Those who ‘went’ are people whose hearts may be in politics quite all right, but their hands are ruled by pure partisanship and brinkmanship. When they speak, they hardly think in terms of history, their place in it or that of those they are making a case for. History means little to them and legacy of no value. While history is for the future, those who ‘went’ are concerned with the ephemeral present.
Such people unknowingly, wander in the wilderness of confusion. Often the comments those who went make, incendiary in nature, they tend to widen the fault lines that divide the country and leave their political party polarized. The problem with such people is that they delude themselves that they can define politics for others to drive on it. In all, they possess one consistent, single idea: a gleeful delight in the things that run against every grain of democratic spirit. High-wired politics without a safety net is their forte.
In presidential politics, the lessons of the last campaigns are always priced beyond the application of the present. The wisdom here is the intrinsic value that gives equal opportunity to all, even in the pursuit of that ultimate political prize – the presidency. In such a pursuit, rotten politics, which negates idea-based issues in place of personality attack, ought to play little part.
All of this speaks volumes. Had chief Tony Anenih, once the most powerful politician of the present dispensation, the Mr. Fix-It of modern Nigeria politics and the self-styled Leader, been more intellectual and with a benefit of hindsight, he might have taken advantage of his own huge experience in the revolving doors of our politics in which he has played an undeniably major role. If he had, he would have asked himself soberly, “why am I locating the nexus of power only around authority, as against the more acceptable, level-playing field?
The failure to understand this is why the circle is always turning each time chief Anenih speaks. Though a man of few words, each time this man speaks, it packs a wallop. It’s like the kind of impact that a fox makes on entering a chicken coop. A statement he made last week Monday in Benin, Edo state is still creating a firestorm. It is a statement that is intended to scare away all contenders to the presidency, especially in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where despite his dwindling influence, Anenih cannot be ignored.
Timing is always vital in politics. And Anenih knows when to deploy this factor into play. Speaking at the official inauguration of the President’s campaign office in Benin, Anenih who now superintends over the Board of the revenue spinning Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) used the occasion to threw gibes against Atiku Abubakar, the recently crowned “Consensus candidate” of the Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Leaders Political Forum. Anenih said, matter-of-flatly, “there is no vacancy in Aso Rock. Nigeria’s consensus candidate is still there.” The interpretation that flows from that is unmistakably clear: In the thinking of the Leader, Atiku has no chance in the forthcoming PDP presidential primaries simply because Anenih has said so. It is an intimidatory posturing that approximates, to use a basketball terminology, a slam-dunk, a terrifying blow that awaits anyone who dare challenge the incumbent president. This is not the first time Anenih would issue such threats to other aspirants. Interestingly, one man is always the target: Atiku.
That statement has always been his moment of high good feeling. In November, 2002, we spryly danced to the strains of that old favourite sound bite when he carpeted all those who were challenging president Olusegun Obasanjo’s bid for second term. In justifying his statement, Anenih claimed that OBJ “is the reason why Nigeria still remains one entity”. It was also in Benin that he issued that infamous declaration of No Vacancy. It was at the foundation laying ceremony of the FRCN – FM station. Anenih added, “If Obasanjo was not president today, Nigerians would have taken to the streets fighting themselves.” No other person, he boasted, would have behaved like OBJ. This odd theory of Anenih negates a key democratic principle that sovereignty resides with the people.
It’s a statement that sounds like a warning manifesto from the barrel of a gun. Same year, at a close door meeting with PDP chieftains from the South West, in Abeokuta, Anenih had warned all presidentials aspirants to put their ambition on hold because, in his words, “only Obasanjo, not even PDP will determine the choices Nigerians would have to make.” It was amazing how and why Anenih had to fall apart with OBJ soon after the latter secured a second term in office. Is there something in Anenih that remains unexplored? Maybe, we shall ask his current chief tormentor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the Governor of Edo state who has demystified Anenih. I recall with some vertigo how I would have lost my job as Editor, Sunday Champion in 2002 for daring to criticize Anenih. What was my offence? I had faulted Anenih’s ‘no vacancy’ theory in my Sunday column.
I was summoned to the office of the Managing Director’s, Mr. Emma Agu. There, Anenih was spitting fire on the phone on why I should fault his argument. He said he had complained to my publisher, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu that I should be dealt with. Iwuanyanwu politely passed over the matter to the MD to handle. I received a ‘slap on the wrist’ and asked to go and ‘sin no more’ against the leader. I told my boss that I did no wrong and therefore no reason to apologize or recant my position. As things turned out few months later, Anenih was right. There was “no vacancy in Aso Rock”. OBJ ran away with the presidency and wanted to remain there perhaps till only God knows when. My beef with Anenih and other blood-minded politicians who think like him is their disdain for the people and the sanctity of the electoral process.
That we have sit-tight leaders is as a result of such comments. The problem with having around such paranoid, egoistic people are that the president becomes power drunk. That’s when the president begins to confuse his own destiny with that of the country. That’s how Ibrahim Babangida as military President was consumed by his own hubris. That’s exactly how Obasanjo ran aground in his presidency. Now, Anenih is leading President Jonathan, willy-nilly, into the cemetery. Let the President be wise.
Let this be said: there’s nothing wrong with a sitting President asking for a fresh mandate from the electorate. In the case of Jonathan, it makes sense that he seeks legitimacy of the office he inherited. But such a mandate must not be sought by shutting out other aspirants. That, indeed, ought to be the beauty of democracy, that of allowing a level playing field to all aspirants. It will strengthen the incumbent president if he wins amid the motley of contenders to that high office. On the other hand, the president becomes his own private enemy if he uses the power of incumbency to muscle out other aspirants.
Whatever frustrations and disappointments some of our leaders in power have had, they have much to do with those they had attached themselves to as a means of advancing their own interests and agendas. This is one of the reasons why the expose by the whistle-blower website, Wikileaks requires more than a perfunctory attention. People like Anenih can bring anguish to the whole country. In the end, the losses are far more bitter and unforgettable than the gains.
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