by Bayo Adeyinka
2 Samuel 14:28– “So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face”.
I’ve refrained from sharing my thoughts on the Bukola Saraki issue until now. I’ve read tons of comments and I’ve often laughed at the analysis of folks. Most people seem to forget we have passed this way before. Nothing is new in Nigeria. It’s just a game of musical chairs and all depends on whoever is conducting the symphony. So here are my thoughts:
1. Firstly, I hope Goodluck Jonathan had a great cup of coffee or whatever enemies say he drinks as he watched Bukola Saraki sitting in the dock. That should be the price of disloyalty. According to Dwight Eisenhower, there is a difference between honest dissent and disloyal subversion. Saraki subverted PDP. If not for Saraki and the PDP Governors
that decamped, APC would never have smelt the seat of power. So, I couldn’t care less, really. And I love what Steward Jonsen wrote: Who got into the dock first- Bukola or Jonathan?
2. Secondly, this is good for our democracy. Let people know they will account for their actions- whether it happened in 2003 or 2013.
3. Thirdly, even though I’m fully in support of this prosecution, I also know this prosecution is persecution. I am smart enough to know that if Saraki had belonged to the right side, the powers that be would have conveniently forgotten that he ‘wrongly’ filled a form in 2003. If he had worshipped at the temple of Asiwaju, his British passport would never have shown up on Sahara Reporters. His case file would have gone missing the same way Fashola’s contract awards got missing on Lagos State’s website. It is actually a witch hunt. The only difference is that Saraki may truly be a witch. So then, he has a choice to bow or to burn.
4. Fourthly, nothing is going to come out of this charade. It is simply a telenovela, a short-running soap full of intrigues and comedy. The final episode has been written already. It’s a Nollywood film but it’s not going to be a block buster. It will end similar to AY’s dry and predictable ’30 days in Atlanta’. Many people will hiss the way I hissed after watching the over-hyped movie.
5. If you think Saraki can be removed this way, perish the thought. Bukola Saraki is more politically savvy than most people give him credit for. Be careful of the man who betrayed his father and sent him to political Siberia. The older Saraki never recovered. He went down to the grave in disbelief. The old fox was outfoxed. Bukola is Absalom. Absalom cannot be killed by deceitful wiles or snares set by human beings. Absalom knows how to fight. Absalom had watched his father fight from when he was small. Absalom grew up with a spear in his hands. Those who should know said that Bukola Saraki sponsored either in part or whole those who are in the Senate for the first time- irrespective of party or regional affiliation. He has a bunch of serious loyalists and you could see that in the number of people who followed him to the CCT. Even Kwara State was shut down.
6. Has it ever occurred to anyone why Saraki did not appear last Friday? It was not the fear of being docked or put in jail over the weekend-like so many erroneously thought. And I know he knew the Appeal Court would not rule in his favour. But he needed time. To negotiate and sort things out. And that is what he got between Friday and today when he appeared. Time! So much happened between that Friday and today.
7. Head or tail, APC loses. If Saraki is booted out by chance, who heads the Senate? Ike Ekweremadu! And this is the first time I’m seeing a party in power being in opposition to itself. There is nowhere APC can push Saraki to- he belongs to them warts and all. APC cannot accept the good and reject the bad. He is their burden and responsibility and they must live with it.
8. Having said all these, I believe Saraki will make a very good Senate President- apart from this case. He is brilliant. He is savvy. He has pedigree. He can hold his own anywhere. He can even stand in as the Acting President of the nation were there an emergency. He is far better than the Lawan that is the choice of Asiwaju/Buhari.
Since no party in the senate has the majority it takes to impeach anyone, APC might just be stuck with Saraki for the next four years. Buhari will do well to get used to seeing Saraki’s face. Maybe unless his hair gets entangled on the branch of a tree like Absalom. And that can only be divine.
Bayo Adeyinka is a political and social commentator.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
http://www.thetrentonline.com/opinion-of-absalom-and-bukola-saraki-must-read/
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