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T H I S D AY • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2016
POLITICS
PERSPECTIVE
Saraki: From Outcast to Beautiful Bride
After months of persecution, it is good to see Senate President Bukola Saraki become the toast of his party, the All Progressives Congress, writes Tope Ajayi
W
hen Bukola Saraki’s trial opened at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) early this year, we all thought we were watching the premature end of an outstanding political career. If anyone had predicted back then that one year after, Saraki would still be addressed as the Senate President, no one would have believed. As court after court dismissed his attempts to stop his trial at the tribunal, it looked certain that Saraki’s political days were numbered. As if that was not enough, he would soon be charged with another case of forgery, alongside his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu. With this second trial added, almost everyone was now convinced that those powerful forces that Saraki claimed were out to get him were not leaving anything to chances. The forgery trial appeared like a plan B. At the beginning of the CCT trial, Saraki claimed that his trial was political; that he was being persecuted for daring to emerge as the Senate President against the wish of certain individuals in the leadership of his ruling political party, the APC. His chief attorney, Kanu Agabi SAN, put it more dramatically. He said what happened was like a group of boys were engaged in a street fight and after one of them had wrestled the others to the ground, those that were defeated then decided to go to court. He urged the tribunal not to join in the political brawl.
Saraki
Perhaps, not everyone agreed with Saraki back then. However, it is highly unlikely that anyone would still be left in doubt. The case at the tribunal continues. But the last time it came up in November, it was adjourned till January 2017. Perhaps, more astonishing was that the Tribunal Chairman who had acted as if he had a personal grudge against Saraki, the same man who had insisted, against all appeals by Saraki’s lawyers, that the trial must proceed on a daily basis, was now the one giving this rather long adjournment, even without anyone asking. Something, certainly, was beginning to turn. Meanwhile, even before then, the federal govern-
ment had also withdrawn the forgery charges against the Senate President and his deputy. It is noteworthy that one of the party leaders that promptly issued a statement hailing government’s decision to drop the charges was Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the man whom most people saw as the unseen hands behind Saraki’s tribulation. In the last two weeks, we have seen the Senate President come in and out of the presidential villa several times. Even State House Correspondents began to wonder what was happening. After all, this was the same man that was not even invited for the traditional break of fast with the President during the last Ramadan. Many have wondered what to ascribe the growing romance between the Presidency and the erstwhile estranged Senate President to. The immediate speculation was that it has to do with the USD 29.9billion loan that the president needed the Senate approval for. Saraki himself had denied that his rather frequent visit to the Villa of late had anything to do with the loan. This is most likely to be true, given that President Buhari is not particularly inclined to lobbying for anything. Whatever it was, this growing rapprochement points to one thing: an increasing realisation within the presidential circles that the executive arm of government needs the legislature to function effectively in a democracy. This can therefore only be a positive development for our democracy, especially at this very challenging time. We all witnessed how the 2016 Budget nearly became a victim to the
frosty relationship between the executive and the legislature, with all the dire consequences for the economy. However, regardless of the policy engagements that might be going on, politics would appear to be the driving fuel of the relationship. It is no longer secret that the political marriage between President Buhari and Asiwaju Tinubu is now at the ‘separation’ stage. It may not get to the level of outright divorce as yet. But like the celebrity husband, the Presidency had felt the need to deny on several occasions that there was any problem; even when it was glaring that the union is merely being held together by fear of public opinion because neither of the party is ready to say why the marriage collapsed. In this context, therefore, it would be downright politically stupid, if not suicidal for the presidency to allow Asiwaju to make up with Saraki and form what would certainly be a formidable force. For a presidency still struggling to find its feet, it is unlikely that Buhari and his team would be able to withstand the onslaught that these two men working together could summon. The smart move therefore was for the Presidency to get to Saraki first. And they did. What happened next? Saraki was in Ondo, engineering the APC victory alongside President Buhari. In the end, Ondo was won. And by a cruel irony of fate, it was Asiwaju that is now facing charges of disrespect for the party and even outright anti-party actions. -Ajayi wrote from Abuja, the nation’s capital
Between Trump, Mattis, Flynn and Ogunlesi With his three latest appointments of James Mattis, Michael Flynn and Adebayo Ogunlusi, President-elect Donald Trump has shown promising signs of a focused leader, writes Femi Fani-Kayode
G
eneral James ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis, the famous ex-Marine and the hero of countless conflicts and wars, has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump as his Secretary of Defence. What an extraordinary man and colorful figure Mattis is. Here are some of the things he has said over the years. 1. “I’m going to plead with you, do not cross us, because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years.” 2. “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet. (Time Magazine). 3. “You are part of the world’s most feared and trusted force. Engage your brain before you engage your weapon.” (In a letter Mattis wrote to his Marines the night before the March 2003 Iraq invasion). 4. “I don’t lose any sleep at night over the potential for failure. I cannot even spell the word.” (San Diego Union Tribune). 5. “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys, who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So, it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it’s quite fun to fight them, you know. It’s a hell of a hoot. It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right up there with you. I like brawling.” (CNN) 6. “Demonstrate to the world there is ‘No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy’ than a U.S. Marine.” (Letter to First Marine Division) 7. “I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you fuck with me, I’ll kill you all.” (San Diego Union Tribune). Mattis sounds like my type of man: a real warrior with the heart of a Viking. With him as Secretary of Defence, I have no doubt that America, and indeed the world, will be a better and safer place. Trump has done well by cultivating the courage to nominate him. The President-elect has done equally well by appointing Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as his National Security Advisor. This
Trump
is another interesting and colourful character, who appears to understand the monumental challenge that the world is facing today very well. A well-experienced and extremely tough military intelligence officer, who served courageously and meritoriously in Iraq and Afghaniatan, he is undoubtedly the quintessential “brave heart”. In his 2016 book titled: “The Field of Fight” he characterised U.S. counter-intelligence as “a world war against a messianic mass movement of evil people”. In a speech earlier this year, he called Islam “a cancer” and “a political ideology” that “hides behind this notion of being a religion.” He went on to say that given what is happening in today’s world, “the fear of Muslims is rational”. Permit me to share his exact words: “We are facing another ‘Ism,’ just like we faced Nazism, fascism, imperialism and communism,” Flynn said. “This is Islamism: it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised.” For the record, let me be clear, I do not believe that Islam itself is a cancer but I do believe that radical Islam most certainly is. I also disagree with his assertion that Islam is not a religion and I reject the notion that all of the 1.7 billion Muslims in the world today are violent extremists, jihadists and fundamentalists.
I believe that Islam is not only a religion but also a respectable and noble one and that most Muslims are decent, hard-working, God-fearing, law-abiding people. I most certainly do not share the view that ALL Muslims are terrorists. However this cannot be said of the Islamic fundamentalists, the jihadists, the Islamists and the practitioners of radical Islam. I believe that they are indeed ALL terrorists and that Islamic fundamentalism itself is a dangerous, self-serving, cruel, primitive and vicious cult, which is fuelled and sustained by wahabbi and salifist hate and premised on an unrelenting and barbaric political ideology. As a matter of fact, it is worse than that. It is not just a political ideology but also a deadly and violent tool of and vehicle for genocide, mass murder, tyranny, subjugation, political conquest and oppression. It is the greatest evil that humanity has been confronted with since the slave trade, colonialism, fascism, communism, imperialism and neo-colonialism and it must be defeated and utterly crushed lest it consumes us all. The truth is that it is worse than cancer. It is a cultural and political nuclear bomb that is preparing to explode and destroy the entire world. In spite of his sweeping generalisations and his inability to make a clear distinction between radical Islam and Islam itself, I believe that Flynn will still make an excellent NSA because he understands the nature and mindset of the enemy very well. He is also deeply courageous, utterly fearless and thoroughly forthright. By all standards, he is a man of immense discipline and unimpeachable integrity: a profoundly good man and a loyal and patriotic American. When one couples this with Trump’s appointment of the rugged and highly combative Mike Pompeio as the new Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, there can be little doubt that Trump is assembling a great team of people that will make American foreign policy far more decisive, dramatic and virile, that will change the face of the world as we know it and that
will crush Islamist terrorism and radical Islam in an utterly profound and meaningful way. That is what the world needs today and that is why I supported him and believed in him right from the outset. At least now the American people can say “merry xmas” again instead of having to say “happy holiday”. At least American soldiers will be allowed to sleep with the Holy Bible under their pillows again. At least Christmas trees will be proudly displayed in shopping malls all over America again. At least the name of the Lord will be glorified again and the good old fashioned Christian values upon which the United States of America was originally founded will be recognised, acknowledged and established again. It is indeed “goodbye” to Barack and “hello” to Donald. It is the advent of a new and glorious era for America and indeed the rest of the world. It is a golden era in which the misguided and discredited concept of political correctness and the wholesale acceptance of liberal values, humanist philosophies and strange pagan practices, all in an attempt to establish a new world order, is rejected. That is the hope that this new dispensation brings: to lift up America and once again make her the shining light on a hill that will provide the direction and decisive leadership that the world so badly needs. I am also excited by Trump’s appointment of the African American, Dr. Ben Carson, a man who, like the biblical Daniel, is blessed with an excellent spirit, as his Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Development. Finally, it gives me great pleasure to note the fact that my old friend, Adebayo Ogunlesi has been appointed a member of Trump’s economic advisory team. Where are those that said Trump hates people of colour and that he loathes Nigerians? Congratulations Bayo and keep the flag flying! -Fani-Kayode, a former Minister of Aviation, wrote from Abuja