The Day Jonathan Created An Opponent By Nasiru Suwaid

The Tuesday April 16^th of the year 2014 was an ordinary day like any other in the city of Kano, yet it is not so innocuous like other days of the year, after all, which normal day could have the momentous specialty of the symbolism of which of the two between a bowler hat and a red cap best fits the head, the classical imagery of which attire best intimidates an opponent, it is worth noting that the Nigerian president had rejected the local and traditional clothing he was given at the airport, because, seemingly, he did not came to the state to win his political adversaries, as he loudly shouted on the raised platform, those who are campaigning against me as a devil are the greatest evil, as they did not perform from what they have collected from the federal government, while the works of the President Goodluck Jonathan government are all there for anyone to see, be they supporters or critics of the administration. It was an occasion for high end political bluster, as confirmed by the fact that he did not commission, mention or even pointed at any project in the state, that which were it not for his individual effort, it would never have come to fruition.
It was day the Nigerian president whittled down his opposition in the 2015 presidential elections, by elevating Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso into a gravitating force and personality, whom anybody opposed to the Nigerian presidency, should seek a canopy under as the prime political alternative to the current leadership. It was a quiet but humid morning when I woke for the day and had to spare a few minutes to chart the routes I shall take, because, it is the day the Nigeria’s ruling party was holding a politically rally, to formally welcome the former governor of Kano state Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau into the People’s Democratic Party. As it is with anything with Kano city, most especially, anything that has to do with social gatherings, more so a political one, it usually attracts thousands upon thousands of residents, thus, it would not take a clairvoyant soothsayer, to predict that there will be so many people on the street, thus the probability of traffic hold-ups is a virtual certainty.
However, my journey unto the city and on the way to work shocked me beyond measure, as the city was surprisingly empty, except for the glue sniffing youths about town, who are mostly boarded on the yellow tricycle vehicles synonymous with the former Shekarau administration, but I had to make a detour as the road passing in front of the Emir’s Palace was blocked, perhaps, because the ignorant youths had thought the president is coming to pay homage, not knowing that the emir was not in town and their party did not make provision for the usually city wide procession as a show of force. I would be righteous to assert a claim that apart from the shameful spectacle of seeing married fighting over Goodluck Jonathan’s emblazoned wrappers, my journey ended as uneventful as the fact that everywhere I looked, it had something to do with the campaign about town, so I had to force myself to listen to the speeches, more so as a policy analyst and a student of politics, I would have learnt a lot to see how the president answered back his critics, specifically Rabiu Kwankwaso, who had demanded to know about the 20 billion dollars unremitted funds, which the national oil company could not account for.
Unfortunately for me and need I say the generality of millions of Nigerians, the symbolism was so clear in the crowds being addressed, as what the president stated was at best pedestrian or appropriately depicted the characteristic caricature of the audience he was addressing, which is composed of those youths who had made it an impossibility for any vulcanizer to earn a living, by going into the market to buy a glue without raising suspicion that what was bought was not acquired to mend fractured vehicular tyres It is also amongst them, that are making it difficult for anyone to open a pharmaceutical store or a chemist and indeed sell cough prevention syrups, without attracting the interest of the officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. It is instructive to note, when Kwankwaso spoke to respond to the president, he deliberately chose the occasion of a university matriculation convened at the Government House Lawn, putting it more glaringly, while the president sought to avail himself to the inhabitants of city through the low life’s and dregs of the town, the governor simply answered back through the intellectually reasoning of an undergraduate.
Of course apart the physical and picturesque symbolism, I would be the least to belittle the significance of the exchanges, because the revelations and allegations where as important, that were it in any other country than Nigeria, it is enough to elicit the interest of that nation’s anti corruption agencies and indeed the local police, as the president had robustly spoke of how he gave the Kano state governor some money to induce the delegates, by voting for him in the presidential primaries as well as general elections, which unfortunately for him was not extended to the delegates and party officials. The question that immediately comes to mind, upon hearing of the public accusation and confession, was whether by the People’s Democratic Party constitution, it is right to corruptly influence potential voters and whether it is in consonance with the Nigerian law, which he had sworn to uphold as a serving executive president
Suwaid writes in from nasirusuwaid@gmail.com