By Godwin Etakibuebu
Aisha Jummai Alhassan, current Minister of Women Affairs of the federal Republic, is beautiful, elegant, hilarious and adorable. Someone who knows her intimately told me that she is brilliant and bold in saying her mind. She is from Taraba State, one of the six States in the North/East geo-political zone of the Country.
Just for the records, Taraba and Adamawa States were created out of the old Gongola State of blessed memory. This outstanding beautiful woman, who shook the political equilibrium of her State during the 2015 general election by almost winning the governorship throne, is called Mama Taraba. President Muhammadu Buhari even called her by that name when he was swearing her into office as the Minister of Women Affairs.
Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President of the federal Republic under President Olusegun Obasanjo, was until June 1, 2017, the Turaki Adamawa; a very powerful traditional office. But on that day, Atiku was elevated to a more prestigious office of the Waziri Adamawa, by the Lamido Adamawa, Dr Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, thus becoming “first among equals” within that powerful Emirate.
This man is powerful in nearly all fields of human endeavours. He is stupendously wealthy, so rich that his wealth is either blessing or threat to some countries of the world – if doubt, check it out with the United Arab Emirate or even the United States of America. He has powerful friends from all over the world, Nigeria inclusive, having entrenched himself by marriage to the three major tribes of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo [in order of seniority].
His business empire in Nigeria is a testament of excellence. He may not be politically stable [of course, there is not even one Nigerian politician that is politically stable except the early politicians in the group of the Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Almadu Bello] yet, he has tentacles across the Nigerian political landscape. He is the one l am referring to as “Baba Adamawa”, for the purpose of this discussion.
A few days ago, Mama Taraba, typical to her character of audacity, made it public that she was ready to back Baba Adamawa for the presidency contest in 2019 if he [Atiku] decides to run. What she said in nutshell is that if by 2019, PMB still wants to contest for second tenure [which the Nigerian Constitution permits] and Atiku also would want to run for the same presidency, she [the strong woman of Taraba politics] would back Atiku against Buhari. And she gave two cogent reasons of willing to do so. One, that Buhari did not talk of two tenures from beginning [that suggests that Buhari talked of only one tenure] and two, that Atiku is her most revered political godfather whom she would forever pinch her tent with.
My candid opinion of this woman of substance is to appreciate and applaud her courage, sincerity and uprightness in voicing out her mind. There are too few politicians in Nigeria, even amongst the menfolk that come close to this woman. She should be seen, in my mind of course, as a role-model in political sagacity. By the time, in the distant future, when history shall record her times, she would be allocated a place of decency in audacious political revelation with the late Fumilayo Ransome-Kuti [late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s mother] and Queen Amina of the Zazzau [now Zaria] Caliphate. For someone that never forgets a benefit [and the benefactor] and refuses to “denounce yesterday’s glory because of aura of the moment”, Aisha Alhassan would laugh last. Enough on her as we must move to discuss the issue the challenge in her spoken words has brought to the front-burner.
President Muhammadu Buhari; a man who uses language of body movement than anyone else, is being rumoured as still having the keen interest of contesting for the presidency second time. It is his constitutional right to go for the second tenure, like l earlier pointed out, hence the choice of the word “rumoured” applied above. PMB has faced some difficult days of health challenge during this first tenure that many Nigerians are of the opinion that the man should retire to his home-town of Daura in Katsina State for a deserving rest without complicating his fragile health in pursuant of a second tenure. To this camp of Nigerians, another strenuous campaign for a second tenure might be too much for him.
Yet, there is another class of fewer Nigerians, being championed by the Jackals, Hyenas and Wolves of the “Lion Kingdom” under the Protectorate of BUHARISTS that would say no to the man if he attempts saying “enough is enough” for the presidency. This camp of “zoo predators” would rather see him contesting for the second tenure if even such efforts return the man to another long medical vacation in the United Kingdom. At least, Governor El Rufai of Kaduna State has spoken authoritatively enough to establish the thought of this group. It does not matter any hood for them if Buhari runs the next election campaign from a hospital bed or not. They would be there to run Nigeria on his behalf as they have decided at the inner caucus of the cabal or Kaduna mafia engine room.
I think this is where the issue of an alternative contender to the presidency resonates. It is the door to this alternative acceptable candidate that Mama Taraba opened up by mentioning Baba Adamawa. The man from Adamawa himself; Atiku Abubakar, has never hidden his vigorous ambition of becoming Nigerian’s president in the last 12 years. Some would say that his pursuit is “over-ambitious”, some would say he has missed his time while others would say that he is on course.
The issue of discussion in this exercise has nothing to do with any blind ambition or not but to look at the dynamics at play that might be standing the way of Baba Adamawa as he confronts both the visible and invisible Principalities and Powers of the Nigerian political terrain on his way to the presidency. Who are these principalities and powers? Keep a date with us next week for exclusive and explosive details of the answer to this nagging question. But for now, there are many other determining issues at play in this game of Mama Taraba, Baba Adamawa and Baba Buhari as 2019 ferociously approach us.
Godwin Etakibuebu, a veteran journalist, writes from Lagos.