When the Turakin Adamawa, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku suddenly appeared at Ota Farm in a reconciliatory visit to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, after about three years of hostilities between the former political allies, many believed (and rightly so) that the visit had political undertones, especially with 2011 barely two years away. Being a very tactical politician with an amazing staying power, it was the opinion of many a commentator that the proverbial cat with nine lives, that Atiku could be likened to, had just pulled out another trick from his bag in the survival game.

If Atiku did not expect that the visit would stir up controversy, then he probably suddenly became naive. If Atiku did not anticipate that Nigerians, not just his followers in the AC, would demand for an explanation, then he probably lost some sense of judgement. It is hard to believe these two things happened, i.e that Atiku suddenly became naive and lost his sense of sound judgement but going by his ‘explanation’, which was apparently hurriedly and primarily crafted to address the resultant uproar in the press, it would appear, they did.

Atiku, in an unsuccessful attempt to conceal his game plan, belaboured his readers with a lengthy sermon on forgiveness and reconciliation as desirable virtues of a leader. He made a very profound statement that he has resolved to spend the rest of his life spreading joy and peace among the people after all, he reasoned, he is getting closer to the grave.

Now, this is where I wish to begin to question my hero. What has Atiku been spreading before now? Could it be that all the while that I and many other patriotic Nigerians were busy defending his every action towards emancipation of Nigeria from the dictatorial tendencies of the ruling PDP, and enthronement of true democracy in the polity, he was actually spreading sorrow instead of joy? So all the great inspirational speeches that laced his legendary struggle against the tyranny of Obasanjo were just the mask of a curmudgeon politician?

While we are waiting to see how from henceforth, Atiku would begin to spread joy, I can hazard some guesses. Whereas the old Atiku would kick against lack of internal democracy in his party, the new Atiku would keep quiet and join them, lest he spread sorrow. Whereas the old Atiku would insist on equity, a level playing field, transparency, due process and the rule of law in the electoral process, the new Atiku, in his efforts to spread joy, would shun such anti-establishment attitude and flow with his new co-travellers in the game of rigging, intimidation, violence, and disregard for the law.

Atiku did not say these things the way I have put them, but this is a logical interpretation of his evasive press statement justifying his visit to OBJ. Atiku needed to have known that during his fight with OBJ, he threw up many fundamental issues that have become an albatross to any genuine political association, not just with Obasanjo as a person but the whole system he represents, which is the PDP. Such ideological issues cannot be waived aside in the name of forgiveness and reconciliation.

For avoidance of doubt, I am not against forgiveness. Atiku like any other human being has the moral right and duty to forgive his offenders, as enjoined by Islam, and as a Christian, I should preach forgiveness even more. However the issues at stake here go beyond two friends forgiving each other. There is an attempt to reconcile two opposing ideologies. But there is no godliness or piety or any basis for light to reconcile with darkness. It is like telling God to reconcile with the Devil. That this has not happened and will never happen does not make God less godly. In fact, it is because God remains God, that it is very impossible for him to reconcile with evil. Atiku cannot be godlier than God.

Two cannot walk together except they agree (Amos 3:3)

Forgiveness is a thing of the heart. It’s a spiritual affair too. Nothing says that Atiku can not issue a statement from his Abuja Office that he has forgiven Obasanjo and all his acolytes that worked against him in 2007 and then go on with his new agenda of spreading joy through is party, the AC, but must go and hold a closed-door meeting with the BOT Chairman of a party he has lost faith in, an act that could pass for anti-party activity; unless he has not lost faith in the PDP, which would make his alleged attempts to return there undeniable.

If indeed he plans to decamp again, the burden upon Atiku will be to convince the world that, the PDP has changed from the gang of hypocrites and dictators he claimed it was in 2007 when he jumped ship to the AC. Otherwise, he would forever live with an integrity question hanging on his neck. A principled politician should not be jumping to and from one party and the other every time an election is approaching. That amounts to instability and places his steadfastness on the scales.

It is the devil that runs to and fro seeking whom to destroy. Good leaders should not.

Returning to the PDP, when the PDP has not purged itself of the flaws that pushed Atiku and his friends out of the party is akin to a dog going back to its vomit. No doubt, some big deserters like Ghali Na’Aba, and Abubakar Rimi, had already returned to the PDP but Atiku cannot hope to escape scrutiny for his new motives because, he was the leader that pulled others along. To whom much is given, much should be expected.

When he left the PDP, we found Section 40 of the Constitution very handy to justify his action, especially when the PDP attempted to unseat him from the Vice Presidency on account of this. This time around, even though Section 40 is still valid, our burden is to comprehend what has gone wrong with the AC also? Has the PDP become more democratic that the AC he formed and nurtured?

If Atiku goes back to the PDP, it will be a big let down to opposition in Nigeria. It is like taking a baby on your back to the high sea and then dropping him in the water to swim to safety, while you cruise to the shore on a flying boat. If Atiku dumps AC, It will be a clear statement that he underrated his strategic position as a rallying point for genuine opposition in the country. It will be an acknowledgment of the fact that he (probably) has no alternative to offer Nigerians after all.

Someone may argue that since Atiku was a founding member of the PDP, it is natural that he should go back to the house he built but from which he was hounded out by intruders against his will. True, Atiku was a victim of barefaced persecution by a greedy and power-drunk President, but he did not leave PDP without a fight. In that fight, Atiku never left anybody in doubt on how bad and uninhabitable that house he helped built had become. So far most of us are yet to see what has changed in the PDP that would erase all the adjectives he used to describe it in 2007.

Atiku’s battle with the PDP was the birth of true opposition since the advent of democracy in 1999. Atiku opened the eyes of both the legislature and the judiciary to their role in checkmating the excesses of a President. It was through his unrelenting battle with the dictator that some of the unprecedented and breathtaking judgements were delivered in Nigerian law courts. But for his doggedness, Nigeria would still have been under the grip of the monstrous hydra that OBJ wished to transform himself. If he now chooses to abandon the ship on the high sea, then what manner of captain is he?

Whatever the immediate gains he stands to make from this gamble would soon vanish, when the PDP is through with him. A leopard does not change its spots. Whatever carrot they may have dangled before Atiku will pale into insignificance once his political future is jeopardised.

 If Atiku does not believe he can win the presidency on the platform of the AC, then his acceptability to the Nigerian people is in doubt. If Atiku hopes to ride on the rigging machinery of the PDP to the Presidency, then his integrity would come into question. Nigerians can vote for their choice if given the chance even if that choice is in the opposition. The Ghanaian example and Yar’Adua’s efforts to reform the electoral system should have strengthened his faith in opposition as a viable path to political power in Africa.

What we need now is a robust opposition that could keep the government on his toes. Providing this opposition is a great way to serve the nation. Atiku should have continued to build a formidable structure for his opposition camp in preparation for the 2011 elections and beyond, instead of joining in a witch-dance to the consternation of we his admirers. Even if the presidency would not come to him by then, his party could have won additional states. Gradually, the presidency could have become a reality for the opposition like it did for Jerry and Mills in Ghana.

Robot  # 1 | 05.02.2009 05:21

When the Turakin Adamawa, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku suddenly appeared at Ota Farm in a reconciliatory visit to former president Olusegun Obasanjo, after about three years of hostilities between the former political allies, many believed (and rightly so) that the visit had political undertones, especially with 2011 barely two years away. Being a very tactical politician with an amazing staying power, it was the opinion of many a commentator that the proverbial cat with nine lives, that Atiku could be likened to, had just pulled out another trick from his bag in the survival game. If Atiku did not expect that the visit would stir up controversy, then he probably suddenly became naive. If Atiku did not anticipate that Nigerians, not just his followers in the AC, would demand for an explanation, then he probably lost some sense of judgement. It is hard to believe these two things happened, i.e that Atiku suddenly became naive and lost his sense of sound jud...Read the full article.

chimby  # 2 | 05.02.2009 08:33

Sincerely i lost faith in Atiku the moment i heard he went to Ota to meet with the General. Not that the man Atiku was a saint but he was a sort of a hero with the people and he allowed all that go down the drain just because he wants to rule Nigeria. It is the problem generally with Nigerians, most if not all want to be Presidents, Governors and Ministers at all cost even if it means destroying their names just to be.

employlawone  # 3 | 05.02.2009 10:53

Whilst there is the danger that any conclusions of this latest Atiku saga may be premature, I am suprise by how many were taken in by this character. Atiku was never a hero, he is in every way complicit, materially and particularly with whatever 'crimes' OBJ may have committed. Atiku's opposition to 'third term succession' was not based on principles but on sheer opportunism and ambition, traits that he seems to be exhibiting once again.

bharlow  # 4 | 05.02.2009 11:17

People should know that Atiku is power drunk and he wants to get to the seat by all means. He had just gone back to the cabal to apologize for his rudeness. Nonsense! thay are all playing antics at the expense of Nigerians. God will judge them all