Bisi Ojediran
14 October 2008
opinion
Lagos — Perhaps, the only thing that appears to make sense the way politics is played here is that "there is nothing personal in politics."
How else do we explain the sudden turn in the Lodoja- Akala relations in Oyo State. The Governor, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, visited his predecessor, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, in his Bodija, Ibadan residence, at 2 pm on September 30 in the spirit of the Eid el-fitri celebration, but obviously towards rebuilding their relationship.
According to reports, Alao-Akala was received by the former governor, his wife, Alhaja Mutiat Ladoja, and scores of supporters who were around to catch a glimpse of the reconciliatory visit.
Islamic clerics who were there, prayed for the two leaders and urged Allah to sustain the peace that visit signified. He was later seen off to his car by his predecessor amidst singing and dancing by some women, who were in Ladoja's house for the Sallah celebration.
Of course, one didn't expect Alao-Akala, called Bayo Akala in Ogbomoso, to talk too much. "I came to greet my elder brother, we are members of the same family, we are together," he told reporters.
Ladoja was reported to have told journalists that, "I am no longer holding any grudge against anybody. When I was addressing supporters recently after my return from Lagos, I was sandwiched between Senator Teslim Folarin and Mr. Hazeem Gbolarumi, who was deputy governor when I was impeached."
He also said he would rather be an Olubadan of Ibadan to contribute his quota to the development of the city, than go back to the Governor's House.
A good stage-managed event, it made the headlines the following morning. It is hoped that it leads to the much-desired peace in a state traumatised by garrison or amala politics. But I also hope Ladoja and Bayo Akala remember to apologise for the many deaths and injuries they have caused. And also for the "arrested development" of Ibadan, once the pride of the nation. I went to Ibadan early this year to monitor the sale of my books, and believe me, I shed tears over the ghost of a city.
During the reign of garrison politics, the government had ship loads of intimidating thugs, but I wonder why politicians equate thuggery with popularity. Like mercenaries, there will always be thugs if the money is right. There are many men who are making a living off the dangerous side of Nigerian politics. They are not just paid to protect. They are also paid to alter perceptions and, when necessary, to alter outcomes. They draw crowds that can make a politician seem more powerful and influential than he actually is. And once they begin, they get some wicked adrenaline rush and they continue. The feeling it gives them to change political trends is exhilarating. Those are not the people I am talking about.
I mean the innocent and the poor who were caught in the cross fire. But it does seem that no one can succeed in politics in Nigeria if they put the needs of the have-nots before the whims of the haves, or more accurately, the have-mores.
Any political situation that impoverishes or kills people make me sick. The reason is simple. The master-minds do not suffer the pain. And in the end, just like Ladoja and Bayo Akala, they make peace because in politics, nothing is personal.
A similar situation is playing out in Bauchi State, where two former friends have been at each other's throat because in politics, nothing is personal. My heart goes out to the people there and for the development of the state I fell in love with during my many visits as a reporter.
Bauchi does not have a place in my memory because of the alarm that one of the participants of a workshop I attended in the state capital had fainted when the morning session was beginning. The man had taken along a 'hand bag' from Lagos to enjoy Bauchi. I don't know what happened overnight, but the man fainted in the morning, and we all panicked.
I liked Bauchi city because of the comfort of the venues we used, the clean city and friendly people. I liked Bauchi for keeping the memory of Tafawa Balewa through his well kept tomb. Leadership, during his era was earned.
Bauchi State was formed in 1976 when the former North-Eastern State was broken up. It originally included the area now in Gombe State, which became a distinct state in 1996. The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University is located in the capital city Bauchi. The State shares borders with Plateau State to the West, Kano State to the North and Yobe and Gombe States to the north-east.
Bauchi state is largely an agricultural state with advantage for agricultural products, which include maize, rice, millet, groundnut and guinea corn. Irrigation farming is practised and supported by the use of dams like Balanga dam and others.
The State's inviting tourist attractions include the Marshal Caves, Yankari Natural Park, Wikki Warm Spring, Natural Yankari Park, Tafawa Balewa Tomb Monument, Lame/Bura Game Wildlife/Eco- Reserve Tourism, Geji Rock Painting Monuments. Impressive, you would say. I have been to nearly all those places, which made me fall more in love with the state.
Bauchi City is the venue for the power play in the state. The Governor, Isa Yuguda is of the ANPP. His predecessor is Adamu Mu'azu of the PDP. Both were long time friends, indeed very close. They have also been long players in the private sector, where value for money is key to investment decisions.
Yuguda is a former Aviation Minister and former Managing Director of Inland Bank. A strong background.
It is said that Mu'azu's sense for investment was wide awake as early as his school days when he bought stuffs to sell to his mates. Nuhu Ribadu is said to be one of his notable mates. He attended the School of Basic Studies at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria and later received a Bachelors of Science degree in Quantity Surveying. From 1980 to 1983, Mu'azu worked as a Quantity Surveyor/Project Manager in the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Welfare, Youth, Sports and Culture in Kano State. He returned to his alma mater in 1983 for a Masters of Science degree in Construction Management. He served as property manager of the Bauchi State Investment and Property Development Company before attending Birmingham University in the United Kingdom and receiving a second Masters degree, this time in the area of Construction Economics. Between 1984 and his election as state governor in 1999, Mu'azu worked as a businessman in the private sector.
As Governor, Mu'azu was said to have become high-handed in the later parts of his tenure. So powerful was he as a party leader that he decided who became what in governance in Bauchi State. But in what has become a testimony that ultimate power belongs to God, Yaguda, surprised many book makers to win the April 14 gubernatorial race. He was initially disqualified from the contest by the state PDP leadership and had to decamp to contest on the platform of ANPP, the opposition party. Many factors including the Buhari are said to have contributed to this rare victory but indeed the humbling effect should have spread all over the State.
Naturally Yuguda must be pained as perhaps the Grand Master (IBB) is pained by former President Obasanjo for not only writing him an epistle on how he could not succeed him but ensuring that he didn't. But the humbling effect of Yaguda's victory should let him have a rethink about his war with Mu'azu, over which the people of that beautiful state are suffering.
In the run-up to the governorship elections, at least five persons were feared killed in Azare Fatiha town when supporters of Mu'azu and those of Yuguda clashed at a wedding. According to a THIS DAY report, apart from the five persons that were feared dead several others were wounded while properties running into several millions of naira were destroyed. Believe me, one day soon, Yuguda and Mu'azu will be palls again. The people and the resources of the state should not be wasted away in the on-going war. It is not fair to say that Mu'azu achieved nothing on the socio-economic front. In fact my interest in Bauchi state was rekindled when a popular television programme noted that Bauchi state under Mu'azu was growing at a faster rate than Bayelsa state that was being plundered by former Governor Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha.
It is also for a good reason that the Nigeria Media Merit Award night would hold in Bauchi. No matter how much support Bayo Akala offered during the garrison politics of Oyo State, there was no way the eminent Nigerians behind the awards would have chosen Ibadan as a venue.
Although some people say Mu'azu played to the gallery, I have confirmed from many sources that he indeed did well in rural electrification, road construction and education. Mu'azu was not a failure in development. No, please.
Having shown Mu'azu that power belongs to God and not a long-time friend, perhaps what Yuguda needs to show is that he can perform better than Mu'azu, and indeed that the ANPP is a more human-orientated party. For Mu'azu, he has done his bit. He should give Yuguda the chance. Until his next public office, he could do with some rest on the sidelines.
All the good people of Bauchi should rise to save the state from the needless war. As I said earlier, Yuguda and Mu'azu will be pals again. Their supporters should note this and stop fanning the fire that is engulfing Bauchi.
Conspiracy of Lagos
This is the title of my new novel ready for the market. Like New York, Lagos is a city of immense opportunities. But it has its wrong turns. Conspiracy of fate took my protagonist to all the wrong places of town that ended him in a hole. There, he felt as though Lagos, a city he loved, had conspired against him. The title of the book I wrote before ever contemplating my return to THISDAY has nothing to do with the misunderstanding between the paper and the Lagos State government.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
