It was the Russian anarchist, Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), who postulated that “The condition of man is a condition of war”. Though the revolutionist passed on about nine decades ago, Kropotkin’s writings and thinking have continued to influence the politics of Russia and other parts of the globe including Nigeria, which actively adopted democratic rule since 1999 and has continued to run with it despite some challenges. Playing politics in Nigeria is a game of survival for those who have mastered the staying power, which in most cases demands more than just being competent.
Nigerian politics could be likened to war for the mere fact that it is often run around a particular person designated as its leader while the other party men are often expected to line up behind him without asserting any influence of theirs just like what obtains in the frontlines.
Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido to endorse the presidential ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
That is why in Nigeria, governors, ministers, lawmakers and all other members of any the party, are expected to line up behind President Goodluck Jonathan and tie their yearnings and aspirations to him and the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP or get their fingers burnt on the battle field.
Governor Sule Lamido and six other governors of the PDP-Rotimi Amaechi, Aliyu Wamakko, Abdulfattah Ahmed, Murtala Nyako, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Babangida Aliyu, who at a time were fondly referred to as the G-7 governors, wanted to upstage the culture of servitude in the party and they nearly got drowned by the weight of the behemoth.
Their simmering discomfort with their party and the Presidency came to the fore on August 31, 2013 when they protested over the conduct of the mini convention of the PDP at the Eagle Square, Abuja. They stormed out of the venue of the National Convention and marched straight to the Yar’Adua Centre where they declared their dissatisfaction with the turn of events in the party they had always supported and worked for. To demonstrate their seriousness, they immediately floated a new faction which was known as the new PDP, which was subsequently disallowed by the court. When the effort to sustain the faction was resisted by the mainstream and the court, some of the G-7 members defected to the newly-formed All Progressives Congress, APC, on December 16, 2013, damning the fearsome consequences awaiting them then and in the future. In that daring category were Rotimi Amaechi, Ahmed Abdulfattah, Aliyu Wamakko, Rabiu Kwankwaso and Murtala Nyako. Two men-Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido, refused to leave the PDP, insisting that they could not abandon the house they helped to build for tenants to take over. The rest is history. Murtala Nyako, who was one of the five who jumped ship to the APC, has since been flushed out of the ship with a sledgehammer of politics while the rest are still being pursued with horsewhips to ensure that they retrace their steps or be grounded especially as the next phase of elections draws near.
One man-Sule Lamido, who has remained steadfast in its pursuit of welfare and physical development for his people, has insisted that the right thing must be done for him to return into the mainstream politics of the PDP. While he distanced himself from major programmes of the party to drive home of disagreement with the way things were going, he refrained from abusing or insulting the leadership. In the heat of the crisis, he restricted himself to Dutse the state capital and avoided meetings called by the party. But the party knew his worth and would not move against him.
They saw his political relevance to the party and they coveted it. Lamido boosted his political profile when he conducted election into the 27 LGAs of the state on January 21, 2014 and his party won everywhere. It was difficult for the party leadership to ignore him. That was how strident efforts were being made to lure him back into the mainstream. But while that was being done by the party, information began to filter into town that Lamido had assembled a formidable team to wrestle power from Jonathan in 2015. Lamido has however never told anyone that he wanted to contest the 2015 Presidency. If for anything, he has often maintained that even though he would want to run as for the Presidency, the atmosphere was not ripe for him to do so. This much he told journalists in his Bamaina country home in January this year. That notwithstanding, those who were bent on creating a safe distance between him and the Presidency still went to town with the claim that the governor was frontally opposed to Jonathan and the PDP. But all this fizzled on September 18, 2014, when the governor personally appeared at the National Executive Council meeting of the PDP a
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