Apostle Mathew And The Gentiles Of Aso Rock – By Okey Maduforo
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Political philosopher Jean Jecque Rousseau, one of the authors and propagators of social contract made no mistake about his stand point on the people and governance. He actually understood the essence of a people surrendering their sourverinity to a standard bearer known as a leader or a king and he propagated this theory of social contract for the good of the society and populist governance. Centuries later and even till date governments globally have come to embrace the merit of leadership by a constituted authority.
Loading ...He equally made a proviso for the led to have that constitutional right to change the leadership if the man in the saddle fails to meet with their wishes and aspirations.
Down here in the African continent it has been a hard sale for a leader to willingly relinquish power in obedience to the rule of law and franchise of the electorates.
The African masses had at some point paid the supreme price in a bid to ensure that unpopular leadership is kicked out of office.
However this has not been actualized without the perceived vocal opinion moulders and self-acclaimed elder statesmen and women.
Be that as it may the positions of these elder statesmen may either been stimulated by personal agenda or the drive towards protecting their ceremonial status than what exactly the masses who surrendered their sourverinity to a leader actually wanted. Nigerian populace since independence have become the political guinea pig used as the apparatus for a control experiment by successive leaders be it military or civilian and the masses have become victims of some personal interests that were protected to the peril of true nationhood.
Ex-president Olusegun Mathew Aremu Obasanjo just recently opened up on his four year assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari and climaxed it as a failure.
Obasanjo came short of describing Buhari as a clueless man who lacks the requisite qualities of a leader for the Nigerian populace.
True to the nature of the Nigerians, almost everyone is agog with Obasanjo’s submissions and his conclaves of Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) are providing the needed tonic to actualize Buhari’s exit in 2019.
What may paint the picture of an elder statesman playing the ostrich is the fact that Nigerians were participant observers of Obasanjo’s eight years in office as president of Nigeria and had their opinion as it were.
His regime was a chronicle of episodes and incidents that sent the Nigerian nation to the cleaners when he used the appurtenance of his office to clamp down on other elder statesmen that made speeches and analysis about his government.
Had it been that the then leadership of the National Assembly did not stamp their feet on the ground Elder Mathew would have had a third term in office.
Interestingly he is on the other side of the political divided and it has become instructive in his own thinking to remain relevant in the country’s political equation and that may have given impetus to his submissions lately.
He has become an apostle of good governance rule of law and respects for the constitution of Nigeria and prides himself as a living saint.
Elder Mathew spent eight years as president and those years witnessed the Movement for the Actualization of Biafra MASSOB in the country’s political landscape and Nigerians can reminiscence how MASSOB, Odua People Congress (OPC) and Arewa Consultative Forum were addressed as near terrorist.
Similarly the Niger Delta militants met the same fate like their contemporaries and it equally saw the holocaust in Odi Bayelsa State where over 2,483 innocent Nigerians were killed and also Zakibiam in the North were human lives were treated with contempt.
Possibly the military under Elder Mathew could not find a suitable name like operation Python Dance for the alleged mass killings of Nigerians of the South East and South South.
The do or die politics propagated during the regime of Elder Mathew never gave room for a free and fair election in the states hence his party the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) had a smooth and unchallenged ride to power while the opposition was subjected to the fate of felons against the state.
Elder Mathew had all that it required to impose one of his trusted cabinet members or loyal governors as a successor in 2007 but he chooses a sick and dying innocent man as president.
This grand plot was obviously hashed, apparently aware of the ultimate goal of placating the Niger Delta militants of the South South with a presidential seat in Aso Rock which Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan benefited.
Our Elder showcased Jonathan as the panacea to whatever challenges Nigeria had as it were and ensured that his sworn rival Atiku Abubakar never stepped into that Executive Office.
While Jonathan battled without end to shoulder the burden of leadership in Nigeria our respected elder waited for him to put all the feet wrongly without proffering an elder statesman’s advice on a way forward.
Apparently mindful of the litany of blames that would come his way and the way of his party the PDP, he publicly tore his membership card in order to hide under the cover of an Elder statesman.
Our Elder Mathew in the third episode of his melodrama threw up a member a man who had since 1999 continued to wrestle the ballot box with him, presenting Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (Rtd) as the big Ijele Masquerade and the ultimate Mr. Fix it for Nigeria.
Just fifteen months to the conduct of 2019 general election, our Elder statesman now Apostle Mathew has commenced his fourth missionary journey and his fourth epistle to the people of Aso Rock nay Nigeria.
Buhari his big masquerade has become a villain and he must be shown the way out in the next election.
Our elderly Apostle further took a swipe on both the PDP and APC contending that neither of the two political parties has the answer to Nigerians problems, giving an undercurrent of a possible sponsorship of yet another coalition that may snow ball into another political party.
He had earlier projected the idea of a president of Nigeria of Igbo exaction and the actualization of Republic of Biafra, a struggle that he frustrated while in Aso Rock.
Apostle Mathew sudden love for Ndigbo and the Biafran Republic is indeed a great bewilderment when while in office for eight years the Nigerians Grand Master ensured that the Senate Presidential seat zoned to the South East remained turbulent, hence producing five Senate Presidents in eight years.
Some sitting governors were either impeached on trumped up charges or openly kidnapped from office even some states were visited with near armageddon, while he was charged with the responsibility of protecting the people’s of lives and property as the Chief Security Officers of Nigeria.
Apostle Mathew’s allegations against Buhari over insecurity indeed cuts the picture of one being clever by half; we know he is old now and the oldest Ph.D holder in Nigeria he can be forgiven because of that.
Nigerians have not forgotten the alleged political killings under our Apostle’s regime which included late Marshal Harri, Chief Aminesari Dikibo in March 4th 2004, and the attack on former Benue State governor George Akume which led to the assassination of Andrew Agom a PDP BOT member and former Nigerian Air Ways Boss.
Also were the alleged killings of former Minister for Power and a second Republic Politician, Chief Bola Igeh on 23rd December, 2001, former Vice Chancellor of University of Nigeria Nsukka, Prof. Chimere Ikoku, Mumma Lawal in March 5th, 2001.
The alleged killing of PDP Gubernatorial Aspirant Dele Orojo and how the then Delta State Governor James Ibori escaped the triggers of gun men in February 14th, 2010 among other.
This may sound as a defence for president Buhari as most reader may interpret it but the issue of corruption in Buhari’s regime as canvassed by Apostle Mathew is a case of a physician that could not heal himself.
Nigerians are still asking of what later became of late Sanni Abacha recovered loot after the probe and the billions of Nigerians naira appropriated to improve electricity supply in the country.
So far the confusion over the gains of oil wind fall which Nigeria as a member of OPEC benefited from is yet to settle in the minds of our patriots.
Its positive impact on fellow oil rich countries of the world is visible but in Nigerian case, it has remained an economic nightmare to the chagrin of Nigerians.
The subsidy saga for eight years became a recalling decimal and the prices of petroleum product continued to suffer constant epilepsy which became an ultimate rip-off on Nigerians.
Nigerians still question the fate of our refineries that some untouchables that frequent Aso Rock Villa were paid to turn around and why the some countries now play host to private refineries owned by such dramatis personae.
The electorates are yet to hear the final story about the Halliburton Saga that shamelessly led to our then President and Vice President dance naked before helpless Nigerians.
The South East and South South geopolitical zones still lament federal road projects embarked upon while Apostle Mathew was about to flag off his second term in office in 2003 and they have all remained uncompleted till date.
But he is our Elder and an elder statesman that has been elevated by share “providence” to the status of a Snr. Apostle on his fourth missionary journey.
Ahead of 2019 General Elections in Nigeria the electorates and indeed taxpaying Nigerians are at sea over Apostle Mathew Aremu Obasanjo’s destination in his fourth missionary journey.
