Nowadays it is pretty difficult to differentiate between politicians and journalists when it comes to who is looking for a job. By ‘a job’ I mean political appointment. And Nigeria , being Nigeria, when you see articles like that of Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo that appeared on the back page of ThisDay newspaper of Thursday, November 15, 2007, you begin to wonder if he is seeking to get Rimi’s attention or that of Atiku Abubakar. You wouldn’t be too wriong if you begin to wonder whether a brown envelope has exchanged hands.

The article ‘In Fairness to Rimi’ is in no way fair to Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar Rimi. Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo went all the way to lambaste Rimi for leaving the Action Congress (AC) back to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In the first sentence of the eighth paragraph of his long and almost abusive essay, Bello-Barkindo wrote and I quote, ‘For Rimi, Nigeria is not important. His politics is governed by the obnoxious principle of me-myself-and-I…’ he went further to say Rimi is not a principled man. Rimi connotes everything negative to my friend the columnist of Thursday Retort. But then this style of writing of not looking at substance but driven by emotion or personal interest is what has made the practise of journalism so unprofessional in this country. Rimi, at least deserves some respect.

The premise on which Bello-Barkindo based his analysis is faulty, or perhaps mischievously deliberate. Alhaji Muhammed Abubakar Rimi has categorically stated in an interview he granted the Daily Trust of Friday November 10, 2007, that he left the Action Congress (AC) because of lack of funds. He explained that he had made it clear at various meetings of the AC that those who own the party must release money. Is lack of fund not enough reason for deciding to leave a party for another without all these hullabaloo? The Action Congress (AC) as a party is Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s personal property. When Audu Ogbeh and all the disgruntled members of the PDP were forming the Acrion Congress (AC), everyone knows that the ex-Vice President was the key man behind the party.

There was rumour here and there before the election that Atiku Abubakar was going to match Obasanjo and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, money for money. The money war never took place. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo unsettled his assistant , Atiku, with the EFCC and all that. And when all that was going on, the big spenders kept to their money afraid that the EFCC would be unleashed on them if they associate with Atiku and his AC. People like Abubakar Rimi expected the ‘owners of the party,’ that is people like Atiku, former Lagos State governor, Tinubu, and others who have amass so much money during the past eight years of Obasanjo’s regime to fund the party. Even though Rimi was a member of the Action Congress until recently, he does not see himself as those who own the party. There is a difference between ownership of the party and being a mere member. As a mere member you wait for others to do all the job and when the meal is ready you pounce on it. That is the Nigerian way of politicking. Wasn’t that what Olusegun Obasanjo did with the PDP when he was president? The meal is not even on fire as long as the AC is concern comparable to the PDP, and Abubakar Rimi is not getting any younger. Many politicians actually joined the Action Congress because they thought Atiku Abubakar was going to pump a lot of money into the party.

My guess is that with the EFCC and the ICPC getting kind of active nowadays it is difficult to pump money into any political party without people asking questions. Atiku is probably cautious because the gentleman has enough wahala with the EFCC already. Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo should have addressed the issue point blank. A more realistic Ghali Umar Na’aba made it clear that the mission of the AC has been accomplished, which I pressume is to stop Obasanjo from having his way (Third Term). Na’aba left the AC because of the same reason as Rimi, but in his own case he was more diplomatic. Rimi as I know is a man who tells it as it is, and it is that the owners of the party have refused to release money. Like they say in Nigeria, “NO MONEY NO FRIEND.” The fact is that Rimi has the right to make his own decisions. Whether he is looking for a job or not is his own business. Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo’s essay sounds to me as if he is looking for something too like they say of Rimi. Truth to be told, who is not looking for something in Nigeria anyway?

Robot  Villager

# 1 Nowadays it is pretty difficult to differentiate between politicians and journalists when it come...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.11.2007 20:51