When former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote that there was a political
\nwatch-list, many thought the grand old man of Nigerian politics was
\nhallucinating. But thanks to the former Minister of Federal Capital
\nTerritory, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, we now know that there is indeed a list.
\nIn fact, el-Rufai says he is number seven on the list. And also, because
\nhe has seen the list, el-Rufai knows the name of those on the list. And
\nmost of them are of the All Progressives Congress (APC) top guns.
\nNever mind that the diminutive man, with delusions of grandeur, thinks he
\nis so important that he should be number seven of President Goodluck Ebele
\nJonathan\u2019s political foes.
\nBut I suspect that such a list exists. The list is somewhere either in
\nthe Library of the Navigator or the den of the Lion of Bourdillon and
\nleader of the APC.
\nI am miffed, and understandably so, at el-Rufai. A brief history will
\nsuffice here. I was in Abuja when the story made the rounds that Obasanjo
\ngave the go-ahead to el-Rufai to roll out the bulldozers on demolition
\nspree.
\nHe was said to have gone close the COJA Games (the All African Games) in
\nthe National Stadium in Abuja, during which he was booed by spectators who
\nkept singing Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! Ole! (Thief! Thief! Thief! Thief! Thief!)
\nObasanjo was said to have maintained his cool as the embarrassment went
\non, but as soon as he was through, he was said to have asked an aide (some
\nsuspect it was the accidental public servant), who were those disgracing
\nhim before the African public, and by extension, the international
\ncommunity. The aide was said to have fingered the residents of Gwagwa,
\nIdu, Karmo (slums in the Federal Capital City).
\nThat singular comment reportedly led to the blank cheque that was given
\nfor the demolition of those shanties and such others in the city and its
\nsuburbs. Others caught in the demolition saga, like former National
\nChairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Col. Ahmadu Ali, were collateral
\ndamages and part of a grand design to whip political enemies of Obasanjo
\nand his favourite son, el-Rufai, into line.
\nIt was not that the former minister did not prosecute the restoration of
\nthe master plan of Abuja with single-mindedness, but he added needless
\nwickedness with a high dose of diarrheic garrulity, as he hurled insults
\nat anyone who questioned him. His co-traveler and Lagos Governor, Raji
\nFasola, did much more than el-Rufai, but he managed not to elicit the kind
\nof pathological hatred that was the lot of the loquacious nuisance.
\nAnd to think that the same man, who sent a lot of Igbo men back home with
\nhis wickedness, went there a short while ago to attempt to monitor the
\nAnambra governorship elections! Was he hoping to be attacked so he could
\npoint a finger of guilt at Abuja?
\nPerhaps, what has drawn my ire so much about this man who claims to be
\nfrom Zaria, but who enjoys using the tweeter so much that he makes
\nderisive remarks about his prophet and the Lord Jesus Christ, was the
\ncomment on tweeter when an airplane he was on almost crashed and other
\npassengers, fearful about what was about to happen, resorted to calling
\nupon the names of Jesus Christ and Allah. He found their gesture funny and
\nsaid so on his tweeter page.
\nWhat manner of man is this that thinks that people should not call on
\ntheir God when in danger? This is the same man who always sought refuge
\nunder the cover of Obasanjo whenever he ran into trouble with his enemies,
\nespecially members of the National Assembly. It was better for him to run
\nto his then political father, but it was wrong for others to run to the
\nowner of the heavens and the earth.
\nA man who expended so much of tax-payers\u2019 money on an alleged girlfriend
\nhe took on as a consultant, when she was eminently unqualified for such a
\ndesignation and emoluments and yet, he plays holy! I wonder if the APC
\nstrategists know that el-Rufai is more of a liability.
\nBack to the political watch-list, if any, made popular by el-Rufai\u2019s
\nformer godfather, Obasanjo. Many have said commentators and the
\npresidency should concentrate on the message in Obasanjo\u2019s letter rather
\nthan the messenger. But what if the messenger is actually the message? I
\nmean, what if the message lacks credibility and the messenger throws his
\nweight of dubious credibility behind the message?
\nThat is a matter for another day. el-Rufai claims that four other
\nprominent Nigerians like former military head of state, General (retd)
\nMuhammadu Buhari; former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu;
\nthe Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and Interim Chairman of the All
\nProgressives Congress, Chief Bisi Akande, are also on the list.
\nSo if these prominent Nigerians, and others like Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso
\n(Kano), Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto), AbdulFatah (Kwara), Sule Lamido (Jigawa),
\nBabangida Aliyu (Niger), Bukola Saraki, Danjuma Goje, etc. are on this
\nphantom list, how did el-Rufai get to number seven; or was the list not in
\norder of political importance?
\nAmaechi has claimed that he is number one on the list. He made the
\nallegation at a rally of the APC held at the Liberation Stadium in Port
\nHarcourt, Rivers State, on December 28, 2013, where he formally declared
\nfor the party. He had said: \u201cI read the President\u2019s letter; he said
\nObasanjo should prove and name those on the list. I am number one on the
\nlist. I am number one.\u201d
\nSo Tinubu and Buhari are not that important to occupy the top numbers? In
\nhis tweet, el-Rufai said: \u201cOn this note, I am going to bed. I am number 7
\non the GEJ (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) snipers\u2019 list; so I will only worry
\nwhen GMB (General Muhammadu Buhari), Asiwaju, Amaechi, Akande, etc., are
\nkilled.\u201d
\nNow I am a little confused; are we talking about a political watch-list or
\na sniper\u2019s list? Where is Obasanjo to iron out the differences? This is
\nbecause as I was preparing to doze off last night, I saw a list, and I was
\nnumber 1000 on the list, marked political watch-list (it could be sbiper\u2019s
\nlist); I am however sure that before they get to me, if the targets are to
\nbe hit in descending order, I would have flown to Russia for political
\nasylum. May be Putin will give me a room next door to Edward Snowden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote that there was a political watch-list, many thought the grand old man of Nigerian politics was hallucinating. But thanks to the former Minister of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n