By Rupert Ojenuwa
When the Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Al’Hassan declared her support for Vice President Atiku Abubakar if he runs for president in 2019, it raised a lot of dust. Some called for her sack whilst others felt she should be tamed. In less than 24 hours after that declaration of her personal opinion, the media were awash with a certain N12 million case she had to answer. I immediately thought to myself, ‘could this be the president’s response or is it the handiwork of President Buhari’s foot soldiers?’. But, after careful considerations by the President’s strategists, they let the noose free and Al’Hassan kept her job and the allegation of misappropriation and corruption faded out but what we didn’t perhaps see was the fact that they were after the man for whom the declaration of support was made- former Vice President Abubakar. Now with the benefit of hindsight, it is clear that the strategy was ‘why should we go after the smoke, when we can put out the fire?’.
In two weeks, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) cancelled a Boat Pilotage Contract with Atiku’s INTELS and the FIRS suddenly discovered the same INTELS had not been tax compliant, both happening almost simultaneously. The government’s tacticians or strategists have only two major purposes for these actions: to distract Atiku Abubakar from a clandestine politicking and to weaken his financial muscle such that he is unable to oil his plans and strategy and I am sure that the proponents of these moves may be sitting round a table of champagne or is it vodka to celebrate their victory. But, is it Atiku who is defeated?
I fear that the answer may not be in the affirmative and I shall show you why. In warfare, it is crucial that you know your enemy. That helps you fight strategically. Atiku doesn’t seem like one who would be cowed into jettisoning his belief in a need to rescue Nigeria and her people from the grip of poverty and economic summersaults only because INTEL’s contract with NPA is cancelled. And who says the court, (if not compromised) will not overturn that unilateral commando-kind of verdict over INTELS?
In the Pre-99 era when the Military held the reins of power, this same INTELS was brazenly seized by the then Head of State, Gen. Abacha but did that deter Atiku’s quest to return the nation to democratic rule? That Atiku came out of that stronger and better doesn’t need a Google search. He even landed himself in Aso Rock as the Vice President. It appears therefore that when Atiku’s INTELS is attacked, it signals victory to him. He may as well land in Aso Rock as the President in 2019. You never know.
In fact, the war against Atiku’s INTELS betrays the fact that the President’s men see him (Atiku) as a real threat. It does more of validating Atiku’s supremacy and preference if given a level playing field, hence, the mad rush to stop him before he snatches their source of livelihood.
But, the NPA and FIRS actions affect Nigeria more than it does Atiku for a number of reasons. Thousands of Nigerians will automatically lose their jobs which may negatively lead to a rise in crime rate. This is counterproductive to the President whose campaign promise is also about job creation and which his regime has been struggling to do. He in fact asked governors on the 17th of October 2017 in Abuja how they could sleep when workers have not been paid. He went on to say he didn’t know how workers managed to feed their families without pay but the NPA/ INTELS faceoff will ultimately lead to loss of jobs. And wouldn’t that worry the President, too? The increase in the price of petrol that greeted his assumption to the exalted seat of power also led to a massive loss of jobs, we went into recession or is it depression like Dino Melaye liked to call it. To continue in this line for personal vendetta doesn’t favor Nigeria.
Nigeria is also likely to lose Foreign Direct Investment. It doesn’t take a Harvard Certificate to know this but why doesn’t the strategists know? No one wants to invest in a country whose politics interferes with business interests or who can wake up to find their contract revoked only because they didn’t greet the president or feels differently about the President’s policy. This is where Goodluck Jonathan dwarfs them all. He knew he had a formidable opponent in the person of General Buhari but he allowed a level playing field. He could have deployed state machinery to destroy or weaken his opponent but he knew better. Politics should be seen as a game not warfare.
This is also perhaps why several well to do Nigerians particularly politicians and the politically exposed don’t invest in Nigeria. No one wants to pump his fortune and life’s savings into an environment of instability where you constantly have to lick the boot of the powers that be or even kill your mother once you are asked to do so in other to keep your business concern.
This is a grave concern to every well-meaning Nigerian.
I am sure some people will erroneously brush off this essay as self-serving, arguing that NPA has come to say INTELS refused to adhere to the TSA policy. While that is a one sided statement, let me remind all that when communication giant MTN failed to deactivate certain unregistered phone lines, whose offense bothered on national security, a far weightier crime, the government slammed a fine and not a withdrawal of license maybe because there may be loss of jobs but in the case of INTELS it appears preferable to nail Atiku than to save the jobs of Nigerians.
Recently also, Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum raised a very weighty allegation of NNPC 26 billion dollar contracts without due process and Baru, the accused was asked to be the supervisor in his own exam. How can such a weighty allegation be so trivialized?
The handling of a weighty matter like this underscores the fact that INTELS/ NPA face-off is only a political activity, more so when INTELS has come to debunk allegation claiming that NPA deliberately put bottle necks in its quest to resolve the issue amicably. One would have expected a warning letter, a fine or something, not a revocation of contract.
I therefore hope that these unsolicited foot soldiers of the President should be more calculative because their actions seek to reduce the President’s goodwill ahead of 2019 than repositioning him for a good outing. Buhari’s reputation of honor is fast dwindling. Any patriotic Nigerian should encourage opposition and not destroy it for it is only when the best man wins that Nigeria wins.