By MOHAMMED ABDULKAREEM
"There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their
opinions and those who won’t”- Josh Billings
For the benefit of the readers that might be hearing his
name for the first time, Alhaji Buhari Sulyman was the sharp-mouthed chairman
of the defunct Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), who is, by dint of
providence and political realignment, now the Publicity Secretary of the Kwara
State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Smart, diligent, and well-built with a height as commanding
as his office, Buhari has, no doubt, carved a niche for himself in the history
of Kwara politics. He is the best example of the strange choices destiny makes
sometimes. But as strange and onerous as the choices nature drops on his lap,
Buhari has always lived up to expectations. So much that even in extreme cases,
where he lacks expertise, he does not shy away from seeking advice from the
most junior of his aides and close associates.
However, Buhari is controversy personified! He curdles it as
much as a bee curdles its comb. From the incredulous to the near absurd,
Buhari’s three years tenure as the Chairman of the CPC was dotted here and
there with skirmishes. But to his eternal credit, he came out of them all
unscathed, stronger and better, though more as a politician than an ideologist.
This then brings me to his sudden metamorphosis as a
prominent, vocal opposition voice to a government (or better still Bukola
Saraki’s) apologist. That Buhari would today sit side by side with Sen. Bukola
Saraki remains a political mystery that I am still trying to fathom. Some few
months ago, if anyone had predicted that Buhari would be anywhere close to Sen.
Saraki, I would be the first to dispute it. Even Buhari would, as much as I, if
not more, brush aside such suggestion as fake and inconsequential. This is
because for an antecedent so dotted with unrepentant opposition politicking, it
is hard to believe that his political transition would be this quick and
smooth-sailing.
All these and more are the reasons why I was confounded when
Buhari accepted to serve as the interim Publicity Secretary of the APC under a
Bukola Saraki political leadership! The appointment of Buhari as Kwara APC
spokesperson and his acceptance of same, which in effect makes him the chief
spin-master and defender of a state government that thrives on deceit, came as
a huge shock. It comes as a surprise that Buhari would so unabashedly
somersault from his criticisms of the government to accept a position that
defends the same government. Buhari’s role as APC spokesperson is purely and
simply a propagandist that spins the fairy tales of deceit from a political
leadership for which he enjoys little capacity to implement any change.
But beyond Buhari’s paradoxical acceptance of
a government position that
clearly contradicts his long years of
caustic criticism lies the real issues
of hypocrisy and crass opportunism that plagues Kwara opposition elements.
Kwara opposition politicians have since become seasoned hypocrites and
opportunists who send critical anti-government press releases from their
stables on a regular basis only to end up jumping into the same government at
the slightest opportunity. Once in government,
they become apologists of the same government they had spent years
criticising. This has had the effect of
diminishing any pressure such critical press interviews and articles could
ordinarily have exerted on the government. It is little wonder that all other
politicians, even those that mean well among them, are now seen as rabble
rousing opportunistic hypocrites who only criticize because they have not been
offered a position in government.
However, all said and done, Buhari has a golden opportunity
to deviate from the unfortunate trademark of his ilk in the opposition. As a
friend, brother and FORMER confidant, I can beat my chest that he has the
capacity to be a change from within. He would be kind enough not to disappoint
that confidence. Now that he has made his choice, accepting an offer to serve
in a government that he had so much vilified in the recent past, he should turn
this to a one-of-its-kind opportunity for a former critic to bring the change
he has variously written about on the simple logic that if all good men stay
away from public service, the change we all crave will never come.
Thus, in accepting to serve in the ruling party, Buhari
should be wary not to act in the known traditions of hypocrisy and opportunism
for which his likes have become infamous. Proving himself in this manner often
requires recourse to the logic of over compensation; of going the extra mile to
answer the call of duty. The bad situation is even further made worse with a
principal like Dr. Saraki, who reportedly takes delight in his regular coterie
of sycophants who thrive on seeing ghosts where none exists in the effort to
fawn and flatter. But, no matter the pressure or allure of office, he should
hold his head high up as the true son of his brave father, the indefatigable
Balogun Gambari of Ilorin, Alhaji Abdulkareem Buhari Laaro.
Until then, I wish him the very best of luck!
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