Tinubu’s presidency, the travails and the “giant”. But, what if Peter Obi had won, against their wish and permutation?

The story is a lengthy one. And it would only take, deep knowledge of the lingering political developments in the Country to understand and appreciate the attendant or emerging worries. To understand the story line. The reason, all the dislocations or fractures Bola Tinubu’s Presidency has suffered and may continue to suffer, could not be narrowed down or totally attributed to failure of policies or wrong administrative actions.

At the point of granting Nigeria independence in 1960, those in charge, deliberately willed the political power of the nation to a particular section of the Country. lt was a well considered act and for reasons best known to them.

And the beneficiaries of that belligerent action have been very arrogant about it. And using all within their reach or doing all they could, to ensure that, they do not lose grip of what was handed over to them or bequeathed to them by the queen’s people and on a platter of gold.

The reason they came up with the famous Kaduna Mafia. To ensure that they hold other parts of the Country in check or to ransom, with regard to who gets what and who does not get what, in the Politics of the nation.

The Civil war and the way it ended, didn’t help matters. For them, they “defeated” the rest of Nigerians and not just the lgbo. They defeated the other Nigerians in the 1967 to 1970 Civil war, including those who fought with them against the lgbo. They began to see the nation as their inheritance. ln which, they must decide who or which part leads it at any given time . And whenever they give anyone the opportunity to lead, the person must dance to the sound or tone of their own music or succumb to their whims and caprices. And for them, that’s not negotiable. To all intents and purposes.

ln the famous Kaduna Mafia then, you had Maman Daura, who was the Editor of the New Nigerian Newspaper, from 1969 to 1977. You had Prof. Bala Usman, who was the Founder of the CENTRE FOR DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT, RESEARCH AND PLANNING, at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria. Mahmud Tukur, Vice Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano, from 1975 to 1977 was there. Prof. Angu Abudallahi, Kaita Abubakar, lsa Kaita Abubakar lmam, Dikko Yusuf, lsa Funtua, Prof. Wilmot, etal, were all there.

Their major assignment was to always come up with policies or ideas that would make their people to continue to dominate the political landscape of Nigeria until, perhaps, Jesus comes.

With their brothers in uniform, they had settled for Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999. But not long, they began to feel uncomfortable with his style. They weren’t happy that Obasanjo had begun to appoint some lgbo into certain positions seen or adjudged exclusively for them and their partners in segregation.

Obasanjo began to lose their support. And the development had encouraged Atiku Abubakar, Obasanjo’s Vice, to begin to buy into the dummy that he could challenge Obasanjo for the PDP Presidential ticket in 2003. At the end, Obasanjo survived that plot.

For the 2003 Presidential election, the TELL Magazine, had a banner headline on 25 September, 2000: “THE NEW MAFIA GUNS FOR OBASANJO”. ln the story, while the remnants of the old Mafia wanted Obasanjo stopped in 2003, the new Mafia, made up of highly young educated folks, wanted Obasanjo to have a second term.

ln the same Magazine, Shehu Sani, was quoted to have told the World that, ” The President ( Obasanjo) Is Controlled by Norherners”. While Colonel Yahana Madaki, former Military Administrator told Obasanjo to ” Save himself from the Mafia”. Like l said, it’s a long story. But l would do my best to make the long story brief or short.

To them, Goodluck Jonathan too, was just invited to enjoy the office of President, they had felt, abinitio, that he was not “qualified” to occupy, because he’s from the minority South. They never believed in Jonathan’s Presidency until they saw him out.

Mohammadu Buhari came. And inspite of his obvious and excruciating failures in every area of the nation’s life, they tolerated him. They supported him. They defended him. Sang his praises in the face of his monumental failures. And they never disturbed him for the eight years he was there. And you know why.

They never wanted Bola Tinubu. They had under-estimated the man’s capacity or ability. While some of them were supporting Atiku, some were supporting Ahmed Lawan, the then Senate President.

Some of them who had genuinely supported Tinubu had done so, with hidden motive. They had believed that the man was “terribly” sick. They had envisaged the kind of Tinubu that would be under their control. And with people like El-rufia being Chief of Staff or Secretary to the Government of the Federation. But BAT became Messi. Not wasting time, he showed or proved that he was not sick, afterall . He was just acting in “African magic”, perhaps, without a director. The rest has become history.

Yes, Tinubu or his presidency, must have taken some wrong steps with regard to certain policies and actions, but the truth is that, those who have continued to feel that the Presidency of this Country is theirs, are at work. They have begun to use or deploy the same methods they used against Obasanjo and Jonathan, respectively, against Tinubu. I had called them ” the giants”.

And l had also asked at the outset; But, what if Peter Obi had won the 2023 Presidential election on the ticket of the Labour Party, against their wish and permutation?. Would they have allowed Obi’s Presidency to enjoy total or relative peace?. Would they have worked more friendly or more unfriendly with Obi, than they are working with Tinubu today?. Your guess is as good as mine. More unfriendly.

Reason being that, they never wanted an lgbo, of which Obi is, to be President. And there’s nothing Obi would have done as President or under his Presidency that they would not have worked assiduously to puncture or discredit or deflate or jeopardise. This is my personal feeling. l may be wrong.

THE NEWS Magazine, in its April 3, 2001 edition, had its Banner, ” NO WAY FOR IGBO PRESIDENT”— Umaru Dikko. That was 2001. Dikko was talking. And when people like Dikko had spoken or had talked, the whole North could be presumed to have talked. What Dikko said, has remained their mindset.

Even before the 2023 Presidential election proper, they had begun to talk about someone cursing the lgbo that they would not be President of the Country. Some of them were making mockery or gest of Obi’s Presidential bid. They never took him serious because to them, he was not in their calculation or permutation.

lf Obi had won, they would have perhaps, used the vexed issue of insecurity as discomforting tool. And drop the whole blame on the door steps of “IPOB or ESN”. And every family in lgbo land by now, would have been branded or tagged ESN camp. They would have used the issue of insecurity to make Obi look too weak to lead a nation. One may not understand. Presidency is not one- man-show. They would have used their “siblings” in every sector to make Obi’s Presidency shadow of itself . The issue would have also gone beyond formulation and implementation of policies . Some people may not understand the gravity of what l have been trying to say here. Read my lips correctly.

His Excellency, Dr Shettima, one of their best brains, who strongly believes in a united Nigeria from all indications and who is also a prominent member of the establishment over there, is Tinubu’s Vice, yet, they do not consider these factors. What of Obi, with a young radical as VP?. You could imagine the picture.

The Binance executive’s escape, is part of the game. Part of the game against BAT and his Presidency. A man in the custody of the NSA. Five soldiers escorted him to the Mosque for prayers and the man escaped from there. And not only escaped, was given a different passport from the one he had and with which, he left the Country. Out of the five soldiers, none saw the man escaping. The kind of story that could only be told or heard in lgbo folklore, perhaps, involving tortoise and the wife, called Alia.

When this incident of some people seeing themselves as being in custody or in possession of the franchise of the nation’s presidency would give way or evaporate or elapse , l do not know. But what l know is that, anything can happen “tomorrow”. Reason being that, “tomorrow” is always pregnant. And nobody can predict what it will give birth to. Only GOD can do that.

But we shall continue to clap for Jesus.