Opinion

Have pondered severally based on what my average mind can recall the events playing itself out within the little time space of our political framework towards the forthcoming election, and sincerely cant see who the saint is in the two most influential political guru from the south western part of the country, Nigeria.
To avail myself the benefit of a doubt, I chose to think out aloud so that other citizenry wandering on the same path as myself could be enlightened by our so called political class professors. Honestly, between the incumbent president, Olusegun Obasanjo and the action governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the only surviving governor on the ticket of Alliance for Democracy (now a member of Action Congress), the “Omo Orukan” meaning the Orphan, we need to examine who is the saint.
Casting our minds back to the beginning of this political history, Tinubu had made us realize how Obasanjo betrayed the trust of the AD governors when he wittingly schemed them out of office after they had rallied round him to get a second shot at the prestigious office of the presidency.
It was observed that the president was controlling the nation’s wealth without due recourse to laid down dictates of the constitution, he assumes a larger than life attitude of taking decisions purely on the way he sees issues without considering other views available around him.
Has the leader of his party, the fear of Obasanjo is the beginning of retaining your position. For so many that have worked with him, they have come to realize that it’s not how well but how far you can indulge the actions and utterances of the president that keeps you going. The past few months had shown that even the closest allies of the president can be done away with without notice.
The machinery of the party is totally in the hands of the president, he runs the affair of the party to fit his whims and caprices, at times without consultation. The last national congress of the Peoples Democratic Party showed the extent at which politicking has degenerated into within our polity.
Contestants were been harasses and intimidated to step down for a particular contestant just because they are not Obasanjo’s choice as an heir apparent had already been chosen. Before the primaries, accusations were leveled against intending aspirants which was an integral plan by a section of the party to have control of its soul. Out came the rumbling from the jungle, the King Kong of all corruption, the Petroleum Trust Development Fund scandal came to the limelight, all because the parties’ involved wanted power at the centre at all cost.
It was indeed revealing, what transpired behind the iron curtains of Aso rock. I stop to think, if Atiku had not shown his intention to contest in the presidential election, would the nation have known anything about the PTDF issue. Now, Atiku is being hunted for his crimes as the head of the body charged with running the affairs of the organisation, the matter is an issue for another day.
Obasanjo has made it known that Atiku is not fit for the exalted position of the president, atleast not in the net dispensation going by the sleaze of worms coming out of the PTDF dirt. So where this has left our amiable vice president but to take is fight to another party, the Action Congress with the likes of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Tinubu has not hidden his dislike for the person of Obasanjo; he uses every opportunity to cast aspersion on the person of the president without any impunity. Condemning every action or statement of the president in preparing the stage for his emergence through the Action Congress as the presidential flag bearer in a situation that Atiku eventually scaled through as the flagbearer of the ruling PDP.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to script and a retreat was made by re-strategizing, leading Tinubu to opt for the senate bidding to be the net senate president, the number three man in the nation’s polity. In achieving his goal, Tinubu has planted his commissioners as governorship candidates in some states of their origin, taking over the machinery of the party totally. In Lagos, he has succeeded in pushing his man to the front burner as the governorship candidate of his party ahead of Femi Pedro his incumbent deputy. Forcing the later to seek for the actualization of his ambition under the Labour party, time will tell who is in control of the state as the platform on which Tinubu came into power; the AD which he had relegated to the background is already gunning to give him a good fight.
A lot of rumbling is going on within the two parties as to the character of the two personalities involved in the running of its affairs of governance at the two levels of government. Comparing the personalities involved, there seems to be a lot of similarities in their conducts and modes of operation that it becomes difficult “pot calling the kettle black” both have made road maintenance and repair their cardinal project spending millions and billions of tax payers’ money with little to show in justifying the huge investment.
They have both assumed the position of the “Igwe” in their respective parties whose words are to be obeyed and not questioned, going by the antecedent of the two. They had imposed in some cases unpopular candidates on party members at various levels of government for the forthcoming elections. Government machinery is hijacked totally for the propagation of this dream project.
Projects that are meant for the good of the populace which should have been introduced in the early life of the administrations are now been put through the pipeline at the tail end of it, which might end up in the ways of numerous white elephant project before them. The president had flag up the standard gauge rail project late last year, which will not see the light of the day if the incoming government thinks otherwise, likewise Tinubu’s Bus Rapid Transport scheme (BRT) aimed at easing the transportation problem of the ever-growing population of the state is coming at the very tail end of the governor’s tenure. The success of these projects and some other ones depends solely on the vision of the succeeding government at both levels.
Although on the lighter note, Tinubu seems to be more charismatic in relating to the people around him, the loss of humour on the part of the Obasanjo cannot be lost on us. Deducing from the past events, it shows that both are bossy and they handle issues differently.
Obasanjo had made us realize how much he detest corruption and how much he has been able increase the foreign deposit of the country, pointing to his prudence, we cannot ascertain the level of prudence and planning for the future of Lagos as regards income. We hear so much is coming in and much is been spent on running the state as well as its large workforce but what is been kept for the raining days. Governance is not all about spending; it’s about meeting aspirations of its citizenry, listening to the yearnings and cries of the populace, trying to meet them at the centre and saving for the future.
The days to come will actually show where e are heading to, less than 90 days to the presidential elections and the populace awaits the plan of our so called fighters for the masses.
Purely as a proud member of this nation, saints are made and not born. To be one, you have to show it both in words and actions, it is practicable not theoretical.