Nigerians are good at stretching a particular cliché. Even when the slang does not fit appropriately, it does not really matter. But you cannot blame them, especially considering what they may have gone through in such instances.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s for instance, virtually all actions by the civilian leaders and succeeding military rulers, were easily attributed to the Kaduna Mafia.
Members of the Mafia were not known to the public. They were largely faceless. It was held that the group comprised some northern establishment politicians as well as serving and retired military top shots from the zone. But it was the fad to blame them for major decisions by the government, especially those perceived to be against the expectations of most Nigerians.
Given the awe at which the Kaduna Mafia was held, it was readily exploited by unscrupulous elements within and outside government to wreck the country.
Apparently to create their own clout, by the time General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and his gang ousted General Muhammadu Buhari in a palace coup on August 27, 1985, a group of young military officers through who Babangida rode to power, constituted themselves into the so-called IBB Boys.
They were seen as the foot soldiers of the administration. While they reigned, they exerted tremendous influence on their boss and the country. Being identified as IBB Boy at the time, also became a ready passport to any office in the land.
It was this crop of officers that were said to have advised or threatened Babangida against handing over power to MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1983 presidential election.
Whether it was their advice or threat that led IBB to the odious action or his personal decision, remains an issue of debate. But what was obvious at the time was their suffocating grip on the man that in the public, cut the image of an “evil genius” but was essentially a paper tiger, in reality.
At the inglorious exit of the regime and ascension of Sani Abacha, another group of young officers encircled the dark-goggled General. These were the Abacha Boys, loathed for what was seen as their lethal tendencies in dealing with perceived critics and opponents of their boss.
The stern-looking members of the group, left in their murderous trail, blood and sorrow, with the result that when Abacha conscripted the then five political parties to adopt him as the sole presidential candidate in his ill-fated transition programme, there was little or no opposition. Only his death in controversial circumstances on Monday, June 8, 1998, could stop Abacha from actualizing his gravely flawed ambition.
In Abdulsalami Abubakar transition and Olusegun Obasanjo civilian administration, cabal manipulations actually existed but were not too overt probably because they were better managed or Nigerians did not take keen interest. The practice however loomed large in the Umaru Yar’Adua administration.
From the inauguration of the government, it was certain that certain members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), were bent on having their way in the affairs of the nation, while the late President merely played the role of a figure head. Even Obasanjo who had hoped to remote control Yar’Adua, was knocked off the game.
But the most bizarre dimension of the antics began to unfold the moment Yar’Adua’s failing health began to take grave toll on him. Virtually vegetative on account of his disoriented health status, the late President became a pun in the political chase game of Aso Rock. In the process, different tendencies in the Villa, appropriated and dropped his name in carrying out their selfish and group agenda.
Not even the Nigerian voters were spared the ugly power play. While it was obvious that the President had been grossly incapacitated, a dummy was sold to Nigerians that all was well with him. It was so bad that even when his condition had so much deteriorated to the point of his being spirited out and later stretchered back in unconscious state, Nigerians were kept in the dark, till he died.
The thought of Goodluck Jonathan who succeeded Yar’Adua changing the trend, ended up being misplaced. Even with good health and enticing academic credentials, Jonathan was more victim of cabal politics than his predecessors. This resulted in his aides stealing the country blind.
It was hoped that by electing Muhammadu Buhari, Nigerians would have a President that would be in charge. But it only took weeks into the inauguration of the administration for the world to realise that Buhari had from the onset, been seized by a cabal comprising his Daura, Katsina State kinsmen and other relations. From his appointments to policy initiative, he left no one in doubt that he was brazenly serving a Muslim North agenda.
It is therefore, hardly surprising that as he battles with his poor state of health, those around him have stubbornly blocked Nigerians from knowing how he is faring. Not many, therefore, can really estimate the magnitude of the trouble with him.
Cabal, in real term, is not strange in politics. Depending also on its usage, it is not, on the surface, a bad idea. It refers to a tiny group, a clique that ordinarily should facilitate the process of governance. The problem with the term or phenomenon in Nigeria, is the tendency of abuse that has always trailed it.
This is the situation with the management of Buhari’s health status. For an elected President, he is a public property. In that case, there are limits to which he can be shielded from the electorate.
Nigerians are entitled to know what is wrong with their President and how he feels. By that, they are not being done a favour. It is rather a matter of right on their part and an obligation on the part of the President and his handlers. This is part of the obligations of governance as enunciated by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in their social contract theory.
Besides, in asking for votes, Buhari had promised Nigerians transparency in running the affairs of the state, if elected. Transparency should also include letting them into the true state of his health.
This is the time for him to demonstrate the virtues of patriotism that he had been preaching even in his days as military ruler. If he truly believes in what he says and gets convinced that he can no longer sustain the demands of the office, patriotism demands that he does the needful.
It is expected of him to toe the path of grace and resign, in such instance. That would earn him great deal of honour and respect from Nigerians.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
