Atiku Will Go As Far As Aso Rock

By

Jide Ayobolu

jideayobolu@yahoo.co.uk

Quite a sizeable number of writers in their columns have repeated asked this question, how far can the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar go in the present battle of nerves to get thing done the right and proper way? In fact, one of the much respected writers in the country, recently asked that given the number of Akitu’s aides that have been sacked, and all other humiliating treatments meted out to him, is it not better for him to quit the highly exalted office, and fight from outside the system? Some further queried that now that the EFCC  has been asked to harass anybody that is close to the vice president, as demonstrated in the  past few weeks as well as even swooping on banks and forcefully taking away private account documents of the vice president, would it not be better to quit now, accept defeat and move on in life to do some other things? The point of departure in this write-up would be to trace the genesis of what led to the cold war between the president, Olusegun Obasanjo and vice president Atiku Abubakar, and this is quite easily fathomable, in the build-up to the 2003 general elections, Obasanjo wanted to contest on the platform of PDP without Atiku as his running mate, and we have to bear in mind the germane role played by Atiku and the PDM in ensuring electoral victory for the president in 1999, besides, Obasanjo had agreed to one-term deal initially. So when Atiku got wind of the inordinate game plan of the man he helped to get to the highest position in the land, he came up it a master political stroke which made the president, genuflect to him, and the president in his usually characteristic manner is very unforgiving and out rightly vindictive. He never forgave the vice president for ensuring that he emerged as his running mate in the 2003 election.

As soon as the elections were concluded he started to whittle down the power and influence of the vice president, sacking his aides, removing people that are close to him from strategic positions, crippling his private businesses, forcibly removing his loyalists from key positions in the PDP in an undemocratic manner, the imposition of selected officials on the party, the de-registration exercise which de-registered  key and founding members of the party to make matters worse the president embarked on an infamous third term agenda to illegitimately elongate his tenure without recourse to the constitution, rule of law and the due process. This was the last straw that broke the camel’s back; hence the vice president had to take a stand whether to be on the side of retrogressive forces who wanted to rapaciously turn Nigeria to their personal estate or be on the side of the people and other progressive forces who worked hard for the enthronement of democracy in the country, hard as it was, the vice president pitched is tent with the mass of the Nigeria people, and fought tooth and nail until the third term project was roundly defeated, albeit, there still moves to scuttle the process through some other devious methods, therefore from the foregoing, there is just no instance of where the vice president has done anything wrong or even offended the president, his dealings are straight forward, and predicated on the dictates of the constitution, the fear of God and service to humanity. The vice president has been very loyal to the president, the constitution and the people of the federal republic of Nigeria, but he has refused to disobey the constitution, which is the supreme law of the land and which he swore on oath to defend, as well as go contrary to the wishes and aspirations of the people on whose behalf, he is holding power in trust. But, if Atiku had been such a terrible person that the president can no longer work with, how come, the president had praised severally to high heavens in the past, telling those who cared to listen, the kind of confidence he reposed in the vice president, that he is a reliable and dependable ally, that he has eyes for details and a stickler for excellence? This the president said during the official opening of the Yar’ Adua Center in Abuja.

It is also very important to note that, the president is not an easy person to work with, not just because of his overbearing and domineering proclivities, he is abrasive, rash and often times rude, he can be very inconsiderate, fixated on certain ideas, frequently talking down on people, vindictive, petty and authoritarian. In fact, the bottom line is that the president is still a military man and he has not imbibe the basic tenets of democracy and democratic values, he does not believe in the principle of give and take, rather he subscribe to concept of winners- take-all, he his still a General who sees people and places as conquered territories. The fight the vice president is waging is not for himself, it is to strengthen the several of institutions, processes, structures and pillars of democracy. He his trying very hard to shift the focus of the Nigerian politics away from politics that focuses on individuals to those that focus on issues, he wants to remove the iron-cast military high command structure that has been foist on the politics, and ensure that the democratic processes is thoroughly democratized, and the political space expanded to accommodate all shades of opinions, for issues to be brought to the public domain for contestation of vibrant ideas, for freedom and individual liberty to be respected, for the government to always follow and obey the constitution, rule of law and the due process, as well as uphold the right of every Nigerian to vie for any office in the country irrespective of whether the person has godfather’s endorsement or not, irrespective of religion, tribe, engender or creed. So, the fight the vice president has undertaken will systematically enhance the credibility of democracy in the country, and this is a no mean task. The traditional hawks in Nigeria who have benefited from the horrendous ways of doing things would not want the scheme of things to tilt in favour of the masses. That is why Atiku is not completely taken in by the externally imposed reforms that have helped in no small measures not only to perpetually make the Nigerian economy subservient to international capitalism, but also mortgage the future of Nigeria. That is why he has resolved to take the Nigerian economy from the present haphazard reforms to economic prosperity based on the needs, aspirations, desires, plights, expectations and experiences of the various peoples of Nigeria. It is only by so doing that organic development can be enhanced and sustained. It is for these reasons that the vice president Atiku has been severally vilified by the president and his co-travelers.

However, unlike the president that is very temperamental, Atiku is cool, calm and collected. And does things systematically, methodically and with a lot of perspicacity. Therefore, instead of him reacting emotionally to the politically motivated innuendoes and mud slings, he has taken all the needless attacks with equanimity and philosophical calmness, and this because; he is a consummate politician and indeed a long distant runner.

It is as a result of this that Amanze Obi said that, “but the resilience which Atiku has shown so far suggests that he is not about to fall. Even when it appeared that he was losing ground, Atiku was quick to reassert himself”. It will therefore, be totally out of place for the vice president to resign now, it is better to stay within system and fight the establishment, than fight from without. As things are now, he has become a torn in the flesh of those that want to always do things their own way, without following laid down precepts. Presently, he is the number one opposition to the government; this has kept the government on its toes to perform and strive to meet the expectations of the masses. It is for this reason also that the government of the day has whittled down the prestige and powers attached to the office of the vice president, sponsoring  debased advertorials against the person of Atiku,  using EFCC to harass Atiku, his friend’s and political associates, scheming Atiku and his supporters out of PDP leadership, leaving him with only two aides in order to cripple his constitutional duties, and many more, yet it is this same Atiku who exposed the plot to kill Obasanjo through a missile attack and who in 2002 intervened and prevented the National Assembly from impeaching Obasanjo after over 17 impeachable offences have been leveled against him. However, the president knows that Atiku has the capacity and capability to wrest power from him in a free and fair election, so the best we can do for the vice president is to continue encourage him, pray for him and give him our moral support. Therefore, for the vice president to have weathered the storm to this extent means he can go the whole hog to Aso Rock to become the president come 2007.