If you read Mallam El Rufai’s Thisday Column on Fridays (syndicated with his blog), it is clear that he not only has a good grasp of the problems with the Nigerian state, but also knows the concrete steps that are necessary to fix things.
However, my (and quite a number of other people) only problem with Mallam is his failure or refusal to acknowledge the mistakes he made/was part of in the past. He was a very core part of the OBJ group that imposed a sick man Yar’adua and his non-able bodied deputy on the Nigerian state. Why? I have absolutely no idea. It is because of this terrible move by Obasanjo, El Rufai and their gang that Nigeria is in this present state.
OBJ is of the past (<- ogun and ayelala, do your job na). For El Rufai to be really credible for the future, he has to acknowledge and apologise for his role in getting us where we are today.
Why is this important?
Like I said in a previous post of mine, knowing what to do to fix Nigeria has never been the problem of Nigeria. The problem has always been finding the person with the willpower to do the right thing while in power.
If Mallam wants another chance (I know he does and I do too) at sorting Nigeria out, acknowledgement of and apology for the past needs to be made. Recognizing past mistakes shows he might not repeat them again. It will demobilize 90% of the argument his detractors have and turn maybe 50% of them to his supporters. My people are too forgiving. They’ll say “Abeg free El rufai, the guy don apologize. Make im killl imself join?”
The only saving grace El Rufai has to be taken as a serious person for the future, is his awesome performance as Minister of the FCT. His performance was excellent. Without it, he would have just been another version of the sad Segun Adeniyi.
Why do I care?
When El Rufai decides to run for president, (he will), he most certainly will be on my shortlist of 3 from which I will decide on who to actively work for. I do not want any unnecessary baggage/distraction while on the quest to save the sinking ship called Nigeria. The earlier it is sorted, the better for us all.
PS: Dear Mallam,
If you think an apology will make you feel you are taking too much responsibility for the actions of a government where you were a subordinate, at least you can do like the Americans and ”express regret”. I guess that should do. At least for me it will.
Oo Nwoye