Roll back! We have to be consciously fast about it. Now we’ve safely returned to 2008. Senator Nuhu Aliyu, remember him? A quick recap will help out.
He was a retired Deputy Inspector-General (DIG). He traversed the police force inside out. He strived to leave no stone unturned. He bowed out voluntarily. Giving way for others to grow.
Then what about him? He did the unthinkable. He it was who first opened Pandora’s box in National Assembly.
He was in the Senate for three terms. He first got elected in 1999. What he saw, he couldn’t comprehend nor swallow. Neither could he restrain himself. He detested the sight before him. He wished he were not in the Red Chamber.
But he was. For 12 solid years, face-to-face with the stark realities. He bottled it all up. But that wouldn’t last a lifetime. Something must give way. That happened exactly on Wednesday, January 23, 2008.
Aliyu had exhausted his patience to the maximum. He couldn’t breath any longer. He had stressed his endurance to the extreme limit. His training, professionalism came to play.
These sterling qualities could not resist the rot further. He was forced to voice it out. And he did it with all the strength he could muster. He cried out to high heavens. And everything came into the open, naked:“In the National Assembly, we still have 419 members. The police faced a very hopeless situation in combating fraud cases until the EFCC Act was enacted.”
That was his honest contribution to a motion, “Direction and Tempo of the War on Corruption.” But they would not want this. And they fumed!
They wrongly thought they could cajole him. They wanted him eat his vomit, almost immediately. Ayogu Eze, Enugu, PDP, feigned boldness. He mopped up courage. He dared Aliyu: “We must defend our honour and integrity. I cannot be part of a National Assembly that comprises ‘419’ members. Aliyu should name the people involved in ‘419’ activities or withdraw the statement.”
It was natural. The hard stuff in Aliyu did not fail him. It came to his rescue to our delight. He stuck to his guns. He vowed to submit his list of 419ers as demanded.
But, only to the then Senate President David Mark. And Speaker, House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole. That settled it. At least, temporarily.
Did Aliyu submit the list or not? Still hanging. We never heard anymore from him. Not even from Mark or Bankole.
Perhaps, Aliyu went to the grave with it on August 4, 2021. That day, he breathed his last breadth. Aged 80, having been born in June 1941.
Aliyu died but his idea and ideal live after him. They never die. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo took up the gauntlet. He would not allow Aliyu die in vain. On Tuesday, May 22, 2012, he gave weight to Aliyu’s avowal. He confirmed every affirmation, he vomited in this manner: “Integrity is necessary for all systems and institutions to be strong. Today, rogues, armed robbers are in the state houses of assembly and the National Assembly. What sort of laws will they make?” We too are lost!
For his utterances, Obasanjo was roundly crucified, vilified. He was tossed around. Up and down, many times over. Foes and adversaries feasted on him with relish.
Trust him. That did not move him a bit. He has long learnt to develop a thick skin to criticisms. Positive or negative. He doesn’t give a damn. He has said his say. Let anybody who cares say his say.
But, most importantly, what Aliyu detested. What Obasanjo asserted, are still hunting, haunting and hurting our lawmakers unending. And they are getting worse in greater dimensions.
Still in doubt, confused, perplexed, bewildered? There was a profound demonstration of all that early last week. It brought back those sad, appalling old, odd memories.
It was a graphic repeat performance of our hideous side. We have opted not to learn anything useful from our stinking, chequered history.
Now, back to the present. It has become an embarrassing recurring decimal. Coming and going. Courtesy of John Pepper Clarke’s “Abiku.” Very ugly! We are convinced it won’t go away that soon.
It must fulfil its obligation; its obvious purpose. That’s coming to a pleasant fruition. It could be pretty shortly. It surely won’t vamoose without its actualisation. Rest assured.
Pray fervently. We all be living witnesses to its realisation. It’s booting rapidly. It’s downloading, looming, imminent. This time round, the focus is specifically on drugs.
The National Assembly is the epicentre. It is in the eye of the storm. Its members are sitting on their hottest seats ever. We are exceedingly glad. Things are falling into pleasant places for our collective good.
We don’t need to be told or tutored. We know they’re extremely uncomfortable. They are receiving the bashing of their lives. Individually and collectively. In good measure; pressed together.
And guess what! We are better for it. It’s to our greatest benefit, favour and advantage. The more the merrier. We’re certainly going somewhere. The destination is here with us.
We had almost forgotten. But two senators refused to let go. They are the rare men with eagle eyes. Their sharp memories did not disappoint them. We are hugely indebted to them.
Stand up to be counted. And the tag team: Sumaila Kawu (Kano South, NNPP) and Rufai Sani Hanga (Kano Central, NNPP). The duo shook the Red Chamber to its vulnerable foundation.
They did rock the boat. And the Senate won’t overcome the discomfort pretty soon. It festers unhindered, unrestrained.
Hanga had innocently presented a bill. He sought his own alternative to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). He christened it National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation Bill. His job was done, ended.
But Kawu saw farther. It was beyond what others could imagine. His problem wasn’t an outright substitute to the NDLEA. He had no issues with the anti-drug agency.
For him, NDLEA was home and dry. Its onslaught on drug barons and users was on course. The reason he shifted his focus. He wisely looked inward. And he was right. What he saw, like the late Aliyu, devastated him.
Kawu became uncontrollably hot and furious. He displayed it. He meant business. He demonstrated that much. He decisively elected to wash their dirty linen in the public glare. It stinks on.
He spearheaded a one-man assault against his co-senators. This was the rare opportunity he had been longing for. Such scarce moments come sparingly. And he did seize the chance wholeheartedly.
He forced open a can of worms. He practically threw the Upper Chamber into an uproar. But he was unperturbed. In fact, he cared not whose ox, was gored or brutally bruised. He carried on undeterred.
He pronounced with all the anger in him: “Most of our offices in our constituencies, political offices, houses, when you go there, you will find a mountain of drugs. There are drug dealers in our offices and in our houses.”
He was in a no-holds-barred mood. His unanswered question: “How many of us can swear with Qur’an or Bible that in anyway they are not supporting drug abusers in their constituencies?” None risked it!
He provided an incontrovertible proof: “Politicians give drugs to their supporters during elections. Some security operatives sell drugs. We have others even in families who sell these drugs.”
This is where Kawu was actually going. His ultimate destination is this solution. He threw a lifetime challenge: “I am proposing that all political office holders, both elective and appointive, must be subjected to compulsory drug test.”
This hiked the uproar to the rooftops. His colleague-senators were taken aback. They were caught unawares. It was like a thunderbolt. Enter presiding Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.
He could as well have jumped to his feet. He instantly rose against Kawu. With visible annoyance. He applied his privileged heavy sledgehammer. He cut Kawu short abruptly. Obviously for the wrong reason:
“While we are speaking, our contribution should be relevant to the subject matter. In this case, your contribution is not relevant to the subject matter. I therefore rule out of order.” Imagine!
Desperate, still searching for its lost bearings. Is the Senate afraid of drug tests? Is it scared of its shadow? Better still: Is the Senate actually on drugs? It messed up a hard-to-come-by chance on a gold platter.
The senators ought to grab the rare opportunity. Positively turn it around. Shed their awful toga of being a rubber stamp. And put on a new radiant look. Befitting of the distinguished senators they profess to be.
Instead of addressing the issue holistically. Senate opted for the easy way out. An escape route. It narrowed it down ridiculously. The senators vented their bottled-up anger on NDLEA.
It left what ought to be done, totally undone. And gorged on what ought not to be gorged on. The lesson is deep. It’s wise to stay off the on going Senate-NDLEA stand-off. That’s what is expedient for now.
It is a deliberate intention. Let them fight their fight. And we watch our watch. Of course, from a safe distance.
We had naively thought Senate had realised the dire need of being sincere with itself. We thought the moment of genuine self-examination had come for our federal legislators.
Pity! We goofed. It was a monumental misplaced expectation. See how Jibrin put a massive spanner in the brilliant works of Kawu. We are miffed, peeved. We are pained to the marrow.
When will our rulers ever get it right? Just for one little moment. We are in the wilderness of doubt, confusion, distrust, deceit, falsehood, hate, cobwebs, et al. We wonder aloud.
Senate missed it again. SAD!
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