When last February President Muhammadu
Buhari saddled the former Lagos
State governor, Bola
Tinubu, with the task of reconciling all aggrieved members of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) across the country, I scoffed at the idea and
stated then that it was a futile exercise. The reasons were not far-fetched:
Buhari by his actions had no genuine desire at reconciling the party members;
with Tinubu as the chief aggrieved member, leading such efforts was a misnomer
because he needed to be reconciled with some of the party members. I predicted
that by the end of his brief, the party would be more divided than before.
Barely
two weeks after Tinubu’s peace committee was inaugurated, crisis rocking the
Kaduna State chapter of the APC, took a turn for the worse after a building
located in the heart of Kaduna city, belonging to a leader of one of the two
factions, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi, was demolished by the state government.
Tinubu’s committee said nothing publicly about such intolerant behaviour on the
part of the state governor. That it happened after Tinubu’s supposed
reconciliation committee was set up showed the disregard party members had for
it.
Nearly six months after he embarked on that mission impossible, not much has been heard of the progress he has made with the reconciliation exercise. What is clear to all watchers of political developments in the country is that Tinubu has failed in his given task. In the last few weeks, a lot has happened that has further aggravated tensions, exacerbated divisions, and created more aggrieved members than the pre-Tinubu committee.
*Bola Tinubu |
Nearly six months after he embarked on that mission impossible, not much has been heard of the progress he has made with the reconciliation exercise. What is clear to all watchers of political developments in the country is that Tinubu has failed in his given task. In the last few weeks, a lot has happened that has further aggravated tensions, exacerbated divisions, and created more aggrieved members than the pre-Tinubu committee.
Twenty state chapters of the party have various cases at the courts – a fallout
of the ward, local and state congresses that were held recently. With more
infighting, the APC is facing a far more uncertain future by the day despite
controlling the levers of power, going by the activities of the splinter group,
the Reformed All Progressives Congress (R-APC) and the looming mass defections
from the party. This does not include the attempt by the APC to conduct fresh
congresses in Imo
State to ensure that the
party structures in the state remain under the control of Governor Rochas
Okorocha. Nor does it take into consideration the attempt by Tinubu to compel
Minister Rotimi Amaechi to relinquish his post as campaign director general of
the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation, effectively creating more
divisions in the ruling party.
It
appears no one even remembers Tinubu’s committee or when they do, it may well
be as a memoriam to its last act in search of an illusory peace. I doubt
whether Tinubu himself still pretends to be reconciling anybody.
The
man who gave Tinubu the job may have even forgotten about it or may be
chuckling in his corner knowing it was never going to succeed. At least no one
would blame him for not trying to bring the party together. He can now point
the finger at Tinubu and say he failed in the assignment he (Buhari) gave him.
As the various interests groups position to tear the APC apart, it is obvious
the centre can no longer hold. Come to think of it, Tinubu’s opening act on his
reconciliation mission was to launch a savage attack on the then chairman of
the party, John Odigie-Oyegun. In a letter dripping with entitlement, arrogance
of power, laced with malice but cleverly disguised as a fight to entrench
democracy, he accused Oyegun of sabotaging his “presidential assignment”. It
was hardly the right way to begin a reconciliation exercise.
Now,
one is tempted to ask Tinubu what he has achieved beyond the fruitless travels,
photo opportunity and the false sense of relevance after he was brought back
from the cold. Since then, he has been eager to impress his master, making
grandiose speeches of their heroic exploits. Tinubu has been talking too much
lately, criticising opposition figures in what appears to be a total denial of
reality. He has been waxing lyrical and pontificating about his party’s
uncommon success and commitment to Buhari’s re-election bid. In his most recent
statement published June 25, he strangely, accused “elements of the PDP” of
frustrating and hindering the implementation of his party’s progressive agenda.
“I must mention something of high concern; our progressive agenda has been
hampered because elements of the PDP remain embedded in many agencies and
ministries so crucial to daily governance. They have been fifth columnists,
undermining our policies at every turn. While impeding reform, they also plot
the comeback of their reactionary brethren to power. This is something we
should no longer abide. Our party teams with competent, reform-minded people
who would perform admirably in these positions. It is time we swept out the PDP
remnants and put in position, people who actually care about the citizens,” he
stated.
Tinubu
continued his assault on our sensibilities and reality: “They wanted to see the
end of us and our pursuit of good governance for Nigeria . You should not forget, as
I shall never forget, the strong efforts they made to stop us in the courts.
There were 12 cases brought trying to stop us from merging, from registering
the new party, then attempting to bar our candidate from the election. With
their schemes foiled, those who tried to destroy us must bear witness to the
destruction of their edifice of corrupt governance and their dreams of unjust
domination of our nation. While they planned a lifetime of greedy enrichment by
looting the people’s resources and the public treasury for 60 years, we moved
to reform the economy to bring development and aid to the poor.”
A
lifetime of greedy enrichment by looting the people’s resources? That line
particularly struck me. Does Tinubu’s suffocating stranglehold on Lagos mean anything to
anyone reading? I really don’t know why people condemn things in others, they
are manifestly guilty of. I have called the attention of behavioural scientists
to explain why people behave like this. They are yet to get back to me.
It
appeared nobody told Tinubu that his APC-led government is a lawless one that
does not respect court orders and employs every tactic to constrain the
political space which had been liberalised by the immediate-past
administration.
Tinubu
says the courts refused to be used to bar Buhari. The irony here must be
emphasised for all to see: the orders of the very same court that cleared the
way for Tinubu’s candidate, Buhari to contest the 2015 election are now being
treated with utmost contempt once they are deemed unfavourable to the interests
of the powers that be by the same Buhari now as president. The court system and
other institutions of the state are also brazenly being manipulated and abused
to achieve regime’s selfish objectives, chief of which is stay in power beyond
2019. The EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu now wears Buhari’s re-election lapel on
his chest as open demonstration of partisanship – jarringly similar to what
happened during Abacha’s transmutation plan in 1998. Does Tinubu even reflect
on all these? We have never had it so bad. Imagine for a moment that it was
under the last regime, these transgressions were taking place with Tinubu in
the opposition.
By
the way, which agenda was he talking about? An agenda that does not include the
restructuring of the country and the enthronement of true fiscal federalism? He
used to be a chief advocate of fiscal federalism and restructuring when he was
in the opposition. Today, as a high-profile member of the ruling party, Tinubu
is no longer enthusiastic about restructuring, instead he has retreated from
it. How can he be enthusiastic about it, when his party is now in control at
the federal level?
When
he was the governor of Lagos
State , he defiled the
federal government by creating local governments all in pursuit of his belief
that it was not the business of the federal government to create local
government areas. What has happened to this man who cut his political teeth by
championing the restructuring of the country? Now, which reform was Tinubu talking
about? Can anyone articulate that agenda or reform to me? Because the only
agenda I have seen so far is the wanton killing of Nigerians by herdsmen with
the complicity of the Buhari government and the APC, with the latter
maintaining a disturbing silence on the issue.
While
Tinubu condemned the last government over Boko Haram attacks as an opposition
figure, he is silent on the activities of Fulani herdsmen. He is blind to the
atrocities being perpetrated by Fulani herdsmen who are forcefully seizing farmlands
and burning down communities or occupying them. He has never condemned the
brazen audacity of Miyetti Allah which has consistently defended the
indefensible killing of human beings as revenge for the killing of cows. It is
a shame that he sees nothing wrong with the ongoing genocide. As a matter of
fact, he is doing everything he can to distract the public from focusing on the
failure of the government to stop the killings.
The
truth here is that Tinubu is helping to normalise the atrocities and crimes
against humanity by his silence. We must not allow him to succeed in his
posturing this time. We must call him out now before it is too late. This man
is determined to continue the false narrative of change. He is deceiving
Nigerians that this government is better than the previous one and that there
is no looting going on. This is a lie and we must challenge it. At every turn,
he praises Buhari to the heavens; a Commander-in-Chief who has told the whole
world that he can only pray for the killings to stop and will put more pressure
on the security agencies to stop the killings. Do these people really think we
are dummies or what? Tinubu continues to tell us Buhari is doing a good job and
should continue on the part of doing good. Well, there is a saying in the land
of my fathers that “any man who claims to have caught a frog by its tail is
being economical with the truth”. Any man with conscience and respect for truth
would tell you the president is not doing a good job by failing to secure the
lives and properties of Nigerians.
On
looting and corruption, Tinubu should ask Maikanti Baru, chief executive of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), how the consumption of petrol
jumped from 30-35 million litres to 60-65 million litres a day in less than a
year. If he claims this is a transparent government, then he should ask Baru
and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Buhari, how contracts worth $25
billion were awarded without due process and the approval of the board.
As
Tinubu continues to negotiate the facts, Nigeria is in the worst shape ever.
In three years of the APC government, the country has been declared the poverty
capital of the world. This came on the heels of another report declaring it as
one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth (169th) with the
fourth-worst maternal mortality rate in the world ahead of only Sierra Leone , Central
African Republic and Chad . Bill Gates told this
government the grim truth not long ago and they were not happy.
In
the latest annual ranking of the safest and least safe countries by Gallup , Nigeria
placed 116th out of 142 countries, with violence-ridden Libya , Rwanda ,
Ethiopia , CAR, Niger ranked safer than Nigeria under
Buhari’s APC government.
With
all these, Tinubu still claimed that we are “making steady, sustainable
progress”. He was not worried by these grim statistics. Maybe his APC agenda is
not to right the situation but to win the election for Buhari in 2019.
In
the good old days, it was easy to situate Tinubu and where he stood on burning
national issues. Not anymore! The man has evolved and his views have morphed
into a caricature of what he used to represent. Buhari’s “parochial” views on
restructuring and federalism are antithetical to what defined Tinubu in the
past. Tinubu, on other hand, has maintained a deafening silence on the issue of
restructuring. He now wears a dark veil and pretends the current structure
serves the country well. The once-upon-a-time champion of the Sovereign
National Conference (SNC) that was supposed to restructure Nigeria is now
a willing accomplice to all efforts that undermine it. He has become an object
of mockery and humour among many reform-minded Nigerians. Perhaps, he has
assimilated Buhari’s stand, or how else would one rationalise his silence?
One
final thing: when APC leaves power someday, will Tinubu ever latch onto
restructuring and fiscal federalism again? It is not impossible that he will
revert to it as a way to reinvent himself, but we must not allow him get away
with it. This man’s hypocrisy is simply breathtaking.
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