PDP’s test of the brink Testing the very limit of the brink is normal with the Nigerian politician. You have noticed the noise and the yells that preceded the National Executive Council meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). You have also seen the anticlimax the hyped meeting turned out to be. Could you sincerely believe the outcome, the very reverse of bookmakers’ expectation of war? Was the limping, loud whimper the sincere denouement of the months of drizzling discontent, backstabbing, blatant lawlessness and test of will and wit? What has happened? What is happening? What is next? Every war takes on the character of its Generals and the colour of the foliage of the environment — the very reason combatants of today won’t go to the deserts of Iraq or Mali camouflaged in the greenness of the Delta forest. The desert has its complexion and the Yoruba have a snake with that desert colour - paramole- which from its very name teaches the wisdom of blending with the ground as a strategy of war. Is that what we are witnessing in the PDP? The media has been giving some snippets of what transpired in the PDP coven that Thursday. Like the coven in the metaphysical, proceedings there might not be uniformly visible to all. What we know, however, is that those expected to do battle with the political establishment stayed away or kept mute there. There was no Olusegun Obasanjo. There was no Kwankwanso. Was Babangida Aliyu there? What did he say at the meeting? What about Sule Lamido of Jigawa? Do not bother to ask why. They probably knew how to avoid enemy grounds. Hannibal, one of the greatest Generals in recorded history, fought his wars his ways. In every of the Punic wars, he showed class and colour. He fought shoulder to shoulder with his commanders and the whole Carthaginian army moved as one. He gave Rome the reason to doubt its own ability as the sole power in the world. Forget the final outcome of the Punic wars. Focus instead on the character of the wars, the resilience, the brilliance of the commanders on Hannibal’s side. The Carthaginian war hero knew the romantic spirit of the Romans. He gave them and the world what had never been part of human wars- Hannibal brought in elephants — a touch of drama and poetry in warfare! We have seen some symphony in the movement of the PDP anti-establishment combatants. Like about-to-be disinherited members of a household, they are making deft moves. To what purpose, you asked? Maybe we should just siddon look! Think too on the survival spirit of the Romans who would not run in the face of Hannibal’s rampaging elephants as he marched them through Iberia, Pyrenees, the Alps into Italy. Remember that at the end of every failed bid to destroy Carthage, the battle cry in the Roman senate always was Delenda est Carthago - Carthage must be destroyed. The Punic wars were not just for control of territory and commerce; they were wars over who controlled the future and the history of that future. So, who won? Think deep on the war of ego, pride and ambition currently buffeting the banks of the PDP. You would understand if you do a character assessment of some of the Generals said to have lost the battles so far fought in the PDP. Some of them actually have Hannibal as their hero and Sun Tzu as mentor. And they are experts in the art of all wars. I see in the muffled voice of the PDP war human beings who see politics as real tank-fought wars. These are elements with a good dose of stabilizers from the prescriptions of Machiavelli, and from Sun Tzu they learnt that warfare in all climes is based on deception: “when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make them believe we are near.” Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano state was honest about it last week. He declassified the art of deception with which the enemy was routed in the NGF election. They are still in elementary school of politics, he said of Goodluck Jonathan’s adopted side of the Governor’s Forum. Now, why was Kwankwanso not in that peaceful, smooth NEC meeting of last Thursday? What were the contributions his deputy who stood in for him, made to the debates there? Or was there no debate? Whatever answers anyone has for the above, the fact remains that the side said to have lost out last week is the side to watch. They are battle-tested lords of the turf; Generals with the benefit of trainings that have had them appreciate the fact that in a war, not all battles are worth fighting. That probably explains why the NEC of that party gave birth to a mouse last Thursday shaming all insiders and outsiders waiting for an elephant to upturn Wadata plaza’s chinaware. But the war appears to have just started — and all the sides know it. Monday, 24 June 2013 00:00 Published in Monday Lines Written by Lasisi Olagunju
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 07:29:56 +0000
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