BY UGOJI EGBUJO

Abubakar Atiku is an old war horse. He was born in the Cameroons before the plebiscite. After a stuttering start with cattle, he acquired a diploma in hygiene. That must have taken some effort in those agrarian circumstances. But Perhaps a career elsewhere would have been more morally hygienic than the Customs. It was in the customs he met the Indians with whom he started a business.

Such intercourse would have been deemed unclean if conflict of interest were taboo. Fortunately for him, in Banana Republics, the stark lack of basic things like water and shelter makes abuse of office for private gain trivia.

Atiku is a decent man. In politics, Atiku has never preached violence. But in politics, he hasn’t been remarkable for anything other than scheming for power. Oh well, he claimed he set up the EFCC. His opponents say that might be why the EFCC stayed aloof when Atiku got into a little trouble with the Americans. Finicky Americans. They said some monies that came into the Turaki’s wife’s accounts were suspicious monies from our government treasury.

Atiku is innocent. The government didn’t follow up. Despite all allegations levied against him by his political opponents, he has never been prosecuted. So he is clean. Even Obasanjo, who once called him uncomplimentary names and left him a testimonial that should be reserved for rogues, has since sanctified him. In his late seventies, the Turaki is coming for perhaps for a final attempt. Turaki claims experience. While it’s difficult to ascertain what the experience gathered in the Customs is worth, he has been through political warfare. And politics can be compared to life in the motor park. Late-night meetings, cloak and dagger plots, practical lessons in crass opportunism. Politics can be eye-opening.

Well, he was vice president for eight years. An active spare tyre for about four years, when his boss was a globetrotter. But after the 2003 election shenanigans, he was a spare tyre in disuse. Ostracised. Turaki claims experience, but he spent one whole term of four years running from one courtroom to another, trying to restore his security details, restore lights to his residence and restore hope to his political life. Hopefully, this time, he won’t need the help of a Kenyan yahoo expert to conduct an autopsy. I wish the firmer vice president the best of luck.

Asiwaju Tinubu is as formidable as Atiku. Tinubu of the Justice Forum. His beginnings are not clearly defined. What Bode George thinks about his state of origin doesn’t matter. He is the dominant Lagosian. At some point in his life, young Bola Tinubu graduated with accolades from the Chicago state university. That was where his life became clear.

Perhaps because there are no pictures of him and his primary and secondary schoolmates, some folks think he is over 80. But Asiwaju is just about 70. After graduating from university, he worked with some notable firms.

This bit is certain. But there is this other bit. At some point in his life, he mixed with the wrong crowd. He forfeited money to law enforcement in a drug-related matter. His opponents like to say he was involved in drug trafficking. But he was never charged with drug trafficking. Americans wouldn’t have failed to do that if they had proof. Asiwaju must have learnt team building at Mobil, but he sharpened his teeth at Sarumi and co.

Tinubu was a senator for two years. The Yaradua school to which he belonged did more pragmatism than moral principles. But life in exile perhaps toughened his aluta bones and improved his credentials. As governor of Lagos, the Yaradua instincts came to the fore. He kicked away the Afenifere ladder and the Capone. His performance as governor bought him legitimacy.

In choosing to nurture a party rather than join the ruling bandwagon, he matured into a political deity. But many believe he helped Lagos and then cornered it. Others say whatever he amassed was spent on building the opposition and preventing a one-party state. Having lived in the opposition for so long unprotected yet unscathed, his supporters say he isn’t as sin-soaked as rumourmongers claim. A thousand tales have been told about Alpha Beta, but none has seduced any of the agencies and their prosecutors. Some call him a land grabber. Too many tales. A drone once caught two bullion vans exiting his gates on the eve of national elections. And the picture has stuck. Ordinarily, bullion vans are mundane stuff.

But against the backdrop of the allegations of state capture and manipulative godfatherism, the bullion vans have become legendary. Tinubu’s doctors have refused to explain visible hand tremors and allowed rumours to fester. Regardless of the unknowns, Tinubu’s story has been shaped by his acclaimed capacity to find and choose talent. I wish the Jagaban Borgu well.

Peter Obi has shot himself into the national limelight. The former governor of Anambra, once impeached for being stiff, has become the symbol of a new beginning. Nobody remembers he wanted to be a philosopher. He read philosophy at the University of Nigeria and came out with a colourless degree certificate. Some said he did more buying and selling than reading in school. But Obi has acquired a reputation for studying and regurgitating Chinese data. As governor of Anambra, he saved the state tons of money and tarred rural roads.

Obi’s problem is his kind of modesty. The man once claimed he had one shoe and one watch. Perhaps he meant he wore only one colour of shoes and one brand of wristwatches. When he said he owned only one house in Nigeria and no house anywhere else, his opponents spotted a property in London that seemed to bear a name that resembled his. Often Obi doesn’t challenge fact-checkers. He lets sleeping dogs he wakes up with his claims of modesty to lie back and sleep. No matter what his opponents say, Obi seems better than the frivolous and prodigal politicians that litter our land.

Except if we count the exhibitionism of modesty as sinful. He flies economy and religiously carries his bag by himself. He didn’t buy his children cars, but he kept them some papers in some tax havens. President Obi will bring honesty, simplicity and connection with the streets to governance. Obi excelled in the private sector as a trader. Those who call him a banker think that holding some bank shares makes one a banker. Where has Obi failed woefully?

He failed to possess and nurture the party that was bequeathed to him. Playing politics and seeking to be seen as an angel can be daunting. He may not be the picture of the saint Peter his fans fling into people’s faces, but he is positively different from most politicians. Let’s hope the enthusiasm he has generated lasts till Christmas.

One of these three will be president in 2023.