Since he joined the race to contest for the nations number one seat in 1992,Atiku Abubakar,a former Customs officer and businessman has left no one in doubt about his ambition.
He has pursued it with all vigor both fair and foul .
In actual fact, his relentless pursuit of his ambition in whatever way he deems fit has placed him at the centre stage of evolution of politics in the still -born third republic and now in the fourth republic.
Atiku’s demeanor and relationships with those he has met,encountered and play politics with in the past three decades makes him a man unique in his desperation and determination to achieve his goal even if it means pulling down friends, associates and colleagues.
To him,all is fair in politics. In other words,Atikus political attitude marks him out as somebody who sees his friends most of who has over the years turn foe,the fall guy in his desperation to rule a country called Nigeria.
Over six decades before now, Atiku must have emulated the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, who during the run- up to the 1959 general election was forced to come out to campaign in order to counter the growing influence of the then Action Group,AG led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
According to Awos account in his book My March Towards Prison-the Sardauna was so annoyed as a result of dust generated on him for forcing him to come out to campaign that he vowed,” i will deal with that Awolowo of a man”.
That was unknown to many,the genesis of Sardaunas loathing of Awo and his preference to work with late Dr Nnamdi Azikwes,NCNC .
Thus, the NPC,NCNC alliance was birthed in 1959 while Awo was tricked by Zik to wait for him in Asaba on same date for an accord that never was.
Today, over six decades after the Sardaunas threat which led to collaboration between NCNC and NPC that later resulted in Awos imprisonment, Atiku known for playing God is contemptuosly fighting tooth and nail to demean and reduce the person and office of his erstwhile fruebd,colleague and associate,President Bola Ahmed Tinumbu.
He is doing this not only to diminish Tinubu but the office of the President of a country,he has labored all this years to lead but which circumstances and Providence has not made it possible.
In the typical Fulani born to rule attitude, Atiku has in the past three years refused to accept Tinubu as President just as he tried rather futively to make former President Olusegun Obasanjo, his former boss kow- tow to his self- imposed superior Fulani birthright for support before the later could get his slot in the PDP for his second term in 2023.
Today, 66 years after the office of President was created,Atiku condescendighly refused to respect both the holder of the office and the position all because of his rather false entitlement attitude.
Yes,as someone who has labored in vain within seven electoral cycles to clinch the position has the legal right to aspire as many times as he could, it is morally and unethically wrong to demean its holder just because he didn’t like his face or that his erstwhile friend and now political foe, Tinubu, who only tried once and got it.
Atiku has every right to be angry with fate but he definitely betrayed lack of decorum to refer to a constitionaly recognised holder of that position in a derogatory manner as Bola.
It amounts to lack of respect for that position he coveted this past three decades.
According to a former political ally,Akin Osuntokun,immediate past Special Adviser on Media to Peter Obi of Labour Party, Atiku, Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress,ADC derogatory reference to a President as ‘Bola is disrespectful and an afront to the office of the President Atiku is aspiring to lead.
Said he,”What i found objectionable was his repeated decision to call him ,Bola. It was a needless display of disrespect. It is primarily an insult to Nigerians on whose account he occupies that office”.
Should in case Atiku is not aware,he should, having been married to a wife of Yoruba extraction for over four decades, know of a saying in Yoruba that,” he who wants to bury his elder brother alive should bring his own junior brother along ,meaning…Eni to fe sin egbon re ni ihoho,ko mu aburo re dani..reason that the junior would know how to bury him too.
In Yoruba,there is a saying that,’you don’t urinate into a stream ure going to draw water from’ .is he prepared to swallow the dirt he has poured into the office he craved if he wins?
If Atiku by chance eventually wins the election and becomes the President of Nigeria,he should not feel insulted if the same disrespect is shown to his person.
But then, we should examine the sequences and genesis of Atikus disrespect for President Tinubu and see justification, if any for this attitude.
Tinubu it was in 2007,who yielded the Acton Congress,the party he founded and nurtured from the ashes of AD, to Atiku to run for President when he became a political orphan in the PDP after his confrontation and fall- out with then President Obasanjo who discovered his treacherous moves.
While Tinubu welcome him with open hands,he did same for him in 2011 and 2015 when the new bigger party the APC was formed.
Ironically, Atiku was defeated by fellow Fulani man, Muhammadu Buhari,who had also contested for Presidency three times before he eventually won the fourth time through Tinubus support using the APC platform in 2015.
Same Atiku contested against Tinubu in 2023 after he ran back to his old vomit, the PDP but was defeated by the former
The question is ,is Atiku a believer in God who promotes and crown kings or is he primarily being driven by self -entitlement or morbid entitlement to that office which he has demeaned in various ways?.
Is Atiku behaving out of frustration that his ‘boy’ in politics,Tinubu got on a first trial what he has labored for for three decades?.
Is he convinced by the injunction in the Bible Psalm 62:11, that..all power belongs to God.
He should by now have known that it is God who enthrones and dethrone at wiil.
Yes,like in all political climes ,criticism is normal and part of the tonic of democracy,but criticism reduced to personal hatred ,contempt or issue leaves much to be desired.
By his criticism, is Atiku conscious of the fact that the demeaning of the office he strives to occupy may alienate him from his own fans and supporters who may view him as a bad and bitter loser desirous of pulling down the house he wanted to occupy because it couldn’t come his way.
Since the beginning of the campaign three weeks ago,how come Atiku and other contenders has not come out with alternative programmes that could change the life of Nigerians they crave to lead but instead embarked on demarketing programmes already being executed by incumbent and focused on reinventing it.
Could it be that Atiku only wanted to occupy the seat without no credible alternative to the Subsidy project which has remained the core issue of the countrys economic standing.
According to Osuntokun,”those who believe Tinubu is not fit for the office should pursue legitimate ways to remove, impeach or defeat him through the ballot box.Until that,Tinubu is entitled to the privilege of his office.”
Since politics is a game of numbers,Atiku should rather energise the electorate through effective campaigns and propaganda if need be, to buy his idea instead of throwing mud.
Ironically,election in Nigeria is never fought in the main or social media but rather through the ballot box on election day .
Since all the political parties has at least 115 days to campaign, they should do so without hurting the office they seek to occupy.
Democracy is best served and developed through trading and battling with ideas for the common good not self- entitlement triggered by ego and aggradisement.
The nation waits.