By ONUORAH J. OBODOZIE

President Muhamadu Buhari (PMB) is the only National Leader, elected to date, that actively and of his own volition,  sort the popular Mandate of Nigerians.  President Buhari took-out a bank loan to personally pay for his nomination papers; hence he could say “I belong to everyone, but belong to nobody”. Strange Bed-fellowship begins with deals and pledges before elections and are, usually, redeemed on assumption of Office. Since President Buhari is not  beholden to any of the Strange Bed-Fellows, he should, diligently, clear all the inherited  “potor- potor”  before sowing the seeds of his policy directions. It is better to be slow and sure. President Buhari  should not be stampeded into taking hasty decisions.

 Before comparing  Strange Bed-fellowship Vs. Popular Mandate in the United States of America[America], with the Nigerian pattern, let’s browse through our previously elected National Leaders and how they came to Office, in view of President Buhari’s election as “his own man”, and Disciplinarian, whose stated position is to fight corruption and release more fund for the development of the Nigerian citizenry.

                                                 PAST ELECTED NATIONAL LEADERS

 No past Nigerian Prime Minister or President had ever, on his own volition, actively sought for the Office of National Leader, before President Buhari. They were either “drafted”, “railroaded” or, sometimes “conscripted”. In fairness to the others, PMB, had three tries before succeeding.

 At the general elections, just before Independence in 1960,  the Northern Peoples’ Congress won. The Party Leader  of the National Peoples’ Congress, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, sent his Parliamentary Secretary, Sir Tafawa Belewa,  down to Lagos to be Prime Minister, and remained at Lugard House in Kaduna as Premier of Northern Nigeria. This could pass as “drafting”.

 In 1979, President Shehu Shagari, quietly, collected his forms as a Senator for Sokoto State, faraway from those prancing around as Presidential candidates, until he was approached to run for the Office of President under the National Peoples’ Party[NPN]. Despite protestations and indicating his preference for Senate and not being ready for the “Nigerian Wahala” as President, he was “railroaded” into the Presidential contest with a promise that “we will give you the right people to help you”. We all know the rest.

Buhari arrives United States

Twenty years later, in 1999, President Olusegun Obasanjo [OBJ], having served as Head of State, “against my personal wish and desire”, [at the demise of General Murtala Mohamed] and  later Prisoner, was quietly enjoying his retirement at Otta Farms, before he was approached to be President on the ticket of the Peoples’ Democratic Party[PDP]. It was to sooth the frayed nerves in Western Nigeria because of the botched push by late  Chief M.K. Abiola’ for the Presidency. Also, to accommodate the Military Constituency. General Babangida, was the “goodwill messenger.” The “PDP was going to handle all matters for the elections”. To my mind, that was  ”conscription”. But, he went on to record a first: the first civilian to civilian transition, after a re-election and completed his Constitutionally allowed four plus four years, for a total of eight years.

                                       In 2007, President Umaru Yar a Adua, had just completed his eight-year tenure as Governor of Katsina State. Had filled his papers for return to the classroom, as Chemistry Lecturer, and live happily thereafter. Then OBJ arrived Katsina 3AM on that fateful day to see Hajiya Yar’Adua, who was requested to summon her son, Umaru Yar a Adua. On arrival, he was given the news of being chosen as PDP flag-bearer for 2007. OBJ saw it in a dream in those early hours hence he flew to Katsina at “those godly hours”. We know the rest. It could, also, pass for “drafting”.

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan [GEJ], true to his name is a child of providence. He had just completed his boss’s term as Governor, filled the form to contest Governorship of Bayelsa State, in his own recognizance, when he was plucked to be Vice Presidential Candidate to Yar’Adua, the PDP flag-bearer. They were elected. President Yar’Adua passed-on and GEJ assumed Office, almost, similar to Bayelsa and then contested in his own recognizance under the PDP ticket in 2011. We all know how it played-out in his re-election in 2015.

                    AMERICA: CASE OF STRANGE BED-FELLOWS  VS. POPULAR MANDATE

 The election of President George W. Bush [GWB] in 2000, is the most recent example of Strange Bed-Fellowship according to  “opposition analysts”. They claim that President Bush was “promised” the White House by the Energy and Arms Merchants in return for war in a country with OIL. Iraq was on their radar as less dangerous than Iran. We all recall the numerous counts and recounts at the Florida-leg of that election; and Florida was headed for a re-vote before it was railroaded to the Supreme Court, which gave the White House to President Bush on a split-decision of five to four Judges. We, also, know that on assumption of Office, President Bush accused Iraq of a litany crimes against the Shiites, use of chemical weapons and, of course, possession of Weapons of Mass Destruction [WMD]. As is usually said, it was a case of “calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it”. When Terrorists struck on “9\11”, it was the “green light” for action. From then onwards, it did not matter what Saddam Hussein did or did not do, he was going to be hammered and, indeed, he was really hammered and hanged like the proverbial “dog with a bad name”. The Strange Bed-Fellows— the Energy and Arms Merchants were settled and got stinking rich; but the American people paid dearly for it. Recession set-in, joblessness was everywhere, housing and mortgage went burst, car industries and manufacturers were going out of business. Furthermore, America was indebted to China to the tune of over a Trillion US Dollars in bonds. We know now that there were no WMDs. We, also, know that no Iraqi, whether Shiite or Sunni was involved in the “9\11” Terrorism. All the “9\11” actors were all Sunnis and Saudis. The “waning and decline of America” [like all Empires] was being whispered. Had historians been asked to put-up the usual drafts on “the remote and immediate causes of American decline”, at that point, it would have started with the Florida-leg of the 2000 Presidential election.

Enter President Barack Obama [PBO], in 2008, on the back of a popular Mandate by the People, without Strange Bed-Fellows. Like President Buhari [PMB], belonging to everyone, but belonging to no-one. Armed with a Nobel Peace Prize [ Not for past successes; but for things he was going to do.], President Obama “closed shops” on the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; made sure Osama Ben Laden never walked the earth again; got the economy back on track; created jobs; got the housing and mortgage markets booming again; and restarted industries, manufacturing and production. According to Vice President Joe Biden, “Osama Ben Laden is Dead and General Motors Is Alive”. With no baggage and debts to Strange Bed-Fellows,  President Obama, like President Buhari, had a free hand to operate.

.President Obama put some “daylight” between America and the Middle-East, including Israel. That singular move removed America from the radar of terrorists except for “lone-wolf operators”. Thawed relations with Cuba and opened a back-channel with Venezuela to keep America’s backyard peaceful. Further afield, President Obama, brought-in Iran “from the cold” by staying course on the Nuclear Deal. That way, the Sunnis and the Shiites can balance each other and solve their centuries-old animosity without America being roped-in.[ topic for another essay]. Sometimes in International Politics and Diplomacy, “the worst peace can be better than the best war”.

Since, America has enormous appetite for oil, President Obama kept the Energy Merchants happy with shale  oil and gas. Pump prices fell, there was glut, affecting Nigeria and others [another essay]; but President Obama was trying to wean America from the Middle East oil. For the Arms Merchants: no boots on the ground anywhere; just limited use of advisers and extensive use of drones. With no Strange Bed-Fellows to pressure him, President Obama may never fight a major war for the duration of his eight years in Office. Time will tell!

                                            PRESIDENTS BUHARI AND OBAMA

 While writing this piece, I was intimated of President Buhari’s visit to America with President Obama.  Very proper and apt; since they are both “kindred spirits” in belonging to everyone, but beholden to no-one. No Strange Bed-Fellows to distract them from programmes and projects for the common good of the People. President Buhari should ask for technical and forensic  assistance in fighting  corruption; and technology for electricity generation. Tools to fight Boko Haram, yes; but not human resources. Experience has shown that Americans “scatter” every country they enter like “a bull in a china shop”. Not on purpose. They just don’t have the usual British “wayo” and expertise in colonization and administration of territories. After all, America itself was a Colony of Britain. Presidents Buhari and Obama to a larger degree, have  similar thought-patterns that can create the necessary synergy for Executive Orders on these matters, without recourse to the time-consuming exercises in our National Assembly or the American Congress. We should expect dis-agreement in the matter of gays and lesbians, which is a taboo in  Nigeria and most of the world, with huge population, like China, Russia, India, Indonesia, et al.

                                     STRANGE BED-FELLOWS: NIGERIAN PATTERN

Strange Bed-Fellowship in Nigeria  has twin tracks. On the first track are the Election Merchants, while the second track comprises the men who are “Citizens Against Virtually Everything” [CAVE-men].

 The Election Merchants, produce nothing! And manufacture nothing! The Government Treasury, in any Administration, is their target “Cash Cow”,  to be milked dry. They corner the Nation’s oil blocks and contracts for one purpose– ELECTIONS.  Elections for President, Gubernatorial and the Legislature. When one election cycle ends, they immediately start positioning themselves and their stooges, plotting for the next election cycle through deals, appointments and contracts, to bleed the Nation; not for policies, programmes and projects for the benefit of the Citizenry. Stealing from Government is the only business of the Election Merchants. With all the oil blocks they have cornered,  our cars don’t have gasoline in Nigeria,  and the money from corrupt contracts are salted away abroad. They build palaces in their communes but are afraid to live-in and occupy them for fear of kidnaping and murder by the citizens they stole from. Relations and wards are sent overseas for fear of being ransomed and even murdered when payments are  botched. In Nigeria, they set up token ventures for window-dressing, which contribute nothing to our economy but serve as morality car-wash, of some sorts, for them, in the eyes of our People. Mr President should be very vigilant with these Election Merchants, who are more interested in victories at the next election cycle than in the fight against corruption and freeing funds for  Citizens development programmes and projects.

The “Citizens Against Virtually Everything”[CAVE-men], are funded through “back channels” by the Election Merchants. That way the Administration is thrown off-balance and unaware of their Strange Bed-Fellowship.   The Election Merchants use the CAVE-men  to complain about slow pace of appointments, while remaining in the shadows of conspiracy. When  appointments are  made, CAVE-men shout loudest with all  insults and insinuations they can conjure. CAVE-men criticize every policy, every programme and every project. The stock-in-trade of CAVE-men is to irritate, provoke and attempt to derail Administaration’s policies, programmes and projects; especially the fight against corruption. The distraction of the Administration from policy goals plays into the hands of the Election Merchants, who are always ready to “make deals with the devil” , if need be, to position themselves and succeed in the next election cycle. Vigilance by Mr. President  should be in concert with his DNA as a Disciplinarian.

The antics of CAVE-men is an age-old phenomenon in distracting and maligning Administrations. They now use modern tools of communication to sharpen their antics. I should know a little bit about  this. My family has been in Public Administration for over one hundred years!  Politics? NO!  Public Administration? YES!  And the arithmetic is very simple! The British Colonialists, in 1904, appointed my grandfather Warrant Chief, for Native Administration in Okija. That was good ten years before the Northern and Southern British Protectorates of the Niger Areas were Amalgamated in 1914, to create Nigeria. This, of course,  is  without prejudice to the Colony of Lagos, first Administered by the Portuguese Explorers.  CAVE-men were there before and after the 1914 Amalgamation. They were there before and after Independence in 1960. They are there today being used by the Election Merchants in their Strange Bed-Fellowship to distract Administrations and corner the National Treasury, Oil Resources and Contracts.

While discountenancing the antics of the CAVE-men, Mr President must be most vigilant with the Election Merchants. The Election Merchants are more dangerous than the CAVE-men because they secretly  use the CAVE-men while “dining with the Administration”. They are the ones, most likely “to come  for dinner and stay for breakfast”, in plotting their ways into the heart of the Administration; just to loot!

.President Buhari should be vigilant and execute his Mandate, without fear or favour.

May God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 Dr. Obodozie, a Career Diplomat and Academic, served in various Nigerian Diplomatic Missions abroad,  he is  at present an Academic Associate at UNISA’s Institute for African Renaissance Studies, in Pretoria .