When Bukola Saraki was relinquishing the leadership of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, to seek residency in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), it was the small frame of Alhaji Lai Mohammed, current Minister of Information and Culture, that was available for the yawning leadership gap from small Oloye’s exit. Despite the obvious gaps, the former Lagos Chief of Staff was the undisputed leader. His own harangued him endlessly to run for governor, he declined. He must be beating himself up now, ruing the decision, which his supporters, upon reflections, listed as a collection to his streak of not consulting well, before taking major political decisions. But many still retain sympathy for him as he’s being crucified by Governor Abdulraham Abdulrazaq, the CPC guy, who he handed the ticket a la carte.
I have listened to a lot of insider stuff on the travails of the minister. One major truth his kitchen cabinet may not want him to hear is that what appears like a roaring home support for him today is a function of the good he had done some of his associates in the past, which they have chosen not to forget at a time like this, when a certain aide of his has become a leper, keeping old friends and followers from him. This Oyo State-born aide, who is being accused of behaving like the alternate minister, if the minister must know, is causing a drain on his goodwill among those who would have loved to go into the current battle with him, blindfolded. The Oga Lai they can trust is no longer there. The man they now see, they claim, is a clone of the crowd-seeking, people-loving leader, who now seeks excuses to exclude old allies from inner workings of his political camp, in order not to offend the powerful aide. Sounds familiar?
Yoruba will say the one who listens to a side in a dispute is a wicked elder. I’m certain this all-powerful aide would have his cherished reasons for seeking to cocoon his boss. But you can’t be cutting off his old friends and be adding yours to his inner circle. That would be stinking hypocrisy. It is either you protect the minister completely from leeches, if you see his political associates as such, to allow him focus on the gigantic assignments President Muhammadu Buhari has handed him, or you allow as much access to him as reasonably possible, on all fronts, if a team, must be built around him, at least, for a time like this.
Without doubt, politicians could be a drain and a drag on public officials. In fact, the nuisance they constitute to public officials is a major hindrance to efficiency in public service. Akinwunmi Ambode’s case will always be handy, since it happened around me in Lagos. His sole sin was lacking in emotional intelligence to take care of party leaders, whatever that means. Despite being told from beginning to stay away from politics and politicians, for those who sabi to handle them, while he provide the settlement cash, he was still nailed for not behaving like Omoluabi to these predators when they showed up at Alausa. Those parasites are never satisfied. Sad, our peculiar democracy must cope with them.
But the situation around Alhaji Lai was and is different. Possibly he didn’t envisage he would help install a Pharaoh who would not countenance the contributions of his Joseph, from decoding the gubernatorial dreamnto helping in shaping the bountiful and lean years. Now, those excluded in the last six years are needed as war-front soldiers, but their hearts are heavy-laden due to ill-treatment signed on by Alhaji, well, some would say, under “duress.”
Except Buhari steps into the Kwara crisis, Alhaji Lai is a goner, whether campaign fund fraud is proved or not. Though the facts on the ground favour the minister, governors have systematically over the years constituted themselves as most potent danger to the running of democracy, whether dealing with a combustible Olusegun Obasanjo, cheeky Goodluck Jonathan or taciturn Buhari as president. The situation is worse with APC. The governors are fully in charge, simply using the president’s imprimatur to further whatever their agenda is. The plain truth is that both Ministers Lai and Rauf Aregbesola have lost control of their party apparatus to their governors, in the ascendancy bat0tles, except miracles happen and they do happen.
Funny enough, Buhari has spoken it loud enough that he isn’t an elder for family disputes settlement. Only God knows the experience that shaped his conviction that a two-fighting must always be a cage war, where a party must be completely crushed. He, just like in recent past, will likely tell the supporters of feuding party lords to vote their conscience, even when in clear anti-party mood. This way, Aregbesola and LM can fully pay back their governors.
In politics, power control dictates all. Maybe Oga Lai wasn’t confident enough Saraki’s end was near, when the governorship ticket was for the asking. Maybe, his 2003 poor outing still haunts. Psychologists call it PTSD. Maybe, he thought it would be another major financial drain like the first run. But all is in the past now. He took a pass and must live with the consequences.
The battle to rid Kwara of Saraki was led by Alhaji Lai to vanquish the assumed foe. In his lamentation days back, he confessed his mistake thinking his party man would be better. Obvious buyer’s remorse. Reminds of African proverb of not digging the pit for your enemy too deep. Interestingly, many Nigerians are ruing supporting Alhaji’s party to rulership. Many ABJ (Anyone But Jonathan), are today seeking both forgiveness and salvation.
The clearest signal that Alhaji is already distressed by the ongoing war with his governor, despite the public display of political bravery is the unabashed manner he is going about boasting of criminal act of vote-buying to install APC as the ruling party in the state, just to prove he was the ultimate godfather pre-2019. These dirty revelations may haunt him when eyes are no longer red for war and he wants to resume his sanctimonious politics of probity. Certainly, the corruption mess is getting to him, and for an expert in heaping such heat on others, it is obvious he can’t take what he dishes with relish. Maybe, he should review his usual style of being quick to hang corruption bag on others’ necks, when narratives are short on logic, facts, verifiable evidence and judicial convictions, and long on politics and emotions. Now, he is a victim, or appears, like one.
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