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Was Sule Lamido Sleep-Walking? By Yusuf Ozi-Usman The image Alhaji Sule Lamido carved for himself in the early part of his political career was that of courageous, straight-forward, independent-minded and astute political actor. Coming from the old Kano State, home of fire-brand political activists, it was very easy to situate his brand of political pronouncements within the context of his environment and, if you like, his peers as well as, more importantly, his older colleagues in the trade. They included the acknowledged leader of the down-trodden (talakawa), late Malam Aminu Kano, the proponent of change (imamun chenji), Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Bibi Farouk and others. Sule Lamido’s approach to issues of state and national importance always took the form of dynamism, so much that he became newsmen delight and darling of the common men. In fact, like late Malam Aminu Kano used to say, Sule Lamido then knew the path to his father’s compound while believing in the indivisibility of Nigeria as a nation. Unfortunately, Sule Lamido has since 1999, changed the dance step and has been reversing himself in completely diametrical direction vis-à-vis his past political exploits. He has clearly fallen prey to the power drunk and a new found peer group influence. He has become so imbued by the aura of President Olusegun Obasanjo that he appears not only to have lost the path to his father’s compound in glorification of a confirmed despot and know-it-all ignoramus tin-god, but is now even ready to cast aspersions on those who dare to challenge his god-father, who unfortunately does not truly believe in Allah. The maverick politician, who rode on the back of Abubakar Rimi, in a more treacherous circumstance, to international limelight when Obasanjo “dash” him the portfolio of Foreign Affairs Minister, now speaks from both sides of his mouth in what looks like a man in conflict with himself and his conscience. The former minister who tried his luck at becoming the Jigawa State governor in the past and failed and who, again, became the beneficiary of Obasanjo’s and PDP’s circus-show, which passed for election, recently allowed the confusion in him to come out strong and clear. At an interview with a group of editors when he visited the Corporate Headquarters of the Media Trust Limited, publishers of Trust Group of Newspapers in Abuja on May 17th, Sule Lamido, Jigawa State Governor-elect, decided to go the way of late Dr. Chugba Okadibo by insulting his kinsman in order to satisfy his warped emotion and more importantly, the ego of his new found god-father. Having wondered who Nigerians expected to win the April 21st election scam, Sule Lamido asked: “Is it Atiku who only became important in Nigerian politics because he rode on the PDP platform? Or is it Buhari, a man WHO IS CARRYING A SADDLE ON HIS HEAD LOOKING FOR A HORSE TO RIDE (emphasis mine). A man who played no role in the ANPP in 1999 and then emerged in 2003 and terrorized everybody that he must win because he is saint?” Indeed, if it were not the fact that the story emanating from the interview was written by Malam Mahmud Jega, an accomplished writer and senior editorial manager of the Trust Group, one would have doubted the words attributed to Lamido. There are so many points raised in his whirlwind remarks, especially on Buhari. Number one, it was no longer in doubt that General Muhammadu Buhari won the 2003 and 2007 Presidential elections based not necessarily on the political platform he contested the election. What Sule Lamido doesn’t know or knows but fails to accept as reality is that most Nigerians, particularly those in the North, have developed a peculiar political attitude of voting for candidates on the basis of personal qualities. If in doubt, ask the electorate in Bauchi, Kano, Borno, Niger, Nasarawa, and other northern states. Most Nigerians have not come to terms with voting purely along party line. In any case, what does political party got to do with election and who wins it, especially in Nigeria where there is no ideological plank on which parties are anchored. Even if ideology forms the basis of political party formation, the level of education is still too low for most citizens to take electoral decision on party ideological niceties. Can Sule Lamido tell us the definite ideology of PDP and what makes the party better than even the PPA, for example? The 50 odd registered political parties in Nigeria are, to me, the same. They are formed purely to seek for power and after grabbing the power, to use it to siphon the nation’s resources into private and group’s pockets and to harass the rest of us. That is why it is very easy for a politician who cannot get the ticket of one political party to contest an election, to cross over to the next party to seek for the same ticket in the desperation to just grab power. Sule Lamido has conveniently forgotten that Obasanjo did not even know how, where and when PDP was conceived and formed, yet, he was brought from prison, thoroughly polished and put forward to Nigerians under the party to contest the 1999 election which he won. For Lamido to say that Buhari was not there when ANPP was formed, he is simply indicting his god-father (Obasanjo) for ripping where he did not sow. or is he saying that the issue of Obasanjo was different? Was Obasanjo not presented to Nigerians by his sponsors in 1999 as saint? Can Lamido truly say, with fear of Allah, that Obasanjo is a saint now after eight years in the saddle? It was not clear what Lamido was driving at when he said Vice President Atiku Abubakar became important in Nigerian politics because he rode on the PDP platform. Lamido’s “small talk” has so reduced him to kindergarten status that he couldn’t remember that the engine room of the PDP was the PDM, which was founded by Atiku in conjunction with other patriots in the heady days of General Sani Abacha’s regime. If, as he said, Atiku rode on PDP platform (which, of course he participated in nurturing), what would he say made Obasanjo important in Nigerian politics? Perhaps, Obasanjo became important because he succeeded in destroying the beautiful ideals of the original PDP and created one in his own perverted image, floating Sule Lamido on the corridors of power in exchange for his blind loyalty.` It is only Lamido and the like of him whom Obasanjo has lifted from nowhere to dizzying height that have failed to see the mot in Obasanjo’s eyes, but see it in the eyes of the past leaders. Lamido accused the governments of Buhari, Babangida and Abacha of sidelining and replacing ministries with task forces; the culture which he said Obasanjo had put an end to by doing things right. But, Lamido failed to acknowledge the fact that Obasanjo has not only sidelined the ministry of Petroleum Resources which constitute the major source of revenue generation for the nation, but has arrogated to himself, the full running of the affairs of this vital economic segment of the nation, including its subsidiaries, such as NNPC, PPMC and others. Sule Lamido has shown that he is a very bad student of history, else, he would have feared to tread where late Dr, Chugba Okadibo strode in the second republic, which resulted in a miserable, unfulfilled life he lived until he was consumed by the system. To refresh our memory, Dr. Okadibo, at the height of political cross-firing in the second republic, had looked straight into the eyes of the political sage of our time, Owele Nnamdi Azikiwe and blew dangerous “grammar” on him, calling him a senile old man, all for a mere pot of soup, provided by the then NPN. The spirit of the great Zik continued to haunt Dr. Okadibo throughout the rest of his life. Even though, Sule Lamido, in another breath within the same interview said he had a decent upbringing “and I was taught to respect my elders,” the insult he hauled at his elders and kinsmen (Buhari and Atiku) has exposed the dilemma into which serving under Obasanjo and getting mired in his voodoo dirty politics has thrown him. The unkind words he uttered against the two gentlemen, who are obviously his elders, have contradicted his apologetic and an after-thought conclusion that he was taught to respect his elders. Sule Lamido said if something is going on wrong, whoever talks about it is only obeying God. If Sule Lamido really wants to talk about what is going wrong in Nigeria for him to show that he obeys God, he should start talking about the 2007 election scam and joining patriotic Nigerians and concerned international communities to vehemently protest the arrant fraud and criminalities committed against the citizens by a few gang-stars, made up of Obasanjo’s PDP, Obasanjo’s nourished INEC and their allies. For Sule Lamido to say that the 2007 election was credible, hiding under the cloak of laughable historical antecedents is to be, in line with what he himself said, ungodly.
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