“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
—Winston Churchill
By Cosmas Omegoh
For controversial Borno South senator, Mohammed Ali Ndume, 64, these are interesting times.
Wherever Ndume is now, he is probably reeling and ruing – if not raving. Or he is relaxing at a corner of his closet, reviewing the chain of activities in the Senate that led to his ouster as Chief Whip.
Last week Wednesday, Ndume was stripped of his all-important role as a Senate functionary and all the paraphernalia that go with it.
In the morning of that fateful day, Ndume was the Chief Whip of the 10th Senate and the Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriation Committee.
But just before sunset, Ndume, by a sudden twist of fate, had been brought down to ground zero, and compelled to lose his two juicy positions by a sleight of hand. His position as the Chief Whip of the Senate was taken away in one fell swoop, and handed to Senator Tahir Monguno, his kinsman representing Borno North in the Senate.
However, Ndume was not left to saunter away empty. He wasn’t thrown under the bus just like that. After all he is a ranking senator as they rate themselves in the Senate; for he has been a senator of the Federal Republic since 2011, aside being a member of the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2011.
For 21 straight years, he has been in the business of law-making for the country. And so, there is probably a limit to messing up with him. Any wonder he was assigned to a seemingly less-fancied juicy office of Chairman, Senate Committee on Tourism.
Truth be told, what happened to Ndume last week was one of interest to his army of fans and foes alike. Everyone on each side of the divide has been gauging the reading and rhythm of the lawmaker’s mind, wondering if he is ill at ease or happy with the outcome of events in the upper legislative chamber.
Ndume’s ouster was consequent upon a letter brought before the Senate by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), ordering some stiff punishment for drawing its ire.
The said letter was co-signed by APC’s National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, and the National Secretary, Senator Ajibola Basiru.
Both men on behalf of the party aside demanding Ndume’s removal, advised him to “honourably resign the membership of APC and join any opposition party of his choice formally, instead of hiding behind the veil of crass activism to decimate the hard-earned cohesion and goodwill that our party, the APC, is enjoying within and outside the country.”
Both men also said about Ndume: “As he is a ranking member of our party, his actions are unbecoming of a senior member of the Senate and set a very poor example for others in the future to follow.”
While the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio was reading the letter, it became sure as day will follow night that Ndume’s fate was already on a cliffhanger.
It came to pass that by the time Akpabio’s big gavel descended, with a loud bang, Ndume was “gone.”
The Senate big man drew his hefty inspiration to sack Ndume from a premeditated “aye” voice vote from the APC senators present. Every move became clear that Akpabio was out to fulfill all righteousness as he pressed on to act out the Ndume-must-go script he had in his hands to a definite end.
The Ndume removal process was one that unfolded with the speed of light, the same for the sudden realignment of the chairmen of the committees of that followed. Everything pointed to the looming silhouette of Nigeria’s Presidency in all of Ndume’s travail. It was akin to the biblical “voice of Jacob, hand of Esau.”
That was how Ndume came to the final bus stop he probably did or did not expect. The night marked his second lifetime ouster as a principal officer of the Senate, the first being on January 10, 2017, in the life of the 8th Senate, under the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki. At that time, Ndume was axed from his office as Senate Leader.
The Ndume saga came through as one of the biggest news out from the Senate chamber last week. It divided opinions just as it dominated discussions.
Many people who followed the build up to the Ndume debacle insisted that he fell on his own sword; they accused him of being such a loquacious, controversial fellow. Besides, they maintained that he had been on an overdrive.
According to them, it was wrong of Ndume to criticise APC and President Bola Tinubu in the media and on the floor of the Senate. They pointed to the corporate world, saying that if Ndume was a manager, he had no right to flay his boss or his organisation right in the open, adding that the right thing for him to do was to resign.
Ndume incurred the wrought of the powers that be when he co-sponsored a motion with the Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Senator Sunday Karimi, entitled: “Urgent Need to address food insecurity and market exploitation of consumables in Nigeria.”
Ndume was unsparing in his comments, which were a clear departure from the current of opinions of many “O yes men” that people the current government and Ndume’s APC.
Among other things, Ndume was unapologetic when he said that President Bola Tinubu was already a “kept man,” maintaining that “Mr. President is not in the picture of what is happening outside the Villa.”
He had insisted: “He has been fenced off and caged,” adding that he hoped “so many of us won’t go through the backdoor to engage him.”
Then Ndume went on to say the obvious: “There is unavailability of food. Food crisis is the worst crisis that any nation can encounter. If we add that to security crisis, it will be severe.”
He spoke about the security challenges sweeping across the land and how that had impacted the food security as well, yet nothing tangible was being down about it. He lamented how his wife could no longer buy enough food for the family even when they are privileged. He expressed worries that Tinubu had been stopped from talking and addressing the vexing issues, warning that “Nigerians are getting very, very angry.”
Then he concluded: “I am very worried not only for the president himself, but myself.”
Many persons who listened to Ndume insisted that his was the voice of a patriot who spoke truth to power at the time men have resorted to praise-singing to survive. They flayed the APC for playing the ostrich, wondering whether Ganduje and members of the National Working Committee of his party are living somewhere in Mars from where they come to Earth on excursion. They wonder why they keep living in denial that the country totters.
To some Nigerians, Ndume spoke the gospel truth about the existential times they now face.
To them, politics aside, there is no time to say what Ndume said than now.