2015: New game plan in Kwara

 

 •Olusola Saraki

 

The recent renaming of the Ilorin Golf Course by the Kwara State Government may have thrown up new political calculations ahead the 2015 general elections, reports Remi Adelowo

The recent decision by Abdulfatah Ahmed-led government of Kwara State to rename the Ilorin Golf Course in honour of the former governor of the state, the late Mohammed Alabi Lawal, has been described as both a political masterstroke and a careful strategy to cement plans for 2015 elections. This is because it has not only opened up avenues for political reconciliations but has tactically ended one of the bitterest political battles in the recent history of the state.  

The battle in question was one political battle that was fought with all the arsenals at the disposal of the combatants. Nothing was spared in this ‘war’ for the soul of Kwara politics. 

Pitched in the contest was the patriarch of the state politics, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, backed by his son, Bukola, and their array of die-hard supporters versus the then sitting governor of the state, Mohammed Alabi Lawal.

The elder Saraki, whose word was law as far as the state politics is concerned, had almost singlehandedly installed Lawal as governor in 1999 under the platform of the former All Peoples Party, now All Nigeria Peoples Party. The relationship between Saraki and Lawal was nothing but smooth at the beginning. Lawal deferred to Saraki almost without question.

But as in most relationships involving political godfathers and their godsons, a crisis of confidence soon put a sharp wedge between Saraki and Lawal. The situation got even worse in the run down to the 2003 general elections, as Saraki, felt slighted by Lawal’s alleged ‘effrontery to assert himself as governor. So, the Kwara state political godfather vowed to scuttle Lawal’s second term ambition.

Lawal, a retired Rear Admiral of the Nigerian Navy, was prepared for the battle. Fully conscious of the fact that he was up against a formidable foe, sources in the know said he deployed both the state and party machinery in a desperate bid to consign his godfather into political irrelevance.

So bitter was the acrimony between the erstwhile political soul mates that Lawal, determined to wrestle the control of his party machinery, forced Saraki to abandon the party and subsequently berthed at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Elections over, leaving traits of bruises on both sides, Lawal finally lost out. The elder Saraki’s son, Abubakar Bukola, was elected governor. Despite feeble attempts to stay relevant, Lawal never recovered from his fall from power until he passed on some years ago.

His demise left his political camp in disarray, while his party, ANPP, has never fully regained its pride of place in the state. For about eight years, Lawal’s key supporters, led by his son- in-law, Razak Lawal, have also made several attempts to rise from political obscurity, but without much headway.

That, however, may soon be a thing of the past, if a recent development in the state of harmony is anything to go by. In a surprise move that has been described as a deft political masterstroke, the state government some days ago, announced the renaming of the prestigious Ilorin Golf Course after the late Mohammed Lawal.

The decision, made public by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, and believed to have been sanctioned by Dr. Bukola Saraki, now the acknowledged new leader of the state politics, has drawn comments from political commentators from within and outside the state.

The decision though may appear simply as a reconciliation agenda on the surface, sources revealed that it was more of a strategic move by Saraki and the PDP to forge new alliances in the preparations for the 2015 general elections.

The move, The Nation further learnt, is to ensure that Kwara Central, which, prior to the 2003 elections, was sharply divided along cultural, political and traditional lines, unites behind the Saraki political camp. Both Lawal and the Sarakis hail from Ilorin in Kwara Central.

Already, feelers from the Lawal camp indicate that the renaming of the Golf Course was more than welcome. Days after the announcement was made, loyalists of late Lawal, led by Alhaji Saadu Suleiman Are, National President of the Afonja Descendants Union, Alhaji Olola Kasumu, the union’s secretary, Alhaji Isiaka Amao and former Commissioner for Special Duties, Razak Lawal, paid a thank you visit to Bukola Saraki, who represents Kwara Central at the Senate at his Ilorin GRA residence.

After the end of the visit, they paid glowing tributes to Saraki for showing political maturity, describing him as a ‘leader of substance’ who has all it takes to take the state to the next level. Owolabi also disclosed that one of the wishes of Lawal before he died was to reconcile with the elder Saraki, adding that they were only carrying out the ‘wish’ of their leader.

What hope for the opposition?

The modest inroad gained by the major opposition party in the state, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), at the 2011 general elections may have been the beginning of wisdom for the ruling party in the state.

With strong indications that the ACN governorship candidate in the last elections, Mohammed Dele Belgore, may throw his hat into the ring once again in 2015, the PDP, according to insiders, is not leaving anything to chance to retain the control of the state in the next elections.