By Solomon Brisbie
Do not fight a battle if you don’t gain anything by winning
– George S. Patton
Lets pause for a minute to ponder on the above quote by George S. Patton. Clearly, this is food for thought for our dear First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.
Just imagine what would have been the situation if the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, were still with President Goodluck Jonathan in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party? It was a simple question someone posted on his facebook page but which conveyed a lot of meaning in political terms especially in view of the current situation in which the president is obviously fighting a political battle of his life. Without question, the circumstance would have been different, considering the political value of Rivers State in electoral strength and, who knows, Amaechi might have equally played a good role to dissuade some, if not all, his governor colleagues not to defect from the PDP when they did in a manner never experienced in our political history.
And so it happened: Amaechi left and it has been a big political blow to both Mr. President and his party. The initial bravado that anyone not pleased with the party could leave is now a major regret. No better a personality than former Nigeria Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), pointed this out in his recent meeting with the president when he told him the truth that allowing Amaechi to leave the party was a mistake.
For those who have forgotten, it would be recalled that the genesis of the rancor between Mr. president and Amaechi was the Okirika episode in which Amaechi felt very uncomfortable with the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan’s public outburst which amounted to nothing but imposition of thought on an issue of public policy in which he has jurisdiction as an elected governor. Amaechi flatly rejected such audacity and his relationship with the First Lady was never the same. The imbroglio over the leadership of the Governors’ Forum was only an “added value” in brinkmanship and since then Amaechi was seen as an enemy. Of course, Mama Peace as the First Lady would want to be recognised had ironically stoked the feud rather than making peace between the president and the governor ever since. The political consequence has undoubtedly been very grave.
Now, matters arising:Was it a good judgment on the part of the president to join forces with his wife against Amaechi? Even if Amaechi were to be the offender, what role for the president as a leader to mend fences with the governor and ensure that he remains in good terms with his wife? Or did he just acquiesce to whatever the First Lady decides as the popular narrative goes in town or was just not tactical enough to realise he had an election ahead of him and would need Amaechi? Is it a wise and rational decision to fight your enemy to a dead point in politics when you know that there is no permanent enemy in the game? Didn’t former President Olusegun Obasanjo beg his vice, Atiku Abubakar, to be ‘re-elected? Does it mean Obasanjo was a fool or doesn’t know how to fight dirty? No, he was just plainly being pragmatic and a wise politician. These are the issues.
Arguably, the First Lady has been a political liability to Mr. President and regrettably he never realised it or may be he has been too weak to take charge of his presidency to the extent that all manner of political jobbers had led him to take unpopular decisions now haunting him and his re-election bid. The First Lady has indeed carried on too far to undermine political stability in the PDP and in the process created so many enemies.
The case of Rivers State is a good example. Even after the exit of Amaechi from the PDP, her role in deciding who becomes the governorship candidate of the party has till date been a sour point which if nothing concrete is done to assuage frayed nerves before the election can only help the APC candidate win the race. That provocative statement “Wike is my candidate” will be remembered for a long time as one reckless statement too many by Mrs Jonathan. The implication, as events have since shown, is that the First Lady imposed Wike on the people and in spite of the loud protests made by the other sixteen governorship aspirants, Mama Peace had her way. But will those who lost out in such undemocratic and humiliating arrangement be glad to work for Wike’s success in the election? Has there been a second look at the contents of that full page advertorial by the former Minister of Aviation, Alabo Tonye Douglas, on the inherent factors that could work against Wike in the election? Any serious efforts to reach out to the other aspirants who were denied opportunity to participate in the governorship primary of the party till now?
From Rivers to Oyo State, the First Lady was desperately marketing her imposition mission. You can imagine a First Lady gathering the PDP stakeholders together in Ibaden to tell them who she wanted as the party’s governorship candidate. But this was exactly what happened though unlike in Rivers State, she was told in unmistakable terms that it was not possible and she lost out. Similar instance also reared its ugly head in Benue State where the president’s preferred candidate, former Minister of State for Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, lost to the orchestration of his wife, who had her way even with a threat to the sitting governor to co-operate or have his senatorial aspiration aborted. Yet, only a few actually know that the current national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mau’zu, almost lost the chance to be on his seat except for the intervention of some wise leaders in the party who schooled the president on why Mau’zu was better than the person the First Lady vehemently supported.
The problems confronting the PDP ahead of the elections find eloquent expression in the “art of imposition” which has led to mass exodus from the party and this is likely to affect its chances at the elections. Internal democracy took a huge flight and no dissent voice was tolerated. Even in Bayelsa State, the president’s homestead, which is expected to be firmly united, is already made a political battle field by the instigation of Mrs Jonathan. Her unbridled quest to impose her preferred candidate as governor even for an election still far ahead of current circle has created a parallel political formation now digging it out all the way in very bad political temperament and colours against the incumbent Governor Seriake Dickson. However, it may well seem that the President has learnt his lesson, if going by reports in the media over the weekend is anything to go by. According to media reports, President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday broke his silence over the reported animosity between Governor Seriake Dickson and his wife, describing it as the handiwork of mischief-makers.
To the surprise of the mammoth crowd at the rally, the president openly threw his weight behind Governor Dickson’s administration at the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP Presidential rally held at the Samson Siasia Sports Complex in Yenagoa. President Jonathan said, whoever is working against the present (Dickson’s) administration in the state is working against his re-election bid. Gbam!
The president’s remark was like a bombshell to Dickson’s detractors, many of whom, including Mama Peace, least expected it. And so the president has for once taken a firm stand and hopefully governor Dickson can at least, heave a huge sigh of relief.
Now to Nasarrawa State. Many are blaming former Information Minister, Labaran Maku for defecting from the PDP to APGA but many are also not listening to his own story of injustice meted to him in the course of the primary election. Why was an initial agreement change overnight and reneged support for him? Why was he allowed to resign when they knew, assuming their story is true, that he was not going to be supported? And many more of such inconsistencies and manipulations that had now torn the party apart.
Back to Madam Peace. Is she really the leader of the PDP? Is she a member of the national executive or that of the Central Working Committee? If otherwise, why the ubiquitous tendency to impose candidates in the party? In what capacity has she been acting out those scripts? Delegated power from Mr. president or what?
No one should mistake the views here to mean that the First Lady does not have power to influence political decisions or should not have her contributions in the power loop in the presidency. First ladies do. As a creation of modern presidencies, first ladies do exert their influence but In a decorous manner to fight for decent policies and programmes and of course they could have input into candidacies but still in a positive way that does not tarnish the reputation of the party and the great values of principle, merit and due process.
The sterling qualities of Hillary Clinton and her legacies as first lady will likely continue to be a reference point. You may accuse her of that “polarizing factor” in American politics but that is at the level of her own partisan political inclination and convictions, largely altruistic but never accused of imposition. She has been fighting for very great values of public interest over the years. You may also argue that she bungled the healthcare agenda as first lady but she meant well and history will also suggest it was the Republicans who felt she went too far to be a “policy wonk” in the West Wing but again the truth is that she meant well and thankfully, the healthcare agenda is now law under Barrack Obama even with the threat of repel by the same ideological Republicans. Post White House, Hillary has continued living her great history as a senator, secretary of state and serious contender for the presidency. But unlike Hillary, how would Nigerians remember our dear Patience Jonathan? All manner of not too exciting recollections they would likely be because she hasn’t, regrettably, defined herself in the image of the ideal first lady. Besides her combative politics which is believed by many to be influenced by the Imelda Marcus mentality, such other popular narratives like “how many of you waka come or there’s God o” etc as commonly posted on the social media are definitely not the stuff of a modern, ambitious, loving (and loved) first lady who deliberately courted the people for substance, finesse and history and played her politics to impact some enduring values to remember.
The fear now is that Mama Peace may not have much time to change much of her legacy for good or for worse. The consciousness out there is that her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, may lose this election. Even if local polls are misleading, the recent powerful editorial of The Economist which endorsed Buhari even with the understanding that the view of the popular and largely objective magazine may not be an influence back home is still an eye opener about the truth of our political circumstance. Buhari may win! “We are relieved not to have a vote in this election. But were we offered one we would –with a heavy heart– choose Mr. Buhari…”, The Economist rested its profound case.
Therefore, if Jonathan loses, as being widely projected, the First Lady must be prepared to take her fair share of the political misfortune because she imposed herself too often to fight unnecessary battles and in the process created too many enemies for Mr. President.In spite of Jonathan’s personal failings as president, Madam Peace has failed woefully to make peace with perceived enemies who could and should have been her friends and that of her husband. Amaechi is likely smiling now. How not to be a first lady!
THE END…