By Olawale Olaleye
Nigeria is in trouble. Take it or leave it. But many do not seem to know yet. This, evidently, is not a federal system but a monarchy, and what you have up there is King Bola Ahmed Tinubu – the supreme ruler of Nigeria.
One would have thought that in a federal system, the different arms of government were independent. A lot of the people must have been wrongly taught in school. The other arms in Nigeria’s presidential democracy are totally reliant on the Almighty presidency.
A principal officer of the senate, Ali Ndume, spoke not just his mind but what could pass as the views of a majority of Nigerians recently. What did he say? That access to the president had been restricted and that he might have been caged in the Villa. So?
After all, Nigerians got to know recently through Aremo Olusegun Osoba, who just turned 85, that a former military president, Ibrahim Babangida, admitted he was hostage to those who brought him into power. He was honest, at least.
Some may want to dismiss this as a military thing. But it does happen from time to time in different power arrangements. It happened during Muhammadu Buhari’s time, and so, Tinubu’s may not be different.
But rather than let the presidency fight its fight, the senate is instead fighting itself in defence of the president – an independent arm of government? Wahala ti wa.
Well, if anyone had expected anything different from this current senate leadership, the fellow was probably living in lala land. But, thankfully, Ndume, too, was part of the creation of the current monster that consumed him. So, good for him.
But in the overall interest of democracy and the Nigerian future, some developments in the senate are clearly foreboding. And coming after the arrogant and thoughtless suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi, Nigeria don enter gau!
The removal of Ndume as the Senate Chief Whip is a disturbing development, given the grounds of the decision. Sad!
Olaleye, journalist and public affairs analyst writes from Lagos
