TEMITOPE AJAYI
It is now crystal clear that Hon. Yakubu Dogara, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, now sees himself as a national political figure, who deserves to become the next Vice President of Nigeria, having become a bench warmer and a sitting duck idling away at the Green Chamber.
As Speaker, the self-absorbed Dogara worked hand-in-gloves with Senator Bukola Saraki, the then Senate President to derail the Government of their party, no thanks to their vaulting and ill-motivated ambition.
It smacks of odious hypocrisy for Dogara, a beneficiary of political magnanimity and generosity of Northern Muslim leaders, now turning full circle to lead the campaign against his party’s Presidential ticket.
For the records, Dogara sabotaged the APC in the months leading to the 2019 general elections and it comes as little surprise that he is now embarking on another journey of self-destruct ahead the 2023 elections.
Put succinctly, Dogara failed in 2019. He and his co-travelers will fail again because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima, working with other well-meaning Nigerians, who desire the greatness of this blessed country will prevail.
In case Dogara suffers from short memory, he should be reminded that he has always been a beneficiary of the goodness and large-heartedness of Muslims in his political trajectory.
In 2003, Muhammad Habib Aliyu (Tafidan Ningi) a Muslim and then a Minister of State, gave Dogara his first political appointment as Special Assistant from being a classroom teacher.
Dogara also need to be reminded that another Muslim, Adamu Muazu, then the sitting Governor of Bauchi State, made it possible for him to be elected into the House of Representatives in 2007.
It is also on record that in 2015, Aminu Tambuwal, the incumbent Governor of Sokoto State, also a Muslim, orchestrated how Dogara became the Speaker of the House of Representatives, much against the stance of the ruling party.
Dogara owes his political relevance and ascendancy to the benevolence of Nigerians from the North, who are Muslims. Isn’t it bewildering that same man is now railing against the APC Muslim-Muslim ticket?
If Dogara’s benefactors, who are Muslims, could put their religious differences aside to prop him up to the political height he has attained today, how then can the former Speaker, in good conscience, now make religion an issue to bicker over for his party ticket?
I challenge Dogara to come clean and tell Nigerians that his bitterness and bellicosity is not borne out of his genuine love for Christians, but rather because he was not considered the APC Vice Presidential candidate. This is all about his selfish interest dubiously couched in a garb of altruism. The discerning are not fooled one bit.