A lot is going on in the Nigerian political space. The chain visit of the opposition and the ruling party to former president Muhammadu Buhari has shown the mindset of the political class about seeking power and holding on to power even if it takes sacrificing integrity.
I hope you are aware that the retired Vice Admiral Ibas was sent to Rivers State as sole administrator to restore the peace, said to be in trouble. But what the man is seen doing now seems to stoke more fires than he was sent to quench.
On a very serious note, the massacre going on in Plateau State and other parts of the country and the ease at which they happen and the seeming helpless response by the government create an impression that bloodshed has become a norm. It is no longer funny!
2027: Of what political capital is Buhari?
When the news broke the other day that a former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar; former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai; and former governor of Bauchi State, Aminu Tambuwal, paid a visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna, many people’s jaws dropped in amazement.
The jaws further dropped when another report had it that the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, led some other members of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and a few governors on the APC platform to visit the same Buhari.
The main reasons for the visits have remained hazy. Observers have guessed that for Atiku and El-Rufai, it is to obtain endorsement, while for the APC, it is to persuade him not to dump his broom but to still hold it tight. It may also be for him to resist the temptation to receive any form of inducement from the opposition.
It is unimaginable that aspiring leaders are going to take a brief from a man who is known to be a failure in matters of governance and economic management. It is no news that former President Buhari ran Nigeria’s economy aground and pushed the citizens into unmitigated poverty through his ‘see nothing, do nothing’ policies.
The stark maladministration that characterised his eight-year administration has been a reference point of how not to lead a nation.
The Bola Tinubu administration has continued to refer to the Buhari era as an albatross given the mess it met on the ground.
Why Buhari is not in jail today as a result of the irresponsible governance that defined his tenure and the consequences that the country is bearing is because he is of the APC. If he were of another party, he would be cooling off in a gulag.
The person paying the price for the malfeasance and irresponsible decisions of the Buhari administration is Godwin Emefiele.
Today, instead of the man from Daura being dragged from one courtroom to another, he is rather being honoured with visits geared towards seeking his views and getting his endorsement ahead of the 2027 general election.
It is also nauseating that Ganduje led other NWC members and some governors on the party’s platform to pay what they claimed to be a Sallah visit but was clearly a visit meant to counter that of the opposition.
They want to block the opposition from getting Buhari’s support. The party seemed jittery that the body language of the former president shows coldness towards the current administration and the party itself.
These signs began to manifest when El-Rufai announced that he had Buhari’s endorsement before exiting the APC. The welter of responses warranted Garba Shehu, Buhari’s media aide, to issue a statement saying that Buhari remained a staunch member of the broom party.
The ruling party became more uncomfortable with Buhari’s dalliance with prominent opposition figures following the latest visit by Atiku, El-Rufai and Tambuwal.
A report quoted an APC leader as providing a hint into what must have led to the visit by the party’s apparatchik, saying, “The leaders are concerned that the ex-president has withdrawn and shown limited support for the current government. They observed that opposition figures have taken advantage of Buhari’s openness to create the impression that his spirit and body language are no longer with the APC. That is why the NWC had to visit him to show that he still belongs to the APC and ward off any negative impression among party members, especially from his followers in the North.”
But here is a party that is struggling to clean up the huge mess left behind by the same Buhari, engaging in a hypocritical visit to level up with the opposition.
By the way, who is a sensible Nigerian that would cast his or her vote for any presidential candidate that has Buhari’s endorsement? Time will tell.
Bloodshed normalised in Plateau?
A story is told in the scripture about a woman called Rachel, who was in deep sorrow over a misfortune that befell her children.
“A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be consoled, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:18).
When Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State visited a grieving community in his state on Tuesday, he was welcomed by loud wailing and lamentation of women whose husbands, children and other relations had been mindlessly murdered by invaders.
These women, youths and children, who welcomed the governor and his entourage, expressed their disappointment over the neglect of the people by the government for so long.
The killings, which took place a few days after over 50 indigenes and residents of the Bokkos community were killed in an afternoon, have spread grief and trauma across Plateau.
There are various perspectives on the reasons for the sustained attacks. While some believe they are being sponsored by elements that want to make some political capital out of the crisis, some say it is aimed at sacking the people from their native lands and possessing them. It is a land-grabbing case, they stress.
Gen. Theophilus Y. Danjuma, Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff and minister of Defence, had once said that “most of (the terrorists) are foreigners, (though) there are (local) collaborators.” He had cried out, “The whole country is overrun.”
Governor Mutfwang seems to have an idea of what the matter is.
In a statewide broadcast, the governor pointedly said, “What we have witnessed in the state is beyond tragic. Innocent men, women, and children have been murdered, homes set ablaze, properties destroyed, and entire families dislocated by these brutal attacks. As we were still mourning the loss of over 50 lives in Bokkos, fresh atrocities have continued. The scale, frequency, and intent of these attacks are unmistakable.”
According to him, “This is not random violence. This is not a conflict between farmers and herders. It is a deliberate attempt to destroy our communities. But the Plateau shall not break. We will continue to protect lives and properties and resist the normalisation of bloodshed.”
What appears to be more concerning to many Nigerians is the response by the Federal Government. Beyond the verbal condemnation and threats, there appears to be no practical action to smoke out the perpetrators.
Those carrying out these attacks are not ghosts. They are said to invade the communities on motorcycles. Is it an impossible task for security agencies to track them down? Even if they cannot be trapped on their coming journey, why not when they are going? Do they travel by air or by sea?
In what seemed to many observers as buck-passing, President Tinubu had urged Mutfwang at the wake of the latest attack to take charge. The directive flabbergasted many Nigerians.
The president had suggested that the carnage was merely an offshoot of communal clashes.
“The ongoing violence between communities in Plateau State, rooted in misunderstandings between different ethnic and religious groups, must cease.
“I have instructed security agencies to thoroughly investigate this crisis and identify those responsible for orchestrating these violent acts. We cannot allow this devastation and the tit-for-tat attacks to continue. Enough is enough,” Tinubu said.
Similar lines have been a refrain. Without proper understanding of the root cause and the political will to decisively deal with the elements responsible for the massacres, a lasting solution will not be achieved.
The country is bleeding from many spots. About 13 people were reportedly mowed down and 50 houses burnt on Tuesday in the sleepy Otobi Akpa community of Otukpo in Benue State.
The official response was the usual condemnation of the attack, and life moves on. Chai!
Ibas on the firing line in Rivers
The Rivers State Sole Administrator, Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, a retired vice admiral, seems to be on the firing line.
Since he assumed office on March 20 following his appointment by President Bola Tinubu, the sole administrator has been taking controversial decisions.
He was sent to Rivers State to restore peace, but it appears he is stoking more. He was given an initial six months to put things in order while watching the peace barometer in the state.
Some of his moves and appointments have given him away as someone on a mission. Observers have said that the way things are going, Governor Sim Fubara may not return to the Government House any more.
Everything points to the anti-Fubara mission, which seems to have run counter to the spirit of conciliation envisioned through the appointment of a sole administrator.
There seems to be a plan to return the 23 lawmakers loyal to Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), at the end of the day while shutting out the governor permanently. How that may happen, however, is left to be seen.
In a move that seems bizarre, Ibas on Tuesday initiated moves to probe Fubara. Whether that is part of his brief has left many Nigerians tongue-tied.
He has singlehandedly picked sole administrators for the 23 local government areas of the state and also curiously approved the reconstitution of some boards of agencies, commissions, and parastatals who were earlier suspended.
Ibas also appointed a new chairman and members of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) in view of conducting the LGA polls in the state.
This particular move tends to indicate that he wants to hand over the LGAs to only one party in the feud that brought him in.
In his latest battle, he has taken on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over a ₦300m grant given to the group by the Fubara administration to assist the NBA in hosting its conference in Rivers.
He has threatened legal action if the money is not returned.
The major point of argument is that if the NBA decides to move the venue to Enugu for whatever reason, it should first return the money.
The jury is yet out on how the impasse will end.
Overall, a critical look at the sole administrator’s activities shows a man that is on a mission to call a dog a bad name to hang it. If this is truly the case, it would sink the state into deeper trouble now or in the near future. Caution is advised!
