Saraki and senators failing Nigeria

For Senate President Bukola Saraki, last week was a terrible, horrible, humiliating one even though he continues to live in denial and has so far refused to openly admit so. Despite the support he enjoys from most of his senator-colleagues who clearly are not scandalized by the damning evidences and revelations from his corruption trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal and the leaked Panama Papers, Saraki’s days as Nigeria’s No. 3 citizen are already numbered. I believe it’s just a matter of time before he’s disgraced out of office. He can’t escape it. It’s too late.

Whenever I remember Saraki and the revelations about some of his corrupt practices that have since come to light, the very frank and wise question the Lord Jesus Christ asked his disciples as he talked to them about the future, and specifically about his death, comes to mind: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

When I also recall, for instance, the testimony against Saraki in his ongoing trial by a EFCC prosecution witness that sums of money ranging between N600, 000 and N900, 000 were paid into one of his bank accounts 50 times in a single day, I equally remember the interesting but profoundly deep short story, “How much land does a man require?,” the 1886 classic written by Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, about a man who, in his lust for grabbing land, forfeits his life.

Unfortunately, despite the wisdom that history provides, it’s clear Saraki can’t be bothered as he continues to carry on as if he’s done nothing unusual, as if he’s done no wrong to the nation despite how horrendous the corruption allegations against him are, and in spite of calls that he should resign his position without further delay.

Meanwhile, just last Friday, he said he would not yield to calls from Nigerians that he should step down. According to Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki’s Special Adviser on Media, he’s not even contemplating such decision. He is insisting that those calling for his resignation are being sponsored by politicians who opposed his leadership since he emerged Senate President last June.

Saraki is also claiming that his detractors are only trying to circumvent the country’s judicial system with his case at the tribunal and the resultant appeal at the Court of Appeal. He is further latching on to the legal technicality of an accused person being presumed innocent until found guilty. Now, let’s see how far those arguments take him.

However, there is a humble word of counsel I have for the Senate President’s spokesman before I get back to Saraki himself. While I know that spokesmen of political leaders have tough jobs as they are often asked to go and defend the indefensible, I believe they need to always apply wisdom and good judgement in handling their assignments especially when it’s evident their principals are no longer meeting the expectations of the people. When respected journalists and editors get into government and are rubbished, it does a lot of harm not just to their own reputations but also to Nigerian journalism and the media’s immense contributions to our country’s journey so far.  This shouldn’t be so.

Why do I say this? I know how those who have worked in the past with Olaniyonu, a former political editor in THISDAY and former commissioner of Information in Ogun state, describe him in superlative terms. As a journalist, I’m worried for him that he is still trying to defend what I know he knows deep inside him is absolutely shameful all in the name of doing his job defending the Senate President. He can learn from the past.

Back in 2003, the N50 million bribe-for-budget scandal which rocked the senate under the leadership of Adolphus Wabara, was a major talking point in Nigeria. Because of the mess the scandal created, Mayor Akinpelu, soft-sell journalist and publisher of Global Excellence, who was Wabara’s Special Adviser on Communication, and was occupying the same position Olaniyonu currently occupies, decided to voluntarily resign his appointment. Why do I mention this incident? I believe Olaniyonu will find the insight Akinpelu gave concerning his job then as the first soft-sell Nigerian journalist to be appointed spokesman to the country’s number three citizen very useful:

“When I got there, I realised that I could not influence anything. Decisions would have been taken and one would only be asked to go and defend it. I never found it funny. I became frustrated. The crisis that happened also made the situation degenerate to such a level where those of us who were Special Advisers could not even see our principal any longer. As a Special Adviser, I felt if I couldn’t see my principal, then, I had no business being there a day longer and wrote my resignation letter,” Akinpelu said during an interview I had with him while I was writing The Gatekeepers, my book on media editors in Nigeria, in 2009.

Of course, while the choice to heed or discard this free advice is his to make, I believe Olaniyonu would be doing the remainder of his career, reputation, and future a lot of good if he finds a way to bow out from his current job with Saraki like Akinpelu, who still continues publishing his soft-sell magazine, Global Excellence.

And concerning the calls that have been made by the civil society demanding for Saraki’s resignation, I find that released by the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) most apt in capturing the situation.

“Knowing that shame, contrition and conscience are alien to characters like these, it is not surprising that they continue to defy civilised standards in human conduct. Saraki should make no mistake about it; he is the man in the dock, having to face up to the consequences of his actions. He may bluff and bluster as much as he wants; the Nigerian people have made up their mind that his position is no longer tenable.

“There is no mistaking the fact that he has completely lost legitimacy. Like the exposed shell companies he secretly opened in Panama, he is now an empty shell. All his diversionary antics notwithstanding, it is time for Saraki to go. That is the verdict of the Nigerian people; and in due course, the voices of the people will prevail,” the TMG said in a statement released by its chairman, Ibrahim Zikirullahi.

Now, I don’t know what Saraki thinks about himself when he dresses up in the morning and looks at himself in the mirror. I can’t say what type of man he sees staring back at himself. But if Saraki will tell himself the truth, he will admit that he’s generally lived a very privileged life at the expense of the Nigerian public but has failed to convert this towards the genuine betterment of the people, the uplifting of his country, or the furtherance of a good legacy for himself. And that is a great pity.

Without doubt, if there is any politician with scant regard for Nigerians at this time, it is Saraki. And that’s why many Nigerians, who can’t fathom such contempt and disregard for them, also now call him a common thief and a rogue senator in clear disregard for his person, his office, and whatever he represents. For a man who occupies the third most powerful position in the country, this is a terrible place to be.

Interestingly, despite the evidence of his malfeasance, Saraki still has supporters who proudly stand with him and say he is only being persecuted and that his persecutors also have their own skeletons in the cupboard. But truth be told, had he not worked against the interest and plan of his party, the APC, to have Ahmed Lawan emerge as Senate President, Saraki might not be undergoing the investigation and prosecution he is undergoing today. This itself, if we will be bold to admit, shows the type of anti-corruption war going on in the country.

In all of these, however, there are Nigerians who insist Saraki’s refusal to resign is perfectly in tandem with the usual style of our politicians in this clime who seem to have no conscience, are greedy, characterless, and have no iota of fear of God or genuine love for country. I can’t fault them. As I type this, a number of leaders around the world implicated in the Panama leaks have resigned. Yet Saraki continues to carry on as if nothing is amiss, as if all is well, as if he’s done no wrong, and as if he ought not to find a way of redeeming himself or atoning for his sins against the Nigerian people. What is not in doubt, however, is that when the courts eventually pronounce him guilty, it would be a big disgrace.

With the attack against him last September at the Eid-praying ground in Ilorin still fresh in the memory, when angry youths started hurling stones and sachets of water at him and other dignitaries after hearing details of the various properties he owns within and outside the country some of which he had tried to hide, Saraki must understand that another attack on him by the people may be more devastating and his security aides may be too overwhelmed to do anything about it.

Yet, all these could have been prevented if only he was posterity-conscious. Sadly, he wasn’t and isn’t. And worse still is that many of the leaders we have produced in Nigeria are not. Many of them don’t ever ponder what generations unborn will say or read about them long after they are gone. Many don’t care if they so ridicule and tarnish their family names that such names become an albatross, an embarrassment rather than blessed names that will forever command respect, attract honour, and open doors for their generations.

However, beyond Saraki, the greater worry is that elected senators of the federal republic have not deemed it fit to impeach him or call for his immediate resignation. By now, one would have expected that these senators would have asked him to step down. Sadly, not so. Not one of them wants to demand that what is right and patriotic for their country must be done on the floor of the senate. It’s another evidence of how our senators are failing Nigeria. Yet, they are some people’s fathers and mothers, uncles and aunts, relatives of some folks. So, what do their families tell them at home? What about their children? Don’t they ask questions and tell them some hard truths?

No matter what, as a people, we must all admit that posterity matters; and that a good name is to be preferred far above ill-gotten riches! And while I believe our senators can still redeem themselves if they do the right things without further delay, yet, it speaks volume of the character and quality of men we have entrusted the destiny of Nigerians into their hands in the hallowed chambers of our National Assembly. This is why, as a necessity, we must re-examine the process through which political leaders emerge in our country and screen contenders to public office much more than we’ve ever done in our history. I believe these are lessons we ought to have learnt by now and must not forget to implement as we look ahead to 2019.

But that said, Saraki should resign without further delay. In fact, he needs to do it today. It’s in his best interest. It’s also in the national interest. Nigerians within and outside the country would be so pleased and immensely delighted to hear such announcement. Meanwhile, it’s important I repeat this, those close to Saraki should advise him to stay away from public gatherings especially ones where there are many youths lest he be stoned by many of them who are seething with anger due to the impunity, wicked corruption and intentional under-development of Nigeria carried out by privileged but unpatriotic leaders like him.

Kolawole, an award-winning journalist, author and media entrepreneur, writes from Lagos. You can follow him on twitter: @ofemigan