'We're Working to End Saraki Dynasty in Kwara'
Former THISDAY Group Political Editor and a leading corporate and political communications expert in Nigeria, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, is a notable opposition to the dominant political leadership of Senate President Bukola Saraki in Kwara State. He told S
There is the widespread notion that without the approval of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, nobody can attain any political office in Kwara State. Do you share this view? That is a wrong notion. There have been people who held political offices without paying any obeisance to Senator Bukola Saraki. The current Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, is one of such persons. You could say it was difficult in the past. Saraki’s politics is set up to stifle competition. It is a brutal hegemony that abhors any attempt by anyone to independently rise into political relevance. It has been an extractive political system that seeks to be in complete control of the political space in Kwara State. It is a system that is being nurtured to deliver droplets to its followers in exchange for their personal integrity. It is a system that feeds on the sheepish submission of its members who expect to derive benefits by so doing. Such system naturally attracts people who are self-centred and greedy, who do not mean well for the generality of the people.
We can understand why many otherwise intelligent people find themselves ensconced in that system. But there are many people in the state who could not submit their conscience to such an anti-people political model. They have continued to maintain their own political course and owe their modest achievements to personal efforts and the grace of God. In any case, it is a system that doesn’t make anyone a leader. The system they run is such that ensures that each time you’re thrown up the ladder of leadership, you are returned to the base after your office. It keeps you in perpetual want, moving from the front of the patronage queue to the back of the queue. It is a cyclical political model.
What do you think has changed? What you have under Senator Saraki is unlike the situation under his father, the late Dr. Olusola Saraki. Baba Saraki’s political structure was such a strong force that if you didn't align then you are not likely to make it as a politician in Kwara State. But it was largely a voluntary thing and it was because the late 'Oloye' earned the right over the majority of Kwarans. He was such a kind and selfless political leader. He made huge contributions to the lives of a lot of Kwarans and even communities for nearly four decades. It was not about himself. Perhaps, that is why he didn’t die a billionaire. But what he lacked in monetary term, he had in his good name that is worth more than all the monies he could have made. So, it was a reciprocal thing, which was what was passed on to the Senate President in 2003. We expected him to even transform the dynasty to a modern and benevolent political machine. He did not do that. But Bukola Saraki has left those of us who agitated for a change during the times of his father to feel nostalgic about that era. The nearly 16 years that he has been in charge of governance in Kwara State are easily the worst era since Kwara State was created. Even his supporters cannot deny that.
Some would say that he has been able to manage the dynasty effectively because considering the fact that even after his father's demise, nobody has been able to challenge his authority politically in the state.
People make serious mistake by what they call "Saraki dynasty." The same Senate President decimated the Saraki dynasty in 2011. He took over in a very hostile manner and the first victim of that political coup was the late Oloye himself. What you have with Bukola today is not the same dynasty that Baba Saraki held so beautifully for nearly four decades. What he has with him now is essentially a Bukola Saraki thing. The real 'Sarakites', are not with Bukola. You can't mention any real Sarakite who was with Baba who are still with Bukola today.
I think if we want to be fair in our assessment of the Kwara situation, we must separate the dynasty that Baba Saraki built, which to a large extent served the people, from the Senator Bukola Saraki’s extractive political system. Whatever has happened to our state in the last 16 years has nothing to do with the Late Senator Olusola Saraki. I would push this argument further that it would even be unfair to blame Senator Bukola Saraki alone for the misgovernance of the last 16 years. I have always disagreed with people who blame a family, the Saraki family at that, for our predicament in Kwara State. I am aware that only one member of the Saraki family has held a political office with control over our commonwealth and authority to make decisions that affect our lives during this period. If we are putting every person whose surname is Saraki in the dock over the misuse of our resources, what happened to those several Kwarans who were commissioners during this period? Are they not part of the infamy? Are all these people also from the Saraki family? Why are we not mentioning their fathers’ names in this roll call of politicians who have messed up our socio-economic and political lives? I do not think we should allow anyone hide under Saraki family. They should step forward for their own garlands for bad leadership, in which they played active roles.
Are you saying that the APC can undo Saraki in Kwara?
In fact, Saraki is not even our focus. He had the opportunity to be the leader we all want. He chose not to be. Our concern now is how to ensure we do not disappoint the majority of Kwarans who have faced the unfortunate consequences of the bad leadership. The people of Kwara State have desired a change long before now. To be fair to them, they have demonstrated this in a very clear term. The challenge has been with the opposition politicians whose personal interests have continued to becloud their involvement in this struggle. Our hope is that we will all rise this time by subsuming individual ambitions under the collective interests of the people of Kwara State. The only hurdle we have in this effort to free the state from the painful and dehumanising political grip of Senator Saraki is the manner the opposition has been conducting itself. Our focus is how to get Kwara out of the doldrum. We know Saraki is not an issue. He knows himself. It is left for us in the APC to do the right thing. We know that the people are ready.
Some people have said the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is not on ground. Others say he is a paperweight politician. How would you react to that? You will hear that from those who are following