IDANG ALIBI
I am not a prophet, at least not the type recruited to resurrect that late Abubakar Audu who failed in her bid to do so. But I can discern the message of God when He has one for any society.
I operate from the premise that even in this modern day and age dominated by science, pundits and experts, God still rules in the affairs of men. Whether it be a democracy, a monarchy, a dictatorship, an oligarchy or a clique or whatever, it is still His perfect or permissive will that prevails.
Anyone who eventually gets to sit on an ornate or leather chair or on a throne is a product of his imprimatur. He allows some to rule or govern to either bless a society or to punish it or just to prove that He is God and He can do what He likes at any time and in His own way for whatever reasons best known to him.
We puny mortals may think that it is our guile, hard work, political acumen or sagacity and our ability to manipulate things that help to give us power, wealth or health or whatever it is we desire but we are mistaken. God is always in-charge. He is the ultimate manipulator and at all times orchestrates things, employing humans and events to achieve the outcomes we see, unbeknown to us.
After all this philosophising, Mr. Idang Alibi, come to the point. What is God’s message for this nation as contained in the sudden death of Abubakar Audu when he was only a few days away to becoming a three-time governor of Kogi State? My simple interpretation is that God is saying that the time has come for a non-Igala man to govern Kogi.
The lack of human consideration of the Igalas for other ethnic groups in the state and their seeming thinking that they have a divine right to rule as long as they want and to hand-over to others precisely when they want was offensive to God. They had arrogated to themselves the prerogative which only The Almighty should possess.
God is saying that we humans may think what we like. We may choose to boast loudly or quietly to ourselves that we possess some power to do things but that in this, we are gravely mistaken. Scheme as we are wont to; manipulate as we most often do, He waits patiently to endorse or nullify our actions because He, it is, who wields a veto. And how did God exercise His veto power so that everyone who has eyes to see will recognize that what happened in Kogi was unmistakably his handiwork? He used one Igala man to eliminate another electorally and He God then stepped in and used His own hand to eliminate the eliminator-Igala man in order to leave the space wide open for a non-Igala to occupy the seat.
This is how I interpret the events of Saturday and Sunday November 21 and 22 that have left the nation in shock, the APC in disarray, the PDP in disbelief and INEC in confusion. As I say this, I sincerely intend no offence to the Igala nation or my many friends from that ethnic group who are now not only mourning the loss of one of their illustrious sons but also the loss of a seat they have grown to think is theirs to own and to keep and to give out when they see fit.
If, as you say, what happened was the handiwork of God, why did God who loves order, leave confusion in His wake? Why did he not go all the way by allowing Abubakar Audu to win outright before taking away his life so that his succession will be seamless?
Well, I think God allowed some untidy ends to prevail to reveal to us just how unfair, unwise, unjust and despicable we humans can be. See the part played by each of the following: one, the APC. Fearing an Igala backlash in the supplementary election, the APC immediately thought of organizing a fresh primary in order to ensure that an Igala candidate wins just so the party does not lose the seat. Any just and fair-minded party would not have thought twice about the right and proper thing to do in the circumstance.
It would have simply upgraded to the governorship candidacy James Falake, late Audu’s running mate in the inconclusive election who more than paid his dues for the coveted seat. But no. In order to spite Bola Tinubu, Falake’s godfather, or to dilute his enormous influence in the party, his ‘boy’ whom he brought from Lagos cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his victory. A pairing of Falake as governor and late Audu’s son, Mohammed, as his deputy on a new ticket, would not have caused any trouble, legal or political, at all.
Two, the PDP. Its role in the furore is even more despicable than anyone else’s. The party said INEC should declare its candidate the victor as his opponent with whom he contested the inconclusive election, had died. This is callous, unfeeling, unfair and unjust. Does it mean former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is the only gentleman in that party, the only one who can graciously concede defeat when he suffers one?
Three, the Igalas. Igala youth have since caused not a small mayhem protesting that an Igala, especially the son of the deceased governorship candidate, should be made to replace Audu or else they will hold everybody to ransom as if the Igalas have not ‘tasted’ that seat before. If the Igalas in the APC had come out to say that what happened was an act of fate which they graciously have accepted but pleaded that they should be compensated by making Mohammed Audu the deputy in recognition of his late father‘s efforts, that would have portrayed them in very good light. And I do not think anyone would have begrudged them such a request.
I sincerely do not know whether Yahaya Bello, an Ebira, whom the APC has now chosen as the inheritor of Audu’s mantle, is the non-Igala person God cleared the way for. If he is, he shall have a smooth and successful tenure. But if he is not, God shall speak again. He is the monarch and fears neither man nor beast. But speaking now as a political human, I think the APC people will live to regret the injustice they have visited on Falake.
