Leadership in Nigeria has always been characterized by dogmatism arising from power tussle and intricate scheming to outstrip opponents and even associates who share common political beliefs without due regards to guiding or underlying principles to political activism. As a result of this eternal situation that failed to abate since the inception of party politics in the country, all is now not well in its political arrangement.
This has to do with the unreasonable ambition of some elected political gladiators that aspire to cling on to power indefinitely, through anunorthodox means of planting a successor on the seat of power after their exit.
Nigerian political leaders have always devised a devious strategy that would enable them get back the cake they had already eaten.
They will groom a subordinate who they believe must be amenable to their control, to succeed them on the throne they would vacate. In that way, they may attempt to manipulate him like a puppet. In most cases such prearrangements did not work harmoniously, and have broken off rather disastrously, engendering animosity, bickering and acrimonies.
Such was the case between the former Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Jeremiah Obafemi Awolowo and his successor, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akinola and many other prominent Nigerian leaders, both military and civil. Chief Awolowo stepped down to contest the 1999 general elections, hoping to go to the parliament and subsequently form the federal government when his party, the Action Group AG emerged victorious.
He succeeded in become a member of the parliament and later a leader of the opposition, but his party failed to muster the requirements for forming a government. He then decided to rule the Western Region through his surrogate, Chief Akintola — a situation that sparked off vehement reaction in Western House of Assembly between the supporters of the two men, culminating in the clamp down of a state of emergency in the region. Perhaps, the only notable place where such machination to enthrone a substitute as a trusted replacement with a view to using him for sinister motives while in power is Kano State where the history of outright disloyalty between a principal and his lesser is bemusing and utterly disgusting. Such had started in the early fifties when Malam Aminu Kano had left his teaching profession to venture into the murky waters of politics.
He was welcomed into NEPU as a brilliant member, considered to use his vast experience and Western education to improve the fortunes of the fledgling party. He was pampered and entrusted with so many responsibilities, but eventually he and his colleagues conspired to oust the incumbent leader and founder of the party, Alhaji Abba Maikwaru, at a historic convention of the party in 1953, at Jos.
Similar thing happened to Malam Aminu himself in the early eighties, soon after the phenomenal success of his Second Republic party, the Peoples Redemption party, PRP in strategic states of Kano and Kaduna.
The two governors of the party in these states: Balarabe Musa and Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi, considered the pearl of the self-styled progressive party, rebelled against him, thereby tearing the party into two distinct camps. Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi the advocate of the PRP split in the Second Republic was destined to play similar confrontational role with Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representative, after the formation of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kano State, which he spearheaded.
He drew Kwankwaso closer, giving him preferential treatment over other members who jostled to become its premier gubernatorial candidate in the state, among whom was Umar Abdullahi Ganduje who was cajoled to step down for Kwankwaso. However with the eventual victory of Rabi’u Kwankwaso the relationship between him and Abubakar Rimi became sour and then things fell apart irretrievably.
That resurrected the noxious camps with the dead PRP with Rimi leading one and Kwankwaso becoming a die-hard member of the camp that supported Malam Aminu Kano. That explains why Kwankwaso is still garbed in the same fashion late Malam Aminu dressed.
Now, with the investiture of Ganduje by Rabiu Kwankwaso as his trusted replacement in the Government House another ugly incidence, bordering on alleged disloyalty, unfaithfulness and treachery is being labeled again the incumbent Ganduje to former Governor Kwankwaso. The duo’s quarrel, which led to strained relationship between them started just few months after handing over power to Ganduje on account of disagreements over cabinet appointments.
Not many people were surprised by this development given Kwankwaso’s intransigent attitude and Ganduje’s uncompromising stance. The simmering disagreement between them has now become full-blown and both cannot hide their disgust for each other’s attitude and are now spoiled for mutually destructive showdown.
This is just one of the problems confronting many governors presently, just like it is unfolding in Kaduna State between the incumbent Governor, Nasir el-Rufa’I and a serving Senator, Comrade Shehu Sani. All these have the potentials of degenerating into serious problems for the All Progressive Congress, APC. its leaders must call these feuding members to order so as to avoid the calamitous consequences that may befall the party if the bitter, deeply-held resentments are not immediately
