Yar’Adua And The Burden Of Undue Influences

By

Ayo Fawibe

Fawibemi@aol.com

USA

As President Umar Yar’adua is gradually consolidating his grip on power, voices of dissention over his controversial election appears to be simmering. However, the arduous task of running the affairs of the nation may suffer a serious setback due to distractions from his political party, the PDP.

It’s too early to forget that the emergence of Yar’adua was as controversial as the existence of PDP itself. His kits and kin in the party reluctantly accepted him since no one could question former President Obasanjo’s resolve to foist him on the PDP.

Yar’adua is a child of controversy in the context of Nigeria’s history and he must be attracting so much attention now since Nigeria is at a make or mar situation. The task of governing a country like Nigeria is never an enviable one and Yar’adua must gird his loins in order not to join the bandwagon of Nigeria’s failed leaders.

So far, Mr. President has earned himself various nicknames from Nigerians such as “Baba Go Slow” and this is to suggest that he’s been sloppy in his approach to manage the country. Should Nigerians be blamed for being impatient after being battered and bruised in the past by leaders who were bereaved of ideas?

Obasanjo told Nigerians that he is not a patient individual like Yar’adua and the dividends of his impatience is evident in his eight years of a wasted presidency. So, if the Mallam from Katsina is calm, cool and collected? Hopefully, he may probably emerge as a resourceful leader who is capable of moving Nigeria forward, barring the damaging distractions from the PDP, sycophants and other political jobbers.

Already, Yar’adua appears to be caught in the web of distractions and protracted influences from different quarters. The PDP is definitely burdened by the overbearing intransigencies of some members and Yar’adua seems to have inherited this as one of the biggest monsters capable of threatening his success.

Having declared his assets publicly, Yar’adua succeeded in partially warming himself into the minds of Nigerians. Of course, with an asset base less than a billion naira, he’s a pauper compared with his peers who became billionaire governors by hook or crook. As much as he (Yar’adua) is emerging with some semblance of clean hands, he must be courageous enough to straighten all the crooked paths and neutralize all the booby traps set by Obasanjo.

One dicey area capable of rubbishing Yar’adua before long is the anti-corruption campaign. As a few of the former governors are currently being tried on allegations of fraud and corrupt enrichment, Yar’adua must revisit the issue of the controversial list presented to the national assembly by Ribadu. Only six of the then serving governors escaped EFCC’s indictment, so we should have a longer list of names today and anything short of this casts a question mark on the president’s sincerity to clean up the system.

As for the Nigeria we all know, hardly can anyone occupy public office without slicing a piece of the so-called “national cake” Hence, the present government must ensure that efforts toward sanitizing the system is all encompassing, to guarantee its credibility.

Meanwhile, the Obasanjo- PDP factor is another gargantuan stumbling block in the way of Yar’adua. He cannot do away with the PDP since he flying on the wings of the party; however, the president must distinguish and prioritize his agenda vis-à-vis the national interest and party’s.

Yar’adua inherited so many problems from Obasanjo his mentor, so he must be tactical in his approach, especially when he (Yar’adua) recently acknowledged, “Nigerians are going through hell” This is a candid statement and a sharp contrast to Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigerians are actually having a bliss.

Obasanjo spent the last four years of his administration bickering with the Atikus, the Fasawes and other perceived enemies. In his attempt to build a political dynasty, he fraudulently influenced the amendment of the PDP constitution to favor his emergence as Board of Trustees Chairman after leaving office. The battle line appears to have been drawn amongst the different interests in the PDP, so, Yar’adua must not allow the emerging showdown between Obasanjo and Anenih to distract him from the utmost business of making life more meaningful to Nigerians. In fact, if Yar’adua is determined to succeed, then Obasanjo and Anenih must be sidelined altogether, as they were formidable partners in taking Nigerians through hell in the last eight years.