By Ali Abare
Predictions are essentially what someone thinks will happen. Predictions are usually gueses often times based on available facts or evidence but not always. Daniel Bwala, an aide to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is notorious for making predictions.
Not long ago, Bwala predicted that his political party, the PDP will win all the states in the North because according to him, there is no single state in the North West that is happy with the APC. Of course, Bwala’s prediction came to nought. Bwala has again made another prediction and like his previous guess, this same prediction on who will make the cabinet of President-elect Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu will not see the light of day.
Bwala certainly is never a Nostradamus, but his recent quip especially in the media accords Nigerians the opportunity to actually ponder on who will make the incoming cabinet of the President-elect.
Certainly, there will be those who will want to gate crash in their effort to be among those who will make the incoming cabinet. This is rather typical of our politics where competition for political office is not only intense but also demanding.
Predictions about who makes the cabinet of the incoming president are all part of the game, except that President-elect, Tinubu has since declared that competence and character would be the determining factor while constituting his cabinet.
Thus, for Tinubu, predictions such as propounded by Bwala, who incidentally is even a member of the opposition, holds no water except competence and character.
Recall that Tinubu made the declaration in a statement he personally signed entitled, “Nigeria : At the Cusp of Renewed Hope,” made available to newsmen, where he declared that it was time for politics to take backstage for governance and noted that only those who share his vision of good governance would make his blueprint for the nation attainable.
He said:” As your incoming president, I accept the task before me. There has been talk of a government of national unity. My aim is higher than that. I seek a government of national competence. In selecting my government, I shall not be weighed down by considerations extraneous to abiilty and performance.
“The day for political gamesmanship is long gone. I shall assemble competent men and women and young people from across Nigeria to build a safer, more prosperous and just Nigeria. There shall be young people. Women shall be prominent. Whether your faith leads you to pray in a church or mosque will not determine your place in government. Character and competence will.
“To secure our nation and to make it prosperous must be our top priorities. We cannot sacrifice these goals for political expediencies. The whims of politics must take a backseat to the imperatives of governance.”
Though the individuals Bwala named in his most recent tweet are men of inestimable value, still his action hovers on his uncanny knack for second guessing and trying as much to make inferences regarding the selection of Nigerians that will make the cabinet of the President-elect.
Indeed, the names Bwala mentioned in his tweet fit in with the benchmark set by the President-elect as most of them possesses both qualities required to make the cabinet list of the incoming administration. But so also political juggernaut like Senator Umaru Tanko Al-makura.
Senator Al-makura readily fits in with the calibre of Nigerians needed to make the President-elect’s cabinet list. The two-term governor of Nasarawa State is not only competent but has the required character to make Tinubu’s cabinet list.
Not only that, Senator Al-makura is a long term ally and confidant of the incoming President, with Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu publicly acknowledging the former’s consistency and honesty since the period leading to the merger that the APC into existence.
While addressing APC delegates from Nasarawa State in Lafia seeking support for his presidential aspiration, Tinubu has this to say about Senator Al-makura.
“I cannot forget one person, he was a lone ranger in one party called CPC and we pursue it, it was then I noticed the consistency, reliability and honesty of Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the former Governor of Nasarawa State.
“It is showing now that Al-makura has something in common with me, hunting the talent, producing the talent and standing by that talent and that is why you have Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State today.
“I must say, you people are extremely lucky, you are following the man who knows the way and that is my motto, follow me, I’m the only one who knows the way.”
Certainly, Bwala and his likes must be made to remember that without Senator Al-makura, there won’t have probably been any merger that would have led to the formation of the ruling APC. It’s all history now but it’s still pertinent to emphasize that, Senator Al-makura being the only state governor under the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), provided the platform for the entire Northern Nigeria to go into a political alliance with the South West led by Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Again, just recently, Senator Al-makura allegedly lost his bid to become national chairman of the APC due to his perceived closeness to Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. It was alleged that certain powerful individuals felt with Senator Al-makura as the national chairman of the party, Tinubu will have an easy ride to clinch the presidential ticket of the party.
The former Nasarawa State governor was at the forefront of the support base for the emergence of Tinubu as first the presidential candidate of the APC and subsequently as the President-elect. Al-makura served as the head of Directorate of Support Groups at the Tinubu/Shetimma Independent Campaign Council, where he effectively mobilized and harnessed grassroots support for the presidential candidate of the APC.
A modest politician, Senator Al-makura is neither presumptuous nor harbours any sense of self-entitlement but he has paid his dues in the current political dispensation. Even his recent lost in his bid for another term at the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, is seen by many as a blessing in disguise. Senator Al-makura is better suited to serve the incoming administration directly, where his visionary leadership, administrative competence and unparalleled passion in pursuit of the common good, will come to bear as the President-elect unfolds his vision for the country.
Of course, Senator Al-makura has remain a bastion of hope and inspiration to many and his towering political profile cannot not be sullied by the assumptions of especially someone like Daniel Bwala, whose penchant for dillusionary predictions is legendary and who has only remained consistent in chasing shadows as he embark on a frivolous voyage of relevance seeking.
Many out-of-favour politicians like Bwala will seek to embark on similar ego messaging misadventure, in ther failed bid to seek relevance. However, the incoming president is someone known for being meticulous while putting his team together. Tinubu will not be goaded by people like Bwala.
Abare, a public affairs commentator, writes from Lafia, Nasarawa State.
