“To show your frustration is to show that you have lost your power to shape events; it is the helpless action of the child who resorts to hysterical fit to get his way.” – Robert Greene.
“To show your frustration is to show that you have lost your power to shape events; it is the helpless action of the child who resorts to hysterical fit to get his way.” – Robert Greene.
The above extract drawn from Robert Greene’s book The 48 Laws of Power succinctly and aptly captures the true picture of the recent visit to members of the National Assembly by a group of aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are also known by their collective sobriquet as the new PDP. No doubt, this singular visit by Alhaji Kawu Baraje-led faction was not only ill-conceived, ill-considered, ignominious and ill-fated, but also it completely lacked the befitting reverence and aura that ought to have characterized such a visit. And it is quite a pity that the Baraje-led aggrieved group has unconsciously shown that it is not only frustrated but inclined to shamelessly dance naked in the glare of the public.
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In the first place, it still boggles one’s mind why and how Abubakar Kawu Baraje and his cohorts had come to the erroneous conclusion that carrying their burden of partisan politicking to the two chambers of the National Assembly, which comprise the PDP and non-PDP members alike, would provide the panacea for whatever perceived or imagined travails they seem to be going through. Or, could this visit be one of the of mischievous game plans the group wants to employ in drawing public attention to their selfish demands, thereby falsely impressing it on the unsuspecting Nigerians that they are fighting a just cause?
Or, what has politics in the People's Democratic Party and its attendant disenchantment got to do with governance activities in the National Assembly? Is the PDP the only political party in Nigeria? Why then should Baraje-led faction storm the legislative complex in a manner that disrupted the serenity and governance activities of the Assembly? Now, come to think of it, should all the disenchanted in-groups in the PDP and APC, for example, make it a point of duty to be visiting the National Assembly in the manner Baraje and his group members did, what kind of scenarios are we going to be confronted with in this country? What sort of terrible precedent has Baraje along with his men set for the young people of this country?
As the saying goes, it is not helping a monkey with a cup of water that matters but retrieving the cup afterwards is really where the burden lies. In like manner, it may not actually matter for now that Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje and his gang of disgruntled elements had gone to the National Assembly to register their grievances against Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and/or to unburden their opposition to Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s rumoured 2015 Presidential ambition, yet it will someday become an issue of grave concern when other political parties’ factional groups would storm the National Assembly complex seeking to be granted same audience in respect of their demands or grievances, as the case may be. Of course, we – Nigerians – are wont to take certain issues for granted and often fail to critically weigh the far-reaching implications of our actions and inactions before reaching decisions on them.
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This, in the main, accounts for why we do not learn from past mistakes, and so continue to live through the same blunders every now and then. For instance, it is not surprising that the same yesterday’s sickness scenario of President Umaru Musa Yaradua is today being replicated in Taraba State. Though this is no issue for now, yet it goes to show how far Nigerian politicians can go in harvesting from the historical undoing.
Surely, the prevailing circumstance in the new PDP speaks volumes about the caliber of “leaders” that are produced by the mainstream PDP going by the ranting of frustration emanating from Alhaji Kawu Baraje – an erstwhile acting chairman of PDP – and his group members. Unfortunately, instead of striving to observe the truce they reportedly reached with the leadership of their party on Sunday, September 15, 2013, following negotiations with the latter and the President as well (as mentioned by Governor Aliyu Babangida of Niger state on the television while addressing the press to the effect that the two sides had agreed to a ceasefire ), Baraje and his men rather resorted to what can aptly be depicted as the naked dance in the National Assembly the following day – Monday, September 16, 2013 – all in an effort to prove the unknown. And if one may even ask, what exactly has Baraje group achieved from this singular visit to the National Assembly that is lacking in shame, public opprobrium and sheer disrespect to themselves?
Understandably, these aggrieved elements want Nigerians to believe that their current unabated hullabaloo about the so-called need for the entrenchment of democratic ideals in their party is not connected with their selfish or personal interest; that they are genuinely all out to fight in defense of democracy. Hmmm… But granted that Baraje and his ilk have suddenly become the new champions of our democracy, how then do we reconcile their apparently misplaced demand that President Jonathan should forgo his democratic and constitutional right to freely participate in 2015 presidential election which he is eminently qualified to contest, like every other citizen of Nigeria? Is this really what democracy entails in the estimation of Baraje and his cohorts?
And since it pleases Baraje and his group members to crave power and relevance by all means (as attested to by their so-called convention at the Yaradua center that gave rise to the leadership of what has become popularized as the new PDP), why then do they think and insist that demanding for the dissolution of the umbrella leadership of their party led by Bamanga Tukur as well as attempting to subvert the powers and the authorities of the latter would be realistic or possible for them? It is really laughable because, as the saying goes, a delicacy that is extremely desired by a pregnant woman apparently appeals more to the man who impregnated her.
What is more, if media reports that another demand of Baraje-led faction is that President Jonathan should urgently stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the state accounts of the so-called G7 are anything to go by, then it is not only unfortunate but outrageous that these same people who want Nigerians to believe that Jonathan’s leadership is doing little or nothing to improve the economy (judging by their recent call on Dr Okonjo-Iwela to resign) are the ones who are indirectly pleading for presidential interference in the affairs of the EFCC, in order for them not to be exposed. In fact, nothing underscores the absurdity of this demand than the submission of Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) to the effect that “the New PDP is a fraud because one of the major demands of the group is that their corrupt members must not be investigated or prosecuted by the EFCC or ICPC”.
However, while it is imperative to remind all the PDP gladiators (the gerontocrats in particular) and their foot soldiers that neither the nation called Nigeria nor the National Assembly is their exclusive estate, it is instructive for Baraje and his men to know that the unabated rant about some of their demands, with a view to currying public attention and sympathy, rather portrays them as not only frustrated and desperate but also self-centered and undemocratic.
Onyiorah Chiduluemije Paschal writes from Abuja via [email protected] – 08037738607.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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