And Four Other Things…
Whether or not he becomes president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar will go into history as one of the politicians that brought real excitement to the game in Nigeria. His resignation from APC on Friday, apparently on his way back to the PDP, has brought some vigour back to the polity. Politicking has really been super dull since the PDP was decapitated in the 2015 elections. With virtually everybody singing “Sai Baba!” in APC today, it looked like the 2019 presidential election was going to be a walk-over for President Muhammadu Buhari — who is definitely gunning for a second term. It is now looking increasingly likely that the PDP will field Atiku against him. Tickling.
When two security agencies clash physically — not just verbally — it is time for the rest of us to worry about our safety. The face-off between agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja on Tuesday is beyond shameful: actually, the security of the country is at risk. EFCC officials, we were told, were trying to arrest the former DSS directorgeneral, Mr. Ita Ekpeyong. The DSS agents repelled them, so to say. Now, this is no longer a question of who is right or wrong but an indication of serious problems of coordination of security agencies under this administration. Frightening.
Maryam Sanda, the woman who reportedly stabbed her husband to death, has been dominating the airwaves. She allegedly killed her husband, Bilyamin Bello — son of Alhaji Haliru Mohammed Bello, former PDP chairman — over some messages she saw on his phone. This is a rare case of domestic violence in which the man is at the receiving end. This could distort, or undermine, the war against domestic violence in Nigeria. But this should not be solely about Sanda. I think we need to start thinking about making anger management core to premarital counselling. I also think that couples should stop snooping on each other’s phones. Trouble.
On a lighter note, one of the things I am going to miss with the exit of Robert Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe is the “Mugabe said” memes on social media. Someone would just take an African proverb or invent a quote and attribute it to Mugabe, such that Mugabe “quotes” started competing with those of Aristotle in philosophical nature or Mark Twain in wit. Almost every funny saying was being attributed to Mugabe! This is certainly one of my favourites: “It’s hard to bewitch an African lady these days. Every time you take a piece of her hair to the witch doctor, either an innocent Brazilian woman gets mad or a factory in China catches fire.” Hilarious.