Lamentations of Ahmadu Ali

Comfort Obi

I don’t know how many of you read the lead front page story of The Nation newspaper of Wednesday, May 7. I did. And with relish. It is the story of men of yester-years, the story of men who have become history. It is the sad story of the former National Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Col. (Dr.) Ahmadu Ali. In that story, Ali showed his nakedness. That was courageous. It couldn't have been easy for Ali to admit that during his tenure, he was a nobody; that he was the chairman only in name; that he was powerless; that not even PDP ministers had respect for him. And that all he was saying and doing at the time were mere gra-gra. How did Ali swallow his pride to make public how powerless he was? I’ll briefly re-cap the story carried by The Nation.
Aliyu Modibbo, the minister for the Federal Capital Territory, had taken some journalists on a visit to Ali. The purpose of the visit was to inspect the site of Ali’s property which was pulled down by Modibbo’s successor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, as he did those of hundreds of other Nigerians. El-Rufai’s excuse then was that the property, which belonged to the very assuming wife of Ali, Mariam, was sitting on a water line. He made the same point penultimate week when he appeared before the Senate Committee on the FCT which is investigating his administration. Before his appearance, the Committee had been told by Modibbo that Ali’s property was not on any water line. But el-Rufai appeared clutching a satellite map which showed that Ali’s house was, indeed, on a sewage line. It was to prove el-Rufai wrong that Modibbo went to visit Ali with reporters, for maximum effect, and another satelite map in hand.
Ordinarily, a visit to prove el-Rufai wrong wouldn’t attract a comment. But Ali made sure it did. He seized the opportunity to pour out his bitterness against Obasanjo. Indeed, Ali had given that inkling on the day the new PDP National executive was inaugurated. He had condemned what he called godfatherism, and said it was now gone in the PDP. Many people had booed at him. But for godfatherism, how would Ali have become the PDP chairman? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had pushed Chief Audu Ogbeh out, and installed Ali. Or, who did Ali contest with then? Ogbeh was installed the same way. But I digress.
So, Ali seized the occasion of Modibbo's visit to lament the fate that befell him. He said Obasanjo asked el-Rufai to pull down his property out of vendetta. He said they started with the property which belonged to his wife, Mariam, in order to hurt him most. He didn’t tell us what he did to attract such a political vengeance from Obasanjo. But it has been more than touted in political circles that Obasanjo felt that Ali, as the PDP national chairman, ought to have forced the National Assembly to endorse his third term in office plan. Ali: “Both el-Rufai and his principal who sent him knew very well that my house was not situated on any water or sewage line. El-Rufai came here and we talked about it. I told him that the house which belongs to my wife, Mrs Mariam Ahamdu Ali, was not offensive, and he agreed, only for him to go and bring bulldozers later to pull down the structure. Despite my protestations, they went ahead to carry out their evil plan. The Certificate of Occupancy was issued in 1994, re-certified by the Abuja Geographical Information Service (AGIS) few years ago. The demolition was deliberate and malicious, intended to hurt my family by the then powers that be…. He connived with his principal to deal with me.” Ali also recalled that it was not the first time Obasanjo would visit him with vengeance. He revealed that Obasanjo worked against his wife’s ambition to become a senator.
There should be no tears for Ali. He is luckier than most others whose properties were pulled down. He has been paid compensation. That has not been the lot of most others. The property of the wife of a friend of mine which she acquired, legally, with her money, with a C of O to boot, was pulled down. She has not recovered from the shock. Most others have not recovered too. Indeed, to some, it was the end of the world. Ali is privileged to have been apologised to, publicly. Most others who suffered the same fate don’t have that privilege. But there is a more important reason why Ali deserves no tears.
He supported everything Obasanjo did, and said. When the story of the electoral atrocities committed by the Obasanjo regime will be written, especially the disqualification and imposition of candidates, Ali’s name will be fourth after Obasanjo, EFCC, and INEC. His tenure as PDP Chairman would go down as the lowest for the PDP. In almost every state, the PDP had problems as its hallmark. The case of Oyo State sticks out like a sore thumb. When Ali went there, instead of telling Lamidi Adedibu the truth, he encouraged his thuggery by describing the state as a Garrison, and Adedibu as the Commander whose every word is law.
So, it is painful to him that Obasanjo worked against his wife's desire to become a Senator? Was his wife qualified? She was not even present at the primaries. Ali only wanted to impose her on the party. What did he, as the party chairman, say about Imo, Rivers, and other such states?
But at the end of all that, what has he gained? He wanted to please Obasanjo, and now, he has lost out. One of the worst humiliations given to him was at the Senate screening for Ambassadors. Instead of asking him to take a bow, he was grilled by the Senators, and asked questions about his comportment and temperament. Yet, no country would accept him. USA, Britain. He has given up South Africa. He should carry his burden, and not bother us with that. Nigerians are hungry and angry. They are shocked by the revelations both at the House of Representatives and at the Senate. They are shocked at the way billions of dollars and naira are bandied around, still,no progress. But just as an aside: Can anybody please tell us who now is still Obasanjo’s friend? Practically nobody.