“I always
pray for my loyalty never to be tested” – Babatunde Raji Fashola, former
governor of Lagos State.
If a leader
like Fashola could make the statement above, then one begins to wonder what is
there in loyalty that a former governor’s cardinal prayer point would be NEVER
to have his loyalty tested. Loyalty is a key ingredient in power. It is an
ingredient that requires believers in a cause, institution or person to stay
true to the cause at all times by thinking, talking, walking and working for
the realisation and promotion of the cause, institution or person.
It is easy to
remain loyal as long as there is absence of friction and clash of interests. However,
situations can arise and circumstances can develop that might lead to the
testing of one’s loyalty at any point in time. When such occasion arises, the
position one takes goes a long way in determining whether the person being
tested is loyal or not. So, in the test of loyalty, one is usually torn between
two extremely burdensome decisions: to remain true to one’s principles and
beliefs which would eventually advance the cause of the whole or to blindly
follow the whole even when one knows that the road being followed could eventually
plunge the whole group into perdition. Loyalty is not to follow blindly,
loyalty is to stand out and take decisions that help the whole even when it
seems incorrect to others initially. With time one’s position would eventually
come to be appreciated. It is like that everywhere. Many leaders have been
reviled and mortified even by their own people only for them to be canonised
later and the cause for which they were denigrated beatified.
It is in
light of this that one must commend the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki for
the way he handled the recently concluded ministerial screening by the Senate.
Despite the diverse powerful interests that piled pressure on him, the Senate
President seemed to have applied uncommon wisdom in handling the screening to
the admiration of a majority of Nigerians. Surely, it was not an easy task, nor
could it have been for anybody, yet, he successfully concluded the exercise
admirably.
Having
emerged Senate President despite opposition from some leaders of his ruling party,
and enjoying the overwhelming support of the opposition PDP senators, Saraki
has since been and remained in the eye of the storm. To punish him for his
“sin”, he was immediately dragged before the Code of Conduct Tribunal for
various offences. His trial, no doubt, has been conducted with palpable
vindictiveness, vendetta and an atmosphere devoid of judicial sanity. Although
the APC continues to deny it, everyone has come to the inevitable conclusion of
what everybody knows but only few are bold enough to say it: Saraki is being
persecuted for emerging the Senate President. Simple!
One of the
arguments against him was that he was not going to be loyal and that having
emerged president of the Senate with the full support of opposition PDP
senators, he would work to frustrate the government of president Buhari and be
an impediment to the implementation of the party’s manifesto.
No one would
blame the ruling party for entertaining such fears really. It is their right to
do so, but with events of recent days, it is obvious that Saraki would not
jettison the programme or manifesto of the party on whose platform he rose to
the height he occupies today.
The recent
ministerial screening was the biggest test of his loyalty to both President
Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC). Having suffered extreme
humiliation, harassment and embarrassment at the CCT trial, one would have
thought that Saraki, just like any other person, would pull all the plugs in
his power to fight back especially when he knew that no singular party could
muster enough numerical strength to get him impeached. One would have expected
him to deliberately set in motion processes that would either embarrass some of
the president’s ministerial nominees or cause their outright rejection by the
Senate. And just with a hit of the gavel, Saraki could easily have had his way.
But rather
than seek vengeance, Saraki proved an extremely loyal party man by not only
ensuring that all the nominees were cleared, he also shielded the nominees from
embarrassment that could have arisen from the opposition senators. A clear but
equally contentious case in sight was the case of former governor Rotimi
Amaechi against whom the PDP senators came all out to stop his confirmation.
Risking flaks from the vociferous PDP senators, Saraki went as far as ensuring
that the report of the Senate’s Ethics and Privileges Committee which obviously
had indicted Amaechi was not tabled for debate before he could be screened.
Allowing that report to be tabled for debate would have sounded a definite death
knell on President Buhari’s favourite nominee. Saraki tactfully prevented that from
happening to the chagrin and consternation of the PDP senators who staged a
walk out immediately in protest.
What else can
a party ask from its Senate President? The reason another candidate might have
been preferred was because the party wanted loyal party men to occupy such
positions for them. This, Saraki has shown he can do in abundance, both for
them and for Nigerians.
Having
stabilised the Senate since its inauguration in the current dispensation, especially
after the storms that followed, it would be absolutely unwise for the party to
keep thinking of upsetting the apple cart. With the number of opposition party
in the senate, it would be better for the party to allow Saraki some peace as
he has been able to win the trust and understanding of a majority of his fellow
APC senators and enjoy the camaraderie of PDP senators. For APC to succeed with
matters that need two third majority of the senate to scale through, they need
a man who already has the capacity to pull this through, and with the benefit
of hindsight, that man is Dr Bukola Saraki. He is not going to prove it, he has
already proven it.
To continue
to persecute him will amount to being politically naive and unnecessarily
bellicose. And to think that replacing him as Senate President would lead to a
stable Senate needed to support the president and the party would amount to
living in a fool’s paradise. The reason for Fashola’s prayer is that no one can
actually predict his reaction when his loyalty is tested except the one who has
actually been tested.
Saraki’s
loyalty has been severely and severally tested, and on all occasions, he has
proved himself a loyal party man, a patriotic Nigerian and a mild-tempered Senate
President who will not allow his personal interest to influence his official functions
or decisions. The saint one has come to know is better than the angel one does
not know. An Igbo proverb says that when sleep becomes enjoyable, we snore. Let
Saraki be. Let the Senate function. Let Nigeria work, so that we can all keep
snoring. To do otherwise is to turn our sleep into a nightmare!
-
Jude Ndukwe, jrndukwe@yahoo.co.uk Twitter: @stjudendukwe
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