Team Ribadu: ON BOARD DANA AIR FLIGHT 9J 991 WITH MALLAM RIBADU

Friday, December 31, 2010

ON BOARD DANA AIR FLIGHT 9J 991 WITH MALLAM RIBADU

6:59 PM |

Posted by Team Ribadu |

This will be one of the first articles I will have so much difficulties in giving a title. As I begin this article, I have several preferred titles to use and I see all of them as good as the other, so what do I do? I initially decided to create a title per page, but I guess the literary guys might have to take me out as a case study and I really do not need that now as everything could be having a political interpretation, and I do not wish to be interpreted politically. Anyway, I do not know which of them would eventually make the title so I will include my preferred as we go along the line. As a matter of fact for now, I have decided to call this piece “ON BOARD DANA AIR FLIGHT 9J 991” I decided on that because that was where the content of this article took place. As I walked into the plane, seats were not allocated on our tickets, and that made it what we commonly called “free sitting” So it was easy for a guy like me to sit close to the pilot. So I just strolled to Seat number 11C. I was still trying to get myself settled and psyching myself why I should not be scared on air when I heard people calling someone ‘His Excellency”. Speaking to myself aloud, I said: Who is flying with me today? I asked unconsciously. A guy by my far side whispered “I guess you are flying with your future president” I looked up and saw the mallam coming in, I initially thought he would stop at the business class as in sit there, as a lot of the BS passengers were glad to see him and hailing him at the same time, but lo and behold, he came towards us the masses in the economy class… “Welcome Sir” I told him as he was making efforts to put in his luggage in a panel not too far above my head, “Can I help you with that, and make way for you to pass?” “I think I will be sitting with you” the mallam said to me. And I knew the only sit was the B seat (middle) on my row and I try to get away from the windows as possible, so I could not go in there, So I made way for him. I guess he was not very comfortable with the center seat too, so he made to sit at the adjacent seat just a step behind me at the right wing. That still kept us close. Then I told him “welcome onboard sir”, after he had settled down “am Donald Ekpo, I guess I will be spending my flight time with you” The mallam just smile, and extended his hand for me as if to say “you are welcomed” At this point I decided against the first title, and decided I will title this piece “ONE ON ONE WITH MALLAM NUHU RIBADU”

I took a while to ease myself as I had a couple of drinks while doing the 2 hours wait, so I needed to pee before I got into the long discussion, Yes, I had to pee. By the time I came back, I had a feeling our discussions would be better while we are on the cruise since I had to turn around to have a perfect conversation. The mallam did not have a problem with that as I just looked away as if we didn’t plan on any association. Then I heard the pilot ask the cabin crew to get ready in our final preparation for takeoff. I notice a jerk in the engines, he had engaged the take off gear, and in a about 20seconds; we were airborne. Because of the dusty weather up there, it took us a little longer for the seat belt sign to go off. As soon as the lights went off, and the hostess girl announced that we were cruising but advised that we stay with our seat belt, I turned around and welcomed the mallam once again. He was glad I did as it appeared he was long expecting my turn. I told the mallam that as an active participant of politics on the Facebook, and based on the fact that he is one of the principals in our different forums and camps that I will like to have firsthand information from him. He said he was fine with it, and asked how we were doing in the Facebook. You all know what my answer was! “We are all doing very well” I told him. I told him that he had a couple of facebukers that were not very pleased with the recent rumor we heard about the ACN/CPC merger that was bound to displace him or rip him off his aspiration in the party. I also told him that as I speak, there is an update that has generated so many comments about this situation, and that I would love to know what he thinks about the recent occurrence. He simply said that God has the final say, and that we should not give up hope for a better Nigeria. But he also mentioned that it remains a rumor as he believes it might not come as thought after all. I wanted to know what his relationship with Tinubu was, as I referred to Tinubu as a kingmaker in the making; He just smiled and said “I do not have a problem with Tinubu as a person, as it remains the same situation we will always have in Nigeria, you know I worked with Obasanjo and I did not have a problem with Him as others did, so what stops me from working with Tinubu? You know the times have changed, and what you will see as you look around will be change, and there is nothing you can do about it. I can tell you now that nobody will rig elections in Nigeria and get away with it. You see Donald, there is time for everything, and this is a time for change in Nigeria, and there is nothing anybody can do about it, it’s just natural that it has to be now. But you don’t have to quote me on it.

Then I asked him why he had to remain in ACN given the fact that he might as well be losing out of the race if he remains in there, as in, I wanted to know if he could move to another party if these rumors were anything to go by eventually. He simply just smile and said “Donald, you see the truth in the Nigerian politics is that, the closest party to the PDP that one could achieve his desires is the ACN, as that is the closest party to the ruling party. Apart from these parties, you might not really achieve the desired change you need” <span>So</span> in essence, I believed that in his aspiration to cause the desired change in Nigeria, he said and I quote him, “PDP is just too corrupt, and apart from that, I cannot really tell you much, but take it from me, PDP is not the best place for any good man. Look at Jonathan, He is a good guy, but see what is happening to him. There are some good guys like that there, but they are all having difficulties here and there, why? Just because there are powers that be” he actually said some things about some kind of associations but insisted I do not quote him on that. I asked him again since he had a problem with the PDP and yet believed that Jonathan was a good guy, why won’t he have something to do with the administration as they appeared to be friends, “yes he is my good friend, but like I said, He is in PDP and that will affect most of the decisions he takes. He will definitely come out strong anyway, but I see the government as a weak government, but I can assure you that he is a much better president than any of the aspirant you have now”. I said so given the chance, will you vote for Jonathan? “I won’t say that here, but you don’t expect me to vote for Atiku or Buhari, do you? At this point I felt my chosen titles might not really be appropriate, and then I felt I should title this piece, THE PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT THAT HAS A PREFERRED ASPIRANT.

I wanted to know why he would not prefer a Buhari to a Jonathan, He forced a smile because I noticed he had to control himself since every passenger around us was listening to him and said mildly “Donald, 25 years ago, Buhari was the President or call it Head of State right? I said yes, but he made efforts to curtail of the rate of corruption until IBB got him off, ”what corruption was curtailed? Ok Donald can you give me evidence? You see, you don’t align a military man’s seriousness on civilians as being principled and honest, while you keep saying he fought corruption, then I will ask you, to who? When a Military man forces civilians to live like the military man you take that for fighting corruption? Can you give me a clear case on what he did when you said he fought corruption? I did a quick scan around my mind to see if I could get one prove, and all I could really see was basically what he said. Buhari/Idiagbon team were actually making civilians try to live the life of the military. Then I noticed then that Buhari’s government was more of intimidation. And we all know that that is what can only be obtainable in the military circle. So who was right? I said mallam, ok let me say this, I have a soft spot for IBB though I know he is not the best, and he has so much trail of corruption on him, do you think he did well in removing Buhari from government? The mallam smile and did not just shake his head, but waved his forefinger negatively at me, and said “don’t go there” don’t even think about it as an option, let’s talk about manageable situations. Buhari was a military man that ruled Nigeria about 25 years ago, and how can I and you ever have the chance to fix Nigeria when people we met ruling Nigeria when we were young are still aspiring to rule Nigeria? What happens to you and I Donald? You see, these people don’t have any reason to want to rule Nigeria again, Donald you have over 150million Nigerians on the queue, so why would a man of over 70 wants to be preferred to you and I and your other intelligent friends on the Facebook? At this point I knew I was not going to bother about Buhari again or even consider a Babangida. In reality in his words, the mallam said that these guys believed they were born to be Nigeria’s President, and we should not allow that. If we don’t break it now, then we might not do that soon. We have to break that jinx now to prepare a better playing ground for 2015 elections, because if it is achieved now, we will defiantly move into the world of the developed. At that point I decided that I might have to title this piece “A TIME TO BREAK THE JINX”

Yes, I guess that will be an appropriate title because when I told the mallam that Jonathan’s successful Presidency will definitely achieve that as most of the core cabals were not in support of Jonathan. And that since his action was seen as an insult by this cabal, this might be the right time for power to shift aware from them. The mallam was in support of that but he kept telling me that PDP could eat anybody up, but he was certain too that at least for once, the great and mightiest were being threaded upon. At that time I told him I had a problem with Atiku as he could be a barrier to this breaking of the jinx, mallam smiled and said“don’t you ever let Atiku to be a problem to you, Atiku can’t win the PDP primaries, you remember I told you of the natural change that is taking place. You know Atiku is from my place; I can assure you that with all his money, he can’t sponsor a local government councilor to win an elections. So what makes you think he can convince a people now to go against anybody that is not Atiku? But mallam, how about all these talks of Atiku having political strength and that he almost unseated Obasanjo? Donaaaaaaald, Atiku has no political strength but has money, and as it stands, his money is not buying him that political strength because if I have to tell you, this, anyway, Atiku is not appreciated as he used to be before the days of Obasanjo. Even before that time, a lot of people were not comfortable with him.” So you mean that Jonathan is better placed that Atiku? ”yes over ten times” as it is he told me that we might have felt that the endorsement is a face play, but in sincerity, those endorsement is as it is, yes nobody really would wish an Atiku to rule Nigeria. No, Nigeria is not good for desperate people that have tried for too long. The truth is that while we are trying to curtail the Nigeria as usual business,some people are making efforts to have their turn. What are we expecting to hear from an Atiku in this age and time? And as it stands, time has not changed this people; they are still living in the past and as such will draw Nigeria back. So it would be appropriate to have people that will move Nigeria with the common trend of things. But I had a problem with mallam because he really pointed out that this administration was empty in its policies, I made efforts to blame it on the recent electoral battles and the acts of sabotaging coming from the opposition. He said he was not going to rule that out as a factor, but insisted that he was not satisfied with Jonathan. At this point I knew that one thing was made clear according to mallam, there are sometimes that the known devil should not be preferred to the unknown angel. At this point I decided to title it: WHEN THE DEVILS WE KNOW MUST BE REJECTED.

My readers, if I say I was not impressed by the mallam, I would be lying to myself. I asked him if he was paying some of his representatives like Awonugba Olusegun and Sand Lion that were flying his flags on the Facebook; he said he did not know them not to talk about paying them. I saw him like a guy just like one of us. There are so many things we discussed that I can’t remember and maybe some issues he said I should not quote him on them. One thing I have not had time to talk about was how knowledgeable he was when it came to economic policies. But I may not have time to talk about that as I will intentionally leave that for another article. Remember, “I have an election to win with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan” Anyway, one thing was clear, the level of humility displayed by my new friend mallam Nuhu Ribadu made him great when he was being greeted and cheered by people when we got into the airport. (Abuja). He refused to use the VIP lounge. He insisted on going the way of the masses. I remember when people were disembarking the craft, I had to go use the bathroom again, and by the time I came down, lo and behold he was there waiting for me and another friend of his. I asked him how he was going to town if there was a convoy waiting to pick him; he just smiled and said “am using a taxi” I was humbled. As we were working down the airport lounge I decided to ask of his opinion on Marwa, I told him that we had a forum that was basically to place a call for Marwa to govern Adamawa state; all of a sudden the mallam’s face changed, and he said “Donald, get yourself out of that forum, Marwa is a wanted man, how can you people be vying for a criminal to govern you? That is one of the problems I have with Jonathan, I advised him against retaining Marwa. And you know I told you that PDP has a problem, and that is one of it. As it stands, a criminal can be made a saint in PDP” We just walked down and later exchanged numbers. I told him I was going to do an article on our discussions, he said he did not have a problem with that, and promised to read the article if I will tag him. As I was living him, I knew I just spoke with a great man, and one thing was sure, if things progress the way it was going positively, I would be glad to have Nuhu Ribadu as president of Nigeria come 2015. At this point I was sure I had a title for my piece. Look up.

Donald Ekpo

ON BOARD DANA AIR FLIGHT 9J 991 WITH MALLAM RIBADU

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