Kunle Akogun
24 November 2008
Lagos — In Nigeria, politics is a perennial battle: battle for survival, battle for supremacy, battle for recognition and battle for reckoning.
It is a war of attrition of sort. No sooner is an election won or lost than grand preparation for the next "battle" begins in earnest. Surely, there is no dull moment in politics, not in the least its Nigerian variant. Like in many other states of the federation, in Ogun State, the 2011 battle for the Valley View Mansion (the seat of gubernatorial power) has started in earnest.
Which is not a bad idea at all. Nor is it surprising. In politics, as in other battles, victories could sometimes be determined by how early the combatants start assembling their respective arsenals, although this does not automatically guarantee a win. For, the noisiest combatant or bravest warrior or even the one with the largest array of weaponry does not always win the duel. Tact is almost always the winning ace.
What is however strange in the case of the Ogun State battle is the fact that some of the political combatants here have become so enamoured with the literal meaning of the word "battle" that they have come to see the electoral battle ahead in terms of physical fight. But to those with sharp memories, this literal disposition to political battle by Ogun politicians is not a surprise as such.
For, doesn't that remind one of the famed exponent of the do-or-die school of politics, a prominent indigene of the state? The surprising and appalling thing however, is the way the dramatis personae here have exclusively deployed their constructive energy on fighting personal battles after battles to the neglect of the critical business of governance, their avowed reason for being in political office.
The other day, this battle for the soul of Ogun State was eternalized by one of those being touted to be in the 2011 race for the Valley View Mansion, the former first daughter of the federation and senator representing Ogun West, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello. The venue was the First Baptist Church, Ogbomoso in far away Oyo State and the occasion was the solemnization of the holy matrimony between Oyo State Governor Alao-Akala's daughter, Olamide and her heart-throb, Olayode.
According to reports, trouble started when Senator Obasanjo-Bello, who arrived a little late to the wedding service and who sat directly behind her state governor and former boss, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, began to do a rather undistinguished solo dance in the well-packed church.
A version of the story had it that while dancing, the flaps of her dress touched the governor's cap several times, occasioning the governor's stand-bye security aide to caution the senator to take it easy. But Obasanjo-Bello, who would have none of that, reportedly dealt a couple of dirty punches on the SSS man. Another account of the story however, said as the senator stood up to dance, one of the governor's security aides pushed her and started twisting her hands to prevent her from touching the governor. This made Obasanjo-Bello to push the "unruly" security aide.
Whichever version is correct, the show of shame, an obvious ventilation of pent-up anger and a clear manifestation of the unfolding politics of intolerance in Ogun State, should be roundly condemned by all lovers of decent and decorous politics. To think that a distinguished senator of the Federal Republic would so flagrantly throw caution and decorum to the dogs and start "pushing" another government official in the public, as she herself had admitted, is terrible to imagine. It just goes to show that Nigeria is blessed (or caused?) with all manners of leaders and leaders. Leaders, who would not bat an eyelid to, if necessary, engage in fisticuffs at a public gathering.
I thank God for Governor Daniel's composure and demeanour while this altercation between his security aide and the senator lasted. It would have been a different story today if the governor had uttered a word during the show of shame, let alone raising a hand.
But this is not an endorsement of the sometimes ungubernatorial conducts of Governor Daniel, who is reputed to have fought many battles with virtually everybody that is somebody in the state: party mates, opposition figures and even apolitical royal fathers. For a state that produced the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief M.K.O. Abiola and even Gen Olusegun Obasanjo to be turned into a grand political battlefield, where all sorts of Abacha tactics of intimidation, deception, subterfuge and treachery are being employed either to cow the people into submission or create the false impression of phoney popularity, is sickening.
It is on record that the governor is currently in running battles with not only opposition figures like Ibikunle Amosun, a former PDP senator and ANPP gubernatorial candidate in last year's election; Otunba Dipo Dina, AC gubernatorial candidate and Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, he is also in the trenches with the erstwhile Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Sarafa Tunji Ishola as well as the incumbent Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Dimeji Sabur Bankole, not to mention his well publicised war of words with the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Michael Gbadebo and the recently elected Speaker of the state House of Assembly.
The root of all these multi-pronged battles could be traced to the 2011 governorship contest in the state, as the governor, who is no longer eligible to contest, is said to be bent on neutralising all potential heirs to the gubernatorial throne with a view to propping his stooge.
In all these battles however, the governor has so far restrained himself from going physical unlike the senator. He has been using subtle weapons of mass destruction to cut down his perceived enemies, those he sees as potential obstacles to his not so hidden agenda of installing a relatively unknown successor.
In that regard, he could engineer the removal of a minister whom he considers a thorn in his flesh due to the minister's steadily rising political profile especially among the masses in the state; he could arrange the arrest and long detention of a gubernatorial opponent, who mysteriously secured classified documents detailing how Ogun state treasury is being fleeced; he could subterraneously orchestrate and fund an ongoing campaign to discredit the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives; he could instigate the removal of a PDP zonal chairman for being too close to his opponents; he could brow-beat royal fathers into cancelling already publicised chieftaincy title awards to his political opponents. He could do all these and more, but he has never physically punched anybody (at least not to one's knowledge) in public who doesn't share his political vision for Ogun state.
What happened in Ogbomoso also raises a pertinent question about the fixation of our public officials with security details. Why are our leaders so fixated with security aides? In particular, why wouldn't a governor give himself a moment's break while in the precincts of the church? Indeed, why wouldn't Governor Daniel relieve himself of a hard breathing, tough looking security assistant when inside that supposed house of God, the ultimate security guard and protector? Do our leaders even believe that God's ultimate protection is above all else?
The combatants in Ogun state should take it easy for the battle is fast assuming a roforofo dimension, a messy sort of affray, the type, which the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, himself an indigene of the state, said, is unpalatable and so unbecoming of respectable adults, let alone supposed leaders.
If indeed their ultimate battle cry is to protect the greatest interests of the greatest number of Ogun indigenes, these political leaders should be more civil in their struggle for political power and political relevance. Politics needs not be so dirty. It doesn't have to be reduced to physical confrontation. It should not be a treacherous undertaking either.
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