The Nass Vs Obasanjo
It is anybody’s guess whether or not Obasanjo appreciates being appreciated. He covets loyalty though, 100 per cent or nothing. The trouble is that nobody knows exactly what his definition of loyalty is. As Vice president, Atiku Abubakar had described himself as a “spare tyre”, “brief case” and literally went down on his knees to […]
It is anybody’s guess whether or not Obasanjo appreciates being appreciated. He covets loyalty though, 100 per cent or nothing. The trouble is that nobody knows exactly what his definition of loyalty is. As Vice president, Atiku Abubakar had described himself as a “spare tyre”, “brief case” and literally went down on his knees to win Obasanjo’s confidence, but all in vain; so did a former Senate president (now SGF) Anyim Pius Anyim, who publicly admitted that he had done everything he could to cooperate with Obasanjo but in the end he had to vacate his plum position of Senate president in frustration.
And yet five years after leaving office, Obasanjo has remained the single most powerful political figure not only in his ruling PDP but arguably in the entire country. Note the difference between ‘powerful’ and ‘popular’ (which belongs to Buhari).
Before anybody could figure out what he was aiming at, Obasanjo had created a whole new set of elite class that is young, educated, urbane and rich. Even though some had fallen out with him or vice versa, Obasanjo has political cronies in every part of the country that are beholden to him in a way no other politician can truly boast of. And he shows no sign of slowing down.
Instead he continues to mystify his political opponents with primitive tricks. Take his unexpected resignation as the coveted chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees. Whether they admit or not, it was a huge embarrassment to both the party and President Jonathan. Indeed the president, according to one unconfirmed report was so stunned by the resignation of his mentor that he has remained unable to develop the necessary enthusiasm for anointing a replacement. Nor are the most likely contenders such as former vice president Alex Ekwueme particularly keen on the job, not least because they are well aware of the booby traps that the wily Obasanjo might have lined up for them. The myth goes on and on, albeit barely acknowledged.
But Obasanjo remains undaunted and careless about what whoever thinks. Last week, he released another deadly, unexpected punch that has left everybody who is somebody in the National Assembly reeling with shame and pain. At an innocuous function of the fourth annual national conference of the Academy of entrepreneurial studies in Lagos last Tuesday, Obasanjo had accused the Judiciary and the police of being corrupt. But he reserved his biggest punch for members of the National Assembly. His words:”Integrity is necessary for Systems and Institutions to be strong. Today rogues and armed robbers are in the state Houses of Assembly and in the National Assembly. What sort of laws will they make?”.
What sort of laws indeed! Predictably, the members of the NASS are responding in a pathetically familiar manner. The Senate is challenging the former president to name names (the same tactics it used to wriggle out of the same accusation made by one of it’s own, Nuhu Aliyu, a former AIG of police), while the House has ordered an investigation. It is possible that the NASS members are still under the illusion that Nigerians are morons who still think that two plus two equals three. That is not so. Nigerians now know that their parliamentary representatives, less a conscientious few are mercenaries who think only of, and for themselves. The earlier the NASS members begin to take steps to redeem their near-irredeemably battered image the better. At the moment even if they are not rogues and armed robbers, it is doubtful if in a free and fair contest with ‘real’ rogues and armed robbers the NASS members can have a convincing victory.