Unseating Tinubu: A Coalition or Collision of Interests? -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

One should not be defeated in hoping that there is hope for Nigeria. That is why critical writers should continue to write to critique government steps and missteps, actions and inactions. For the same reason, advocates for good governance should continue to advocate for transparency and accountability in government circle. Also, human rights activists should carry on with their activism. When hope is completely lost, writing, advocacy, activism would be of no use.

Similarly, politicians should continue their politicking. What politicians do or choose not to do cannot always be adjudged to be wrong. In other words, politicking does not always connote evil or derogatory act. It entirely connotes evil and derogatory act when it becomes the sole business of government. This is exactly what politicking has become under the current All Progressives Congress (APC) government headed by the Master Politician, President Tinubu. It is a party that has a chronic dislike for good governance under a ruler that loves power only for the sake of power.

To clip his wings and those of his party, and also send him back to his Bourdillon School of Politics where he is worshipped like a demigod, politicians         teamed up to form a coalition  These politicians are called different names. Some APC government data boys call them Internally Displaced Politicians. We also learned they are fake and expired politicians. Though I find the ruling party too nauseating for my liking, yet, I must confess, I enjoy some of their jabs at the coalition. If one is a careful observer who could make an objective analysis of some key actors in the coalition, one may not have problem with the APC lackeys calling politicians in the coalition fake, expired, and Internally Displaced Politicians (IDPs). Are they really not internally displaced politicians?

But yet, “even in churches, there are witches and wizards.” I lifted this quote from Deji Adeyanju’s recent Facebook post where he pleaded to the controversial activist and “trouble maker”, Omoyele Sowore, to join the coalition. Turning Adeyanju’s quote upside down, we can then say even in the midst of fake, expired, and internally displaced politicians, there might also be real,  active, and Internally Dependable Politicians (IDPs).

On this note, the coalition is a welcome development. As for the IDPs in the current coalition, we can say this is their own way of saying all hopes are not lost. It could be their way of saying NO to “Tinubucracy”—Tinubu’s one party state—; and YES to restoration of democracy. Democracy in Nigeria has indeed lost its meaning since two years ago when the current Nigerian President was elected by minority and voted against by the majority.

However, the coalition has been criticized of an attempt to hijack power. This criticism is in order; the ruling party is right to have said so. If the coalition does not have hijacking of power—through the ballots—as its major agenda, it means members in the coalition are stupid. What is the function of a coalition, in the political sense, if not to hijack power? Recently, the fear of power being hijacked has actually gripped the ruling party. But that shouldn’t be the headache of the suffering Nigerians. What should be our concern is what the power would be used for if the coalition eventually emerges triumphant in 2027. Would the coalition use the power for general benefits or abuse it? Let’s start asking the question.

Under this current regime, power has actually been abused and misused. How can we prevent the coalition from abusing power if victory smiles at it after the poll? This should be our concern. Apparently, no difference or much difference, if any, between those who want to seize power and those who currently wield it. One would struggle hard to point to any of the political heavyweights in the coalition who was not, before now, an APC or a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member. Are they not the same people that brought Nigeria to its knees?

So I find it hilarious when they were called the Internally Displaced Politicians. If they had not been displayed and made irrelevant by Tinubu, they would have been praising the government actions and inactions as always the right thing to do. Yes, they wouldn’t have been different from those data boys. I hope Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje too will join soon to extract his pound of flesh from the APC he laboured to bring to power only to realize that he is as dispensable as tissue paper. I wish him quick recovery from his “health challenge” that caused him to resign from his position as APC Chairman. It is not too late for him to join Nasiru El-Rufai in the coalition to uproot the evil seed they planted in the Nigerian political soil. The seed has germinated. It has produced some fruits and agbado (maize). But because the seed is evil, its fruits are bitter and poisonous.

Sadly, the masses have no other option than to eat the poisonous fruits. In case Ganduje joins the coalition, now that he is politically displaced, he will not be the only former APC Chairman in the coalition. John Oyegun is there already; perhaps waiting for him.

Would the coalition able to unseat Tinubu? Only God knows. If it unseats Tinubu, would it be any better? Still, only God knows. For, who does one trust among the politicians in the coalition? How many of them are free of corruption, looting, and abuse of power? What assurance do we have that this coalition will be different from the one that sent former President Goodluck Jonathan to Otueke?

Nasiru El-Rufai, one of the most prominent, if not the most prominent members of the coalition is obviously on vengeance mission against Tinubu. I have no problem with that . He has the democratic and constitutional rights to hold grudges against Tinubu or any president. He does not hide it. His mission is to uproot the evil seed he regrettably helped to sow. He said it clearly that he is not interested in contesting for president. I strongly believe him.

But if the coalition eventually sends Tinubu packing, while Abubakar Atiku, Peter Obi, or any of the expired politicians (for that matter) becomes the President, would El-Rufai offer constructive criticisms? Would he complain to the expired politicians that the masses are suffering if they are indeed suffering? This is the responsibility he must be ready to bear.

Finally, what is coalition? To confirm that I still know what coalition means and that my understanding has not been affected by T-pain, I checked my dictionary. It tells me coalition is “A combination or alliance, especially a temporary one, of persons, factions, states, or parties formed to further a common cause or achieve a specific goal.” The specific goal here is power (the Presidency). The challenge here is that it is temporary. What happens after the capture of power? Collision of Interests or liberating the masses? Time will tell.

My take in all this? The coalition should be supported or at least any party that can arrest Nigeria’s slide into full-fledged autocracy.

I wish to use this medium to remind the APC government and whoever is in charge that many civil servants are yet to get their June salary. This column, as usual, always send this polite reminder. When I checked the Federal Government Calendar, under President Tinubu, it say today (Friday) is June 34.

May God help Nigeria.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen.

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com