and see SIP’s “national secretary” who will give a letter ratifying the changes. Maude said there is no problem there, that the secretary is a roadside foreign exchange trader. His office is a tarpaulin tent right by the roadside; all the party’s letter-headed papers and stamps are there.
In return, we will do some things for SIP in Tafki State. The party is in arrears of its office’s rent for two years, so we will clear that immediately. We will also replace the broken down furniture in the office and rehabilitate its grounded car. Malam Maude also mentioned three other party executives in Tafki State that we need to mobilise. We agreed to give them fertiliser and a Keke Napep each.
In politics there is no secret. Our plan quickly leaked. Two days later we went to the house of our state chairman Alhaji Sallama Maikudi to congratulate him on the breaking of fast. He greeted us in his usual gregarious manner. As we were leaving he said, “Since you have so much sugar that you are giving it to members of SIP, please send me another 20 bags because some of our local government officials did not get any sugar for Ramadan.” Roaring with laughter as he spoke, the chairman turned to Tsinin Kusa and said, “That your boy who is SIP’s new secretary, will he continue to attend meetings of our Youth League?”