Abati: Defending the indefensible by Ahmed B. Kaita

I was disappointed in the desperation
and blind rush by Dr Reuben Abati, the
presidential spokesperson, to
whitewash his principal, Goodluck
Jonathan, in the face of Nigerians’
receding confidence in the president’s
leadership style and skills. Never in the
history of Nigeria has any public issue
received such overwhelming outpouring
of emotions that cut across region,
tribe and religion, as the belief that
Jonathan’s presidency is an
inconvenient political accident that
Nigeria has to endure.
It is arguable that even within the
confines of the Aso Rock villa, only the
president and his inner circle could be
holding to the notion not shared by
most Nigerians that all is well in the
country. May be this should be
expected, because success, being
relative, is judged by people according
to their standard. But for Abati to
throw professional decorum and
commonsense to the dogs by engaging
in rhetoric and standing logic on its
head to protect his meal ticket in his
recent article, “The Jonathan they don’t
know”, is deeply troubling. I expected
someone of his professional stature to
be both factual and meticulous, and as
close to the truth as practicable, in
promoting whatever idea he has in
mind, even if it is not saleable. Sadly,
he ended up reiterating the culture of
“he who pays the piper, calls the tune”
by jettisoning the long-held belief of his
chosen profession of upholding the
truth, no matter whose ox is gored, by
taking the role of a court jester.
Reuben Abati, who has terrorised
jackbooted regimes, using the power of
his pen, amazed all in his suicidal
attempt to justify the unjustifiable.
Staking his honour, as well as his
career (or what is left of it) by engaging
in such an incoherent rush to hit
blindly at the supposed enemies of the
president, whose number could be said
to be anything in the region of 150
million Nigerians, proves the certainty
of only one thing, namely lack of better
things to do in the villa.
Ii is preposterous that Abati is yet to
level up with the reality of what
President Jonathan’s regime meant to
majority of Nigerians. Caged in the
confines of the villa, he seemed
completely out of sync with the terrible
toll that the administration’s policies
are taking on Nigerians.
Going by the exposé in his recent
article alone, I believe an honest and
sincere appraisal, at a much sober
time, of the issues at stake, would
certainly stir his conscience, unless,
ethical decadence caused by working in
the cosy confines of the villa has eaten
too deep beyond salvage.
No one in his right senses would claim
ignorance of the sad and sorry state
Nigeria has been reduced to since the
inception of this regime. If there was
ever a time that Nigeria danced
dangerously close to the cliff’s edge, it
is now, and the only person who
seemed oblivious to this fact is Abati. I
would like to remind Abati of what the
Northern part of the country has been
reduced to, to enable him grasp the
enormity of the cluelessness and the
unpreparedness of this president in
managing the affairs of the country.
For the first time in the history of
Nigeria, a chasm of ethnic mistrust,
religious suspicion and regional hatred
has been created by careless and
ethnically based style of leadership.
Abati should be reminded that all
allegations of drunkenness and total
lack of focus against the top echelon of
the government were provided by the
government itself. From blunders on
the economy, policy somersaults and
dangerous management stunts, all the
signs of a government in self-destruct
mode could be seen by those open-
minded enough to see.
In all his vituperations, and of all the
pressing demands for explanation on
the confusion being created by the
regime, Abati could only comically
mention women’s involvement in
government as the major achievement
of this regime. Of course, nobody can
ignore the overwhelming presence, as
well as influence of women in this
government, and unofficial and
unconstitutional roles being played by
them. But could these roles have
immensely contributed in compounding
the situation even more? That,
notwithstanding, little did Abati know,
that an average Nigerian, traumatised
by the exigencies of the moment, is no
longer gender, but quality sensitive.
It might have escaped the notice of
Abati, probably due to his round-the-
clock effort of selling sand in the
Sahara, that even smaller countries just
healing from the wounds of recent civil
wars are doing better in their
commitment and management efforts
to join the rest of the modern world,
while Nigerian leaders are busy
engaging in rhetoric, shadow-chasing
and incredible administrative emptiness
to run the country. Recently the
President of Liberia, Mrs Eileen
Johnson-Sirleaf, sacked her biological
son from office for failure to adhere to
strict government policy by not
declaring his assets. In Nigeria, the
president not only refused to declare
his assets as required by law, or at
least by even a cosmetic show of moral
commitment to his much publicised
war against corruption, he even
declared he did not give a damn to
Nigerians about it. And it has remained
so to this day. Yet, Abati has the
effrontery to question the right of
Nigerians to put the “I don’t give a
damn” President in the appropriate
class of sobriety.
Apparently, pushed to the edge by the
torrents of demands for probity and
accountability from this regime, Abati,
in his wisdom, decided to question the
reality of an insensitive billion naira
budgetary provision for the President’s
culinary pleasure, in a country where
average citizens live on less than a
dollar a day. I really wonder if this
Abati guy was talking to Nigerians or to
some aliens from a distant planet.
Abati cannot claim ignorance of the
obscenely hefty budgetary provision for
the President’s kitchen, unless if by
mere association the strong whiff of
kain-kain had some powerful effects on
him. Nothing could be more comical
than reading Abati writing this: “I have
even heard that the President spends
billions on feeding. Well, I have enjoyed
the privilege of eating at the President’s
table. What does he eat? Fish pepper
soup. Cassava Bread. Slices of yam.
Rice. Boiled plantain. Fruits and
vegetables.” That’s a dumb and
unforgivable attempt at justifying
gluttony, even if financial terms, in the
presidency.

Kaita represents Kankia/Kusada/
Ingawa constituency in the House of
Representatives.

#CONSENSUS 2015