Treachery. Blackmail. Betrayal. Manipulation. Conspiracy. There’s a bad omen. Assemble. In the recently concluded PDP National Convention, political greed and egocentrism played a major role. All of this was aligned against one formidable opponent, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, who became the man to beat in the run-up to the election. Atiku Abubakar, a feared aspirant, was on the verge of losing the ticket unless he clung to flotsam like a sinking ship. The National Chairman’s double standard role, as well as his partisan involvement in the process, exposed the answer to question manipulation that resulted in the Waziri Adamawa’s so-called victory. In a video I saw, the National Chairman praised Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal as the convention’s hero. What a disgrace! Because in the murky waters of Nigerian politics, dishonesty and subterfuge are considered handy ingredients to prepare the pepper soup of politics, I have often stated that honest men in politics are often lonely men. As a result, the National Chairman could call such betrayal “heroic.” Those who have the inelegant habit of stabbing their political friends in the back are elevated to the pinnacle of political recognition in the business of politics, but the system still expects something decent to emerge from such a flawed process. What my friend Aminu Tambuwal did at the convention still astounds me, and I’m becoming increasingly concerned about the absurdity to which our democracy has descended. To this day, I’m not sure why he agreed to be cast in such a ridiculous role. But he just got a pat on the back and a hug for ruining a relationship.
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I had no idea Nyesom Wike had grown so powerful that the “Northern” leaders, who I’m not sure who they are, would form a gang to combat him. That, in and of itself, proves Wike’s importance. As the convention approached, it demonstrated his ability to match Atiku Abubakar grit for grit, capacity for capacity, bumper to bumper. Wike remained afloat despite numerous conspiracies, scripts, and schemes, until those who defeated Tambuwal in Port Harcourt in 2018 re-entered the fray. This time, Tambuwal, who was the victim of their plot in 2018, became the real undertaker in the chess game to undercut his political ally, Nyesom Wike. In 2018, Wike angered some people by ensuring that his ostensible friend, Aminu Tambuwal, received the PDP ticket. From all appearances, Tambuwal was the man to beat, owing to Wike’s good nature and sponsorship, until the same “gang-up” uprooted the flow. Everyone who values the therapy of good friendship and relationships had expected Tambuwal to reciprocate Wike’s goodwill and kind gesture this time, until the latter yanked the rug out from under him in a most devastating manner.
One of Governor Tambuwal’s selling points is that he is detribalised, but on Saturday night, he demonstrated and acted tribalism. He chose region over country, ethnicity over nationality, and friendship over “na-we-we.” Wike must have learned his lessons the hard way, a lesson that will most likely teach men to keep their mouths shut when dealing with political allies. Such betrayal should serve as a warning to all of us to be cautious of the friends we cultivate, with open minds confronting closed minds. Can Tambuwal be trusted again, or is he becoming known for being a serial betrayer? a mutual friend of Tambuwal and I had asked rhetorically. People are quick to point to his speakership plot, how he was able to armtwist the process, and how he left the PDP in 2014 to join forces with Atiku Abubakar to remove the stool from the PDP’s dining table when you try to defend his person. They describe how he deposed Hon. Gbajabiamila and replaced him with Speaker Dogara. Governor Tambuwal is a great guy, despite all of these scenarios. He’d just have to be careful in his portrayal of the undertaker so that it didn’t become a habit.
What occurred on Saturday, May 28, was not Wike’s failure, as some would have you believe. It is the failure of Nigeria’s southern region, as well as the collective folly of crass individualism and political naiveté of some Southern leaders who are blinded by their self-serving ambition to become Vee Pee. Some clueless Southern aspirants who should have teamed up with their strongest aspirant, in accordance with the 17 southern Governors’ earlier demand for a power shift, played spoiler. PDP now has a Northern chairman, a Northern Chairman, a Northern Board of Trustees, and a Northern Presidential candidate. If this trend continues, the Northern presidency will have been uninterrupted for 16 years, furthering the narrative of political dominance, and “you Southerners can go to hell,” as one of my friends put it. The role of Southerners is the South’s problem. They yell “power shift” but don’t use it. They had just met and decided to advocate for a power shift, but before the cock crows, some of them capitulated. And it’s left us scrambling for a VeePee.
Nigerian politics has once again exposed the country’s rotten underbelly, trailed by the indecent characteristics of those who participate in it. We clap for their follies as a result of our collective folly. They are dubbed “heroes of the struggle” by us. Rather than chastise them, we celebrate them, causing our moral armour to crumble. In general, ingratitude has a negative impact on one’s life.
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Iyorchia Ayu’s statement praising Governor Tambuwal as the “hero of the convention” confirmed my earlier belief that he was working from answer to answer, partisanly working for Atiku’s emergence while pretending to be fair to everyone. Such a double standard is the bane of our political decay, and it’s the reason why injustice can’t produce justice, or a system that works for everyone. Is it possible for you to bribe your way into power while simultaneously promising to fight corruption? Or do you say you’re going to be more developmentally inclined? How can the wounds of dominance, marginalisation, and exclusion be healed where there is injustice? Rather than being held hostage by parochial ethnic considerations, we must cultivate political boundaries that will undoubtedly provide platforms for national engagements and discussions.
The PDP faces a herculean task in navigating the choppy waters of politics by electing a 76-year-old man at a time when the country’s mood favours a younger, upwardly mobile Nigerian. No matter how you try to rationalise this candidacy, it is based on injustice and political imbalance. However, the promoters and arrowheads of the Northern presidency are, oddly enough, Southerners. Some even threatened to go naked in public to prove Alhaji Atiku’s intention to serve only one term. Political inequity has its own set of issues. In this age of insecurity, kidnapping, and a bleak economy, all hands must be on deck to control all factors of production and find solutions to our problems. Nigerians must have faith in the government’s ability to address many of their issues responsibly. The convention winner may have been determined, but the PDP’s crises are far too serious to be overlooked. And, in the eventual balance of power, the National Chairman should resign to allow the South to produce one, as should the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who should also come from the South, particularly the South-West. You can’t have a candidate from the North, a chairman from the North, and a board of trustees chairman who is also from the North. There is a pressing need to address this disparity in order to make room for progress. Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has done heroically well for the South’s cause. Enough recognition of his valour comes from the fact that he rose to such a formidable level that the Northern leaders had to “team up” to subdue him. Governor Wike, the South’s Lion, deserves praise.
