Softly…. Softly…. Softly

It is all so predictable and all so sad. Our number four citizen and Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal jumped ship last week Tuesday. I don’t think his defection caught anybody by surprise least of all the powers that be in the PDP. You would have had to be living in Mars to be surprised by his defection. It was always going to be when not if. But what did catch me by surprise was his action immediately after his defection when he mounted the podium gleefully with a broom in his hand to announce that his new party was going to sweep away you know who.

I thought it was too soon, too indecent especially from someone who had carried himself with so much decorum throughout his stint as Speaker.

A couple of weeks to allow angst and anger to cool down would not hurt. It’s like a flirt or a chronic womaniser who goes to an owambe party when his wife’s body has just been interred.

Nobody expects celibacy from any womaniser but decorum dictates that you limit your activities to your bedroom in the short term. And we all know that politicians are worse than any womaniser.

It is also on account of decency that professional footballers don’t celebrate when they score against their former clubs irrespective of what they feel in their hearts.

There is no doubt that PDP was good to Tambuwal. It gave him a platform that brought him to the House of Representatives, as well as a platform to become the Speaker. It is true that the position was not earmarked for him but APC alone would not have gotten him the required votes without the support of some PDP members. In any case he would not even have been considered if he was not a PDP member.

So if he falls out with the leaders of PDP as he obviously has done, if his aspiration doesn’t tally with theirs as seems to be the case, he should still show some gratitude, at least in public to his erstwhile party. After all, changing jobs should not make you denigrate your previous employer. The ability to say the right words and do the right things in public is what makes a Statesman. Now, why would a man, a politician leave such an exalted position? Why would he gamble with a seat that many would lick smelly asses or even kill for? I can think of several reasons but I will settle for two; pragmatism and ambition.

Hon. Tambuwal is from Sokoto State, and only a miracle in the name of INEC can make PDP win in that State so his chances of winning a PDP election and coming to the House to be made a Speaker again are slimmer than my little finger. He also, from the last account, wants to be the Governor of his State; a job that the powers in PDP would never consider a man like Tambuwal for.

He may have his own reasons for jumping ship but these seem pretty obvious to me. Now in following his heart and mind, he has not considered the effect of his action on the polity, on the country. Is it responsible even if legally permissible for a number four citizen to defect? How does it help our democracy?

Are there times when a personal ambition is subsumed by a larger interest? And should he still hold on to power and the position he got as a PDP leader? Is it a precedent he is proud to set? And what is the cost of a self-serving five week break to the country? The law will determine the legal aspects of my questions but his heart and his character will have to supply the ethical and moral answers. The PDP reaction to the Tambuwal’s action was so disingenuous, so predictable and so sad. It went into a closed door meeting and came out with a sledge hammer.

Within 48 hours, it had promulgated two decrees that seemingly overrode the law and the constitution. It had, through a “strong” acting IG, withdrawn the security details of our number four citizen without thinking or caring about the consequences. The second decree ordered the Speaker to reconvene the House within one week or be impeached.

Now, who is saying this?
PDP or the Federal Government? Because neither has the power under our constitution to dictate to the House. But even if it had the power, isn’t discretion the better part of valour? Isn’t restraint the better part of power? Even if PDP gets away with this crude use of power what about the collateral damages? These two rash and irrational acts have exposed the party in many unsavoury ways; they have exposed it of double standard since nobody threw the statute and the kitchen sink at Dr Mimiko and a couple of State Speakers who defected from the parties that led them into power and joined the PDP.

They have also exposed a leadership that is intolerant of opposition and selective in its application of the law. They have ominously told us that the police and our security agencies are under the armpit of the ruling party. What does that portend for 2015? They have also exposed a leadership that does not learn from mistakes.

It has refused to learn that it is sometimes better to manage a bull in a china shop than to force it out. Tambuwal has just a few months left at best. Why not wait it out? It did the same thing to Mallam Sanusi who had but a few months left as the Governor of Central Bank and got a face full of rotten eggs for its trouble.

This is not likely to fare better because it is not well thought through and will win it more enemies than friends. No matter how this ends, whether Tambuwal continues as Speaker or goes, Jonathan will be the loser. Unfortunately, as in this case, everybody he tries to humiliate ends up being lionised. Finally, General Gowon once said that there were no bad leaders but bad advisers. I disagree; you can choose not to take bad, vindictive and shallow advice—if you are decent enough; and deep enough.