TheCable

BY BABA GRUMPY

Last week, I got grief for advising genuine supporters of the present administration not to do the opposition’s work for them over the finance minister’s issue. This week, I am going to continue along the same line.

I have seen many posts condemning the imminent defection of senator Akpabio to APC. Many are unhappy over the perception and the possibility that he is very corrupt. This is a reasonable concern to have if you are a choir boy or you are planning to set up a real church not the ones we have around today where well known Pentecostal Church leaders are obviously partisan or where priests from legacy churches known for their conservatism are openly blessing a politician who developed high blood pressure when asked to account for 60 properties acquired in the course of less than 16 years of public office.

If however, you want to be truly involved with politics, any concerns about Akpabio’s yet to be determined corruption allegations are a naïve concern to have.

There is NOWHERE in the world where politics is practised in accordance with the dictates of any of the holy books. Practising politics is like making plenty omelets, you will have to break many eggs.

Even after you’ve finished politicking and you form a government, the process of governance involves many things that a saint will balk at getting involved with.

Supporters of this government should therefore park their ‘holy holy’ outside the door. Hold your nose and embrace Senator Akpabio.

No matter how distasteful it is, always remember the big picture: It will be a tragedy to allow PDP back into power considering the brigandage they have wrought on Nigeria since the return to democracy in 1999.

If you frame the choices before you in this way, you will realize that Senator Akpabio’s corruption allegations and his defection to APC are miniscule.

For many years, a shameless class of politicians has ‘chopped’ Nigeria and they want to continue to suck the dry Nigerian boobies. I am not saying there are no leakages in the present government but it is very obvious that more is being done with less resources. Money meant for the military to fight Boko Haram has not been transferred into some 3rdrate prayer warrior or Alfa’s bank account in preparation for the APC Conference or 2019 elections.

These same leeches combined to overthrow Buhari in 1985. They have conspired to keep him away from office in 3 successive elections.

Finally, due to the masterstroke of him and Tinubu combining in 2014, they have been able to liberate Nigeria from the clutches of those who ‘benefit from chaos’. It is now imperative that these leeches on the Nigerian Treasury be kept away forever. If Akpabio defecting to APC makes that big picture outcome possible, so be it.

If Buhari and Tinubu want to make permanent changes to the way things are in Nigeria, they must ensure they do more than enough to persuade the people that their way is better. They must do more than enough to ensure the people vote them into power again knowing that the alternative is a disaster for the country.

And those who are their supporters must quickly realize the pathway to achieving the big picture is littered with many choices where you have to hold your noise and proceed.

Do not place your desire to be perceived as holier than thou ahead of the realization of the big picture

Baba Grumpy works in financial services in the United Kingdom. He blogs mostly about football at http://babagrumpy.blogspot.co.uk. His Twitter handle is @BabaGrumpy