By Sunny Igboanugo
Let me start by putting up a little theory about my impression of moles. They are the most frontally dedicated to the cause. They are the most enthusiastic, the most eager to please and most, apparently, sincerest. If you ever learnt about the Mafioso, you’ll discover this common trait. It is almost sure and constant that whenever there is a betrayer, the culprit is always the one closest to the cause.
They must be so for obvious reasons. Trust is essential. They must act in such a manner as to earn the confidence of their principals, which in turn becomes the key into their inner fortresses.
So, when Dele Momodu, one of Nigeria’s most visible journalists in the last decades came out on Wednesday, to infer that some people actually see him as a mole for President Bola Tinubu in the camp of Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President and two-time presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), my immediate reaction was to exclaim in acknowledgement that there must be some thinking, smart people in that camp after all.
It was an offhanded statement as the Publisher of the prestigious Ovation Magazine, appeared on The Morning Show, the breakfast programme of ARISE NEWS, television network. Only few would have picked it or made a meaning out of it. I did. And my take was – so some people actually suspect or accuse Dele Momodu of being a mole?
Let’s look at the tangents. Even a political imbecile knows that Atiku’s presidential ambition in Nigeria is Dead on Arrival (DoA), given its political trajectory. That dream ought to have ended in 2019, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), rigged him out. That was his best chance. There was no way he could have genuinely won in 2023, when he resurfaced again on the scene. There is no way he will win in 2027, anyway, whichever way.
So, why is Bob-D and others pushing the envelope if not for an answer that is hidden beyond the ordinary eyes? Ordinarily, in the context of the mafia arrangement, I had played with the thought that Atiku might actually be working for Tinubu. Yes, you may laugh it off and say it is not possible. But in this world where intrigues is the name of the game, nothing is impossible.
The only reason I’m cancelling this out through the principle of elimination, is because of the political trajectory of the Waziri Adamawa. His vaulting ambition to become President, practically swallows that of Tinubu. I also believe if he had not played into the hands of Olusegun Obasanjo, his boss, he would have achieved that feat long time before Tinubu.
Those who were close in the run to the 2003 edition, would tell you how he was within touching distance of the exalted office were it not for fate that played a fast one. I’m sure this would not be the first time the public would be hearing how the Balogun Owu, practically went on his knees to beg the same subordinate he sprung out as governor-elect to pair with him as VP in 1999.
Those who know insist that the events of that night was the decider of Atiku’s fate. I won’t delve more into that story, lest I digressed from the main gist of the day. But the import of it is that today, Atiku remains the only Nigerian with the record of contesting the presidency, six times. The seventh, is 2027 the likes of Dele Momodu are again pushing him into.
So far, he has failed and lest I be prophet of doom he is destined to fail again, because his ambition is unrealisable for obvious reasons. Now, why would Bob-D, be travelling that route regardless? Why is it impossible to tell Atiku the truth. Naturally, knowing the ways of ambitious men, someone with enough try, could actually convince many politicians of Atiku’s ilk he could actually replace Donald Trump as US President.
That is how tall and audacious their ambitions and convictions could get. That Atiku still believes it is possible he would one day, in his lifetime, be hosted as resident of the Villa, is enough evidence to that. It is only the genuine and true lovers of these politicians that must find a way to shoot down such vaulting ambition and bring them back to reality. That, Dele Momodu, has failed to do and I count that against him.
I’ve heard the accomplished journalist of national and international repute and influence – I ate in his restaurant in Ghana – an influential place – one of the cynosures of eyes in Accra – claim his love and passion for Nigeria. But I doubt those factors are at play in his current labour. I see no patriotism in his current engagements.
Agreed that Tinubu has become a disaster far worse than Muhammadu Buhari he replaced. But Atiku cannot be an alternative. This is because the problem of Nigeria is far deeper than just mere competence, leadership and even good intentions. It is more of spiritual. Nigeria is like the man who stole a goat dedicated to a deity. He may enjoy the delicacy of the pepper soup. But what follows thereafter is sure to be fatal.
Generations after generations will bear the consequences. They will suffer one calamity after the other until a restitution is made and the land cleansed. Now, how does this relate? The answer is that the South East has the claim to that office today and anything else will spell doom!
See the way Tinubu, the man reputed to have “built Lagos” is messing up the entire country. See how he is smearing the Giant of Africa with mud in the eyes of the global space. The other day, as he was exiting the Charles de Gaulle Airport in France into the beautiful city of Paris, Emanuel Macron, the President was packing his bag to jet out to Egypt to interface with a fellow African President. What could be more disgraceful? What could be more telling of pure, undiluted national insult?
Why is the Asiwaju of Lagos and Jagaban Borgu, reputed to be the smartest politician in Nigeria messing up at the local and global stage so big time? Is it that the barber no longer has his skills or that his instruments are blunt? Isn’t the answer obvious that the gods are at war with the present tenant at Aso Rock Villa?
I have heard Bob-D, who also agrees that Tinubu is messing up make the argument that Atiku is the only man who can stop him. He is sure that only the Waziri, could defeat Tinubu in an election. Surely, he couldn’t be talking about popular votes. Rather, his assertion could only be euphemism for democracy by other means – winning elections outside popular votes – money for money, rigging for rigging and the likes.
Is that what Nigeria needs today? Certainly no! Nigeria needs a leader the people have agreed will lead them. Dele Momodu knows who that person is today. He knows who has the organic votes of the people, not the contrived – INEC-induced votes Tinubu and Atiku boast of – votes that offend the soul of the spirits and injure the nation. That is also the spiritual part of the problem.
You could take the rightful patrimony of an imbecile because he couldn’t challenge you, or seize the land of a widow because she couldn’t afford to hire a SAN to confront you in court, but that child you use the proceeds to fund his life of ease, could degenerate to a hooligan or drug addict and you’d be wondering where you went wrong. Nothing is wrong. Look back. You’ll find the answer. That’s the missing link in Nigeria today.
The other day, he upped the ante at the same Arise when he claimed that only a Northerner could defeat Tinubu. This, he said, could only be done through the application of Isaac Newton’s theory of motion – action and reaction are equal and opposite. It was yet another flawed attempt to take the issues away from the main argument, which is equity, justice and fair-play.
Indeed, it is not only that Atiku’s presidential quest is almost impossible to achieve, but what is the likely outcome? Is Atiku replacing Tinubu not typical of the local depiction of selling a dog to buy a monkey, which also squats? So, why is Bob-D, an otherwise very cerebral mind bent on the Atiku project if it is truly for Nigeria. Surely he ought to know that that project is a cul-de-sac – a dead-end.
If truly it is for the love of country and passion for its greatness, if indeed he is not a mole for Tinubu, doing everything to ensure Atiku fails to enable Tinubu grab, snatch and run away with the nation’s number one job, he surely knows and so do the goats and fowls know that the only truth available.
He knows the answer to Nigeria’s crisis today is PETER OBI! Yes, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election has all the arguments in his favour. The only snag is that the conspiracy of Nigeria’s elite and to a large extent, complicity of global vested interests.
Otherwise, Dele Momodu, knows that the day Atiku drops his ambition and announces that he would be supporting Obi, there would be an instant revolution – not in the people spilling into the streets, but of mind and body.
Everything will cascade into place. The impossible will become fait accompli. The coalition balloon Atiku has been labouring at, which has refused to inflate because it is perforated on all sides, will not only seal miraculously, but bloat and soar across the Nigerian political spectrum in such a way that even the naysayers will be shocked.
Let Atiku do what he failed to do in 2023, the reason Nigeria is in this sorry pass today. Yes, today’s mess is traceable to Atiku’s inordinate ambition of that year. The ex-VP tells all ears that he contested the PDP ticket because it was thrown open. Don’t be fooled with that spurious tale. Why was it thrown open? It was the manipulative hand of the selfsame Atiku. He ensured it wasn’t zoned to the South East because he wanted the ticket.
Otherwise, he had the powers to stop other hungry PDP hounds like Nyesom Wike. With him supporting Obi, neither Wike nor anyone would have had any chance. With his support, Obi would not have only beaten every other person to the PDP ticket, he would also have won the main election and become President today.
I watched Bob-D labour on that Arise outing to argue that PDP had no zoning problem. He knows that is a lie. The presidency of Nigeria rotates between North and South and between the zones in either region regardless of the party in power. It is even the official PDP constitution. He knows that much.
Now hear this again! The day Peter Obi becomes the rallying point behind the coalition with Atiku and others backing it, the entire opposition – those not being funded by Tinubu – will come together and chase away Tinubu and his evil government. The day Obi becomes Nigeria’s President, the price of milk, bread, rice, kpomo and every imaginable market commodity will crash by half. It happened when it was obvious that MKO Abiola, was coasting home to victory in 19993?
The simple realisation that Obi would not spend N10billion to install solar panels at Aso Rock, will not travel to Ghana, let alone Paris to review his records and none of his children will come close to the Presidential Jet, would take care of that. There will be instant factory reset of the country. That is what is needed today.
Come to think of it, is it not obvious that even now, Obi is the unofficial President of Nigeria? Isn’t that clear the way the world is celebrating him – today in London, tomorrow in the US, Indonesia, China, Ghana – interfacing with the global communities? Isn’t it obvious that the world knows the truth of 2023? Obi has the numbers in his organic support. He has the age, the knowledge, the zeal and passion to create a Nigeria, not of the old, but a New Nigeria of the future. Besides, equity, justice and fair-play are on his side.
So, if Dele Momodu, doesn’t know all these, then he’s not smart. Now, could any right-thinking Nigerian associate Bob-D with denseness or stupidity? If he knows and still plunges himself in the Atiku-must-be-President project, what does it portend? Patriotism? If he knows that neither the optics nor the arguments favour Atiku, why stick at it?
Today, Daniel Bwala is a Villa insider. I hear Reno Omokri, is on his way to becoming an ambassador. They were virulent Atiku men. What stops a Bob-D from becoming the next Minister of Communication in 2027? By that time, he would have reconciled with Tinubu, just like the others. Now, go figure!
