₦airaland Forum

July 14, 2020

Ajayi packs out of official residence but insists he is in office


From Osagie Otabor, Akure

There were more protests on Monday in Akure by chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo State, over alleged manipulation of delegates’ list for the primaries.

The chieftains called for the disqualification of Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi and arrest of Mr. Kingsley Chinda, who served as secretary of the PDP Ward Congresses Electoral Committee.

They alleged that over 101 fake delegates were smuggled into the ad hoc delegates’ list.

A former council chairman and PDP chieftain from Okitipupa, who spoke on behalf of the protesters, Mr. Bitire Solomon, said the list being paraded would be rejected before the primary election scheduled for next week.

Bitire insisted that Ajayi must be disqualified for fraudulently injecting 101 fake delegates into the ad hoc delegates’ list in collusion with Chinda.

He said: “Three days ago, while the electoral panel was collating the results of the ad-hoc delegates congresses, there were protests by members, who chanted war songs and cursed Ajayi and Chinda at the front of Heritage Hotel in Akure, after information filtered in that both were tampering with the delegates’ list.

“Suddenly after the protests, members of the panel disappeared and later converged on a hotel in Lagos to hatch the plot.

“As we speak, over 101 names have been injected into the ad hoc delegates’ list ahead of the PDP primaries by Ajayi and Chinda.

“We are here to call on the leadership of the party to apprehend Chinda and disqualify the deputy governor for fraudulently manipulating the delegates’ list.”

The Banji Okunomo Campaign Organisation vowed to sue the party if the ‘doctored’ list was not replaced by the party leadership.

Spokesman Akinrinlola Olumide said all they wanted was fair play and justice.

Ajayi’s Chief Press Secretary Babatope Okeowo dismissed the allegations and claimed that the protest against his boss was sponsored by the Ondo State Government.

He said it was unfair to call for the disqualification of his boss, who had refused to join issues with PDP aspirants.

TheGodlessGod:
not a single flyover in Edo state and just one pedestrian bridge.

We don't even have estate areas like the ones in kaduna, enugu, Lagos etc.

Edo state need progress

TheGodlessGod:
I'll be happy ooo. Infact Edo should be like Lagos. We want to developed

As big as Edo state no single flyover, just one stadium, no single investment. No estate buildings. No tourist attractions

Prof Okeke-Agulu from Princeton University says the objects were looted from communal shrines in his native Anambra state, with the help of local conspirators.

June 29, 2020

By Rasaq Ibrahim, Ado-Ekiti

The seemingly intractable crisis rocking the All Progressive Congress in Ekiti state took a fresh twist on Monday as the party’s former governorship aspirant Dr. Oluwole Oluyede escaped suspension over alleged anti-party activities.

Oluyede, who contested with Governor Kayode Fayemi during the 2018 governorship primaries alongside Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye and 13 other, had on Sunday raised the alarm that APC could lose the state to the opposition with Fayemi’s alleged impunity and poor performance.

An impeccable source within the party said the Omotosho-led State Working Committee of the party were instructed by Governor Fayemi to ensure those opposing him within the party are being axed with suspension.

Rather than carrying out the alleged directives, leaders and executive members of Ugele/Arokun ward in Ikere-Ekiti, Ikere local government area of Ekiti state unanimously passed a vote of confidence on him.

This development is coming few days afterward executives in ward 8 Ado-Ekiti Council Area of Ekiti State defied the APC State Working Committee to initiate the suspension process on Ojodu over alleged anti-party activities.

The party leaders, after its emergency meeting said that the trained physician had done nothing wrong to warrant any form of punishment from the party, adding that his moral and financial support to the party was immeasurable.

In a statement signed by the ward chairman, Mr. Ogunleye Ojo alongside other 18 executives, the party leaders said that they would not be intimidated or induced in carrying out actions that would spell doom for the party.

The ward executives said Oluyede has not engage in any anti-party activities rather being supportive to the growth of the party, describing as one who has been forthright and consistently lead by example.

“We, the executive members of Ugele/ Arokun ward executives have jointly moved a motion and hereby pass a vote of confidence on him for his outstanding role in the party both at the local, state and National level.”

“The man in question (Dr. Oluwole) has contributed immensely either morally or financially to the lives of many of APC members at all levels and at both ward, local, state and national at large.

“Dr. Oluwole has not for once engaged in any anti-party activities or commits any unpardonable offence that warrants suspension”

By Bisi Oladele, Ibadan

The Parakoyi of Ibadanland and the Chairman of Madandola Group, Chief Bode Akindele, is dead.

Akindele, who was a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, died in his Apapa, Lagos home on Monday at the age of 88 years, according to a reliable source.

Born on June 2,1932, his father, Pa Joshua Laniyan Akindele, was a Chief Tax Clerk for the entire defunct Western Region, a position that can be equated to that of the Chairman of the Inland Revenue today. His mother, Rabiatu Adedigba, was a wealthy Ibadan trader who was politically influential. Alhaja Rabiatu was the first woman to go to Mecca in Ibadan.

Chief Akindele’s business empire operates under the name Modandola Group Of Companies, named after his mother, which translates to ‘God, if you give me the wealth, give me a child that can take care of it.’ Madandola Group spans from maritime to properties, manufacturing, real estates, investments, finance and flour milling with its headquarters in the United Kingdom.

The Fairgate Group, (a company owned by Chief Akindele, located on Bond Street, London, England), deals mainly in properties. Some of its tenants include giant retail stores such as Sainsbury and Asda supermarkets. As at the last quantification, the Fairgate Group was said to be worth over £1billion.

Among the subsidiaries of the Madandola Group Standard Breweries, Ibadan, Diamond Foods Ltd, Ibadan, United Beverages Ltd, Ibadan, Associated Match Industry, Ibadan, merged with Ilorin, Port-Harcourt and Lagos to form a company with a large share of the Nigerian market and Standard Flour Mills in Lagos.

Edo 2020: Confusion as PDP chieftain pledges support for APC candidate

…Says Oshiomhole victim of 2023 permutations

…Fingers El-Rufai, Bagudu, others for Oshiomhiole’s fall

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and former Commissioner of Information in Edo state, Prince Kassim Afegbua has vowed to join forces with the All Progressives Congress, APC, to ensure the defeat of the state governor, Godwin Obaseki in the September 19 governorship election.

Afegbua who stated this in an exclusive chat with Vanguard carpeted the party for offering its ticket to Obaseki who decamped to the PDP barely a week ago.

Condemning what he called the governor’s desperation to run for a second term at all cost, the former commissioner came hard against his own party, wondering how Obaseki it once branded a failure, suddenly merited the ticket so much that all three aspirants stepped down for him.

“We will join hands collectively with the APC candidate to ensure that Godwin Obaseki does not return. I am PDP member, but I will vote APC. A man with the humility of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu is better than a governor who fights everyone who disagrees with him.

“Edo has become too polarised over avoidable and needless battles. Let us have a new leadership that will usher in quiet and peace to everyone. The noises from the Obaseki aspiration have become too polluted and cannot be in the best interest of anyone,” he said.

According to him, Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama ought to have stuck to his guns by running in the primaries, noting however that his decision to chicken out like others, would hurt the PDP in many ways than one.

“Hon. Ogbeide-Ihama got swallowed up by the politics of money that has become the bane of Nigerian politics. He was ambushed by Governor Obaseki’s desperation who was ready to use any amount to railroad people in the party to buy into his aspiration.

“How can someone who did not buy nomination form, who came in when sale of forms had closed, screening had closed, congresses for the election of delegates had closed, and all of a sudden, because he has state resources to spend, all rules were bended to accommodate him and made to become the candidate? he asked

Afegbua continued: “Only yesterday, Edo PDP scored Obaseki F9 in its sectoral analyses, and today, the same man who scored F9 all through in terms of performance, has suddenly become the head of the PDP corner.

“A governor who PDP challenged in 2016 for discrepancies in his submissions has suddenly become the candidate of the party. How do you explain such scenario? For me, I still hold the view that Ogbeide-Ihama had better opportunity to pull through if they had allowed Obaseki to settle for another party.

“It would have been a matter of three candidates and PDP would have had a better grip. I was shocked to see all three aspirants stepped down in the face of pressure. Even Kenneth Imasuangbon who was shouting on top of his voice that he would pull through, buckled suddenly and swallowed his misplaced pride.

“The same governor who has been accusing his former APC leaders of wanting him to share money, came to PDP and started doing same. Delegates were given money, situations were traded off, and everyone was fighting head over heels for peanuts. Quite unfortunate, but the level of hunger in town can confuse anybody. It is shameful.

“We must begin to interrogate the processes leading to outcome and not just the outcome alone. It is morally reprehensible for someone to join a party 24 hours and took away all the privileges by nebulous waivers.

“That is a sickening democracy, by all intents and purposes. The party would have at least ask for deputy governorship. As it is now, it is like surrendering your house to an emergency tenant who does not believe in your house, but needed it for temporary shelter.”

That said, Afegbua linked the exit of Adams Oshiomhole last week as national chairman of APC to the handiwork of some governors bent on shaping the 2023 Presidency.

He explained: “There is nothing spectacular about Comrade Oshiomhole’s exit. He was just a victim of 2023 political calculations especially by those people who found him too strong to bend to their whims and caprices.

“The President does not appear fit enough to understand the dynamics of the political interplay of forces. You have Governors Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and Simon Lalong of Plateau states who should sit down and face governance in their states but getting too pre-occupied with 2023 Presidency.

APC crisis: Hilliard Eta takes over as Ag. Chairman, names Uzodinma Edo Primary Election Chair

The Eta-led National Working Committee also declared as vacant the office of the Deputy National Secretary of the party, Chief Victor Giadom.

Details later…

prigoz:
Be sincere to yourself for once, didn't tinubu intefere when Oshimole was about to be impeached and or removed by court. Hypocrisy

NEWSPOLITICS

By Adebayo Abdulrahman - June 4, 2020 759 0


The Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee of the Park Management System in Oyo State, Alhaji Mukaila Lamidi, popularly known as Auxiliary, has revealed that Governor Seyi Makinde never had COVID-19.

Auxiliary stated this while speaking on Fresh FM COVID-19 situation room programme on Thursday.

According to him, “let’s thank God. My boss ( Governor Makinde) did not have COVID-19. It was those who the Governor hold meeting with that want to infect him but he never contracted it because had it been he was infected, he won’t recover in less than two weeks.”

When asked whether he believes COVID-19 exists, he said, “Do you know even if we kill lots of goats, a man destined to fail won’t succeed. My mum sells herbs and in my house we use herbs regularly. So, COVID-19 can’t find it’s way into my house.”

Speaking on the allegation that despite the ban on Inter-State movement, commercial vehicles in the state still move and out of the state, he said, “even an hungry man can be infected with COVID-19. There are law enforcement agencies at the borders of the state when these vehicles move in and out, there was a day I and Seye Famojuro, a younger brother to the Governor patrolled the Asejire border.

“On that we say passengers crossing the borders after settling the security officers.”

He explained further that he had ordered all commercial vehicles in the state not to travel to another state again and announced that any vehicle in any inter-state park should be held down but because cmmercial drivers in the state are naturally disobedient they still disobey this order since he cant go to the main road to arrest offenders.

He, however, charged security officers in the state to rise up to the occasion.

He also described as false the allegations that commercial drivers in the state are now mandated to pay ‘illegal’ fees because a commercial driver is mandated to pay for just one ticket per day irrespective of the part of the town he visit that day.

Noting that Mini Bus drivers pay N500 daily while Taxi and motorcycle/tricycle drivers and riders pay N300 and N150 respectively,” he said “anyone who is charged above these amounts daily should call us and we will take disciplinary actions.”

Auxiliary also stated that even though he is a Muslim, he knows that any administration headed by a Muslim will not be fair and just because Muslims, unlike Christians, are too stubborn and not God fearing.

He cited the example of the current administration led by Seyi Makinde, who is a Christian, as a fair and just one ” unlike past administrations led by Muslims in the state”.

By Raji Adebayo 9:00 am , Wed, 3 June 20

IBADAN – A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Oyo State, Bisi Olopoeyan, has expressed doubt over the party’s re-elec­tion in the state.

Lamenting the neglect of party members by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde and PDP elected officers, he said aggrieving party members may not work for their re-elec­tion in 2023.

Olopoeyan, during a radio programme “LAGBO OSE­LU”, described Oyo PDP chief­tains and members as used and dumped personnel, say­ing Governor Makinde killed the party structure in the state immediately he won the state governorship election.

“Our governor has used and dumped the party and its members. He was running af­ter us before and during the campaign, now he and his people had started adminis­tration but shed our party to carcass, not taking care of the platform he used to win the election anymore.

“Yes, he has killed Oyo PDP, no PDP chieftains and core members remain loyal to the party again. Some had gone silence while many had deserted Molete, the party secretariat to government secretariat, to lobby for ap­pointment, whereas it is our administration. Government should be the one to be going after party members in their respective wards and local governments.”

JakeSully:
Killings is only going on in southern Kaduna dominated by Christians

Lagos State Government, at the weekend, did a test run of a drive-in concert in preparation for the re-opening of the entertainment sector, as it commences gradual easing of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the state.

The innovative concert was organised by Lapazio Lifestyles and Entertainment Group at the Bay Lounge, Admiralty Way, Lekki, Lagos.

Speaking at the event, Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, General Manager, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe, explained that the exercise was to safely reinvigorate Lagos’s entertainment landscape after a long break, occasioned by COVID-19 lockdown.

According to Fasawe, “society benefits from entertainment. It adds structure to our social lives. Our goal is to ensure that the entertainment world can operate in a safe and healthy environment to create lasting positive memories, as we adjust to the post-COVID-19 lifestyle.

“The drive-in concert event is globally accepted as a new model for hosting safe entertainment events.

“Lagos, being a prime destination of entertainment and leisure events in Africa, should not be left behind in this new trend that ensures that fans connect with their favourite musicians or idols without breaking COVID-19 safety and environmental regulations.”

The General Manager noted that though the event was successful, there was still room for improvement, as the agency would appraise the event in order to come up with a more robust plan to further extend the scheme to other relevant sectors.

“Our goal is to support the entertainment sector, in tandem with outlined social distancing and environmental protocols and which attracts serious sanction if violated or defaulted flagrantly to serve as deterrent for others.”

Dr. Fasawe described the Lagos drive-in concert event as a test run for the new normal, expressing that its success would be a win for all and a guide for future events in the state.

While stressing that the state places high premium on the lives of the citizens, there was the need to adopt new approaches that safeguard the lives of her citizens.

The event had about 50 vehicles in attendance parked in line with physical distancing guidelines recommended by LASEPA.

Attendees were safely seated in their vehicles while some were dancing to the tunes of popular musician, Mayokun, through their car radio, all within the marked spaces.

The event was supervised by the agency’s Lekki Zonal office, led by Mrs Yetunde Atoyebi, in line with monitoring guidelines.

bluecircle470:
Please i still don’t understand why the governor should be lying on this because it seems other governors are lying they have or increasing the numbers so to get fund.
Kindly enlighten me on why kogi Governor is lying they don’t have.

slimfit1:
Beautiful house useless governor

Gov: "We Will Build Affordable Houses For Lagosians" - Sanwo-Olu

... Project is a successful public-private collaboration
- Commissioner

#ForAGreaterLagos

Cameroonian Pastor who claimed he could heal Coronavirus dies less than a week after contracting the disease

A popular Cameroonian pastor, Frankline Ndifor has died from Coronavirus barely a week after contracting the disease he claimed he could cure.

The Pastor who was also a presidential candidate in the country's last presidential election, had laid hands and prayed for the healing of some Coronavirus patients who turned up at the premises of his Kingship International Ministries Church.

Dr Gaelle Nnanga who was called to treat Ndifor after he started suffering severe respiratory difficulties less than a week after falling ill with the virus, told Voice of America that the Pastor died less than 10 minutes after receiving treatment.

Shortly after Pastor Frankline Ndifor died, his supporters addressed him as a 'prophet' and blocked entrance to his home in the capital city of Douala for eight hours on Saturday as medical staff tried to retrieve his body.

The Governor of the coastal region said a police force had to be deployed when supporters blocked the entrance to his home and claimed the pastor was on a spiritual retreat with God so could not be buried. They reportedly sang and prayed for his resurrection throughout last weekend.

However after security operatives gained entrance into the late Pastor's apartment, his corpse was retrieved and buried in front of his residence by officials of Cameroon’s COVID-19 response team.

One of the late Pastor's followers, Rigobert Che confirmed that the "prophet" prayed for him and several others diagnosed with COVID-19 last Wednesday. He said;

"This is a pastor that has been laying hands [on the sick] and claiming that he cures COVID-19.

"If you, the person that claims that you are curing COVID-19, you are dead, what about the fellow people that were affected by the COVID-19? Now that he is dead, I do not know how the people that he was laying hands on will be healed."

Health officials are now asking all those who came in contact with the pastor to report to hospitals to be tested for COVID-19.

Ndifor came 7th out of nine candidates in 2018's presidential election with 23,687 votes. There have been 3,529 confirmed cases of Coronavirus and 140 deaths in Cameroon.

�by Simon Kolawole

In the 1960s, when Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari was an A Level student at the King’s College, Lagos, the Yoruba students always had a good laugh anytime his surname was publicly announced. They could not figure out how anybody on earth could be named “Gambari”. In much of Yorubaland, “Gambari” is a pejorative name for Hausa. There is a jocular saying among the Yoruba: “Gambari pa Fulani, ko l’ejo nnu!” That is: “A Hausa murdered a Fulani, that’s an in-house affair.” As in, how is that my business? It must have been really funny to the Yoruba students that, indeed, a human being could be named “Gambari” when it was supposed to be a joke, technically speaking.

As news broke that Gambari would be named chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, his ethnic identity became a hot topic. It is nothing new. Born in November 1944 to a Fulani father and a Yoruba mother, Gambari — like every other Ilorin person — has always faced questions over his heritage in a country where ethnic chauvinism is a national pastime. To the Fulani, he is not Fulani enough. He does not speak Fulfude; even his Hausa is just there. To the Yoruba, he is not Yoruba enough. How can a Yoruba be called Gambari? His middle name, Agboola, has been described as a “decoy” by you-know-them, never mind that nearly all Ilorin people have Yoruba names.

Interestingly, Yoruba is Gambari’s first language. The Ilorin tongue is distinctly Oyo in flavour and colour. Oyo is the central Yoruba; the rest are dialects. He must have learnt Hausa in his 40s. You can’t learn Hausa growing up in Ilorin. Kwara and Kogi are the only northern states where Hausa is not the lingua franca. Ilorin, founded by the Yoruba around 1450, came under Fulani rule in 1824, becoming ethnically diverse over time and serving as a melting pot for peoples of diverse origins: Fulani, Kanuri, Baruba, Nupe, Gwari, and Kemberi, etc. They assimilated into the Yoruba culture and are united by Islam. In fact, Ilorin is like an ethnic group on its own. Many would rather be called “Ilorin” than Yoruba or Fulani or anything else.

Perhaps because of his identity rather than his résumé, pundits never countenanced the possibility of Gambari being appointed to succeed Mallam Abba Kyari, who died from Covid-19 complications exactly a month today. Four days after Kyari’s death, someone whispered to my ears that Gambari was in the running as replacement. I did not take it seriously. I had some preconceptions about who would hold the office and I was looking in a completely different direction. In my mind, it had to be somebody who is very, very close to Buhari and I did not picture Gambari within that vicinity. They had known each other for decades quite all right, but Buhari still surprised me there.

But why is the whole of Nigeria so interested in the chief of staff? That is the question. During and after the 2015 presidential election, the loud word in town was that Buhari’s government would be “run” by someone else. Constant references were made to Maj-Gen Tunde Idiagbon as second-in-command to Buhari when he was military head of state from 1983 to 1985, and Alhaji Ahmad Salihijo as the foremost consultant to the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF) when Buhari was chairman from 1994 to 1999. Buhari is classified as a “delegating leader”. While this notion might be indisputable, it is now apparent that he decides by himself who to delegate powers to.

When Buhari appointed Kyari in 2015, it went virtually unnoticed. And when Buhari directed ministers at their inauguration on November 11, 2015 to channel all memos for his attention and requests for meeting through Kyari, it went unnoticed again. Kyari started losing his anonymity in 2016 as it became clear that he was playing a prominent role in policy coordination and implementation of key interventions on behalf of the president. Wittingly or unwittingly, he raised the public and political profile of the office. The others before him might have been equally influential, but there was no media spotlight on them. Gambari is inheriting this scrutiny.

Those who felt they should be the ones delegated to call the shots launched a media war against Kyari. They even said the office of the chief of staff is not in the constitution, although sections 148(1) and 151(1) state in simple English that the president has the discretion to assign responsibilities to his appointees. But never mind. Despite a beautifully organised three-year campaign against Kyari, Buhari re-appointed him in 2019. Buhari, again, told ministers at their inauguration to “kindly ensure that all submissions for my attention or meeting requests be channelled through the chief of staff”. Council matters were to be coordinated by the SGF.

The headline thereafter was that Buhari had handed over his government to Kyari. Ordinarily, Buhari was saying the obvious: the chief of staff co-ordinates the president’s aides, correspondences, meetings and activities. Chief Mike Oghiadomhe and Brig-Gen Jones Arogbofa did it for President Goodluck Jonathan. Gambari’s townsman, Maj-Gen Abdullahi Mohammed, did it for President Olusegun Obasanjo for eight years and President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua for one year. There is nothing new there, really. However, under Buhari, a few ministers and advisers were bypassing Kyari’s office and taking memos directly to the president and this was creating some disorder.

By reiterating publicly that “all submissions for my attention or meeting requests be channelled through the chief of staff”, Buhari was, deliberately or otherwise, passing the message to all and sundry that his chief of staff was his gatekeeper. The impression, therefore, is that Buhari’s chief of staff is the de facto president. That is why the whole of Nigeria was interested in who would succeed Kyari. However, will Gambari be as “powerful” as Kyari? I can’t guess, but one thing is certain: Gambari has just taken his toughest job ever. He has been virtually everything on the international diplomacy scene, but this impressive résumé does not mean his new job will be a cake walk.

Gambari might think he has seen it all, having taken on tough diplomatic assignments globally, but he ain’t seen nothing yet — as Americans would say. Having spent most of his career abroad, he will need to come up to speed in understanding the character of the Nigerian political and bureaucratic classes and how to negotiate these two tricky terrains. Also, he will need to deal with the reality of not just a divided polity but a fractured presidency. Despite what people say about how powerful the office is, Gambari would be well advised not to buy the fiction that he is the alternate president. The Igbo say it is a big name that kills a small dog (those who name their dogs “Lion” should note).

In real life, Gambari is an appointee of the president and must be loyal to him if he is to be his trusted gatekeeper. There are many contending interests in and around Aso Rock. There will be many seeking to be awarded contracts that they did not bid for and collect money that they did not work for. There are people who will seek to get presidential favours through him. If Buhari ever doubts Gambari’s loyalty and trustworthiness, or thinks he is colluding with certain interests to manipulate him, there could be a serious crisis of confidence. That would be the most awkward situation any chief of staff can find himself. Loyalty is central to building trust and confidence.

Also critical is that Gambari will have to learn Buhari’s body language. When I was a kid, there were things my grandmother didn’t need to open her mouth to say. By merely staring at me, she passed the message. Gambari has worked with Buhari before — as minister of external affairs in 1984-85 — but today’s Buhari is slightly different. He seems more withdrawn now but, from what I gathered, he is still very much calling the shots from behind the curtain. One shocking discovery Gambari will make is that Buhari is not exactly what he is being portrayed as in sections of the media. Those close to him say he is strong-willed and stubborn — and you can’t force a fait accompli on him.

It is hard to fault Gambari’s résumé. He is experienced, well respected and has an incredible international clout. His network of friends and contacts can be a plus. I thought the president would appoint someone much younger, but Gambari being within his age group may also be a good thing. Who knows? Maybe he would be able to counsel Buhari that major government appointments should be shared more equitably across the geo-political zones in the interest of national peace and cohesion. The glaring lopsidedness is getting increasingly embarrassing and annoying. Let’s also hope Gambari can help Buhari move faster on several pending critical files on his desk.

Finally, as a gatekeeper, Gambari will take all the blame for anything people don’t like about Buhari or his actions and inactions. He will get bashed for delivering Buhari’s message to the addressees. That is what chiefs of staff do: they take the bullets for the boss. He is already being criticised for saying that he reports “only to the president”. I thought that was an obvious fact, but never mind. The criticisms will not fade. He should expect fire and more fire. What will make the difference, in my opinion, is how he conducts himself in office while receiving enemy fire. At 75, he should not just be thinking about the president’s legacy but how he too can sign off his public service on a high.

Some of those opposed to the choice of Gambari have raised historical issues: how he defended the military regime of Gen Sani Abacha, how he failed to team up with NADECO (in his position as Nigeria’s permanent representative to the UN) to help fight Abacha and how he made nasty comments about the judicial murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Some people feel strongly about these issues. I doubt Buhari is bothered. Some have gone a step further by calling Gambari a “Fulani jihadist” for being born in Ilorin. These are signals that he will surely face fire. However, someone who has endured taunts of “Gambari pa Fulani” in his life must have developed antibodies by now.