It's not right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs -- Matt. 15:26
THE most likely explanation of Matthew 15:26 is: "Don't treat what is holy and godly as common and profane." While this is not a religious discourse, Matthew 15:26 is quite in line with my topic of discussion - the call for Tinubu to form a government of national unity by some lazy politicians. It's heartwarming listening to President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, diplomatically disregarding the rather bizarre call for a government of national unity by promising to adopt more positive considerations when forming his government. He promised not to be weighed down by considerations extraneous to ability and performance. I expect nothing less from Tinubu - the political cat with nine lives. The purpose of this piece is, on one hand, to highlight Tinubu's ability to see through political tricks no matter how disguised they are and on the other hand, highlight the relentlessness and unending tricks of politicians to manipulate situations to position themselves for personal advantages even if they have to reap where they did not sow or worse, where they tried to destroy the farm altogether.
Let's start with the definition of a government of national unity to see through government of national unity balderdash. The most elementary definition of a government of national unity is government that is based on a broad coalition, the members of which also include representatives of rival political parties. A government of national unity is usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency. Given this elementary definition, one will be left wondering if Nigeria was at war or facing any serious national emergency in 2023 to necessitate the formation of a government of national unity by Tinubu. In any case, the results of the 2023 National Assembly elections across the country make nonsense of any call for a national government with rival political parties having enough representation in the two chambers of the National Assembly to form the needed opposition to check real, perceived or even unimaginable shortcomings of the incoming Tinubu administration if and when necessary.
Actually, the call for a government of national unity is sillier than ordinarily understood when deeply probed. For instance, which national unity is the call for Tinubu to form trying to address more than the unity mechanism embedded in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which makes it mandatory for every Nigerian president to appoint at least one minister from each state of the Federation and the FCT? Even more problematic to the advocates of a government of national unity is the nomadic inclinations of Nigerian politicians. For example, what will happen when Tinubu appoints somebody from a particular state on the basis of his/her party affiliation and the candidate move to the APC? This not only make nonsense of the call for a government of national unity by Tinubu but also confirms the foresightedness of the authors of the Nigerian Constitution for envisaging and checking unholy, profane and absolutely unnecessary advocacies like the call for Tinubu to form a government of national unity by some lazy politicians to whom political appointments are as critical and non-negotiable to their survival as water is to fish.
This ludicrous call is not without its comical side. It's funny that members of the opposition making the call are, on one hand, yet to recognise and approve the victory of Tinubu in the spirit of sportsmanship and on the other hand, they are adopting lazy and impractical means to make the list of the upcoming cabinet or at least grab positions that otherwise should go to loyal and hardworking APC members who invested so much to make Tinubu's presidency a reality. Does it make sense for all the major political parties to be in court challenging Tinubu's victory while at the same time warlords of the parties are running pillar to post trying to make it into the list of appointments of the administration? Talk about neither being fish nor fowl. In summary, the call for a government of national unity is more for personal gains than the unity of Nigeria or the success of the incoming administration and shouldn't be taken serious.
Truth is, many members of the opposition are desperately aiming to reap where they did not sow by the call for a government of national unity (as if there ever was a government not of national unity). It's a foxy strategy to keep afloat while positioning themselves for lucrative positions which they may take advantage of to undermine the incoming administration with an added advantage of empowering themselves for the next round of general elections in 2027. Lest I forget to mention, the race for 2027 begins with the formation of Tinubu's cabinet in the next few weeks. It's therefore, comforting watching Tinubu shooting down the "government of national unity" kite and killing the dreams of these freeloaders to enter by the window the corridors of power they couldn't enter by the door.
It's equally heartwarming to hear Tinubu promising Nigerians a government of national competence as opposed to the self-serving government of national unity he's being harassed by the opposition to adopt. He, in few words, told these new converts of national unity that it's not going to be business as usual. He said: "The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous and just Nigeria. There shall be young people. Women shall be prominent. Whether your faith leads you to pray in a church or mosque will not determine your place in government. Character and competence will.
"To secure our nation and to make it prosperous must be our top priorities. We cannot sacrifice these goals for political expediencies. The whims of politics must take a backseat to the imperatives of governance." Needless to say, only well-meaning and committed Nigerians under the supervision of a respected and trusted leader like Tinubu should be trusted with this job. To say that dangerous contents injected into the system through both the conventional and social media during the 2023 general election campaigns by the entire opposition community debunks any false advocacy for the unity of Nigeria is to say the least. Major TV stations were at different times fined by the NBC for allowing dangerous contents to be fed Nigerians by politicians desperate to rule Nigeria even if it's reduced to ashes.
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The declaration and threat to the judiciary by LP's Vice Presidential candidate, Datti Baba Ahmed, is still a raging topic in the media. Speaking with Channels TV's Seun Akimbaloye, Datti went overboard and said swearing-in Tinubu as president is "ending democracy" and a clear violation of the 1999 Constitution. He impressed his bigger boss, former President Obasanjo, even less because not long after, Obasanjo had to organise a make-belief event to advocate for the healing of Nigeria as if Nigeria needed to be healed from anything other than the effects of insidious remarks and irresponsible political behaviour of politicians like Peter Obi and Datti Baba Ahmed.
Now, how does one begin to understand the unity these desperate politicians are aiming to achieve with the ill-conceived government of national unity they are pursuing?
·Dammallam, a political analyst and member of APC PCC, wrote from Katsina
