-By Austen AKHAGBEME:
He boasted to whoever cared to listen in March when he declared his intention to vie for PDP presidential ticket that he was going to clinch it.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Waziri of Adamawa is not a stranger on this path; he is trending on the known and the familiar road to actualizing his declared ambition. He got this far before now. He knows the ropes and the cords.He understand the road and its curves also. He appreciates the gullibility of those that matters and the right part of their bread that needs to be buttered.
So even when a cloud of tension and trepidation took over the arena, he was calm and audacious. He was rumoured to have taken the lead earlier in terms of gratification to those that matters in all ramifications.
The bull who was rapidly at his heels needed to be stopped. An alliance was brokered either before or right there and then. And a major contender, dropped off and openly pledge allegiance to the octopus, to the utter amazement of his co- contenders. And that is what you get in a nation where politics is viewed from a narrower perspective of geography, tongue and tribe.
What will an Atiku bring to the table? What role will the South East play in this puerile equation? Since the exit of Peter Obi, the South East have not ceased to express their grievances openly against the People’s Democratic Party. Can a Pius Ayim feels the yawning gap as a running mate to the Waziri?
What about Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, the man who fought with all he got to wrestle victory from even the jaw of a well-known and anticipated defeat? Can his efforts be recognised and rewarded with a joint ticket with the old warhorse?
As for us Nigerians, where lies the hope of a greater and better future from leaders of this specie who knows how to bite us hard and blow us cool all at the same time? Or is this just another tempestuous trip by Atiku Abubakar on his usual but much-travelled road to infamy? Someone should please answer my question.
- Austen AKHAGBEME is a Columnist with Blank NEWS Online
