Adeola A.

Namadi Sambo will become Nigeria’s Vice President. The main reason of course is to allow Mr. Jonathan to contest for the presidency in 2011. Politically a good move because even if Namadi Sambo decides to run for the presidency as well, it will provide a checkmate for the intention of Ibrahim Babangida.

Ordinarily we should not be talking about Babangida. Mr. Ibori has been arrested in Dubai and will be repatriated to the UK or Nigeria. Babangida stole more money than Ibori. No one will understand how the justice system works in Nigeria. Some people like Babangida and Obasnajo remain above the law.

So if Babangida remains in the presidential race instead of in kirikiri prison, then his ambitions have just been checkmated because it is not clear if either Jonathan or Sambo will win the PDP ticket next year. Mr. Goodluck Jonathan just played the chess game of his life but we remain the pawns. Yes the ordinary Nigerians were not in the consideration when the selection was made.

I don’t think Mr. Jonathan had constant electricity or regular water supply in his mind when he made the choice. He sat down probably with some political strategists and planned his own survival. The rest of us are pawns and we can rot away for all he cares.

Knowing fully well that Sambo is an IBB-boy as they used to say, Jonathan has now politically pitched IBB and Sambo against each other in terms of political ambitions. Sambo will of course like either of these 2 things: 1) to continue as VP for as long as Jonathan is president and then becoming a president when Jonathan bows out. OR 2) Outrightly gunning for the presidency in 2011 depending on how circumstances play out in the months ahead.

Jonathan will be hoping for the luck to continue. There may be a deal though: Sambo will probably lie low for as long as Goodluck live his new dream-president for as long as possible.

It’s a dilemma for everyone anyway but we remain restless. We are worried about the real rewards of true democracy. Nigeria is lost. We have no leaders. Rulers after rulers continue to emerge.

We are looking for ways out of our poverty. We long for electric power, water, good roads, good schools. We long for simple but quality existence. All we get is politics of bitterness. All we see are cruel and mean politicians who continue to play the game of life with our presence and future.

If Mr. Sambo is confirmed, it will be another interesting chapter of our nation to see how the duo of Jonathan-Sambo lead Nigeria forward. Time will time whose interests were in focus when the choice and decision were made. In 2011 all the possibilities would have been exposed. Sometimes the pawns survive while the knights, king and queen do perish. In Nigeria this is so true, evil rulers and bad politicians persist but we have seen them come and go. The last chapter remains unwritten.