No doubt the event of the week, is bound to be what shall henceforth be known as “the Chatham House Incident. It’s not to be confused with the Bulaba Incident, or any previous yet-to-be-named gaffes by Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the APC.
An appearance at Chatham House, popularly known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is a rite of passage for anybody who wants to be president of Nigeria. It may be in London, but all eyes, both in Nigeria and abroad are on whoever is being questioned. The good folks at Chatham House know their geopolitics, and Nigeria for good or ill, is important. Nigeria’s success is not just good for Nigeria and Nigerians, but it’s also good for the rest of the world. 200 million dissatisfied Nigerians looking to japa is bad news for Europe and North America.
After giving an address to the Chatham House audience, Asiwaju was called upon to answer questions. But instead of answering the questions himself, he abdicated/delegated (delete according to your predilection), calling on parts of his retinue to respond to critical policy questions. You could say he was already being presidential by delegating to his advisors. I hate to break it to you, but no president is going to physically come to your house and give you water and electricity, and stand guard at your gate. So why not also pass on the matter of answering questions?
Or you could argue it was another example of the Jagaban failing to show he’s intellectually capable of doing the job. After all, there was the Bulaba Incident, which as per APC presidential campaign council spokesman, Festus Keyamo, was Bola Tinubu showing his sense of humour – he should get a raise just for coming up with that one. Chidi Odinkalu has helpfully documented some of the gaffes and malaprops of the candidates.
Labour Party spokesman, Dele Farotimi looked at Asiwaju’s performance alongside that of then candidate General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), who he said came across like a Nobel laureate in comparison. And comedian Mr Macaroni, never knowingly behind the curve, didn’t waste time with an immediate spoof take. President Buhari did the Chatham House dance seven years ago, and it was such performances which convinced Nigerians he should indeed be the belle of their ball in 2015. The clock has struck midnight and the carriage is a pumpkin once more, but that’s another matter altogether.
Most notable is the contrast between BAT and Peter Obi, for example, who is willing to answer any question, anywhere with a bevy of statistics ready for deployment. Or maybe Obi is just too try-hard because he’s the underdog. You decide, and you will, come February 25th.
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In other news, PDP is trying to keep some of its most important governors on board. The G5 group of governors of populous states which the PDP needs to win to have a chance at the presidency. They’ll need all the luck in Jimeta to win them over.
And the tweet of the week came from Leadership newspaper, showing a video of the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, warning the good people of Kano state that they had to vote APC, or else… More than 3,600 retweets as of time of publication.
Until next week, bye bye.