By Emeka Obasi
There sees to be something new perfuming the polity following the emergence of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, with millions weighing their options as preparations for the 2027 Presidential elections accelerate to Gear Five.
My expectations were that President Bola Tinubu would support a candidate from the South-East geo-political zone and step aside honourably on May 29, 2027. Nigeria deserves heroes. That bold act would have made Asiwaju a true healer of broken hearts.
I had advised Mr. President to prop up his son Seyi, as governor of Lagos State. However, many of those who have benefited so much from Tinubu’s magnanimity thought I was sailing into dangerous territory, claiming that they cannot serve son after the father. They did not remember that it had happened before that Otunba Niyi Adebayo became state governor many years after his father, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo left office.
Change is constant. I have been hearing this chant since the Second Republic when Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo tried to form an alliance to sack President Shehu Shagari and his National Party of Nigeria in 1983. Some Northern governors joined the Progressive Governors Forum.
The Fourth Republic needs Change in 2027. There must be something new, away from the the present hard times where life has become most unbearable for millions of citizens, like never before. Some of those who eat from the Presidential Kitchen are shielding the truth from Jagaban.
I say this based on interactions. Somewhere on Victoria Island Lagos in 2008, I was in the midst of politicians, among them, Dr. Doyin Okupe. The physician talked about power and praise singing. He used Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo to drive this story home.
Okupe said during 1999 presidential campaigns, he was so close to Obasanjo that the general’s room was free for all his close sides who crashed on the same bed after long journeys. There was no discrimination or protocol and suggestions were freely served without inhibitions.
However, when Obasanjo became president, some of his appointees began to make him look like super human. I heard Okupe clearly when he remarked that at a point, one minister had to crawl from his seat to go talk to the president, in the same living room.
Back to the NDC. We all know that Mr. Peter Obi does not give shishi. Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso is not frivolous. Someone informed me that Senator Seriake Dickson is ‘Aka Gum’. Honestly, these are the kind of leaders the country needs at this time. We should do away with spendthrifts.
Obi needs little introduction. Until recently when he began to wear the Indonesian Suharto cap, it was difficult to sequester him from the simple black up and down. His black shoes are available and affordable. You do not need to be as healthy as Femi Otedola to compete with Obi in dressing.
The First time I saw Kwankwaso was in in Benin City, my place of birth. Governor Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State, had invited some of us from Lagos to watch him play football at the Ogbe Stadium, sometime in 2002. The then Kano State governor wore his trademark white.
Kwankwaso did not carry airs. He remained cool. I cannot now remember his location at the Government House when Igbinedion regaled us with stories of why he quit goalkeeping in Europe. The cold was biting, so the lucky thing to do was to switch to an attacking role.
Now, this Obi/Kwankwaso partnership is alluring. Nigeria needs men, not bad followers. Tinubu stood firm and was never bought with money or power. That is a strong quality. I am happy Obi and Kwankwaso have refused to be harassed and harangued.
I am not aware that Obi stole Anambra State shishi. In terms of choice of automobile, I liken him to Chief Moshood Abiola. It is difficult to rate Obi’s car among the wonderful on wheels. MKO did not own any eye catching vehicle in Lagos. At least, I visited his Ikeja house and saw him at the National Stadium Surulere, severally.
One former governor, who served between 1999 and 2003, swore that if Kwankwaso got billions from the Federal purse as Kano State allocation, 99 percent of the revenue would be spent to develop Kano. Maybe, one percent would be set aside, for politics.
There is something about the the NDC. The party in power in Grenada is known as NDC. The Prime Minister is Dickon Mitchell. That sounds like Dickson, the NDC leader in Nigeria. Both are lawyers. Before Dickon, there was Keith Mitchell. His party is NNP, New National Party. It reminds us of Kwankwaso’s NNPP.
NDC is the ruling party in Ghana. The difference is that while we have Nigeria Democratic Congress, the others are National Democratic Congress. President John Mahama lived in Kwara State.
The combination of Obidients and Kwankwasiyya is a welcome development. Kano politicians looking Southwards is not strange. Aminu Kano was once an Executive Committee Member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, NCNC.
Abubakar Rimi resigned as governor and joined Zik’s Nigerian Peoples Party, in 1983. The NCNC and Aminu Kano’s Northern Elements Progressive Union, NEPU, worked together in the 1959 Federal elections.
I repeat, Nigeria needs men who can stand the heat of power. Tinubu did not join the ruling party in power, between 2003 and 2015. Obi and Kwankwaso have shown they are solid. All those who ran to APC for cover should watch out for NDC.
There appears to be an unusual calm in the fold of the APC across the South-South zone, following the alleged imposition of candidates by governors.
It is a mirror held before the Nigerian republic itself – a republic still searching for institutional maturity, ideological coherence, and moral steadiness.
