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Alimi Abdulrazaq’s Meek Defence Of Waziri Mohammed By Jauro Boyi irmentrude@hotmail.com
Alimi Abdulrazaq’s feeble attempt “to hold brief” for his friend Waziri Mohammed against what he perceived to be unjust attacks by Segun Adeniyi, Lamido Sanusi, et al was, to say the least, disappointing. Given his jurisprudential pedigree and his own reputation for being a scholar in the profession, I must confess I expected stronger arguments in defence of his fellow lawyer friend. An impressive rebuttal of Adeniyi, Sanusi, and Adamu Adamu’s statements by a legal luminary would have made for interesting reading, even if one did not subscribe to Waziri Mohammed’s brand of politics. But alas it was not to be.
To Abdulrazaq, Waziri is an inspiration to our generation and he goes on to catalogue why he thinks so in the main body of his article. But in essence what he unwittingly achieves is to portray his friend as a political Cyprian who insinuates himself into power circles without any regard for political creed or ideology. If indeed he was a successful capitalist banker (and his friendship to the monopolistic robber baron Aliko Dangote is common knowledge) one would not have expected that he would join a party that was meant to have socialist leanings such as the SDP. Nor would he have been expected to be involved with the Socialist Democratic Union. A “Socialist” is an adherent of “socialism”, which the Chambers English Dictionary defines as the theory, principle, or scheme of social organisation which places means of production and distribution in the hands of the community. I fail to see how Waziri, in his politics, has worked towards placing the means of production in Nigeria in the hands of Nigerian communities. Joining a party simply because it is one expected to win an election and not because it reflects one’s political ideology is symptomatic of Nigeria’s new breed politics and it is precisely what our generation should be trying to change.
Abdulrazaq made mention of the fact that Waziri read the June 12 cancellation to Abiola over his mobile phone, which underscores how close he was to the late businessman cum politician. Then after the annulment, he and others allowed themselves to be coerced by the Abacha administration into forming the UNCP, of which Waziri becomes the finance committee chairman. Abdulrazaq fails to inform readers how the man who is, presumably, meant to inspire our generation worked towards achieving either his socialist beliefs or the realisation of June 12; surely, having worked so hard for the SDP and being so close to the drama, it must have pained the man to see Nigeria cheated out of establishing a democratic government with socialist leanings. More light needs to be shed on the issue of the people Waziri is meant to have helped with their leap to political prominence (by choosing them to join the UNCP’s finance committee); for instance how many of them were supporters/promoters of Abacha’s self succession bid? How many of them are members of our generation? Was their selection opposed by members of the UNCP’s national executive because they were young(er) or because he was seen to be “smuggling” in his friends? Are Segun Agagu, Funsho Williams, Stephen Lawani, Stephen Shekari and Ambassador Kazaure considered to be from a younger generation? Whether Waziri Mohammed supported Abacha’s self succession bid is irrelevant, what we are curious to find out is if indeed he did anything to oppose it.
With the failure of NERA, we once again find Waziri Mohamed being involved with financing a presidential candidate jailed by the apparent candidate of his former UNCP, without any qualms. Kingibe- when he controlled the SDP, Abiola- when he became the presidential candidate of the SDP, Abacha- who clearly funded the UNCP, and then Obasanjo- when he became the PDP candidate. Is it me or is there a trend here? History shows us that there have always been court favourites who hang around rulers to benefit from the power they dispense. King James the 1st of England had men like George Villiers- a.k.a the Duke of Buckingham (who incidentally was given Buckingham Palace as a gift from the King), Stalin had Lavrenti Beria, Shagari had Isyaku Ibrahim and Saleh Jambo (although it must be said they became much more principled as they grew older) and even Obasanjo had Otunba Johnson Fasawe- that is until he fell out of favour or fell prey to court intrigues. Such men, although they belong to the ruling party (or ruling faction if the system of government is a monarchy), do not have a definitive constituency. Their constituency becomes the ruling palace or Dacha or Villa and they would do whatever they feel is necessary to keep their man (or woman) in power so as to continue enjoying the power and financial rewards that come with it. Invariably, if their patron goes down (and they manage not to go down with him) such men always try to join the court of his or her successor. In a democratic dispensation, they seldom contest elections because they know the ordinary folk would never vote for them in a fair and open contest.
What are Waziri Mohammed’s political beliefs, philosophy, orientation and focus? I would like to read the treatise he has written on the subject or on Nigeria since his friend describes him as a “nationalist of northern and primarily Islamic extraction”. Our generation would be better represented by the likes of Farouq Bibi Farouq who at least is known to have an ideological colouration and is in touch with the grassroots rather than individuals who would sell their souls just to have picture ops with the President and orderlies following them around; at the beginning of the Obasanjo administration, Waziri Mohammed used to walk into government ministries and parastatals with an identification tag clipped on to his Babban Riga that boldly announced “Aso Rock”. He discarded the tag soon after the nation identified him as a close associate of the President. Others who subscribe to the same self-serving ideology like Muftau Baba Ahmed tried in vain to break into the Aso Rock circle (even through the Vice President’s office) and when he failed, he smoothly crossed the carpet to General Muhammadu Buhari’s political bloc.
Our generation needs principled representatives with a sense of conviction who are not afraid to look our leaders in the face and tell them the truth, even if the truth as they see it may be wrong. We need individuals with strong moral fibre who do not look upon the maintenance of a sybaritic lifestyle as an end unto itself. Rallying politicians from different parts of the country to support the idea of perpetuating an individual in power beyond his constitutionally prescribed tenure does not make one a nationalist. What hope does our generation have if it is to be led by sycophants who are prepared to bend the rules for their personal selfish interests? Our generation should be looking towards transforming Nigeria’s political parties into structures that represent an aggregation of ideas and ideals, not vehicles for attaining political offices. If Waziri Mohammed and Alimi Razaq consider themselves to be such then they should come out of Aso Rock and put pen to paper and tell us more about their politics, more about their concepts for the future (if any), and more about their blueprint for maintaining stability, peace and prosperity in our polity.
Azare, Bauchi State |