Tambuwal: On the threshold of history osundefender.org/?p=197069 When this Series opened last week, the intention was to examine the travails and exploits of Aminu Tambuwal, Nigeria’s number four citizen in its power hierarchy and structure as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. We had established that, given his pedigree, his record of performance in the last four years or so on the driver’s seat of the National Lower House—the unique way in which he ascended the office, as a candidate that smashed the expectation that the party with the majority would supply the Speaker, which, in his particular instance was expected to come from the South West by an unwritten zoning schema, Tambuwal was on his way to the history books of Nigerian greats. True to that expectation, he has shown exemplary brilliance, exceptional dynamism, charming character, and animal magnetism, all of which have combined to win him immense popularity in the House. Tambuwal had continued, with the compulsive industry, to churn out numerous Bills that have been of tremendous value to governance in this nation. Such was his level of competence, forthrightness and objective running of the House that some eminent Nigerians have begun to toss his name up for the highest office in the land— the Presidency. These were some of the landmarks of achievement that brought him to one’s attention as someone cut out for greatness—he may not have greatness thrust upon him, neither was he exactly born with greatness, yet we surmised from his record of performance in that high and coveted office that he can achieve greatness. Aminu Tambuwal was applauded for earnestness of success in his career, and even though success has always been a difficult legacy to manage, especially for young men with limited experience in the wilderness of partisan politics, there is a lot of reason to believe that he was on an assured road to heroism. Added to this fact is the widely held perception of him as a man of rectitude, showing no obvious trait of or tendency for moral turpitude. Not for him the smear of financial impropriety, perfidy and corruption piled against his two successors before they were shown the way out. There has been no known hunt for him, either by the EFCC or by ICPC—two anti-graft agencies that have been seen as the nemesis of public officers who have been found or suspected to be engaged in money-laundering, shady deals, or self-compromise through immoral financial deals. At a time like this, when the powers that be would have silenced him through allegations of sleazy-deals, bribery, kleptomania, money-laundering and so on, there appears that there is no room or no loopholes in his records to exploit to nail him! It was then clear to us that we could examine the kind of choices he makes and the actions that he takes for maneuvering and meandering through the political landmines that could assail his integrity, sound morality and patriotism that can thwart his chances for heroism. But now, all of those lofty tests and probe- yardsticks have been thrown overboard by the drama of the moment between Tambuwal and the state apparatus. It is no longer the issue the manner of his deflection—of quitting the party through which he came to power at the acme of the Lower national legislature. Not stopping there, the way he has preceded in her search for alternative—higher or lower- political power. The argument of his expedient, well-calculated defection time from the PDP, virtually, on the eve of the conclusion of his service time as Speaker is now a moot point. The fact that he has restrained himself from accepting the temptation placed on his laps by his colleagues from the APC at the House of Representatives—an action which, though neither here nor there—has been massively hurray-ed –may now be banked for future examination of his score-card. The rupture or rumbling that his acceptance of nomination for the Presidential ticket on the platform of the APC might have been averted to his credit, especially by those who believe that he has a fair chance of upsetting the apple cart in the power closet, at the Presidential level of the APC may have been averted in the face of the ‘katakata’ playing itself out at the new ‘battlefield’ called the National Assembly. The wise option, as some have adjudged it, of his picking the nomination form for the Governorship of Sokoto State, is at the background of the precipitous action or set of actions going on in the contestation, wrangling and tumbling between a faction of the Lower House and a segment of government operatives. Now, it would appear that, realizing that we need a national digression from the warfare between Boko Haram and our government, the National Assembly appears a preferred stage! Note, sadly, of course that the battle at the real theatre in the north east rages unabated. Only last Sunday, Boko Hara struck in a fishing village at Doro Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area and killed at least 45 villagers. Headlines of the dailies o Tuesday ran away with agonizing screams that Boko Haram has overrun Borno border town even though the military is fighting back furiously. Yet, we seem to be find alternative war-fronts! The National Assembly appears to be a convenient arena stage. The dramatis personae then are Tambuwal, the embattled Speaker and hordes of his loyalists from the Lower House, especially from the APC members-camp and the security operatives-the police, other security operatives on the alleged order of the Inspector-General of Police or/and the National Security Adviser. What are the issues for the deflating bedlam? The Speaker wants to gain entrance to the House. Reason? The most obvious reason advanced is to go and oblige the President who has given an assignment to the National Assembly that they discuss and approve the extension of the Emergency rule in three States in the north-east, namely, Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. The curious question about this scenario is this: why would the President give the National Assembly a responsibility and its own agents would not let the Assembly do the bidding of the President? Why would the Speaker of the House take every action, very risky action, to gain access to his office to perform a function for the President whose agents are forcefully depriving, preventing and resisting him from fulfilling the task set for him/them by the President? I am scared for these Honorable men whose extreme patriotism is driving them at mortal risk to dear life to satisfy a government who is alleged to be endangering the lives of the people whose only approval would grant its wish to extend the emergency rule. Legislators are doing acrobatics meant for teens and adolescents, scaling fences of many feet high amidst tear-gas and other rhapsodic implements of scare. Having gained access, forcibly, against state force, it may appear that the Honorable lost interest in doing the bidding of the President and decided to deny his request. More, they have become palpably disenchanted with the President that they, over a hundred of them, virtually all from the APC, are alleged to have signed impeachment paper against the President. The persuasion of the security operatives is that the Speaker and his supporters have a different agenda that is inimical to the interest of the President and would not give them wiling access. What is the position of Senate President, David Mark in all these? He has also received his own share of tear-gassing and muzzling, by Honorable members who doubt his altruism in talking to the Speaker and would prevent him from doing so. Whereupon, he too won’t receive the Speaker in his office! The kind of hellish fire engulfing the National Assembly departs considerably from the history of internal combat, fisticuff and Maze seizing that we were used to in years past. Still, Tambuwal is on the threshold of history. So is the entire nation, help!
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:23:59 +0000
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