|
General Game Changer Flashes His Joker By Farouk Martins Aresa
It was Chief Akinloye who said there were two parties in Nigeria: NPN and the Army. The 3 terms President of Nigeria, Gen. Obasanjo cannot control his mouth but he controlled the Army from interrupting his governments as President three times. He just has to be relevant he thinks, to remain a king maker. What he knew about the President Yar’Adua capability to fulfill the obligation of the office and when he actually knew it has been thrown into controversy. Whatever it is about Yar’Ardua Army promised has to stay out.
Many of us do not learn. Obasanjo did not oblige the South in his first term as military President and he fired all military politicians from the Armed Forces in his second term as civilian President holding his own, unscathed, even from the North’s fury where most militricians came from. In order to secure his third term as civilian President, he took all the Western governors, most of them in the South and North to the cleaners in “Aburi” and apparently declared – “On Aburi We Stand”. All protocol observed; Ikemba Ojukwu.
Give the devil his due, OBJ became the Head of State, not once but thrice until Nigerians stopped him for the fourth time. If he has not outclassed both the North and the South, please tell us who else had, that long. On top of that, OBJ knew what he wanted and how to get it. The reason the South is mad at him today has to do with the fact that he did not do all their biddings. The same is true about the North that thought once they had him in power, he would dance their tune. Yet, he included all ethnics in major posts.
Anyone who ever say OBJ is not smart again, should be considered for the mad-house! Only OBJ could outfox OBJ and that was exactly what he did with his “Third Term” greed looking for a fourth time president. He failed because Nigerians woke up; and who led the fight but his people that should have been thrilled that their son was going rogue for four more years. Non-politicians raised alarm with politicians that were disappointed that Ali Baba instead of calling “Opening Sesame” closed it with the help of Ribadu.
The problem with OBJ is that he never sits down when the ovation is at its peak as a typical Nigerian politician, for the two reasons or more. He thinks so much of himself that no African has accomplished as much as he did. He was devastated when the international world shunned him after the charade election that brought Umaru to power. There was no need for massive rigging since the alternative was not impressive but wicked recycled dictators. Knowing one another, he was not going to take chances.
There have been some quibbles between OBJ and Yar’Adua’s camps. If Yar’Adua needed Army support to govern, Danjuma OBJ dispossessed, is a better than even Babangida. By coming out and invoking his joker on Yar’Adua should not surprise those who know Baba-Iyabo well. OBJ mentality is that he will eventually catch up with you as long as he remains on the scene. Going into political oblivion would not accomplish that goal for OBJ, so those of us who advised him to stay out, know little about Okikiola Baba Isale.
OBJ learned two things after God saved him from Abacha’s gulag. One is that he would never be poor again in his life. A head of state that almost went bankrupt and had to be saved by a filthy rich subordinate who sponsored him for office was a big mistake any Nigerian former President could make. No matter how poor you were, Nigerians would not believe that you did not steal. So, he might as well steal the daylight out of them.
Second and more to the point is that you must always be politically relevant. Apart from ensuring the vitality of your business loot, you must be counted on whenever it is time to choose another head of state to remain a king maker. Obasanjo may have a humble beginning and not highly educated as his high school cohorts or Yar’Adua, but he is the one that became the head of state and was the most trusted Southerner by the North.
OBJ recovered from the rigged election internationally when UN called him to shine in Congo. An assignment he wished could have come sooner. He had a nerve to brag that he is one of the biggest employer in the Country until they took him to task to declare workers’ starving wages and how a broke-r like him got his seed money. We are never short of Nigerians who give looters the benefit of using Abu’s money to provide for Abu.
Consequently, it is no surprise that he took the bait and jumped into the fray of advising Yar’Adua to give it up if he cannot continue. Though a solid counsel, it could come from anyone not Ali Baba. They want him completely struck out of the game because of his role in the election that crowned Yar’Adua, make him impotent for the fear that he may come back to haunt them with a joker as the ultimate kingmaker. Not sure of his Army bond but out of the way, if Baba no player the game no dictate the rules.
After all was done and cleared for Yar’Adua to mount the throne, Ali Baba retains his joker card on him and played it when nobody was clapping. No matter what went sour between OBJ and Yar’Adua, Nigerians have no appetite for power-play, especially after that OBJ/Atiku movie. We have been taken for a ride for too long. Unfortunately, while most of us now see through OBJ’s tactic, hanger-on-mafias disagree on Yar’Adua fitness. Naive Nigerians, sick and tired of the mess, could not care less if the Army comes back.
If only Obasanjo knew when to stop, he could have been seen in a different light. Pity Nigeria, he remains the least of all the evil heads of state. Many of those who are mad at OBJ because of his call on Yar’Adua are themselves hypocrites. When he was abiding by their rules, defying his people, he was called the most detribalized Nigerian. They find out belatedly, the OBJ his people warned Nigerians about in 1999 and refused to vote for. A man with his own personal agenda, it’s too late to call him all kinds of names.
Well done, Baba-Iyabo, Ali-Baba, Baba-Isale, Ikechukwu you served them right! |