STRATEGY and TACTIC; That's how, Stupid!!!

The goings-on in Nigeria are nothing short of a war. It's a battle of sort, if only metaphorically and I am not just talking about the pervading threat of boko haram to life, limb and property, the senseless, unbridled looting and plunder of our commonwealth, the decimation and pauperization of millions of our kith and kin and all of the other shenanigans.

I am more concerned about the other war, the ideological contest, for want of a better description, for the heart and soul of our nation, the war ostensibly between "conservative" forces and the "liberal progressives" (these terms I use very loosely), is for all intents and purposes a war of sort and must be prosecuted as such. It is foolhardy of the so called progressives to believe that it is anything less because the other side does not. Hence, all the tools required to prosecute a successful battle must be deployed; and as much as brute force is necessary, STRATEGY AND TACTIC would play a huge part in the determination of the eventual outcome.

Make no mistake about it, my respect and admiration for Pastor Tunde Bakare, Wole Soyinka, Balarabe Musa and other progressive elements of this land is immeasurable. Respect for their dogged, relentless, and frankly speaking, audacious dispositions; admiration, for their tenacious belief in and dedication to the project Nigeria. They deserve great commendation; they have my heart and I DOFF MY HAT!!!

I cannot imagine how unbearable the tortuous pain this group is currently feeling now, also the regret. I share their pain and regret, knowing full well that Pastor Bakare, SNG and all the others like them, though always act based on sound, principled, moral considerations and legal judgments, they usually and have consistently done so at the expense of effective strategic thinking and tactical approach and therefore always overlook the unintended consequence(s) of their actions and the probable merits of taking no action on some occasions.

Truth must be told, Pastor Bakare and his group, at the demise of the erstwhile President Yar'adua meant well, they did the right thing, their stance which was based on social and moral justice, is even grounded in our constitution. Their courage, dogged determination and unrelenting attitude that culminated in the ascendancy of GEJ to the presidency were indeed very right.

However, as laudable and noble as their actions were, they had inadvertently or otherwise given the PDP a fresh lease of life and helped it (PDP) back on track to realizing one of its stated goals, perhaps the paramount one aside looting Nigeria's coffers dry, the dream and desire to rule (or misrule) Nigeria for fifty years. The same PDP the progressives yearn and vow to dislodge, Pastor Tunde and his group had sustained, and in doing so, "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory" for the progressives.

While most of my assertions are based purely on just a few facts and a whole lot of guesses and assumptions, the assumptions, I think are worth a thought.

Fact 1: President Yar'adua's demise as unfortunate as it was, presented the progressives and Nigerians in general, a great opportunity of realizing the dream of dislodging the PDP; the incompetent, selfish, greedy, thieving, callous, murderous lot, I could go on and on.

Fact 2: The "Turai cabal" was hell bent on clinging on to power by any means necessary, to the extent of misinterpreting the Constitution and supplanting its authority in their evil and shameless scheme to sideline the then weak, lily-livered vp GEJ, the legitimate successor.

Fact 3: Pastor Tunde Bakare's SNG and the others had rescued GEJ and had unwittingly saved the day for the PDP.

Here are the assumption(s).
Had Pastor Tunde, his SNG and the others been more strategic and tactical and had not fought so doggedly for the ascendancy of GEJ, madam Turai's cabal would have succeeded in putting together a bizarre contraption to serve out the dead president's term. This, albeit would have been under immense strain from the pressures and challenges from within and outside their party.

The marginalization of GEJ, the legitimate successor might have caused some disaffection and rancour among PDP members, which might have led to some in-fighting and the implosion of the party and a consequent internecine conflict. So close to the April 2011 polls, the party may have become fractured, weakened and vulnerable, as was the case in Ogun State, a golden opportunity for the 'progressives' and Nigerians to help it (PDP) over the cliff edge.

Regardless, I certainly would not condemn or castigate Pastor Tunde, SNG and the others, those Nigerians of good repute, or repudiate their uprightness, gallantry and valour; No, but would make bold to suggest that this group of exemplary people have lacked effective strategy and tactical maturity and it's about time this dimension is introduced into the dialogue as it has long been ignored. It is necessary that the group fine-tune the considerations that predicate its actions to include the ends-justify-the-means type of considerations; otherwise the progressives and by extension Nigerians, would continually "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory".

But imagine if the SNG, Pastor Bakare and the others had stood by and looked on, left the PDP to initiate the process of self-destruction by weakening itself, as in these words of one legendary war strategist; "There are times when a battle decides everything and there are times when the most insignificant thing can decide the outcome of a battle" - Napoleon; and the "progressives" strike the mortal blow as suggested by another war strategist, Mao ZeDong; "When the enemy advances, withdraw; when he stops, harass; when he tires, strike; when he retreats, pursue"
Don't be fooled, it's a battle.

saareago