By Hajia Adeola Bashiru
While growing up, one of the vital moral values our parents imbued in us was respect for the elderly. It was such a sacred thing that if any of us dared abuse our parents’ foes, they’d still rebuke you, with a firm caution never to dare such. I grew up in the West, spent a stint in the East, and lived briefly in the North. I realized we are all very similar when it comes to respect for the elderly, not minding their status, religion, ethnicity, or nationality. Perhaps this explains why it appalls me to the bone marrow when I perceive an act of disrespect. And that’s exactly how I feel about those hired to write in defense of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
Whoever Abdulqadir Abdulkabir and others are, it is okay to save their paymaster from the opprobrium he has suffered following the criticism that greeted his failure to visit the Sarakis over the death of their mother, Mrs Florence Morenike Saraki. However, I harbor some sort of righteous anger because they show no reverence for the dead and always write like someone with no blood running in their vein. But then, I can only blame upbringing and politics.
Let me state from the word go, that Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki doesn’t have to instruct anyone to write for him or seek attention – as claimed by the writer – before he gets the same. It is laughable that of all the personalities that swamped the Sarakis’ home to register their condolences, all he craved most was the Governor of Kwara State’s visit. Perhaps, the despondent individuals aren’t aware of the high caliber of individuals, groups, corporate organizations, multinationals, and foreign envoys that have been paying condolence visits to the former Senate President and his family. The lighthearted saying of some friends of mine, “When you’re big, you’re big” suits this moment.
I do not think that the observation raised by Olukayode Thomas and others is to deliberately vilify the incumbent Governor of Kwara or put him in a bad light, but to point out the deficiencies in our political space for a saner society. Even as a Kwara-born citizen who follows the political trend, I had sub-consciously wondered why Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq didn’t deem it politically sagacious to pay a visit to the Sarakis. After all, it costs him nothing to do so. Rather, it could have earned him more respect as a distinct Nigerian political figure who acts beyond political divisions. But that didn’t happen. As Abdulkabir said, “he commits no sin,” but it creates an impression. At times such as this, it’s just better to accept the obvious shortcomings and make amends, rather than futile attempts at justifying inadequacies.
If we are to go by some of the parameters used as an alibi to defend Governor Abdulrazaq – which I feel is childish anyway – any objective-minded person will agree that the Governor could have done better. Take for instance; it was statesmanly of Saraki to have issued a condolence message to the Abdulrazaqs when they lost their father. That happened at a trying period for the man Saraki who was facing huge political battles from power brokers at the centre. Governor Abdurazaq was a big beneficiary of that onslaught on Saraki. But that did not deter him from displaying political maturity. Let me also note, that the statement issued to commiserate with the Abdulrazaqs was personally signed by him. If the Governor’s hirelings do not know what that means, it shows a mark of respect for the recipient. He could have chosen to ask his media aide to do so as Governor Abdulrazaq did, but he didn’t.
I also heard Governor Abdulrazaq sycophants say Saraki perhaps didn’t deserve better because he only issued a “cheeky statement when the father of the incumbent Governor, AGF Abdulrazaq, SAN, died a few years ago.” While I do not want to dwell on the actuality of such a claim or the factors surrounding the situation as of then, I’m tempted to ask if Governor Abdulrazaq saw the death of the Saraki matriarch as an opportunity to pay back. Or do two wrongs make a right? After all, his political loyalists have always made us know that he is the Kwara reformer, who has come to change the narrative. Where’s now the change?
The political jobbers further argued that Saraki did not mention Governor Abdulrazaq in his condolence message. It is important to note that the former Senate President did the right thing by mentioning the family head in person of Dr Alimi. In this case, Saraki is the family scion and deserves the recognition. The condolence visits from all walks of life to his residence are enough testament in that regard. I just hope some writers can avoid making a fool of themselves with their line of argument and poor knowledge of tradition.
I have seen a screenshot purportedly from Governor Abdulrazaq being shared on various platforms to prove that the Governor called Saraki to commiserate with him, but that the latter did not pick up. Those against the Governor’s action adjudged it an afterthought and an effort to redeem his image, following the bashing he has received. Some even said it’s Photoshop. The Governor’s handlers on the other hand insist it was necessary to do so, as proof that the Governor did what he could. Again, I’ll refrain from speaking more on that. But then, I wonder if indeed, that was the best that Governor Abdulrazaq could have done. Even my kids know, that when they call and the recipient fails to pick, the wise thing to do is to drop a message. What stops the Governor from doing so?
May I also state that the attack on one Olukayode Thomas in one of their sponsored vitriol was needless? What mattered was the import of his message. Even if you doubt his credentials as a journalist, can you take away the substance from his opinion? In all fairness, Thomas might just be a concerned citizen of the state, who has no affinity with the Sarakis. He only aired his opinion just as every other. We are all entitled to do so. Doubt my credentials too if you must, but I saw substance in Thomas’ write-up. I admire the weird angles to it and the fact that he was able to highlight and marshal his points.
Come to think of it, only two of the myriads of issues penned down by Thomas were addressed in the write-up in question. Obviously, it was intentional because Governor Abdulrazaq’s camp had no answer to the many others. And for emphasis, let me restate some. Isn’t it truly weird that the controversial Tunde Idiagbon flyover, which commenced in December 2021, and costs Kwarans a fortune, has now become an edifice to be watched and used for photoshoot rather than its primary purpose? Isn’t it weird that Governor Abdulrazaq is renovating Kwara Hotels for N17. 8b despite his earlier agreement with Crystal Holdings for N5b. Isn’t it weird that the Kwara government portrayed as ‘Ijoba Mekunu’ has expended billions on foreign trips and domestic leisure at the Government House with no single investment in return? Isn’t it weird that the Governor, who rode to power on the political influence of some bigwigs in his party, has severed relationship with them all in ways that will bitterly be remembered in history? Isn’t it weird that the Governor has this penchant for appointing green-horns and inexperienced individuals to sensitive government positions, and has yet persisted in putting square pegs in round holes? Is Thomas wrong to have found bizarre, the absence of the host Governor from key state events, even when Governors of neighbouring states and ministers deemed it significant to travel down to attend? Which conventional Number One citizen of a state will so shy away from the media that he has never held a media parley and has only appeared once on even the state-owned media? How else do we describe the inhuman handling of the setback enforcement in the Ilorin metropolis, which had rendered many small and medium-scale business owners jobless, not to mention the concentration of all foremost projects in the state within a vicinity and on the same road in Ilorin? The disposition of Abdulrazaq’s government to local government autonomy and his refusal to conduct elections into local councils for five years without any reason leaves much to be desired.
The sycophants around the Governor will never stop being disingenuous by encouraging every wrong he does. But he must learn to tell himself the truth. The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio is of the All Progressives Congress, APC. Just last week, he led a Senate delegation that included a Kwara senator – also of the APC – Saliu Mustapha, to pay Saraki a condolence visit. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon. Tajudeen Abbas led a delegation of the lower chamber to do the same. What about Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was also among the several eminent personalities from the other party who have visited Saraki. Even, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, followed suit and the list is endless. It’s thus, unsettling that the Governor of his home state didn’t deem it necessary. Some things are better done for political correctness.
Hajia Adeola Bashiru writes from Ilorin, Kwara State. She is the Head, Democratic Mobilization and Monitoring Desk, Kwara Advancement Initiative