By Ahmad Opeyemi Ahmad
Heard some faceless indigents of Kwara state are spearheading some recall of the current Senate President. This is understandable because Saraki is a serial sinner. I shall start with a brief historical account of my earlier days.
As a boy, I lived with my mum and we had no television in our apartment. I had no choice but to join the co-poor kids in our area then to visit friends whose parents were rich. The sight of television to kids in those days were very riveting and relaxing. Need I state the degree of our total absorption in the delusion of gun firing men who flew high in the sky. How bad did we want to be like them. Friends were actually made with the rich kids. Among whose memory I can still remember the two names Kayode and Toye today. The appearance of the duo always elicit admiration and dream among the kid folk. We cannot but envy their flawless skin and well donned garments. They cut a dashing figure wherever they appeared. That was in the early 90s.
Fast forward to 2015, I was already touring the country on business affairs. Visiting the rich and the poor and making friends as well as securing connections. I have once been a student leader. I have my own rented apartment well adorned to fit the description of present day big boys. And in one of such journeying around, I accidentally ran into this old friend of mine from the olden days. Toye has grown to become a fat guy. Except for the belly and some royalty remnants in his look, there wasn’t any sign to indicate Toye was born with silver spoon. As a matter of fact, a few minute engagement revealed to me, writ large, that Toye is now exposed to the hardship of life which we have always been used to. Not only that, my pocket is now sizeable than Toye’s. How constant is change in life!
In all honesty, nobody pray to be the “anything of yesterday”; rich man of yesterday, former leader, the guy that won… in the year….. Do you feel the sound, they surely don’t sound so good? This is the pivot around which Saraki’s sins evolve. He sell his brand to the market without minding his interlocutors. And to remain in power, he would face every challenges and take them as his own challenge. On no basis will he allow any force to deposition him. I can say I admire his tenacity and in fact, the monolithic nature of his team. And all these sins can neither be forgiven nor be overlooked.
Saraki knows so many things they don’t. He knows no foundation is as strong as the foundation made from the brick of honesty and efficiency. He knows to stay ahead he has to be good in his job. He foresaw the danger of having Muslim/Muslim ticket in the house of APC and prevented that in the face of palpable temptation. He knows that no storm could be so strong as to destroy a boat made of commitment to one’s course, so he let that float his boat. If Saraki’s ever-towering highness is terrifying his peers, it’s understandable. But this should, by no means, translate into virulent attempt of dwarfing such a giant.
More understandably, Saraki has had his share of heavy blows from the jealous guys in the political industry. Every great man in the past and present has it! It’s a common feature of greatness. It is not easy to discredit a man with this kind of endowment. Many will not realise the strides of Saraki in keeping this rickety nation together until he is gone. More interestingly, many do not see that Saraki, plus being a politician, is quickly becoming a conscience of this nation. I’m not unaware that some rookie political analysts in the county have spoken against him, most of them paid, but how many REAL ACTIVISTS have mentioned his name among the wrongdoers.
I shall not urge those who attempted the recall to stop, as doing so would mean stopping them from working where they earn their daily bread. I shall, instead, urge them to keep up their good work as soon as it is not taken beyond Abuja where the present pusillanimous criminal resides. They can even go farther. They can take it to Lagos, or move the recall process to New York where Yele of SaharaReporters resides. I care not a hoot! Saraki shall tower higher. Every single noise from SaharaReporters and their likes cannot stop him. Different attacks engulfing him cannot prevent him. The eyes of a frog in a waterpoint do not prevent cow from drinking.
