It’s said charity begins at home; those who fail to learn from the lessons of history for selfish political interest are bound to be doomed as leopard can never changed its spots and character. No matter how you try to hide a pregnancy, especially from those who don’t know your antecedents, it will surely come out sooner than later, in a matter of time the chicken will come home to roost.
it is in view of this reality that Theodor Mommsen, one of the greatest philosophers, said, “History has a nemesis for every sin” while on his part, Raxone Gay asserted that “nemesis aren’t born, they are made”. Still, Phillip k.Dick said, “No man is infinitely strong for every creature that runs, flies, and crawls, there is terminal nemesis which he will not circumvent”
Wherever Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the architect of modern Nasarawa state and the anointed child of God that he is today, he must a happy and fulfilled man despite betrayals from the powers that be. He is now watching from a distance how God is fighting for him and putting his detractors to shame while vindicating those who stood by him through thick and thin in his quest to salvage the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. They know that he is a good man that would have changed the party for good the way he turned Nasarawa into a model of good governance and infrastructural development in Nigeria.
Today, Al-Makura is having the best laugh as God is not only exposing the leadership incompetency of his detractors who plotted against him but also turning their conspiracy against him to a blessing in disguise. They failed in their selfish plot to stop Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who they believe is Al-Makura’s preferred candidate, from emerging as APC flag bearer for the 2023 presidential election. The detractors felt Tinubu’s chances will be brighter if Al-Makura became the party’s national chairman, hence their decision to conspire against him.
What they did not know about the Sardaunan Kwandare is that he is a man of proven integrity, honour and dignity who believes in justice and fair play and who does not allow personal friendship or relationship to becloud his vision and mission on public matters even when he has the discretion to take such actions. This is as exemplified in all his public life, especially when he held sway as governor of Nasarawa state from 2011 to 2019; he proved his mettle in governance, politics and service to humanity.
it was this virtue of justice and the need to ensure equity and fairness in the politics of Nasarawa state that made him to look beyond his political circle and go to Nasarawa North which had never produced a governor in the state. He chose Governor Abdullahi Sule, who is not in his political dynasty, as his preferred successor and worked assiduously to deliver him at the expense of other aspirants, mostly his close political associates. Many people in the state, who expected him to anoint one of his close confidant as his successor, could not believe Al-Makura’s action.
Despite the fact that God has taken over his battle, which ordinarily should have make him happy, Al-Makura, who abhors politics of vindictiveness and in his characteristic manner of paying evil with good, is still carrying a gloomy heart seeing how a party they founded, sacrificed their time, energies and resources to bring to life, nurtured and made it an acceptable brand to Nigerians within a short time and taking over the reign of government from the then ruling party, is being brought down to its knees by those who never knew the pains of its birth.
Prior to recent imposition that took place in the name of APC national convention where all manners of characters were imposed as national leaders hidden under the canopy of consensus, many founding members of the party, had indicated interest to lead the party as national chairman. They include Senator Tanko Al-Makura, Senator George Akume, Alhaji Mustapha Salihu, Senator Sani Musa, among others.
Their decision to contest was borne out of patriotic desire to salvage the party from its dwindling fortune amidst continuous loss of hope by Nigerians with Al-Makura standing tall among all the contenders as the most popular and acceptable candidate whose sacrifices, commitment and immense contributions to the successes of the party can only be imagined rather than described with his candidature moving in high speed and spreading like wildfire across the country in the hearts of party members, delegates and stakeholders.
Unfortunately, some retrogressive elements who did not wish the party well and felt threatened with his growing popularity knowing too well that if the election is allowed to hold he will emerge victorious and who have since constituted themselves into cabals kept frustrating the election and subsequently decided to drag Adamu who had an axe to grid with Al-Makura into the race. Adamu sees Al-Makura as a serious threat to his diminishing political fortunes and relevance in Nasarawa politics.
Their mission was not actually to test their popularity but only wanted to be imposed on the party and many people of good will repeatedly warned against Adamu imposition which they know will spell doom for the taking, considering his anti democratic antecedents especially when he served as governor from 1999 to 2007 where President Muhammadu Buhari himself then of the ANPP was a victim of his political onslaught and intolerance.
But their wise counsel was ignored by powers that be as the cabals succeeded to secure presidential endorsement for him leading to his imposition as APC national chairman to the chagrin of so many party members, delegates and stakeholders who were denied the opportunity to elect their party leaders in a free and fair election but rather through selection for selfish political interest.
In less than three months of his selection the party is fast falling apart due to his decision to turn himself into a sole administrator rather than a national chairman of the ruling party taking unpopular and unilateral decisions without recourse to other members of the party national working committee.
At a time most Nigerians expected his leadership to give the party a new sense of direction in line with President Buhari’s promised to bequeath a legacy of credible elections to Nigerians what Nigerians witnessed in just few weeks of his imposition was monetisation of the party nomination process whose forms were the most expensive in the history of democracy any where in the world which completely edged out majority people from participating in favour of money bags politicians.
Even some of those who have participated in imposing this leadership on the party are today regretting their action as the party continues to fall apart just as Al-Makura’s popularity and integrity continue to sour higher and higher blossoming by the day as God’s anointed (Al-Makura) which would have been the best thing that has ever happened to APC in Nigeria. No wonder, it’s said “every disappointment is a blessing”. Not becoming APC national chairman is a blessing to Al-Makura but a loss to the party.
The question on the lips of most people today is, who will save APC in 2023? Only God can.
Abari writes from Lafia, Nasarawa state.