Many have argued that politics is all about projection and
protection of interests. This, they explain, is why politicians seek alliances
and sometimes godfathers to brighten their electoral fortunes. Nevertheless, in
projecting these interests, especially in a democracy, the will of the people
is expected to prevail. This means that no matter how formidable the network of
alliances may be it is the electorate that should ultimately decide the fate of
a politician. This explains why in a democracy, the majority can have
their way but the minority must have their say.
This is where former President
Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent confession that he foisted Jigawa State Governor,
Sule Lamido, on the people is rather unsettling. The former president, who
spoke as a guest at the Jigawa State Economic Summit, said Lamido has shown by
his achievements in office that he was the right person to lead the state. He
said, “You people of Jigawa, once again, I congratulate you and I congratulate
myself; because if you can say, yes, Obasanjo foisted this one (Governor
Lamido) on us, it is a good foisting. It comes to one thing that you will say,
you can help anybody to find a job but you cannot help anybody to do the job.
In this case, we found a job for Sule Lamido. Sule Lamido was ready, willing,
able and competent to do the job.”
Critics insinuate that the later
part of the remark that; “You can only help someone to get a job; you cannot
help him to do the job”, may have been directed at President Goodluck Jonathan,
with whom he is perceived to have fallen apart lately.
Obasanjo is widely believed to
have solely picked President Jonathan as a running mate to late President Umaru
Yar’Adua in 2011, over and above other major contenders including former
governors Peter Odili and Donald Duke of Rivers and Cross River states,
respectively. However, indications are that Obasanjo and Jonathan have
since parted ways. They disagree over a wide range of issues including
Jonathan’s performance in office, the state of the nation, the crisis in the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). As a matter of fact, Obasanjo is reportedly
opposed to the President going for re-election in 2015. Even when his media
handlers have made several efforts to brush aside the perceived friction
between him and Jonathan, Obasanjo’s carriage has hardly helped matters.
Last Wednesday, May 29, for
instance, Obasanjo not only shunned invitation to President Jonathan’s
presentation of mid-term report of his administration on Democracy Day to attend
the Dutse event, he also eulogized Lamido for his achievements, saying the road
to Jigawa from Kano was better than that from Lagos to Ibadan, thus, drawing a
parallel between the Jigawa State governor and many other governors in the
country.
He made a subtle suggestion on
the governor to go for a higher office, stressing that his performance profile
should be enough to carry him through. “That is if he agrees to do, but if he
does not agree to do, there is nothing an Obasanjo can do about it”, he however
noted.
Obasanjo’s critics observe
however that his actions are undemocratic and unfitting of a statesman, adding
that they run contrary to every known democratic principle. Their argument is
that while the former president reserves the right to align with any politician
depending on where his interests lie, to admit that he foisted a supposedly
elected official on a people, amounted to insulting the sensibilities of the
electorate. “What he is in affect saying is that the majority in Jigawa had
their say in 2011 but Obasanjo had his way. This is the opposite of democracy”,
noted an obviously enraged commentator, who asked not to be mentioned.
Others agree that Obasanjo has
the right to support particular candidates he believes would protect his vested
interests but disagree on his methodology. They described the open admission of
imposition of candidates on the people of Jigawa as unbecoming of a statesman.
According to them, Obasanjo should have restricted himself to providing
financial and logistic support to Lamido and not imposing him on the people of
Jigawa against their will.
Source: Daily Independent
0 comments:
Post a Comment