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The tearing down of the Obasanjo’s “do or die” (aka mediocre) empire is truly upon us. For more than one month OBJ has been holed up in the Transcorp Hilton hotel in
Abuja
pulling Patricia Etteh’s Strings. Then yesterday (
30 October 2007
), the inevitable happened when the former Speaker of the House of Representatives finally resigned her post. In her now typical incompetent manner, she even managed get that wrong. Mrs Etteh had begun the day thinking that she was only going to step aside for a Speaker Pro Tempore to be elected to preside over the Idoko Panel Report. When the vote was called, she was shocked by the sheer number of the people against her. This was the first time I have seen Mrs Etteh visibly and properly taken aback. I think it was only then that the penny dropped for her. She had assumed she’s got the majority of Reps on her side. Wrong again! Some people actually went to her to intimate her that one of the businesses that the House will conduct under the Speaker Pro Tempore (if not the very first business) would be to move a motion for her impeachment. She had been perspiring before then, but at this point, her reading glasses slid further down her nose. She hurried away. A while later, she and her former Deputy tendered their respective letters of resignation.
It was a big humble pie for this poseur to consume. I am sure she was gracious enough to share a few slices with Obasanjo and Ahmadu Ali her now broken support mechanisms. Amazingly, this lady let herself be used thoroughly before being kicked aside ignominiously. Even as late as two days ago, she was insisting that nobody, not even the courts, could remove her. How she managed to so deceive herself and paint herself into such a painful corner is astonishing. I guess water will always find its level. Somehow, in all of this entanglement Mrs Etteh managed to steal calamity from the jaws of defeat. I sincerely doubt that she understands the extent to which she was used. She always struck me as an unsuspecting, unthinking canon fodder.
She and the former Deputy Speaker clobbered together a pair of poor and hilariously sadistic resignation statements in which they claimed they were resigning following advice from family and friends, after extensive consultations and in the interest of peace and stability. It took them two months to realise there are such desirable things such as peace and stability in the House of Representatives and the country. And with which folks were they consulting extensively? But for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its maladjusted leadership, this woman would have been gone a couple of months ago. Typically, in a scheduled meeting today, the PDP asked the disgraced Etteh to nominate her successor. That prompted a large number of those present to take their leave. That tells you all you need to know about that Party’s current leaders. So without the vehement national outcry, the constant shameful ruckuses in the House and a loss of life, this woman would have carried on as if all is normal. That tells you all need to know about Mrs Etteh.
A graceless woman that could not even tell when to leave; she conspired to ruin her chances of a soft landing. She was bereft of any viable face saving exit strategy. She climbed up the roof and kicked off the ladder forgetting that she would need to come down at some point. And when the rain came, she had to jump off and she’s landed hard on her face. This is what happens when you have your thinking done for you. Because she hasn’t bothered or was not astute enough to look past the protagonists and fully comprehend the wider issue, she got left holding the can as those protagonists take their battles to new fronts. Now she’s on the outside with her reputation, name, dignity and honour in tatters. The National Assembly media (to their eternal credit) booed her lustily on her way out of the Assembly complex yesterday. Her response? She remarked that the media never liked her; it was all their fault! A right dingbat to the very end.
In her previous two terms in the House, Mrs Etteh was never noted for any worthwhile achievement, motion or bill. Her only contribution in fact was an attempt to get all of her former
Alliance
for Democracy (AD) colleagues to cross carpet on the floor of the House to the PDP. She was unsuccessful. She went it alone and promptly got rewarded with the chairmanship of a House Committee and periodic nocturnal visits by the “father of modern
Nigeria
”. Before you could say ‘concubine’ she had erected a massive hotel in the middle of
Abuja
. Naturally when it came time for a new Speaker to be nominated for the 2007 House of Representatives, OBJ threw out a previous arrangement that had the Speaker position zoned to the South East, he re-zoned it to the South West and fingered Mrs Etteh for the post (pun intended).
Under Mrs Etteh’s Speakership, the House never carried out any national business. No legislations; no bills passed. Even the shy and retiring non-interfering Mr Yar’Adua could not present his Budget. The House assumed a pitiable stature while its Speaker cut a sorry picture. The PDP simply went about doing what it does best. Its chairman, the evil and uncouth Ahmadu Ali openly threatened any of its members in the House that refuses to support Etteh with a recall. Look out now; Ali is coming soon to an Embassy near you as an Ambassador!
Post Etteh, the House of Representatives is now left with the onerous task of cleansing itself. The first obvious step has got to be a comprehensive and honest debate and action on the Idoko Panel Report. That report had two main aspects to it: Was there budgetary allocation for the N628 million? And was due process followed in the award of those contracts? The Panel has found in the negative on both counts. This Report should not be treated like the PTDF report. Let the chips fall where they may – even if it is Kuje.
In the same period Mrs Etteh was looking to spend N628 million on renovating two houses and buying a handful of cars, the European Union (EU) was awarding two
Nigerian
States
, Taraba and
Enugu
a N686 million grant to provide its citizens safe and clean water.
demdem@hotmail.co.uk
31 October 2007
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Posted by Robot| 01.11.2007 09:46