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Leading to the 2015 general election, while Goodluck Jonathan was President, Nasir el-Rufai, immediate past governor of Kaduna State, was in the fore of a coalition of political activists and politicians giving Jonathan hell. Anything el-Rufai and the coalition did not accuse the President of was what they did not think up.
Among the charges against the Jonathan government were profligacy, inability to tackle terrorism and killings in the country, insensitivity to the plight of ordinary citizens, failure to permanently resolve dispute between the government and university teachers, etc.
Alongside el-Rufai in the brotherhood and sisterhood of activists railing against Jonathan were some unarguably patriotic and respected citizens. These took up the task of marching and pillorying Jonathan, insisting through their words and actions that his government was irredeemable. For most of those opposed to Jonathan, even from the inception of his presidency, nothing but booting him out of the presidency could pacify them. The coalition was national to a reasonable extent and the members spoke with one voice. They needed a Nigeria that would work better. Prominent among those who stood side by side with el-Rufai in the single-minded campaign to get rid of Jonathan were the political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Pastor Tunde Bakare, brilliant attorney and former chairman of the Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, and Hadiza Bala Usman, among others. Oby Ezekwesili and Hadiza were to use the platform of Bring Back Our Girls to add fire and urgency to the anti-Jonathan project. They successfully escalated the issue of the kidnapped Chibok girls to international consciousness. In those days, newspapers and magazines were awash, on daily basis, with stories, opinion articles, editorials and cartoons that were unsparing of the Jonathan government. The jabs came from all angles.
The announcement by the Jonathan government of an increase in the price of petrol in 2014 drew a nationwide negative reaction that snowballed into protests. Opposition politicians, political activists and the usual arrowheads of public protests in the country featured in the protest. For days, the motley crowd of protesters gathered at a park in the Ojota area of Lagos, in a rally, ostensibly to protest against the increase in the pump price of petrol. The long lineup of participants at the rally took turns to mount the podium, from whence they railed against President Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] government for their insensitivity in removing subsidy on petrol. Many doubted the existence of any subsidy, in the first place. The late activist-lawyer and politician, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, even said the protest marked the beginning of a revolution to salvage Nigeria. The setting was that intoxicating.
On another front, on another day, in a memorable instance in November 2014, a parade of politicians and their activist allies marched on the streets of Abuja, protesting insecurity in Nigeria. Leading the street march was Muhammadu Buhari, retired army general and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC].
While there were open campaigns against the Jonathan government in Lagos and Abuja, it turned out, as reports later revealed, that another plot was being hatched, secretly, featuring, again, el-Rufai and a narrow clique. The plot was to make the country ungovernable, if Buhari lost the 2015 election. The most insidious aspect of the plot entailed importing Fulani militia from across the Sahel. The plan, which was actually put in place, was to incubate these foreign elements in various parts of the country, waiting to be activated, should Buhari fail at the polls. Somehow, however, Buhari emerged winner at the election.
Unknown to most of the activists and the campaigners marching on the streets against Jonathan, the agenda for their activism was not exactly what was propelling el-Rufai and his inner clique. For the latter, the motive was ethnic. All they wanted primarily was power for their tribe. That was their definition of a better Nigeria. Once Buhari emerged President, therefore, the disposition of the clique members changed. Levels changed. Suddenly, a dichotomy emerged in perspective. A Fulani “we” emerged, distinct from “they” from other parts. It was only a matter of time before el-Rufai’s son hurled insults at his once auntie, Oby Ezekwesili, for daring to criticize “their” government. Hadiza Usman clinically abandoned any interest in Bring Back Our Girls. In due course, el-Rufai even dragged his former ally Odinkalu to court over some disputations that could not have been while they marched against Jonathan. The old camaraderie was totally severed, replaced by a new ethnic spirit.
The recent assumption of the presidency by Bola Tinubu, though still in contention, has replicated the 2015 scenario. Suddenly, all is quiet in the area where so much agitation and protest were the order of yesterday, over the same issues and lines of policy. The park in Ojota where protests raged for days in 2014 over increase in the price of petrol, remains quiet in the mid-2023. Removal of subsidy on petrol is no longer an anathema. Indeed, it is now a salutary policy.
An attempt by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to oppose the jarring price increase of petrol was met with cynical response from those who, yesterday, would have quickly rallied around the union. The new NLC president was even accused right away of being a member of the opposition Labour Party, that is contesting the result of the presidential election.
For good measures, the family residence of the poor labour leader in Lagos mysteriously got burnt down. Raw blackmail and resort to crude ethnic politics is the new game. The message is clear; no more anti-government activism for now. The change in orientation can even be seen in a section of the media.
The shift is at once repelling and insightful. It is not as if one cannot change his mind about a policy, as Adams Oshiomhole, erstwhile Labour leader and now a senator, struggled, without conviction, to explain on a television outing not long ago. The question is; how do implacable opponents of a policy yesterday suddenly make a 360 degree turn to become chief proponents of the same policy today and expect anyone to take them seriously? It beggars belief. What is on trial in these cases, is character.
It happened in 2015. Then, the predominant culprits were Fulani. It is happening again in 2023, even against the backdrop of unsettled claims. This time, the predominant culprits are Yoruba. These have become lessons that Nigeria teaches those who do not know.
Honour for Ademulegun too
Before the Buhari government left on May 29, it said it was renaming 15 airports across the country in honour of eminent citizens. The criteria for selecting those worthy of such honour are the prerogative of the government to set. Recently again, the Bola Tinubu-led government issued a fresh release saying it was renaming the same 15 airports after the same 15 eminent Nigerians. Who did what is not the issue here. Now, one of those who were honoured with an airport to his name is Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, a fine soldier, according to records, who was killed in the January 1966 coup d’état. The Gombe Airport now bears his name. Members of the family of Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, another excellent officer and commanding Officer of First Brigade, Kaduna, who was also killed on the same night and, sadly, with his pregnant wife, are asking, what about him? He died because he reportedly refused to release the key to the armoury in Kaduna. That’s to say, he died serving Nigeria.
