This indeed is a good time for the “Lagos Boys”.
The Lagos Boys, aka “Bourdillon Boys” are now the “Big Boys” of Nigeria.
Their principal, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is now the president, Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The former Big Boys of Lagos now call the shots in Abuja and trust them, the Big Boys are in total control of all facets of Government, the Executive, Legislature and the MDAs.
Unfortunately, in their display of power and grandeur, they are gathering political foes and laying Landmines for their principal enroute 2027.
They have completely polluted the reward system of the Government in a manner that is already weakening and threatening the structures of the APC in many states.
They have completely and successfully orstracised a lot of men who stood strong for the president before the presidential primaries and those who stood against him, but who could add quality to his Government in the scheme of things.
They are not only in Government. They are in power and they are not hiding it.
However, in their display of power, they seem to have forgotten the fact that Lagos is just one state out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that make up the entity known as the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
They also seem to overlook the fact that the dynamism in Nigerian politics vary depending on who sits in Aso Rock.
Even, former president Mohammadu Buhari was circumspect about decisions taken by his Government in his first term in office.
There is no way you will look at the president’s cabinet and you won’t be forced to ask some valid questions.
How is it that certain individuals who made huge contributions to the quest of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to become president are missing in action?
Why is it that some states where the president got more votes enjoy less patronage compared to the states where he lost?
The Lagos Boys are mostly South Westerners mixed with scanty individuals across other zones.
The heavy concentration of this Big Boys of power in the South West have seriously altered the political equation in the Zone.
Of the six South Western states, the president lost in Lagos, his base and Osun, his aboriginal state of origin.
Interestingly, these two states are in the driver’s seat, enjoying the sweat and toils of states like Oyo and others where the president posted fantastic results at the election.
Both of Lagos and Osun states are booming with appointments which Oyo is deprived of.
The Big Boys are also having field days in other South West states such as Ogun, which produces three Ministers and Ekiti state where Dele Alake originally comes from.
One of the Lagos Boys, from Ekiti state is currently the Leader of the Senate at the expense of the more experienced and higher ranking Senator Fatai Buhari from Oyo state.
To make matters worse, Senator Abiru, another of the Lagos Boys was also considered ahead of same Senator Fatai Buhari as Chairman of Southern Senators forum!
It will be interesting to note that Senator Fatai Buhari have posted over twelve years experience in the National Assembly, four of those as a House of Representatives member and the rest as Senator!
Fatai Buhari, if I am correct, is one of the most experienced Senators in Nigeria today and perhaps, the most experienced in the whole of Southern Nigeria considering the number of years he has spent in the National Assembly.
However, those number of years counted for nothing in the estimation of those who held the yam and knife of power.
What I found amusing is the fact that this present men of power have failed to realize that, if you remove the powers of the presidency with which they have assumed the larger than life attitudes they are putting on, they are just some ordinary politicians, even lesser than those they are depriving of their rights.
It is just like the case of the masquerade.
The moment you derobe the masquerade, all you see is just a man.
The garb they are currently putting on which is intoxicating them is the powers conferred on the president by the Nigerian people through the Constitution.
It is not permanent.
Thank God, most of this people are Yorubas.
Yorubas have a rich culture that teaches lessons of morals and warnings.
” Okunrin woo ninu esun, boju o ba tii, o ye ki ara jaa”.
If this people have forgotten everything, at least, they ought to remember that the president will be due for a renewal of his term in 2027 if God wills.
The fact that they are in some big positions today is not a confirmation that they have been catapulted to some super human beings who would manufacture votes for the president in 2027.
They will have to go out and source for votes, making use of people.
I think they need to ask themselves whether they have been assisting the president in the manner of individuals they recommended to him and those they prevented.
Even if a rat drinks a barrel of water, it will still remain a rat.
A situation where valuable friends and loyal party men are lost to envy, greed and rivalry is not healthy.
A situation where members of opposition political parties sit comfortable at the table while party men who toiled day and night to ensure victory for the president look from far away will do both the president and the Big Boys of power no good.
The road to 2027 is endangered because of the attitudes of an opportunistic few and the earlier the president realizes this, the better for him.
Those they keep spurning have options.
If their homes could not provide them succor, they will naturally find a resting place elsewhere.
It is natural.
If the expert is not careful, a congregation of amateurs may floor him.
SOLA ABEGUNDE.
