Is El-Rufai The Next President? – A Rejoinder

By

Ajayi Olatunji Olowo

Ajayi.olowo@buckingham.ac.uk

The article of Simon Kolawole titled “Is El-Rufai the next President?” published in the Thisday newspaper issue of Monday, 30 October 2006, is not only thought provoking, it is a piece worthy of further analysis in view of the hydra-headed issues raised about the man Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai (the Minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory – FCT), particularly as regards the political calculus towards the 2007 general elections. Simon Kolawole’s balanced analysis could be classified into two main parts:

1)         The antecedents of Nasir el-Rufai; and

2)         The possible roles of el-Rufai in the emerging political situations.

The two branches of the review are not mutually exclusive in view of the highly noticeable activities of el-Rufai in public office since 1999; the current yearnings for a formidable leadership that could continue the legendary multi-faceted reforms of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime and the various behind the scene moves of politicians of all classes as the bell tickles towards the count down to the 2007 elections.

It is important to have a close scrutiny of the points raised by first considering the prima facie qualifications and readiness of el-Rufai for the exalted office.  As regards qualifications, the FCT Minister has all it takes as one of the brightest emerging generation of young and dynamic leader to lead Nigeria if given the opportunity.  Apart from being a First Class Quantity Surveyor with an MBA and chains of leadership and economic reform trainings across the world, including the prestigious Harvard University in Boston Massachusetts in USA, el-Rufai has displayed a rare ingenuity in the practical sense as a public officer.  He does not belong to the class of public officials who merely append signatures to papers presented by subordinates.  Whatever paper he presents in public, despite his tight schedule, always has his personal touch to a large extent.

On the issue of readiness, if fate bestows the honour on him to lead Nigeria, while no pre-determined script is being orchestrated herein, there is no doubt that el-Rufai would be more than ready to steer the ship of the state if it is a call to duty to serve.  Ordinarily, he came into limelight, a technocrat in 1999, as Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) having earlier served as a member of the economic advisory team to the regime of General Abdulsalam Abubakar, which preceded the current civilian regime.  While in BPE, he remained notable as a technocrat up till his appointment as Minister in 2003 and the political milieu surrounding the latter appointment fully integrated him into the political strata.  Today, he is a card-carrying member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who has performed various political functions towards the advancement of good governance.  As revealed in a recent publication of the Leadership Nigeria newspaper, there have been speculations about pressure being mounted on the Kaduna State borne FCT Minister to pick the nomination form for the Presidential race under the PDP.  It is obvious that since the news has debut, supporters of el-Rufai and those who are not favourably disposed to his possible emergence as the candidate of the largest political party in Africa have maintained a sharp divide with series of arguments to back their convictions.

While it is not the focus of this article to launder el-Rufai’s image or masquerade a campaign for the 2007 Presidential elections, it is pertinent at this juncture to put some assertions or brobanda in Simon Kolawole’s article in a proper context.  On the question of whether el-Rufai would make a good President, this cannot be over-emphasised.  It is a truism that he ranks favourably among some other members of the Economic Team who have been cynosure of all eyes in the quest for the continuity of the Obasanjo’s formidable economic reform agenda.  He has overtly displayed his capability to effect visible and lasting changes through the challenging assignments he handled at the BPE and the current relentless intricate FCT reforms and repositioning.

To lead Nigeria does not necessarily require stubbornness as Kolawole posited in his piece: what is required is being focused, forthright, with determination to bring the country out of the woods.  There is no doubt that the inability of some elite to micromanage the FCT Minister must have earned him the accolade of stubbornness.  It is an understatement that Nigeria needs a leader who would fearlessly undertake a holistic cleansing of our plaguing political terrain of its cumulative derelictions.  Within the purview of due process in a democratic setting, it is only a fearless, strong-willed, and selfless advocate of incorruptibility that can properly steer the ship of the Nigerian nation state towards the most deserved justice, egalitarianism, and ultimate greatness.

The perceptions of the antagonists of el-Rufai or his political ambition (if he has fully conceptualised one) are largely people who misunderstand his personality and all he stands for or those who have chosen to paint him ‘red’ for whatever ulterior motives. 

It is unimaginable that an el-Rufai Presidency would face a challenge of a coup d’etat or military aggression from any quarters as feared in Kolawole’s article.  This is because what Nigeria needs is leadership by example which this worthy Nigerian, by his antecedents, is capable of providing for all and sundry.  An inference could be drawn from the revamping of the Abuja master plan nonetheless the fact that some critics of el-Rufai are fruitlessly trying to downplay the giant steps in this regard as being ephemeral.  It is on record that only few Nigerians can muster the rare courage required to right the wrongs perpetrated over two and a half decades in the FCT by taking on the mighty and powerful responsible for the awful distortions in the Abuja master plan.  When it started in 2003, sceptics thought heavens would fall and that the set target was even unattainable considering the Nigerian factors.  But with the political will and support given by the Presidency, el-Rufai has not only revamped the master plan, he has created a level playing ground for everyone seeking landed property in Abuja and he has burst the syndicate that had over the years engaged in fraudulent deceit of innocent people and manipulated and distorted the landscape.  Just at the press of computer buttons anywhere across the world, application forms for land in Abuja could be downloaded and processed without any illogical under-the-table transaction as at today. The visible ameliorations attained have been achieved at a great risk to his life and that of his immediate family but he has remained undaunted.  While he has not allocated any plot for himself (as a typical privileged Nigerian would have done), he avoided the temptation of acquiring any interest in the public utilities privatised while he served as Director General of BPE.  The same restriction as applied to all the staffs of the BPE by him in 2000 remains in force till today.

About temperament, with the baptism of fire el-Rufai had in the course of his sundry running battles with the legislative arm of government (which have been put to rest through the due process) it is an understatement that the FCT Minister has attained the required maturity threshold that can carry him for the rest of his life – both in public and private.

And contrary to speculations that el-Rufai would make ‘an excellent military administrator’, that is another wrong perception that need to be deconstructed.  This is a man who displays a pseudo-liberal leadership style that promotes Top-Bottom and Bottom-up hierarchical structure.  While in BPE, he broke the barrier of “Boss-Subordinate” by liaising directly with all categories of staff and whittling down unnecessary bureaucracy and he effectively ensured no one was discriminated against on the ground of sex, ethnicity, religion or social inclination.  Even though he is highly brilliant and a superlative workaholic that gives lots of credence to details and precision, the accusation of ‘intellectual arrogance’ does not have a place in his life.  Hitherto, as Minister, he does not call his subordinates with bell; rather he works across to his secretary after reviewing memoranda passed for his attention or those on which he requires further touch by the functionaries.  Incidentally, he rarely maintains pathological relationship with anyone and this makes it possible for him to carry out his official duties without being nepotistic.  Whoever says el-Rufai gives credence to ethnic chauvinism got it wrong!  All that is required to be in el-Rufai’s good book is to be immaculate and super efficient at work.

This ‘giant’ (as metaphorically called by his peers) maintains a social/moral standard too high to be faulted under the pretext of any frivolity, with or without any political ambitions.  He is a Chief Executive that abhors in its entirety hero worship or illicit gains of any kind.  Because of his sensitive assignments to date, lots of resources have been put at work by his detractors to impugn his integrity: such as bizarre publications by some internet based reporters and some concocted fairy tales on activities that had been partly executed during his tenure in the BPE such as the Pentascope Management Contract on which the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had cleared him of any impropriety in 2006.  The underlying objective of those who orchestrated the campaign were largely those few elites who had illicitly benefited in the derelictions of land allocations which came under el-Rufai’s hammer for prompt and precise ameliorations, and were bent on truncating the FCT reform by getting him out at all cost.  It is all history now that the unpatriotic moves of those few were tactically laid to rest through the due process administered by the Judiciary. 

The insinuations that Nuhu Ribadu, Chairman Economic Finance and Crime Commission (EFCC) is working to rubbish some potential presidential candidates to pave way for an el-Rufai presidency can best be described as only existing in the fantasy and imagination of those peddling the rumours.  It is equally an open secret that President Olusegun Obasanjo has for the umpteenth time publicly declared that he has not anointed any candidate for the PDP and that the forth-coming convention of the political party would produce the level playing ground for all aspirants to the exalted office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

It is rational and logical for the President (as a human being) to have an interest, deep down within him, on whoever succeeds him probably mainly for the sustainability of his hydra-headed reform programmes, yet there is no evidential proof that Chief Obasanjo might wish to impose a particular candidate on Nigerians “to cover his flanks after leaving office” contrary to speculations in Simon Kolawole’s write-up.

Nonetheless whatever anyone has against President Obasanjo’s tenure and style of administration, it is a truism that his term of office has laid a great foundation for reshaping the future of Nigeria.  With the external debt repayment, the Professor Soludo’s bank consolidation and over $40 billion external reserves and liquidation of ethno-regional-political cleverages, Nigeria is set to realise and actualise her leading position in the comity of nations.  Whoever succeeds President Obasanjo would meet a set of existing hard-core standards to contend with.  The debate towards 2007 should be about educating Nigerians on how best to exercise their constitutional voting rights and power judiciously to elect the most credible candidate among the emerging aspirants and defend their choice tenaciously instead of some people mounting vicious attack against any individual who might have considered (or considering) the choice of declaring to run for the highest office in the land.

Ajayi Olatunji Olowo writes from the School of Law, University of Buckingham in England.