On Monday, former Governors Abdullahi Ganduje, Mohammed Badaru, and Abubakar Bagudu were the butt of social media jokes.
These men superintended Kano, Jigawa, and Kebbi states until 43 days ago. Yet they are not considering taking some rest from the demands of eight straight years of governorship responsibility.
On the contrary, the three men, one of whom is in his 70s, have become constant features in the meet-and-greet party of President Bola Tinubu. They were at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, when Tinubu departed for the 63rd ordinary session of the authority of heads of state and government of the Economic Community of West African States, in Guinea-Bissau, on July 7. On his return the day after, the three former governors were again in line to welcome the President.
Reactions to the easy availability of the gentlemen aren’t just about the need for them to rest after being two-term governors; it is also because their motive for swarming around the President like bees is suspect. Nigerians are upset because they can see through Ganduje and his brothers. The game has become so banal, everyone now knows the tricks.
Six weeks into Tinubu’s presidency, everyone is waiting to see the list of those who will work with the President on his promise to renew the hope of Nigerians. These three men no doubt contributed to Tinubu’s emergence as President, and as it is with politicians, they think it is payback time. To retain the President’s top-of-mind awareness, they must flock around him like sheep seeking pasture.
But even though we do not dispute their right to seek patronage, they could be more dignified in their bid for recognition. Rather than parade themselves as some desperate executive errand boys, they could emulate someone like their counterpart, Nasir el-Rufai.
The former governor of Kaduna State demonstrates better public consciousness and social understanding by maintaining a respectable distance, probably pulling the strings behind the curtains. This is what smart political actors in the immediate past dispensation, who desire another shot, should be doing. It is the only way to show respect for the sensibilities of Nigerians and allow society and the President to breathe.
However, does Nigeria need the trio as ministers in the current political dispensation? What exactly do they bring to the table, how much credit did they do to their capacity in the years that they piloted the affairs of their states?
Despite his doctorate in public administration and being in Kano’s public life for the past 16 years, Ganduje left an unbelievable legacy of bitterness and rivalry, over which the 74-year-old man should cover his face rather than hustling for positions. That is not to speak about current investigations into his alleged involvement in a bribery scandal over which a video went viral in 2018.
Bagudu is associated with alleged stolen public funds and alleged laundering of multi-billion dollars on behalf of the former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha. In 2022, the former governor was reported to have reached an out-of-court agreement with the American government over $140m related to the Abacha heist. These people, who can’t claim to have justified their previous remits, are now shamelessly scrambling for positions in the Tinubu administration. Even if they were not answering to criminal allegations, the likes of these men, one of whom is a grandfather, should be tendering to family and savouring life out of power. Let fresh people hungry to impact serve Nigerians.
But this is the tragedy of political office in Nigeria: most political actors conduct themselves in ways that suggest they cannot function in other areas of social life or contribute to national development without holding the reins of power.
Politics and public office have become thriving merchandise where actors acquire power and wealth, with which they lord it over the people. So, rather than being an avenue to serve the people, politicians take office and position themselves to be served by Nigerians for the rest of their lives.
They graduate from one office to the other and install a lackey in the office they are vacating with the hopes of holding the levers and exploiting the resources of both offices. This is why politicians would move into the Senate after eight years of governorship. If they fail in that bid, they fight tooth and nail to become ministers, ambassadors, or anything that places them on the payroll of Nigeria and gives them access to public resources. This is why Aminu Tambuwal, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and effectively Nigeria’s number one man between 2011 and 2015, went on to become governor of Sokoto State and is now a senator of the Federal Republic after eight years on the governorship saddle. Unlike in other places where politicians see themselves as servants of the people and their election as the people’s benevolence, here, politicians think they do us a favour by going into public office. We are the servants, they are rulers, and they can fill their pockets and satisfy their primordial interests at our expense. A newspaper report on Wednesday estimated that 13 sitting senators who were once governors would earn pensions and benefits of over N5.6bn! People take public office to secure themselves and their families without sparing a thought for the people.
If power were held for utilitarian purposes, many politicians would apply the brakes and reflect on how well they have served the country. They would write a memoir, review their romance with power, and see what they would have done differently, allowing aspiring leaders to do things better.
If political officeholders and people of influence took time to document their experiences and act as agents of change while acknowledging their errors, the acrobatic dances on the wings of corruption would have been tamed. The country would also continue to witness instalmental but sustainable development. Rather than that, Nigerian leaders follow the blind and narrow paths of self-elevation and prebendalism, which sets the country back.
For past office holders, a moment like this is the only period for a reflective understanding of human behaviour where all the hypocrisies that go with power evaporate and trusted political associates take on new curves in their loyalty and political dispositions. This is the time for public-spirited politicians to understand the psychology of our politics and build the capacity of younger ones for better performance. But Nigerian politicians want to exploit the present resources and build pipelines to suck the future out of the country. They want Nigeria to continue under their direction and that of their children.This eternal rat race for relevance and political prostitution with power, wealth, and fame that attends it is the primary reason for the lack of ideas and the legacy of failures in our public service.
While pondering this, I recall Netflix’s recent release of the eponymous documentary on Arnold Schwarzenegger, the American actor who was governor of California between 2003 and 2011. The 77-year-old, who returned to acting after his tenure, reflected on his life, mistakes, political mission, and the impact he made. We also have the likes of former Governor Donald Duke, who left office in Cross River State at 45 and has remained a shining example of a politician who is more interested in national development than just acquiring power. Nigeria needs freedom from the men of yesterday who are desperate about their roles in the country’s future. President Tinubu should help us accomplish this.
