What informs the frequent trips by Nigeria’s Fourth Republic vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to the Ota residence of his former principal, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo? To make sense of such volleys one has to move back into history to connect it with the present.
When Sylvester Stallone declared that “the last fight is on the mountain, you finish and go,” a similar fight seems to await Atiku and his political career as the 2027 general election draws closer.
For, come 2027, whether he likes it or not – no matter what he does – signs are clear that unless he succeeds in the current pursuit of trying to midwife a winning coalition for the presidential contest, the former vice president would no longer be a factor in political machinations.
To ensure that such ominous possibility does not come to pass, the Wazirin Adamawa has been engaging in frantic visits to Obasanjo, who aborted his (Atiku’s) gubernatorial mandate to garland him with the position of presidential running mate in 1998.
As a young man whose interest in public service propelled him to seek the presidential ticket six years earlier, Atiku saw the opening at the Presidency as a veritable shortcut to realise his presidential ambition. And so, jettisoning the gubernatorial laurel which he won, he tagged on Obasanjo’s agbada tails to become Nigeria’s vice president at the start of the Fourth Republic. With just a step remaining to mount the next saddle as number one, the Adamawa-born former Customs Deputy Director never stopped to ponder on the words of his prayer partners.
The prayer partners, some of whom came over from across national borders, had predicted that the man from Jada would one day be Nigeria’s leader. But the snag was that they did not answer the critical question surrounding the time factor.
However, that yawning gap in the good story did not stop the then vice president from dreaming fanciful dreams of what to do when come comes to become. With that frame of mind, and reserving the confidence of his principal – who gave him unfettered access and use of presidential power – the first four years of his tenure were spent on clearing the ground and planting seeds for eventual transition from number two to number one.
But forgetting to play Joseph at the sight of Potiphar, the beauty and charm of exercise of political power inebriated him so much that he forgot that his principal did not hand him over his Presidency. Then there was trouble in paradise
In the domestic fight that followed, Atiku’s principal showed the military in him and went as far as trying to physically bundle the ‘bloody civilian’ vice principal out of his official abode. But it took the courts to remind the former military head of state that even if he was adept at garrison tactics, he should comport himself in the best traditions of civility that democracy recommends.
Nonetheless, Atiku put up a good fight as he acquitted himself like Amalinze the cat. His back did not touch the ground, but he continued to wrestle with his former principal as he tried to see the fulfillment of the predictions of his prayer partners and consultants.
Troubled by the spectre of the Ebora of Ewu, the political maestro from Jada migrated to Lagos, where he was welcomed and honoured with a royal platform to continue his fight against the spirit of the Ebora. But despite the great expectations that the perch at the Lagos vessel will ferry him to the Presidency, the year 2007 ended without pomp or circumstance. And so, like a stray cat, Atiku found the Lagos vessel incommodious and retraced his steps back to the Armada, from where he set sail.
Believing that the ghost of the Ebora had been exorcised from the Armada, Atiku’s return was emblematic. He had his eyes set on the 2011 crusade, more so when the ‘viceroy’ had travelled to the land of see him no more.
At first the coast seemed so clear and signs were indicative that the predicted ascension to the pinnacle of national political power would come to be. Confident that the auguries were right, Atiku used back channels to organise a straw poll among contestants from his corner, believing that by doing so he will vanquish the ‘stranger to the throne’.
But rather than conquer the novice in power warfare, the newcomer carried the day and gradually became the captain of the armada. Again, sensing that the armada may not be available for another duel in the next battle season of 2015, he traveled to Puerto Rico for a novel vessel that was yet to be tried in battle.
Upon his arrival and attempt to possess the reins of the vessel, Atiku was to discover to his chagrin that the virgin vessel was licenced to another old soldier in the mold of Ebora. He bided his time, believing that the old soldier was not long to stay even if the 2015 battle was won. But, in no time, another quarterly fencing was afoot.
Troubled by the seeming clarity and near certainty of the prognostications by the holy men, the man from Jada played the journey man again. His return to the armada was plaintive. He was coming on a rescue mission. He assured his seamen that he had the magic catapult to shoot down Goliath that has become a born again tormentor. Everybody paid attention and turned to the wonder boy with an Aladdin lamp. They yielded the armada once again to him.
Again, with great expectations, the 2019 fencing opened. Yet despite the confusion within the vessel from Puerto Rico and hip wounds on the captain, the armada and its captain was overcome. Unlike former times, Atiku remained inside the armada, believing that fortune will smile on the vessel in the coming seasonal battle.
As the beagle for the 2023 battle sounded, he saw another silver lining in the sky, as the stars twinkled, presaging a better outing and successful denouement of the wise men’s puzzling prediction. Sadly, the 2023 fencing expedition returned another poor showing.
But he remembered how the Americans used to say that it was not over until it was over. He encouraged himself as he readied for another warfare. At least, this one more time. After all, he was inspired by the story of the old soldier whose exploits were recorded in a song: Oni keji, olule, oni keta, olule; o suku! (The first time, he failed; the second time, he failed; the third time he failed and cried).
Retreating crew men
Quite unlike previous seasons, Atiku has been counting the footsteps of retreating former crew men and deck mates. While these former allies accuse him of causing the serial losses, especially the 2023 championship, he believes that a virgin vessel could do the magic in two years’ time.
This burst of optimism spurred the attempts by some of his estranged former allies like Dr. Umar Ardo to toy with the idea of coupling a local vessel called the League of Northern Democrats.
But how far the League could go in the approaching league season is left to conjecture. At home, the ground is shifting, because Governor Ahmadu Umar Fintiri, who ordinarily should be on the front row seat to offer support, has thrown his weight behind the challengers for the ownership of the armada.
Undeterred, the political playmaker has embarked on a novel strategy of forming coalitions and recruitment of new supporters, both at his home state and the national level. And, in a bold effort to confront the ghosts of the 2023 season, Atiku sees his old principal as an ideal navigator and salesperson to market the coalition.
Knowing the spell-binding kind of influence that the Ebora of Owu holds over the former deck mate of Atiku in the 2019 battle, the man from Jada believes that Baba can sway the boy that became man by tasting elders’ food to acquiesce into queuing behind him for a last fight on the mountain in 2027.
But as Obi continues to renounce the sentiment contained in the saying that Obi is a boy, the Wazirin Adamawa knows that the secret of success of a good salesman is PSP (Persist, Sustain Pressure); so he continues the shuttle diplomacy to Ota and the Presidential Library respectively.
Back home, in a desperate bid to ensure that he secures the home front; the political maestro paid an unusual visit to the 2023 Adamawa State version of Queen Amina, Senator Aisha Binani, in her Abuja home. The plot was to ensure that whoever Fintiri may put forward in the 2027 battle would be easily wrestled to the ground by “Queen Amina.’
As the political playmaker prepares the ground for a better planting season, he makes himself a good teacher. Manifesting neither anguish nor evident distress or even frustration, the man from Jada has become a study in perseverance.
That take-not-no-for-an-answer disposition is the stuff of which good political playmakers are made of. Although he did not attend the Ibrahim Waziri school of politics without bitterness, the Waziri in him has disposed him to working with friends and silent foes alike.
Confronted by hefty challengers at home in the persons of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who is now the APC leader in Adamawa, and Fintiri, whose political interest and investments are spread evenly towards the NSA and the rambunctious Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, Atiku exudes hope that defies any sense of certain hopelessness.
Nature has blessed Atiku with a stout stature. He can weather the storm, including handling the disappointments and duplicity of allies. Although the realities of the approaching battle seem dark and ominous, the former vice president appears not fazed.
It is surely going to be the last fight. But amid the apprehensions, the man is always blessed with doting supporters and optimistic allies. Like one Abdul-Aziz Na’ibi Abubakar tweeted: “Politics is not for the weak!”
