Still On Marwa And His ‘Yola Declaration’By Aliyu Yahya
I admire Brigadier- General Buba Marwa, the former Military Governor of Borno and Lagos States, and now a presidential aspirant under the ruling peoples Democratic Party, PDP. My admiration for Marwa Stemmed from my appreciation of his track record of being a gentle, patriotic, hardworking and serious minded officer. I also appreciate the man’s humility and humble disposition. I was able to note these last attributes of Marwa way back in the 90s when I served as a correspondent of FRCN Kaduna at the presidential Villa, Abuja.Marwa, then the Military Governor of Lagos State, was about the only Governor that we newsmen could accost, anytime there was a meeting of the council of states, and speak with. It is this positive profile that insulated Marwa from the storms of controversies that are synonymous with leaders in the country. And it is for this reason that I, personally, hold the man in high esteem. This was why I wasn’t happy two years ago, when I saw his posters being pasted all over the place signifying that he has an eye on the country’s presidency. But I consoled and assured myself that the posters could be a product of some lousy jobseekers who wanted to make easy money, especially as I hadn’t seen Marwa himself come out to declare that he was in politics. When, however, I heard that Marwa had addressed a rally late last year in Kano where he signified he was gunning for the presidency, I felt the same way I felt when General Muhammadu Buhari Accepted to head the Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, established by the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha. My disappointment with Buhari later turned into joy when he used the PTF to achieve, within a short time, what no government has achieved in this country within that time.Nothing has, however, inspired my confidence so far to believe that things would be with Marwa as they were with Buhari. This is because I have watched Marwa carefully and studied him Critically. As far as the shrewd high stake nature of Nigerian Politics is concerned, Marwa does not seem groomed enough. He lacks the political maturity, strategy, and clout to make any tangible impact on our political landscape. This was why the moment I learnt of the Kano rally last year, I concluded that if the front runners in the 2007 presidential race needed a whipping boy, they had got one in Marwa.The best Marwa could achieve in this adventure, therefore, is a kind of relevance which he could use to establish for himself a political career in the future. But even in this respect, it seems like Marwa, has, typical of a soldier that he is, stepped out with his left foot. That is the real fact if Marwa’s recent failed ‘Yola declaration’ is to be taken into consideration.I was in Yola from 6th to 8th May this year, and was at the Adamawa State Government House, Ribadu Square (proposed venue of the declaration) and at Marwa’s Dogire residence, and therefore, have witnessed all that transpired in the Marwa declaration empasse.
I am one of those who were least surprised at the events that preceded Marwa’s last attempt to declare for the PDP in Yola. This is because having traveled from Kaduna to Yola by road on the eve of the proposed declaration date, I had noticed the brewing animosity and lingering confrontation between the Haruna/Atiku camp and the Marwa/IBB group that rented the atmosphere right from Jos. Wherever Marwa’s posters were pasted along the roads and in the bushes, villages and towns, large quantities of Atiku’s posters were placed either beside or on top of them (Marwa’s posters).
I had prepared my mind to witness a rancorous reception at the declaration rally right from Gombe town where this confrontation of posters appeared serious. More serious even than in Yola, I was later to discover. And I was not disappointed, because I saw practically a physical confrontation between the two sides, albeit on a low level on getting to Jimeta town. I saw youths in Mini-buses intimidating and harassing anyone they perceived to be close to the state government.
I saw stern-looking macho men keeping watch on Marwa’s posters and billboards. Most of these Marwa loyalists and thugs I saw do not look like indigenes of Adamawa State.
Marwa’s Dogire residence to which he and his millions of supporters were compelled to retreat following the Adamawa State Government’s ban on rallies in the state a day before, witnessed a beehive of activities in contrast to the Adamawa Government House, which is located about half a kilometer away.
There was an air of celebration, brotherhood and solidarity among the delegates that thronged Marwa’s house to witness his anticipated declaration. The only incident I witnessed during my stay here from morning to evening of Saturday was the manhandling of a man clad in a Navy blue suit by the Marwa loyalist who described him as a spy of the Haruna/Atiku Camp.
After hours of meeting with his staunch loyalists, Marwa addressed his supporters, assuring them that nothing would stop his determination to contest for Nigeria’s presidency. He, thereafterp, retreated to his sitting room to tell an eagerly waiting media men that there was no justifiable reason for the Adamawa State Government to prevent him from holding the purported declaration rally as it did. Marwa assured his supporters and media men that he had achieved what he wanted to achieve in Yola since he had declared for the PDP - in his house.
If given the chance to score Marwa’s achievement as far as the Yola declaration rally is concerned, however, I would give him 22%. This score is mostly obtained as a result of the crowd he attracted from all parts of the country and abroad, which squeezed into his Dogire residence. It’s pertinent to point out that my judgment is generally based on my privileged knowledge of the detailed agenda of the ‘Yola declaration’ rally.
All said and done now, however, one could say that it was Marwa who drew the first blood that triggered a clash of egos between him and his brother, Governor Haruna, which culminated in the failure of the declaration rally.
Marwa’s greatest undoing in this whole empasse, is his inclusion of political adversaries of the Haruna/Atiku camp in the whole affair of organizing his (Marwa’s) grand public declaration for the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. It’s not the inclusion of these adversaries in itself that became a liability for Marwa, but his mistake of accepting their “technical strategies” of ‘taking over’ Adamawa State. It was Marwa’s religious adherence to these strategies that brought about the idea of bringing two million supporters to Yola, capital of Adamawa State, the entire population of which is not up to three million. It was also what led to the inclusion in the agenda of the declaration event, of items capable of provoking the Haruna/Atiku Camp such as the decamping of some perceived political heavyweights from that camp to the Marwa/IBB Camp.
Marwa compounded his problem by his refusal to heed to the PDP national secretariat’s advice to properly consult with the Adamawa governor in order to fix a date acceptable to both parties on which to hold the declaration rally. And if it’s really true, as Governor Haruna has claimed, that Marwa only notified him (Haruna) that he was in the state for the ‘grand’ occasion by way of a text message, and bearing in mind that Marwa had, prior to that time attempted to hold the rally but has failed due to non adherence to declaration procedures, one would now wonder what Marwa was really aiming to achieve or to prove by his action.
Having been twice a governor, albeit under a military regime, Marwa should have known how his behaviour would injure the ego of Governor Haruna who is also the PDP leader in Adamawa State. Marwa should have also known what powers, influences and facilities are at a state governor’s disposal, which he could employ to do and undo as it were, in his own territory.
Opinions have been expressed that it was wrong for Governor Haruna to have stopped the Yola declaration, and that this has only served to give Marwa more popularity, but I know, with the benefit of hindsight, that the Haruna/Atiku Camp would have committed their worst political blunder in life if they had allowed that rally to hold in view of the ulterior motives behind its organization.
The Adamawa State Government must have been caught in between two extremely sensitive situations; to allow the rally to hold and risk violence and general insecurity of unfathomable consequences, or to stop the rally and be branded a saboteur whose action is stimulated by the intimidation posed by Marwa’s bourgeoning political prospects. Only a mentally deranged soul would contemplate the former.
Looking at what has transpired in the ‘Yola declaration’ event dispassionately, I think I would make bold to say that even if the Boni Haruna administration has banned Marwa from holding his rally for less than enough reasons, Marwa has consciously or unconsciously, provided enough reasons to justify the ban. And reflecting on all the political intrigues that attended the ‘Yola declaration’ rally now, I get bemused how Marwa with all his strategic military training, exposure and administrative experience has allowed himself to fall into that mess which the purported ‘grand Yola declaration’ rally has turned out to be.
Marwa, who had, prior to the date of the rally, prided himself as being smarter than his political detractors who were trying to prevent him from being a member of the PDP, by registering for the party since 2002, was not smart enough to prepare for the unexpected with regards to the, now celebrated failed ‘Yola declaration’ attempt.
The history of Nigerian politics is replete with incidences such that have occurred in the ‘Yola declaration’ rally. The most classical example I can give here is that which occurred in the first republic in Sokoto where the presidential candidate of the Action Group, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was barred by the old Sokoto state from declaring his political ambition and campaign in Sokoto. Some of Chief Awolowo’s loyalists who had anticipated this development, had cleared a bush on Ilela road where the AG presidential candidate landed his helicopter and addressed a rally for twenty minutes and took off before the authorities would know.
If Marwa and his political loyalist have a sense of history and political foresight, they would have lined up options they could fall back on in the event of any hitch, especially in view of the fact that the declaration was earlier postponed twice on account of breach of the processes of declaration.
Yahya is a Kaduna based freelance Journalist
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