A former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has been a subject of all variants of deconstruction in the media.  That is the way of politics in Nigeria as it is elsewhere in the world. Political rivalry is a common feature that feeds on the tendency to de-market and outwit one another.  So, politics is not a turf for the lily-livered.  To surmount pernicious rivalry in politics requires a great deal of wisdom.

Atiku has witnessed a surfeit of rivalry and treachery in government and has, so far, been able to survive the nation’s cloak-and-dagger politics.  A robustly rugged and toughened politician, he has, even so, experienced both high and low times in the enduring game that, at once, easily launches a player to prominence and, at once, effortlessly plunges him into the dungeon.

His experience, as vice president to Olusegun Obasanjo, was a mixed-bag of the good, the bad and the ugly.  At a point, he was the most powerful vice president Nigeria had ever produced, calling the shots and coordinating the political wing of the administration while Obasanjo concerned himself with global diplomatic shuttles to open up our pariah nation to the world for renewed bilateral relations.

Along the line, Atiku was insinuated into a political risk that turned awry.  He was accused of a subtle plot to supplant his boss as president in 2003.  The unconfirmed plot was to goad Obasanjo to embrace the Mandela option of a term in office.  But Obasanjo was not ready for the nonsense. He was not only aiming at two terms in office but was also plotting a third term, which Atiku and other democratic forces worked against in 2006.

Rewind to 2002 at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary.  Atiku, with the support of 20 PDP governors, was set to upset the applecart of Obasanjo’s re-election bid.  But through bully tactics, brinkmanship and pleading, Obasanjo was able to clinch the ticket with a calculative Atiku on the ticket contrary to his (Obasanjo’s) original plan.

Although, the ticket won re-election, a wide gulf had been created between the first and second citizens.  The next four years that ended in 2007 would remain indelible in the memories of the two leaders as well as in the annals of presidential politics in Nigeria.

In order to deal with an “over-ambitious” Atiku, Obasanjo unleashed the might of his office against him.  He sidelined the Waziri Adamawa and deliberately took steps to whittle down his influence.  His fixation was to portray Atiku as corrupt so that the electorate would be at great pains to cast their votes for him in any election.

Atiku put up a rare resistance.  He sustained his political machinery with which he charted a trajectory out of the PDP into the Action Congress (AC) and still retained his position as vice president via a legal battle up to the Supreme Court. He put his life on the line by engaging in bare-knuckle fight against a ruthless incumbent president with the full complement of state machinery.

Atiku remains politically relevant despite conspiratorial alliances.  The last time he jostled for the APC presidential ticket, he was the real issue.  He was poised to sweep to victory in the primary, but it took a combination of forces in the party to stop his emergence.  Typical of him, he has refused to surrender.  He has kept his eyes on the ball of the presidency in 2019.

With seemingly limitless capacity to oil his political machinery, the strategist and tactician consistently exudes an electrifying aura that sustains political followership across the country, a testimony to his cosmopolitan deportment.  Indeed, despite all manner of negative deconstruction to which he has been insidiously subjected, Atiku remains a veritable issue ahead of 2019 presidential election.

He recently upped his ante when he advocated restructuring of the nation.  One of his lines of argument was that the nation must find creative ways to make financially unviable states to be viable in a changed federal system sans federal allocations.  He further argued that more powers and resources must devolve from the federal government,  and that federal allocations, as a source of sustenance of states, must be de-emphasised.

His contention is that the federal government in our current federal structure possesses too much power and resources, a development which constricts the federating units and incapacitates them from providing social services to the populace.  He had suggested, for instance, that health, agriculture, sports and education should not be part of the preoccupation of the federal government.

Atiku’s position on restructuring has placed him poles ahead of other politicians seeking the high office of president in 2019.  On that score, he is a beautiful bride to the Yoruba, Igbo, and minorities in the south-south and north central zones who crave restructuring to correct the nation’s structural imbalances and the lopsidedness in power configuration as well as to ensure the practice of true fiscal federalism.

This is the agitation that runs through a vast section of the polity.  Atiku has wisely, strategically and tactically positioned himself in the frontline.   For being a perceptive politician, Atiku deserves a reconstruction of his essential persona, which he has been able to distinguish from the morass of corruption into which Obasanjo tried to pigeonhole him.

Whereas, Nigerians are wise enough to know who the grandmasters of corruption are.  The blame for public finance mismanagement and other maladministration is placed at the doorstep of the president who, by virtue of constitutional powers vested in him in our clime, is next to God.  Looking back, I chuckle at the attempt by Obasanjo to demonise Atiku.  True, Atiku is ambitious.  It is the nature of politicians to be so disposed.

I consider even the charge of disloyalty against him laughable. Rather than compromise to allow the evil of third term to thrive, he chose to be loyal to the Constitution of Nigeria.  History will not forget his contribution, at that intersection, to the triumph of constitutional democracy in the country.

He plans to put his political relevance to test in the courtyard of the Nigerian electorate.  He has been involved in a series of quiet consultations with critical stakeholders across the country.  Unlike some presidential aspirants who are provincial leaders, Atiku’s approach, this time round, appears to be issues-based and ventilatory.  He has, understandably, started shooting from the hip.

I have noticed attempts in the media to put Atiku down on the issue of restructuring.  Those attempts have come too late to detract from the political capital he has garnered from his advocacy.  His commitment to restructuring Nigeria is salutary to his ambition.  I understand that he may also be committing himself to a four-year term in office after which he will guide presidential power to the southeast.  This proposition should be, somewhat, attractive.

In reconstructing Atiku within the context of his promised restructuring of Nigeria, if voted into power (on whichever platform), I surmise that the best and the last chance for him to be president is 2019.  He must throw his hat in the ring, anyhow.

* Mr Ojeifo contributed this piece from Abuja via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com. [myad]

I am not going to parody Ibsen’s The Master Builder or Carlo Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, rather I am going to do a straight talk; present the subject matter as it is. Our Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbajo is a Master Painter. He probably is the greatest painter in the world. And this should not surprise anyone who is familiar with Osinbajo’s intimidating curriculum vitae.

Right from youth Yemi Osinbajo had been a whiz kid, a child prodigy at the primary school, and at Igbobi College where his brilliance showed like the Northern Star he was easily extra-ordinary and outstanding. His academic record at the University was equally dazzling and before anyone could say Zik, he had got himself a proud academic Chair before he turned 33. An incredible feat in his day.

He is a lawyer, a Professor to boot, he is an editor of serious academic journals; he is a researcher of note; and he has earned for himself a great reputation in many other fields outside the confines of Law. One may then begin to wonder when he learnt the trade of painting and how without announcement or fanfare he rose to the status of the Maser Painter.

Acting President Osinbajo did not start off as a painter as this narrative goes and if he has ever had anything to do with construction and civil engineering in metaphorical sense; he has proven himself to be a superb architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor, bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, plumber, painter and interior decorator. Not given to bits and pieces Osinbajo has been a whole man, a complete doer, a finisher of projects. He has produced complete buildings of solid foundations.

The business of house painting did not happen until Jagaban Ahmed Tinubu dragged him to national prominence and lately to world stage first as Vice President and Acting President of the Unitary Fiefdom of Nigeria.

In his new but intermittent assignment as Acting President he found himself superintending over a dilapidated building. The building’s roof is partially gone with leaks all over the place. The walls have fallen in several places while most of the doors and windows have been removed or vandalized. Most of the furniture in the house had been plundered and the few that remain are in very poor and bad shape. Movements from one room to another or from the parlour to the kitchen are hardly possible. All the internal decorations have disappeared. Unfortunately and here is the tragedy, the building houses some of the best brains in the world. Underneath the building are rich minerals of stupendous value.

Osinbajo took it upon himself to present the building in a way that would make it attractive to outsiders so that investors might come to make something out of the dilapidated nonsense before them. Osinbajo is imbued with remarkable oratorical skills and good humour which he has combined to make a painter’s brush. He needs paint. He has deployed symposia, workshops, photo-ops and convincing marketing tools as paint.

Recently he added visits and visitations. He has gone to places where even devils were afraid to tread. He has been in the midst of fierce and vicious bomb-making-bomb-throwing Niger Delta self determination groups, he has been to the brutish and brutal Boko Haram enclaves, he has been to virtually all the nooks and crannies of the broken Fiefdom; the near-collapsed building.

To complete the cycle, Osinbajo went to the popular market in Abuja to see for himself where the shoe pinches. Osinbajo the painter has become hugely popular with the residents of the building about to collapse on their heads.

The hard part of the master Painter’s job is how to paint a building that is virtually torn apart. Where and how does he begin his delicate job? How does he make the building attractive to those who may risk putting the building together again and make it erect?

There is a dilemma. Is it not better, wiser and more cost effective to pull down the dilapidated building and start another one from the scratch? What is the sense of painting a sepulcher? This building before our eyes is virtually and practically gone. And to make matters worse there are cabals with diggers and bulldozers knocking down parts of the building any time attempts are made at reconstruction.

The Master painter is undaunted. He has successfully painted the doors that have fallen apart. We must add though that the doors still need to be fixed to the frames, and the frames already perforated by ants also need fixing!

The Master Painter is set to paint the North Eastern wing of the building. This is the portion that is worst hit by the political recklessness of the occupants of the building. He has brought his paints and his handy brush is about to be put to service. But there so many thieves occupying that wing. How will his painting be effected without hindrance?

I am told he will be moving to the South-South wing of the building but he has to mind the mines and booby traps planted in his path. He is undaunted as I am told because he is also a prayer warrior. That is a bit I left out at the beginning of this narrative. Osinbajo is a prayer warrior and his wife, an Awolowo, is also a super prayer warrior. Osinbajo was set to be a successor in the Lord’s vineyard where I understand he has perfected the art and science of speaking in tongues before the lot of Vice presidency fell on his lap. Perhaps this is one of the enabling factors that have strengthened the resolve of Osinbajo to take on this painting job.

It is hoped that Osinbajo will succeed in this thankless painting job. And if my assessment of Osinbajo is anything to go by, the intellectual giant is likely to reconstruct the entire building, make it solid and enduring before quitting the stage.

There is a note of warning though. However much the building is painted and possibly reconstructed to stand, as long as it remains in the hands of the bulldozer-wielding cabal of wheelers and dealers, it will no sooner than later revert to its status as raped Fiefdom and the title of Unitary Fiefdom will stick before the eventual TOTAL and irretrievable COLLAPSE when all the components scatter.

Hearty Congratulations and Three Hearty Cheers to our serious minded but ever smiling and highly focused extraordinary Intellectual giant for a painting job that has caught headlines nationally and internationally.

Credit: Tola Adeniyi. [myad]