पॉलिटिक्स विथौत PRINCIPLES

POLITICS WITHOUT PRINCIPLE

“He (Yar’Adua) has never called me, and he has never sent anybody to plead so that I withdraw the case against him.” This is the confession of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

Buhari in an interview with the Hausa service of the Voice of America was giving reason why he is still in court challenging the election of President Umaru Yar’Adua. According to the report, Buhari’s reason for being in court is that Yar’Adua ignored him since he emerged as the declared winner of the 2007 elections; and Yar’Adua ignoring him is the reason why he continued with the legal battle that is currently in the Supreme Court.

Leader of the Indian Nationalist Movement against British rule, Mohandas (Mahatma) Ghandi, gave the world seven deadly sins and among these sins is “Politics without Principle.” And I think that Buhari has committed this sin. I am not judging the general because the Bible does not grant me such privilege to judge another man as we are all sinners.

Buhari is one of the few Nigerians that I held with high regard but the utterance he made on the interview has made me to review my opinion on him. For Buhari to say that his continued stay in court is because Yar’Adua has not reached out to him is most unbecoming of a leader. I thought he was a principled man but now am a bit confused. Buhari is sending conflicting signals to millions of Nigeria who look up to him and believed he would have made a better president.

Is Buhari telling us that as a former Head of State he is in court to seek for national relevance? In those days of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) when Buhari was the chairman I used to defend him that there was nothing wrong for a former Commander- in- Chief to work under another if the motive was for national progress, growth and development. I then thought that Buhari was doing this in the national interest. But am afraid, something inside me is telling me that he accepted the position to remain relevant and to give the administration of General Sani Abacha credibility.

What other relevance does our general need when he is a member of the Council of State by virtue of his position as a former head of state? During the Obasanjo’s days Buhari denied Nigerians of his contributions to national development by not attending the council meeting on the ground that he did not recognize Baba Iyabo’s administration. Despite our militancy and contribution to national development there is no one from the South- South and Niger Delta in the council. The Council of State does not have respect for federal character. By attending the council meeting Buhari would have been able to contribute his wonderful ideas for the development of the country. A good leader must always be a good follower. A man who cannot follow cannot lead well as he would be autocratic.

Is Buhari challenging Yar’Adua elections because he does not want another Commander-in Chief to come from Katsina. As, Nigerians are known to say, our general perhaps wants to be “the only cock to crow.” But Niger State has two C-in-C and Ogun state has one and a half so there is nothing wrong for Katsina State to rival Niger’s record. Since Yar’dua is from Katsina like you, if you can’t get it and it goes to him there is nothing wrong. It is people like us who should complain by saying that it is not the heritage of Katsina people to produce the headship of the country. Remember Yar’Adua’s elder brother was a second in command to Baba Iyabo in the seventies, “abi dem born una born presidency?”

Buhari seems to be a rebel without a cause. His party the ANPP is part of the Government of National Unity but our general is pursuing a court case without the support of his party. Buhari cannot be greater that the party on which platform he ran for the presidency in 2003 and 2007. As a ‘good’ party man he must learn to toe the party line and not try to run his own show. He seems to be a man alone. But can a C-in-C take orders from bloody civilians. Our general should do away with his military mentality where his orders are obeyed without complains. This is a civilian administration and a democratic setting and not an army barracks. I dare say our general is on an ego trip trying to seek national recognition and also recognition from the presidency. Then where lies the public interest that he seeks to protect if he becomes the president of Nigeria.

On a lighter note, Buhari defiled the shrine of democracy and sinned against the gods of democracy. He was a leading beneficiary of the coup plot that overthrew a democratically elected government in 1983; and now he is going to the same shrine and gods to seek for power. Has or can he atone for his sins and have the gods forgiven him? Is our general now seeking democratic power because he is no longer in position to overthrow a government in power? By his posturing and body language, if our general has his way the Yar’dua government would have been shoved aside and the leading characters would have been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 50 to 500 years. But this is democracy.

I have my opinion on coups and that it is a criminal offence against the Nigerian state. Any coup plotter or those that profited from coups have sinned against the country and they are enemies of the state since there is nothing like a successful robbery operation or a failed or foiled operation. A robber is a robber. The intent of the robber is not taken into consideration when he faces trial, therefore a coup is a coup whether successful or not and those who partook in it are enemies of the country no matter their claims to national interests.

I believe that those who aspire for public offices should do so with a sincere intention to offer service to the people and not an ego trip for personal reasons. If one is challenging an election result it should be because the elections was not free and fair; or he was wrong in one way or the other but not an avenue to seek relevance and settlement. We should start playing politics base on principle and ideology and not politics of sentiments. Politics should be a serious business for public service and not an employment opportunity for lay about, retired or unemployed persons. Many of our politicians are having a formal job or employment for the first time after being elected or appointed into office. Politics should not been seen an avenue to make quick money and be socially relevant. Let people aspire to public office because the have something to offer and they are willing to serve the public.