Fellow Nigerians, before I get into my main gist of today,
let me quickly apologise for my inability to write this column last week. Truth
is I had a mental block, pure and simple. Contrary to speculations that I
couldn’t write because my great heroine, Hillary Clinton, lost her election, I
was just so physically and mentally fatigued because this is one year that I’ve
worked so hard on every project at hand. There was no doubt that I was solely
disappointed that Donald Trump won the American presidential election but I was
able to adjust quickly. My darling mum had taught me about the wisdom of the
ancient. You can put your all into any project but the results ultimately
remain the exclusive preserve of God. Only God determines the winner or the
outcome.
There is so much to learn from the political trajectory of
Nigeria. What happened in America had happened repeatedly in our dear beloved
country. I will explain in a jiffy. Who would have expected Alhaji Shehu Usman
Shagari to defeat a political colossus like Chief Obafemi Awolowo? Who would
have expected a Shagari to beat a political philosopher like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe
so black and blue? Who would have expected a stupendously wealthy man like
Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, without any political experience to
take on the likes of Baba Gana Kingibe and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and come out
victorious?
What Abiola did in Jos at the National Convention of the
Social Democratic Party in 1993, when he mesmerised and hypnotised the party
chieftains was what Donald Trump did recently in the United States of America
when he razzle-dazzled the Republicans and virtually hijacked their party.
Trump was lucky that he and Abiola belonged in different realms and climes.
Abiola was not able to realise his dreams of running government like a business
but Trump is set to take power and display the wizardry he flaunted endlessly
before the elections. The world is waiting to see if Trump would plunge America
into the abyss or perform the miracle of turning water into wine.
The main reason many of us non-Americans opposed Trump so
vehemently was because of his supposed bigotry and divisive rhetoric on all
fronts. But on a personal note, I’m not too bothered. I have learnt my lessons.
Politicians can tell any ignominious lie just to grab power. Voters can believe
obvious scams and vote for artful pretenders out of foolish emotions and live
to regret it. There is nothing we have not seen before. It is very obvious even
this early that the millions of Americans who voted for Trump may never get a
quarter of what he promised. Every man has the right to change his mind or
beliefs and no one can hang him for it. Trump obviously knew what the Americans
wanted to hear and knew how to sell a dead horse at a premium. That is
politics. His message resonated with his core base no matter how retrogressive
it sounded. As a matter of fact, it became even more attractive the crazier it
sounded. Politics and religion are quite similar in that they thrive on pure
faith.
The same Trump that appeared a rabid hater of President
Barack Obama has since visited his “sworn enemy” in the White House. You would
have expected both former warriors to exchange some terrible blows but far from
it; they came out behaving like two newly joined love birds. Trump now says
Obama is actually a nice guy. Obama also reassures a jittery nation and a
confused global community that Trump would actually behave decently and that
their allies have nothing to fear. The two opponents must have known that it
was all a game all along while their followers actually believed and embraced
the charade. One of the things I love about America is the ability of its
leaders to rise above pettiness. Every leader comes in after a bitterest
electioneering campaign to embrace the one who lost. I do not hear sing-songs
of wasting too much energy on the past. Who would have thought Obama and Bush
would become as close as they are now? American leaders are wise enough to know
that we are all actors and must quit the stage after playing our assigned
roles. We may have sharp differences but we must be able to calculate the cost
of war-war against the price of jaw-jaw.
When tomorrow comes, I’m sure Donald Trump would
have calmed down and welcome everyone in the true tradition and character of
America. No American leader can ever be allowed to transfigure into an Adolf
Hitler or a Benito Mussolini. Americans collectively are stronger than their
leaders. This is one of the major reasons I’m not worried about Donald Trump
and his tantrums. If he returns to the giddiness of his pre-election period,
Americans across party lines would know what to do. That is the power of their
democracy.
This now brings me back home. I have been reading about the
rising profile of our former President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and wish to
state without equivocation that no one should rule him out of the 2019
presidential race. I first hinted this possibility about two months ago and
wish to reiterate that Nigerians should prepare for the shock that awaits us.
The story of Donald Trump should bring us back to our senses. Nothing is
impossible. The second coming of Goodluck Jonathan may be so far-fetched or
even belong in those categories of impossibilities but I wish to plead with our
government and my fellow citizens not to rule it out. As one of those who made
our modest and humble contributions to the coming of this Buhari government,
I’m pleading with trepidation.
Jonathan’s popularity is rising not because of anything he
has done to atone the sins that must have led to his waterloo but as a result
of what our change government has failed or refused to do. The obsession of our
government with going all out after Jonathan is the main reason the Otuoke man
is beginning to smell like roses after the odoriferous position he landed
himself last week. Only if our government had succeeded in maintaining the
economy it met, Nigerians would have been ready to enter fire with Buhari. But
there are just too many unresolved problems and challenges. The excuses that
Jonathan and company left this peculiar mess behind has refused to fly. The
groans might not be loud enough to reverberate all the way to the Aso Rock
Presidential Villa, as of now, but trust me it may become deafening, sooner
than later. I do not care if men and women of power dismiss my submission with
a wave of the hand but they should mark my word, there is a thickening
conspiracy in the clouds. It would be a shame if we inadvertently play into the
hands of those hovering and ready to pounce on Buhari.
I read about “persecution complex” long ago and I understand
how it works. If you beat your own child so ruthlessly as if you want to kill
him, the tilt of public opinion would always go against you. Many would wonder
why you want to kill your own child. In our anger, let us pick our fights.
There is too much tension in the land. I would be delighted if anyone could
educate and convince me that Nigeria has gained much more than we’ve lost to
this war of attrition. If we haven’t, we may need to retrace our steps
urgently.
The BBC reported on Friday how Jonathan caused a stir in
Sokoto State during his visit to the state to pay his respects to Ibrahim
Dasuki, the late former Sultan of Sokoto. According to the report, Jonathan was
received by a large crowd of admirers, some holding banners bearing the words
“Come Back Baba Jonathan”. The same voices that chanted “Sai Baba” and
“Jonathan Must Go” are now fiddling with the tunes of the possibility of a
Jonathan to stage a comeback. Here lies the irony of political triumph and the
paradox of high expectations.
The euphoria and momentum that saw the exit of Jonathan and
the emergence of the Buhari change administration has since begun to wane
following the inability of the new government to hit the ground running with
the tenacity of a government in a hurry!
There are many who believe that the poor management of the
ensuing economic recession didn’t help matters. Suddenly, Nigerians who had
high hopes and voted massively for change are now caught in a limbo between
confusion and uncertainty. As it stands today, the average Nigerian is
confronted with the reality of an economic recession they never planned for; a
situation they did not experience under the Jonathan administration and under
previous governments.
Many of President Buhari’s supporters are worried that the
humongous goodwill that engineered the Buhari change mantra is now being
frittered away at the speed of light. The unfolding plot has now thrown up former
President Jonathan as a new protagonist in Nigeria’s theatre of the absurd. For
many of us who are ardent students of history, we have since learnt that
nothing is impossible in the game called politics. Will history repeat itself
again? Time is pregnant with answers!
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