By Fattykolly Ibn Alimi
Life is a strange teacher. It does not shout. It does not hurry. It simply waits – and when it decides to teach, even the most powerful will sit in its classroom.
If you remember, on the night of February 5, 2019, Nasir El-Rufai sat boldly on NTA, looked into the camera, and warned the entire world – America, Britain, the European Union – that anyone who dared to intervene in Nigeria’s affairs would return home in body bags.
He was Governor. He was powerful. He was untouchable. He spoke as a man who felt he was above the law, above caution, above consequence.
Nigerians begged him to be careful. Diplomats protested. The opposition called for a travel ban. But the Presidency clapped for him. He was praised for “defending national interest.” He felt invincible.
Who would have thought that seven years later, the same man would be counting days in detention – 256 days – and writing a desperate letter not to Kaduna, not to Aso Rock, but to Washington and Paris?
On October 30, 2026, El-Rufai tagged Donald Trump – the President of the same United States he warned – and Emmanuel Macron of France, and the UN, EU, AU, CNN, BBC – begging: “Give me fair trial, not favour.”
Oh, the irony! The man who said foreigners should not intervene is now begging foreigners to intervene.
The man who said they will go back in body bags is now begging that he should not be forgotten in detention.
This is not just politics. This is life teaching a lesson.
El-Rufai’s history is full of such moments. A man credited with many controversial, even blasphemous statements against the Christian faith, statements for which he never apologised. A man who once told opponents to “climb Kufena Hill and fall.” A man who publicly admitted to paying herdsmen. He always spoke as if words have no weight, as if power will last forever.
But power is a tenant. It does not stay forever.
Today, the rascality has met reality. The man who felt he could say anything and get away with it has discovered that natural justice keeps its own calendar. It does not use police handcuffs first – it uses time, and it uses irony.
This should be a lesson to every politician who thinks today’s microphone is forever.
Yesterday you were the one threatening the world. Today you are the one appealing to the world.
Yesterday you said Nigeria does not need foreign eyes. Today you are saying without foreign eyes, you will not get justice.
Sometimes, yesterday’s words become today’s reality.
El-Rufai is not learning this lesson alone. He is teaching all of us – that no matter how high you climb, speak with humility. That no matter how powerful you are, remember the prison door swings both ways. That no matter how much you believe you are above the law, the law of retribution, the law of karma, the law of God, is above you.
May he get the fair trial he seeks. But may we all learn – be careful what you say when power is in your hands, because you do not know when you will need the mercy you denied others.
