Opinion

Tears for Abubakar Audu

 

WITH RICHARD ELESHO

Was it to be compared to a Nollywood scene? Or some ancient
Greeko-Roman mythology? The accounts were tragic and heavily laced
with magic, mysticism and mystery. Not miracles. It all happened at a
frenetic speed. It was our subject’s long awaited day of glory. The
stage was practically set for his honour.
Suddenly, words went round that he was indisposed, permanently
incapacitated, confirmed dead. The entire landscape made up of his
die-hard supporters and opponents all fused into one in melancholy.
Oh, what a life! Tears began to drop in many eyes. But within hours of
this confirmed passage, the narratives changed – 360 degrees.
Indeed, as dignitaries gathered to pay their  last respects the,
‘good’ but ‘scary’ news went round that the dead had risen.
He had gone through some apocalyptic transmutations and resurrected,
we were told. Jubilant crowds, chiefly of youths and women (easy
purveyors of such fantansies) broke loose across the length and
breadth of Kogi State heralding the mystery. ‘Outbursts of Audu ti
dide,’ ‘Baba is risen from the dead,’ ‘Adoja no die again’ etc rented
the air. Welcome to the last days of Prince Abubakar Audu, former
Governor of Kogi State, who was an enigma, even in death.
Only once in man’s recorded history has a man risen from death. That
singular ex nihilo feat was achieved by Jesus Christ, three days after
he was nailed to the cross by his Jewish brothers. They killed him all
because they could not come to terms with his Divine connections.
Audu’s rumoured reincarnation shook that record, but of course it
turned out a ruse. It was completely untrue. Adojah, had gone on a
journey of no return.
Both in life and in death, Audu was a politician of note. In fact, the
colour and drama that attended his transition could only have been
pulled by a character of Audu’s standing. The former governor and
candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 2015 Kogi
Governorship  poll, had almost breasted the tape of second term
electoral victory, then he crossed it and sadly passed to the great
beyond. He died of a bleeding ulcer. That was in the wee hours of
Sunday, 22nd November 2015.
To say his death has significantly altered political equation in the
State, is to state the obvious. During his last campaign rallies, Audu
had urged minority groups in  the state to vote him promising to hand
over to one of them after serving his tenure. He noted that he was the
only person with the requisite clout to effect power shift in the
state. His promise came faster than he intended. Upon his demise, the
APC awarded his victory to Yahaya Bello, a young  Anebira and first
runner-up during the primary. Obviously, his death accelerated power
shift  However, Bello has not followed on the footsteps of his
benefactor in his style of governance, or the lack thereof.
It is now four seasons ago that Audu passed on. But the people still
miss him as if he died just yesterday. Audu traversed the Kogi
political landscape like a colossus. Indeed, he was one. In the
state’s nearly three decades of existence, this is the first time a
Governorship election will hold without Audu’s colourful candidacy.
Since her creation by the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, IBB military
junta in August 1991, the people of Kogi State have gone to the poll
to elect a Governor seven times. Audu was a candidate in all. He won
twice, in 1992 under the National Republican Convention, NRC and in
1999 under the All People’s Party, APP, to earn his most cherished
title as “first and second Executive Governor of Kogi State.”
His outings in 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2011 were catastrophic. Death
denied him of victory in 2015, when the ovation was loudest.
Audu had swag. He played opposition politics with a difference. His
most defining character was steadfastness. Audu overcame the
temptation of jumping from one party to another because of dwindling
electoral fortunes. He would hold on to the ideals and gate of his
party, even if he was the last man standing. The former governor’s
flamboyance and dress sense were unique. From the size of his over
flowing Agbada to the ornamentation of its embroidery, you would not
mistake the Prince of Ogbonicha from an assorted mix of a thousand
crown heads. He chuckled to no end whenever his die-hard supporters
massaged his king-zized ego by describing him as “Prince of both the
Niger and the Benue.”
The Prince wore an affectionate ambience anywhere and anytime. He was
an active part of all that he saw and where ever he went. Many people
usually interpreted this as overbearing, if not bullying. Without
doubts, he dominated his environment, without making others feel
unwanted. A case in point: In 2008 after the Appeal court declared his
name was unjustly omitted on the 2007 ballot, Audu was to vie on the
ANPP platform, while Senator Salihu Ohiare already secured ticket of
the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN. Few weeks to the election
however, a working relationship was reached by the two parties. It was
an evidence of Audu’s savvy that in spite of the disadvantaged
position of his party, he became the candidate of the ACN – new
alliance, while Ohiare stepped down and became his running mate. That
was vintage Audu.
The Prince brought colour into his politics. He knew where and how to
get the electorate. He had and used the words that unsettled the
opposition and took away their sleep in endless defence. He never
missed an opportunity to throw a jibe. He lacked verbosity. But the
weight of his words measured with the size of his raiment. At campaign
rallies Audu composed and rendered songs to the admiration of his
fans. Simply put, Audu had a way with the audience.
Adoja had great taste for the profound. As governor, he etched his
name in gold in the development of the State. His administration
established structures for the smooth take-off of the young state.
Kogi State University Anyigba, Kogi State Polytechnic and State
Library were in this category. He also conceived Obajana Cement before
Aliko Dangote, the richest African bought into it and made it the envy
of all eyes. Confluence Beach Hotel, Commissioners’ quarter, 4th
Republic estate and some roads were among his legacy contributions.
His invaluable inputs led to the establishment of Federal Medical
Centre, FMC, National Television Authority, NTA, Graphic newspaper and
Radio Kogi, all in Lokoja.
Perhaps for the intricacies of his royal blood or some deeper human
complexities, Audu was an imperial governor. His subjects cringed at
his feet. Traditional rulers abandoned their palaces to sing-praise
the executive governor during homages. At other times, they kept vigil
in endless waiting for his reception at Jamata Bridge as he returned
from his regular economic missions abroad. Those who craved quick
notice and compensation in term of government patronage in their
communities, must come with cow-ropes or better still cow-heads.
Audu was a no nonsense leader. As governor, he left no one in doubt
about the enormous powers of his office. Subjects flinched before his
royal governor. Aides must be on their knees or squat while addressing
him. A recalcitrant royalty may be demoted or banished to exile.
Certainly, to maintain your place around Adojah, one must always sit
up.
At the peak of his reign, he boasted to a bewildered national
audience, that his party would continue to rule the Confluence State
for the next 25 years. It turned out a failed prophecy. Neither Audu
nor his party even lived to see the 25 years, as it happened. But even
more instructive, is the fact that the next time the Kogi people went
to the poll to elect a Governor, they rejected Audu and his party. He
was never to taste the office of governor again until his death. What
a God!
But, Audu did not die. His labour was not in vain. The Prince left
adequate mutations that have kept the political space busy in the
Confluence State. His children and family are keeping alive the Audu
light. During the last APC Governorship primary, not less than three
aspirants, namely Mohammed, Mustapha and Yahaya represented the Audu
family. Each of them unsuccessfully sought to fly the party ticket. In
the same vein, one of his former wives and Mustapha’s mother, Aisha is
candidate of the Young Progressives Party in the Nov. 16th
Governorship election. She is asking the Kogi people to elect her as
governor.
Audu may have died, but he lives on in our hearts. As I remember him
this season, tears role down my eyes. Rest in peace, Prince Abubakar
Audu, the first and second executive governor of Kogi State.
Elesho writes via thenewsnigeria.com.ng

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