For those who may not know, and down south-Nigeria you’ll be pardoned for the Daily Trust newspaper is not widely circulating here, Dr. Aliyu Tilde is a respected columnist in that newspaper published in Abuja. Aliyu is a brilliant writer, eloquent and persuasive in his arguments. And he writes seriously on serious national issues.
However, in his recent column titled, The Lesson That New Ministers, Saraki and APC Must Learn About Buhari, Dr. Tilde went pathetically wide of the mark in his effort to present President Muhammadu Buhari in a “saintly” mold that, in my view, has done more harm than good to the poor president.
Aliyu knows PMB very well, there is no doubt, and he began his article by giving us a fair insight into their relationship that evidently has spanned some decades. Aliyu is Buhari’s “amiable Dr,” and PMB calls him “Dr.” But, as we were led to know early in the article, Tilde is (also) a “landscaper” who once was “landscaping the backyard of GMB in Kaduna.
What Aliyu sought to do in the article, as the title suggests, is to “intervene” in the current national imbroglio vis-à-vis the over-delayed cabinet list, Bukola Saraki’s various battles, personal and in his official capacity as Senate President, including the president’s ruling party, APC, in an attempt to make us all understand The Man Buhari, and by understanding him, understand his disposition to national issues better.
Dr. Tilde gave two examples to exemplify The Man Buhari as a man who, as a rule, does not interfere in other people’s business but trusts much in the goodness of all.
The first example was of a nephew to Maj. General Buhari who in 1995 when Buhari was the chairman of the ubiquitous and rich Petroleum Trust Fund. The nephew wanted to gain admission into the Nigeria Defence Academy and sought Dr. Tilde’s help with it because his uncle-Buhari “does not issue note to anyone,” according to the nephew.
The second example Tilde gave had to do with himself, in 1998, as he sought the general’s intervention in getting the official consultants to General Buhari’s PTF, Afri-Projects Consortium, to just consider Aliyu for contract in the landscaping of the Kaduna Trade Fair complex. “It was the biggest job I dreamt of handling then,” lamented Tilde in the column. Buhari did not help his own “Dr.”
“Since then,” wrote Dr. Tilde, “I continued to notice in Buhari the same hallmark of non-interference in affairs of others.” Extending the proposition to Buhari’s political experiences, Tilde then surmised that, “it is this standard of conduct he (GMB) set for himself and it is this bar that he expects others to reach…” and one that has got him into political troubles with his party men who, in the present scenario of Saraki and APC, both “looking up to the President to come to its aid.” And, “Typical of him he (GMB) is saying, ‘I will not interfere’.”
Tilde wants us to see PMB as this saintly, non-interfering, President, who, as he rightly puts it, “is not a president like Obasanjo or Jonathan.” Tilde then absurdly added that PMB “cannot be that father figure that will adjudicate on party matters… They must exempt him from their conflicts.” Absurd and puerile, if you ask me, for the president of any country is first and foremost a party man who got to the position on the back of his party, and, expectedly, the fortunes or misfortunes of that party ought to be of genuine concern to him.
I would probably have missed this column of Dr. Aliyu Tilde attempting to exculpate President Buhari if a friend and brother, Akintayo Akin-Deko convener of the Majeobaje Group, had not drawn my attention to it. I promptly responded thus:
“This stuff is largely “Fairy tale” and impractical. In the real world one can only go so far with such policy (of non-interference) if one were to adhere to it without bending.
“I’ll give two instances, one publicly known, the other not.
“What, but “interference” would one call Buhari’s intervention on the position of Oyo State governor Lam Adesina regarding the menace of Fulani cattle herdsmen in Oyo State way back then?
“Then to the private story known to me. Once, the Management of an elite club of which I am a member wanted to change the suya seller at the club for some reason. Then, shockingly, came a call from a General Buhari to the then Honorary Chairman of the club, an Egbon of mine, pleading the suya seller’s case!
“Both instances were acts demonstrating a man’s concern for the downtrodden, an humbling disposition if you ask me; one that commands loyalty of followers in the manner we see of Buhari during his campaigns; and one that is emulate-able!
“The honest truth is that MB/GMB/PMB must in the course of his life have sought favours, sought interference, call it interventions, for semantics, and made them too, as these two cases prove. That he chooses which instances are appropriate and which are not, that he chooses which manner — are entirely different things.
“In the REAL world, people seek help of others and people give. Only DEAD people, perhaps, don’t!
“And in the instance of the NASS imbroglio, any rigid position of “non-interference” by the president, a president, particularly in our renascent democracy, will be foolish, unreal, and, I daresay, untruthful. A president that wants to adhere strictly to that in our setting will soon discover the folly of it to his chagrin.
“In any case, is it not the place of the Chief Justice/Judicial Council to search for and appoint “clean” judges for the Judiciary? Why has PMB made it his role? The answer is simple, “oju awo l’awo fi ngba obe”! Dasoll.”
To translate that Yoruba proverb literally: “It is on its face that a plate gets served stew.”
I went further:
“What, one may ask, is the essence of employers or institutions demanding good references? It is simply to attest to one’s suitability, get recommendation! That is not necessarily “interference” so long as one is not seeking undue favour or seeking to unjustly influence independent decisions of authorities.
“Unfortunately for PMB whilst both instances cited by the brilliant Dr. Tilde are poor examples (because all that was sought were recommendations, unless neither the nephew nor Aliyu were qualified for what they wanted), my two examples are glaring cases of GMB seeking to influence decisions of authorities to favour those he has interest in.”
And that’s saying it the way it is!
Adieu Tunde Osofisan and Gamaliel Onosode
Both of these gentlemen were men of impeccable character. Both I met in their lifetime, a privilege I cherish. Both are now late, died in the last week or two.
Mr. Tunde Osofisan had one of the most soothing, velvet voices that ever sang Highlife songs in the heyday of that genre of music on our lands. He was not your run-of- the-mill musician as we think of them, for he was not into alcohol, smoke, or women. And he was actually not a musician per se, at least not in the full-time sense. He held in those days what Americans would call a “day time” or “regular” job. But he sang with several bands, most notably with Roy Chicago. The song that resonated most was his “Aisoaba L’o m’eye wa je’gba”, perhaps the real title was “M’ara le,” a song he sang to console Roy Chicago when he was doing time for manslaughter when his car accidentally ran over two kids, back in early 60s.
It was the song that gave me my email address: “aisoaba@gmail.com. A pity I can’t translate appropriately for non-Yoruba-speaking readers. His other popular compositions include “Ogede N’baje,” and “Olowo gba’ya ole.”
I met Mr. Tunde Osofisan in his later years when he was getting frail. I met him in the office of Mr. Femi Esho, the foremost patron of Highlife Music today, and my brother-in-law. Mr. Osofisan was his amiable and gentle self and we bonded.
Of Mr. Gamaliel Onosode little can be written that has not been written. He personified gentleness, urbanity, and intellect. He was a boardroom guru in his younger days, and belonged to that class of University College Ibadan graduates exemplary for their eloquence and sweet diction, a class that includes the likes of Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Chief Bola Ige, Christopher Kolade, and some others.
He was a devout Christian, a man who would rather not give his words than give it and fail. He was approachable and loving. What a great human being.
May their gentle souls rest in peace.
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