and the proposals for his support, advocacy in the board and approval. He was enthusiastic, while
regretting that Senator Ken Nnamani and Speaker Masari, his two third-term nemeses, were leading
the group. Our proposals were approved by the BOT, but thrown out by the PDP NEC on 18th June
2010. The story of how Jonathan double crossed the Reform Forum following a deal he struck with
twelve of the governors in South Africa while attending the opening ceremonies of the FIFA World
Cup, would be better told by Nnamani and Masari who personally experienced it at the PDP NEC
meeting.[168] Suffice it to say, this became a behavioral pattern of Jonathan’s that would become
even clearer over the coming months and years -never expect Jonathan to keep a promise, never
expect him to reciprocate a kind gesture.
What I have consistently counselled those that did not know Jonathan as well as a few of us was this -
“Do what you believe to be right whether Jonathan happens to benefit or not, and do not expecting any
political pay-offs if he did. Taking risks on his behalf would always lead to zero recognition, so it is
best to do so out of some bigger conviction”! I am not suggesting here that Jonathan behaves this way
out of any patriotism or fidelity to principles – he is just a person who quickly forgets a favour but
remembers every little slight. In this regard, Jonathan and Yar’Adua shared more than a few things in
common.
Some leaders of the forum left the PDP for the AC (Dr. Abiye Sekibo) and the CPC (Aminu Masari).
Others remained in the PDP to pursue their disparate political aspirations. I was uninterested in either
contesting for any office or seeking a political appointment, so I did neither. I devoted more time to
civil society activities via SNG, got more interested in 3G’s negotiation meetings with AC, and
resuscitated my earlier plan to establish a policy think tank in Abuja. I was assured by the 3G team –
Salihu Lukman, Dr. Sam Amadi, Kalli Alghazali, Tijjani Abdullahi and Balarabe Abbas Lawal that
discussions with the AC remained on course but were unduly delayed by the travel schedules of some
of the members of the joint committee we set up after the Ghana meeting in April. This was before we
learnt of some developments in Dubai of all places, involving AC and Nuhu.
June 2010: Nuhu Returns, and the Political Games Begin
On the 4th of June, Nuhu arrived back in Nigeria. He felt safe enough to return since Umaru had died
about a month earlier and he had been cleared of all charges by the Jonathan administration. We
joined him a few days later, 7th June, at Babcock University where he was conferred with an
honorary doctorate degree. We returned to Abuja and had an emergency meeting of the 3G leadership
in Senator Ken Nnamani’s house with Nuhu, Adamu Maina Waziri, then Jonathan’s minister of police
affairs, [169] former speaker Aminu Masari, Balarabe Abbas Lawal and myself, amongst others. We
reviewed the political situation including the status of the 3G-AC discussions and the progress made
with the PDP Reform Forum at the time.
However, one of the decisions we took, which Nuhu did not object to, was to put on hold or at best
slow down discussions with AC until we established that reforming PDP was a hopeless proposition.
Nuhu left a couple of days later to return to Washington, DC. His plan was to tidy up the visiting
fellowship with the Centre for Global Development and return for active, partisan politics. It was
from that location that Nuhu went off on his own, literally abandoning the group we had formed, and
the platform we had carefully designed and built – and collectively agreed was for his political
benefit.
My friend Hakeem Belo-Osagie, who loved watching football and remains a passionate Manchester
United supporter, had earlier in the year invited me and two of my children – Yasmin and Bello – to
join his family in South Africa for the FIFA World Cup. Just as I was preparing to leave Abuja, I got
a phone call from a mutual friend in Dubai that Nuhu left that day for Washington after a day’s
meeting with an AC team led by Senator Bola Tinubu. I took in the information, and awaited Nuhu’s
briefing as I was certain there was some explanation for it, if at all true. A few days after I heard this
without any subsequent confirmation or otherwise from Nuhu, I went to Lagos to catch the South
African Airways flight to Johannesburg for my vacation, bonding with two of my lovely children, and
cheering Ghana to win the World Cup! In Lagos, I saw Pastor Bakare to update him on our political
discussions with AC, at which point, he, along with Yinka Odumakin, not only confirmed Nuhu’s
meeting with the AC leadership in Dubai, but the two agreements reached – that Nuhu will be handed
the AC presidential ticket while AC chooses his running mate, and the need to keep this quiet until the
seven or eight AC leaders went back to Nigeria, and briefed their other leaders like Tom Ikimi who
were not privy to the deal. Nuhu had committed to AC that he would bring the whole 3G team on
board to support the ticket, and needed the ‘under-wraps’ time to brief us as well.
As far as Pastor Bakare was concerned, he had established that Nuhu went to Dubai behind my back
and the other 3G leaders’, which to him constituted the ultimate betrayal. The fact that even after
doing that, Nuhu failed to explain his visit and bring me up to date said everything about his character.
Pastor Bakare never had a positive view of Nuhu in the first place, and with this incident, became
even more convinced of Nuhu’s unworthiness for serious leadership roles. I admitted to Pastor
Bakare that I was surprised and disappointed but was confident that there would be an explanation at
some point, sometime soon. I appealed to Pastor Bakare again to suspend judgment until he got to
meet and know Nuhu a little better and more closely. Though by then I was compelled by the reality
of the last few months to expect miracles, I told Pastor Bakare and Yinka Odumakin that I was sure
Nuhu would have a perfect explanation for the whole Dubai episode. I departed for South Africa.
July 2010: Politically, Nuhu Goes His Own Way, Alone
We had a great time in South Africa and in retrospect, the quality of time spent with Yasmin in those
weeks in Johannesburg and Cape Town, made coming to terms with her death less than 18 months
later, just slightly easier. It was a great vacation on the whole, spent watching football, dining and
debating with Jimi Lawal and his daughters, Keem and his family, Dele Olojede, his intelligent and
charming wife Amma Ogan and their two daughters. We were in the month of July 2010. It had been
two weeks since Nuhu went to Dubai, and I had not heard from him. Then Dele Olojede called me
with exciting news.
His newspaper had just gotten an exclusive – AC had decided to give Nuhu Ribadu the party’s
presidential ticket. The scoop would be the paper’s lead story the next day. I confirmed to him that I
had heard about it too, and gave him additional details of the Dubai meeting that his paper did not
have. Dele was upset. How could I forget to mention this important political development to him in
the last week or so that I had been in South Africa? I explained that Nuhu was yet to inform me of the
decision. At that point Dele’s phone went dead, and within 15 minutes he arrived at the rented
apartment we were using
in Sandton. On hearing the entire story pieced together from Pastor Bakare
and my friend’s earlier call from Dubai, Dele felt disappointed too, but appealed to me to forget
about the omission and move on with supporting Nuhu as a credible candidate for the next elections.
After all, he added, this was what I tried to sell to him in Aspen a year earlier. I nodded, and just said
“we will see how things pan out from now on. It would really depend on how Nuhu conducts himself
from now on.”
On the 9th of July, the day both Punch and Next broke the story of Nuhu’s deal with AC, I got a call
from him. He was in Washington and wanted to know how it felt to be watching the World Cup live
and in colour. We chatted for some minutes and rang off. He did not raise the subject of his trip to
Dubai or the story in the newspapers in Nigeria. [170] I did not ask him. I think Nuhu knew that I must
have heard the news of the deal and therefore expected me to raise the subject. But by then, I had
learnt that patience is the most important habit of the trainee politician, which I was. Nuhu called
back the next day. I had a bad cold then and we talked about the flu, weather and vuvuzelas. He
exchanged pleasantries with my daughter and son, and asked me to buy him a vuvuzela. He said he
would be on his way to Nigeria shortly, and would pick it up when we meet. Once again, I thought
Nuhu expected me to enquire about his adoption by AC as presidential candidate but I said nothing.
While in South Africa, Dele invited me and a few other Nigerians that were around for the World
Cup to a dinner in his Johannesburg home. In addition to the company of Dele and his wife Amma, we
had a pleasant evening of good food and reflection about the state of our nation. Amma acted as
facilitator of the discussions with probing questions and prodding follow-ups. Keem Belo-Osagie and
his wife Myma, Fola Adeola, Dr. Yele Aluko, Asue Ighodalo, Ahmed Dasuki and I participated.
Udoma Udo Udoma could not arrive at Johannesburg until the day after, and Atedo Peterside and his
wife Dundun arrived after we had nearly wrapped up. We agreed to do a follow-up meeting in
Nigeria and continue exploring how good people could come together under a single political
platform to rescue the country from the gang that was running and ruining the nation. Within days, the
World Cup was over and we flew back to Nigeria. My two children went back to their respective
schools.
Pastor Bakare Convenes ‘the Arrowheads’ Meeting
On arriving in Lagos, Pastor Bakare informed me and Jimi Lawal that he had thought of a need to
bring together a few good men and women to brainstorm on our nation’s governance predicament,
look at some options and perhaps chart a way out of the situation. By then Bakare and the SNG
leadership had practically given up hope that Jonathan and his PDP co-travellers would provide the
minimum level of good governance that Nigeria so badly needed. Bakare proposed to convene a
meeting of between ten or twelve people he thought could be “the arrowheads” of political change in
Nigeria. He came up with about half a dozen names and we suggested a few more names. Pastor
Bakare then sent text message invitations to Danjuma Goje, Dr. Pat Utomi, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Oby Ezekwesili, Fola Adeola, Donald Duke, Nuhu Ribadu, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Raji Fashola and my
humble self, to meet on 15th July, 2010. All ten confirmed attendance a few days later.
In the end six of us attended the meeting in Pastor’s residence. [171] In attendance at the meeting were
other politicians apart from the “arrowheads” - Jimi Agbaje, Yinka Odumakin, Jimi Lawal and
Olawale Oshun. We first had dinner, followed by hours of discussions which stretched till three in
the morning. It was an evening of passionate discussions, debate and disagreements. All of us agreed
on the strength in numbers and teamwork, and to explore as a united group the possibility of joining a
political party other than the PDP. Nuhu made a case for the group to join AC. A couple of us were
sympathetic to Labour Party, while Fola Adeola made a pitch in favour of a brand new platform –
either join his Kowa Party or register a party afresh.
Nuhu informed us that within the next two weeks, the AC, DPP, parts of ANPP and APGA were
merging or going into alliance to adopt one presidential candidate – and with the information already
in the public domain, we thought that would have to be Nuhu. We could not agree on which one party
to adopt, and were hoping that the other absentees would contribute to the decision. We agreed to
meet again on 31st July at the same venue, hopefully with more of the arrowheads attending, to
discuss further and finalize the way forward politically.
August 2010: The Arrowheads Agree to Disagree
We met again on 31 st July. Oby and Ngozi called in from Jamaica. Fola who suggested the date and
time of the meeting arrived from Abeokuta after we adjourned. Donald and Nuhu simply forgot about
the meeting. By then, we had made progress in our discussions with Kowa Party and Labour Party. By
mid-August when we were scheduled to meet in group plenary to decide on a common political
platform, most of us had gone our separate ways, politically. With my encouragement, Oby extended
her employment contract with the World Bank by another year; Nuhu was going round the country,
visiting traditional rulers and political leaders to sell his arrangement with AC; Danjuma Goje, Fola,
and Ngozi no longer returned our calls; Pat Utomi unilaterally announced his own presidential
candidacy on the platform of Olu Falae’s Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP); and Donald, Jimi
Lawal and I were left alone discussing with both Kowa and Labour Party.
Other persons in attendance at our first meeting had also moved. Jimi Agbaje was rumoured to be
considering accepting a position in the Jonathan administration while Wale Oshun and Nuhu became
more involved in the AC presidential contest. The 3G-AC discussions had ended when news of
Nuhu’s acceptance to be the party’s flag bearer got confirmed. Our other 3G leaders had moved as
well – Salihu Lukman to AC to contest a senatorial seat, Aminu Masari to Buhari’s CPC, while Ken
Nnamani and Adamu Waziri chose to remain in the PDP and hope for the best. Pastor Bakare, Yinka
Odumakin, Jimi Lawal and the rest of our 3G and SNG leadership were left standing alone. We threw
in the towel not long after, terminating all discussions with Kowa and Labour Party. AC had merged
with DPP to become ACN, and then approached 3G to continue our ‘discussions’. Our response was
simple – thanks, but no. Pastor Bakare, Yinka, Jimi and I conferred with Oby and accepted the reality
that once again, the personal ambition made it impossible to unite against a common enemy – bad
governance. We agreed to let things go and plan better next time.
September 2010: Buhari Courts Bakare and SNG
For the third time within three months, General Muhammadu Buhari met with Pastor Tunde Bakare,
this time in Lagos. We met in the pastor’s Ikeja residence on 23 rdSeptember, with Sule Y. Hamma,
Aminu Masari, Hadi Sirika, Joy Nunieh-Okunnu and Farouk Adamu Aliyu representing the CPC,
while Yinka Odumakin, Jimi Lawal, and my humble self along with Bakare, represented the SNG.
Pastor Bakare spoke passionately, as always, about Nigeria’s unity and potential. He suggested that
the way forward was for the CPC t
o work with other parties to confront the evil of the PDP. He
briefed Buhari and his team about our efforts as SNG/3G to bring Kowa and Labour Party together.
Buhari lamented the state of the nation and the self-centred and short-sighted attitude of our elites. He
gave reasons why he left the ANPP and why CPC was registered: to ensure social justice for all
Nigerians through good governance.
While lamenting the disappointing roles of the police, INEC and the judiciary in legitimizing electoral
fraud in the past, he expressed hope that with past examples of Bauchi and Kano States, a citizenry
united with the local elite to demand change could result in fairer electoral outcomes. Sule Hamma
added that SNG and CPC were ideological soul mates and should work together to deliver better
governance for our country. He added that ACN-CPC talks were to continue, with electoral alliance
and merger as imminent possibilities. We basically discussed possibilities of working together in
support of Buhari’s third presidential bid, and agreed it was worth exploring. On the SNG side, we
agreed to present the proposal to our leadership and revert back as early as possible.
In the end, we decided that SNG should be preserved as a non-partisan civil society organization,
while 3G would be the political interface on behalf of our group. Further discussions and cooperation
with CPC and other political parties would henceforth be with 3G, on behalf of the group. We
therefore continued our discussions with both Kowa Party and Labour Party, on behalf of SNG, and
hoped that we would bring both parties into an electoral partnership of some sort with the CPC. We
also hoped that CPC and ACN would work something out so we can all be together again with Nuhu
against the common enemy – the unreformed, governors-controlled, anti-people and undemocratic
PDP.
October 2010: An attempt at humour generates unexpected furore
The Accidental Public Servant Page 64
