Okenyi Kenechi
The abrupt withdrawal of a key player in a proposed local government congress a week away before it held, posed a major problem for many aspirants. For his opponents, it was a welcome development. For a congress that was being watched by thousands, if not millions of people from the opposition and other bystanders, it is, presumably, an ugly sight to behold.
Senator Magnus Abe deserves sympathy for the trouble he is going through after it was discovered that the minister of Transportation and leadership of his party in the state were determined in their quest to scheme him out of the governorship race.
The reasons are reportedly due to the fact that the minister wants to install his own protégé as governor at all costs. Nobody should blame him for that. It has become the acceptable anomaly in the game of Nigerian politics, where there are no rules and regulations and the principles of fairness is only but years behind.
The Minister has denied allegations that he is chasing personal vendetta ,saying that he is simply trying to do justice. He has also come out in the open to say that he will not support Senator Abe in his quest to become governor, an honest assurance that leaves the Senator with choices. The senator should be aware of these facts and carry it at the back of his mind.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has also denied knowledge of what happened at the High Court. If you don’t believe them, I do, only that I don’t trust myself in the matter. But one would love to ask: what is the strength of the DGs army?
The DG also needs to surround himself with qualified and competent media handlers. His outing during the last Saturday’s Viewpoint leaves much to be desired.
Whether or not they agree that they have a hand in what happened at the High Court premises, it is ill-advised for the minister to have not made an elaborate comment distancing himself from the accusations.
But what exactly is my point? The APC is acquiring for itself, baggage that might be hard for it to carry along as the country journeys towards 2019 general elections. Who, if anyone, was advising them on the approach which they are taking, it is mostly going to backfire sooner than later.
There has been torrents of criticism as regards the invasion of the High Court premises. From the CJN to the NBA and then the NLC, and with more to come later, it is a bad thing that such invasion and destruction of public properties, especially the court, happened and people are pointing accusing fingers and nobody is denying on his behalf.
Despite the minister’s career in politics and community development , no one can prepare themselves for the intense scrutiny that comes with being suddenly connected with disruption of public peace and the perception of the masses to it in a deeply divided political atmosphere
At the junction between strong political positions, the media and the public, there is an insatiable monster that is difficult to control. We have seen these hands before, well played out in this state and it is about to repeat itself.
Magnus Abe, whose background in law has earned him a bit more of sympathy as the person who is being vilified, has armed himself with PR finesse. Nevertheless, his media support has not really done him the needed good. The Minister on the other hand, seems to rely just on the publicity of his own faction of the party and other internet status updaters to make a point.
The turn of events seem particularly cruel for the minister and the Senator who may be suffering from problems due to ego and pride associated with their political positions.
They are playing into the hands of the man whom they all want to remove from power, as he is the one currently receiving all the responsible accolades. With the pace with which they are going, they will leave the party battered thereby making it less attractive to the electorates.
It is also cruel for the party in the event that they succeed in disenfranchising many members for the would-be bride who is known to take over yet again, the bride-to-be, whom the ground on which he walks is watered and softened. I think that the bride should be let down from the white horse which he is riding on and be allowed to fight his own battle, recruit his own army and win his own war.
The burden of responsibility should be shared between not only the minister and Senator Abe himself, but whoever the bride is, but for the mind-boggling double standards that have characterised it all. For the fight for justice, we rely on injustice!
Given the apparent lack of social media and traditional media protection like is being enjoyed by the governor and the minister’s former ally, who seems to have a well-oiled media machination in place, the ground would be hard enough for their diggers to penetrate.
The Minister will be able to turn the table when he desists from allowing others speak on his behalf.
