Saving el-Rufai from el-Rufai

OPINION

By; Abdull-Azeez Ahmed Kadir.

On 14th March, 2025, I penned an opinion captioned “Party Politics; Much Ado About El-Rufai’s Defection”. I concluded that piece thus; “For now, all those he had worked with and for, to get into government that he is today calling names, know how to tame him by a rein of rope round his waist. They are just waiting for the right time”.

Some of Malam Nasir El-Rufai’s supporters went for my open flank and jugular. Sadly we are at that stage now. I hate to say I am vindicated.

Over 160 days and still counting, el-Rufai is held in custody and being used to play judicial chess games between varied government prosecuting agencies.

As a sitting Governor, I have disagreed with some of his brutal acts and penely criticized el-Rufai. Infact, some of his aides who should have made friends for him, succeeded in making enemies for him. And typical el-Rufai, he bit the bullet for them by owning such actions or inactions even when he had no knowledge of the whole picture. Today, some of those aides have all gone AWOL.

But love or hate him, you can not deny El-Rufai’s great intellectual capacity, administrative drive, zeal to challenge entrenched interests. But in doing these, from from his days as the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), through Ministership of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State Governor, el-Rufai sustained his confrontational, combative, uncompromising rhetorics often resulting in unnecessary controversies. As a result, he burnt bridges where he should have built, where and when he should have weighed or maintained a middle balance between performance and perception. His belief in the Machevelian concepts of leadership and human relations saw him often at his tethers end.

This writer vividly recall the admonitions of elder statesman Ambassador Dalhatu Sarki Tafida to el-Rufai as then Kaduna State Governor, to balance conviction with restraint as governance was not just provision of amenities alone, but cultured human relations.

The build up to the 2023 elections saw the trademark el-Rufai to the extent that even President Muhammadu Buhari could not be listened to. I recalled vividly the day Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had his day in Arewa House. Same day with Mr Peter Obi as presidential candidates, El-Rufai’s words still ring in my ears.

But after the election was lost and won, one would have expected el-Rufai to have seen the handwriting on the wall, learn from the past and exhibit restraint. Especially after the Senate declined screening him as a ministerial nominee.

If you have read his book; “The Accidental Public Servant”, one would have expected el-Rufai to have metamorphosed into disagreeing without alienating allies, critical without being vindictive, adapt without being seen to be inconsistent, focus on ideas as against personalities, utilise measures and strategic communication. He should have replaced confrontation with persuasion, certainty with reflection, ambition with strategic patience, emotional and self discipline, awareness and correction.

El-Rufai’s greatest challenge remains his choices, statements and political strategy. He needs to know that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is no President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and most trusted allies and kitchen cabinet of Asiwaju are unlike the trusted allies of late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua or late President Muhammadu Buhari. The cabals are jackals world apart.

Ironically, most of those el-Rufai supported to clinch power in 2023 have jumped ship and left him in the lurch, sadly even his protégé and protégée.

As he waddles through the worst battle of his life thus far, many have justified his plight by tagging it karma. But the judicial rigmarole thus far, is far from being judicious. The bail terms as unrealistic and stringent as they sound, is being justified by some to say as a Governor, some tasted same bitter bile under him.

But should all fold their arms and fain indifference? Isn’t it time to save el-Rufai from el-Rufai? Today is Nasir, tomorrow it can be anyone. Two wrongs they say don’t make a right.

Power they say corrupt. Absolutely power corrupts absolutely. No power should be allowed to pummel and ride roughshod on anyone. Not even your worst enemy. El-Rufai should not be allowed to to bear the hardened, dried lump of the cudgel. Not with what his family is going through as a result of his trial. The human in us must rise to the occasion to save him from himself.

If and when el-Rufai regains his freedom, to evolve and thrive, he should understand that any great leader’s strength when left unchecked, can become a liability. Confidence can turn into arrogance, fearlessness into recklessness, conviction into inflexibility.

He should practice persuasion in place of provocation, listen more than lecture. Learn to adapt, compromise ideas that speak louder than emotions, resist impulses that undermine his effectiveness.

No one should push him to lose his life in custody, as they would carry on as if he never existed should that happen. We pray it never get to that. That much we saw with late Moshood Kasmowu Olawale (MKO) Abiola.

With el-Rufai still alive and battling, some of his protégé, protégée and beneficiaries have abandoned his family, what more of when he is not. We hope not, atleast not under current circumstances.

Should we all fold our arms and not save el-Rufai from el-Rufai?

Abdull-Azeez Ahmed Kadir A multimedia journalist writes from Kaduna and can reached via azeeznews@gmail.com.