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During
the presidential campaigns of April 2007, I was discussing the
presidential candidates with a friend, a politician and a member of the
PDP who is now a big player at the National Assembly. Out of the three
presidential candidates: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, General Muhammadu
Buhari and Governor Umaru Yar’Adua– as he then was – the issue was who
would make a better president (note that we were not discussing whom to
vote for, because in
Nigeria your votes does not count).
I
posited that Governor Umaru Yar’Adua would make a better president. My
reason then was that being the only University graduate among them, he
would prove to be a fresh air. On the issue of corruption, he was
viewed as incorruptible unlike an Atiku who had been indicted for
corruption. Moreover, having Olusegun Obasanjo – a Southerner - as his
mentor and an elder brother – Shehu Musa Yar’Adua - who was not only
viewed as not belonging to the Northern establishment but was murdered
by a Northerner, it would be difficult for the Northern establishment
to hijack him.
My
friend, a politician to the core generally agreed with me, but insisted
that Umaru Yar’Adua would prove to be a disappointment. He explained
that it takes more than a good man to be a successful president and
added that since
Independence, Nigerian civilian dispensations
have been afflicted by Presidents who neither aspired to, nor
vigorously campaigned for the high office. His view is that a
presidential aspirant who has campaigned for the office would have
taken time to formulate his ideas, his goals, his strategy and the
people who would help him achieve them so that once he gets into the
office he would hit the ground running.
Nigerians
experience from Tafawa Balewa to Shehu Shagari to Olusegun Obasanjo
were leaders who were imposed and therefore neither felt accountable to
those who worked with them and for them nor to the masses who voted for
them but to their god-father. Moreover, to make matters worse, they
could still turn against the god-father himself - like Obasanjo did -
and therefore becoming accountable to nobody. Being neither focused nor
goal-oriented they would only fumble and stumble, blown hither and
thither by each and every wind; they would be in office but not in
power, unless you are an Obasanjo who has been there before. They would
have ministers whom they did not choose for their competence, but were
imposed on them for political expediency.
Having
been 6 months in office but not in power, the recent attempt to
sideline Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has sent Nigerians wondering, whether
President Yar’Adua is not another affliction on the long-suffering
masses of
Nigeria.
If
President Yar’Adua has felt from day one that he won’t work with
Ribadu, a self made president would have sacked him from day one. He
may even have felt that he would fight corruption but not with Ribadu’s
style. President Yar’Adua is obviously a man who is conscious of public
opinion but he is also a hostage to the cabal that made him president
or that have hijacked him. He is therefore torn between his vow to be a
servant- leader and the desire to please his mentors; we are today
witnessing his dithering ‘one step forward, two steps backward’. The
Lord Jesus Christ said that you cannot serve two masters, for either
you will love the one and hate the other. Yar’Adua wants to serve
masters, therefore he would only fumble and stumble.
It
is no surprise therefore that his six-point agenda have remained in the
pipeline; Nigerians have been held down by a cabal that feeds fat from
the dysfunctionalities of the system, it takes a self-made and
courageous president to dislodge them. The few populist actions
Yar’Adua has taken so far have been exposed to favour beneficiaries who
are the new guys in town, who dictated the moves in first place.
Nigeria is fast sliding back to darkness.
Yar’Adua’s
predicament is made worse by his quiet mien, his personality, his lack
of conviction, hi spinelessness and lack of charisma. What would you
make of a man who would attend a National Council of States meeting and
announce his opposition to an ‘African Command’ and then a few days
later attend a meeting at the 'White House' with George Bush and
announce an approval of same and who would still in the face off
opposition from Nigerians at home go back to opposition to the said
African Command?
His
strategy is more sickening for he rules from hiding behind the walls of
Aso Rock. He would give an oral approval to Charles Soludo to
redenominate the Naira, and use Aoondoakaa to disown the policy; He
would give an approval to Aoondoakaa to take over prosecution from
EFCC, and turn around to disown him in the heat of opposition. I would
therefore not be surprised if Segun Adeniyi would turn around in the
next few days to “clarify” the directive to Nuhu Ribadu to proceed on a
course.
Yar’Adua
is obviously neither greedy not corrupt. But he has no mandate, no
focus, no goal and spineless. He finds it difficult to take
responsibility for his decisions. He is a hostage to the Iboris, the
Babangidas and probably the Obasanjos. He could only fumble and stumble
while hoping for the best and deliverance. Nigerians certainly deserve
better.
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 29.12.2007 10:25