The Capitulation of Nigerian Governors to Federal Might
We once had governors who were in charge. Men who looked tyranny in the face and defied federal might. They had balls!
These days you wonder what kind of governors we have.
In the South East, there was Orji Uzor Kalu who became governor at 39. He gave Obasanjo a fight and when the Owu Chief took the PDP structure from him, he floated a fresh party PPA and his candidate defeated PDP even while being remanded in prison.
OUK was one of the men that truncated OBJ's ill-fated third term ambition.
In the South West, a certain Bola Tinubu who believes so much in federalism created LCDA's in Lagos state and drew the ire of the President. Local government allocations were withheld and the man didn't flinch.
He held his ground and became the last man standing in a blitzkrieg that swept away 5 AD governors. Today, he's the President of Nigeria.
In the Niger Delta, the duo of Alameseigha and Ibori were champions of resource control. They were vocal about it and to their credit, the region now enjoys 13 percent derivation.
They stood with Atiku when ObJ wanted a third term and both suffered severe consequences for it but who cares?
Obasanjo once called Fayose a "bastard" in public and the irrepressible Oshoko called him the father of bastards. Fayose was unceremoniously removed in 2006 but he returned as governor in 2014 and fought against Buhari's candidacy like a man possessed by demons.
Rotimi Amaechi committed what can be likened to a political suicide when he went rogue against his party and took a bet on Buhari. He finished his tenure and served 8 years as a minister.
As governor, Wike disagreed openly with Buhari and made no pretense about his criticism of the handling of the economy.
Today, I don't understand the kind of governors we have. How did we move from men to sissies? From a Wike to Fubara? From Ibori to Sheriff? From Obong Victor Attah who stood for the good of Niger Delta to Umo Eno who stands for "fall for me, I fall for you".
Governors that do not understand that they are the leaders of their party. A sitting governor is shamelessly declaring support for the President from another party. Openly telling the world you will work against your party in the election.
If Tinubu had played this kind of politics, would there have been an ACN to merge with CPC to give birth to APC?
This is what you get when you give a man power. When you don't fight for what you have, you won't know how to use it.
This has to be the weakest class of governors since 1999. The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) used to be the most powerful political bloc, but today nobody hears about the group again.
Look at the mindless killings. Look at the state of the economy, yet subnational opposition leaders are falling over themselves to endorse President for a second term.
Tufiakwa!
The situation of things today in Nigeria is that of what some people call an ike gwụrụ situation. The Judiciary has been pocketed, Legislature pocketed, INEC pocketed, civil rights groups pocketed, NANS pocketed, NLC pocketed, opposition parties pocketed, governors' forum pocketed, etc.
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