Governor El'Rufai and the Quest for the Factionalization of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).

This short piece is not about the pros and cons of the withdrawal of Governor El'Rufai as one of the major speakers in the just-concluded NBA Annual General Conference, but the offshoot of the dismantling voyage that is gathering storm steadily at the instance of his sympathizers. According to the NBA, its decision was informed by the urgency of the time - rooms for the Governor to arrest the escalations in the bloodshed and the jihadist look-alike killings going on in Southern Kaduna. Unfortunately, the decision did not go down well with some Lawyers and the Governor.

What is reasonable is an objective test. Was the NBA persuaded by a genuine resolve to provide Governor El-Rufai enough time to deal with security breakdown in his state? Or was the NBA infuriated by the seeming complicity of the Governor in the subjugation of the people of Southern Kaduna and, therefore, rescinded its invitation to the Governor? From all indications, Governor El-Rufai and his sympathizers saw the withdrawal as a war against Muslims by the NBA. Without a doubt, that is a very appealing narrative to push before the gullible irredentism-obsessed Northern Barristers. And the rest is now history. As you may have heard, a new NBA Chapter has emerged, dubbed New NBA under the leadership of Barrister Abdulbasit Suleiman Esq and Nuhu Ibrahim Esq.

As the duo and their followers continue to deny the obvious facts, to wit, they are being sponsored, funded, or bankrolled by Governor El'Rufai, no one outside their territory is buying the hocuspocus. And that's where Governor El'Rufai should come clean and come clean fast. You don't want to be associated with the dismantling of the NBA because you were uninvited from one Annual General Conference, when, in fact, you have more of it and a pool of national offices and a Presidential ambition ahead of you. You ruin the NBA, you ruin it all. Mark my words. I hope the story coming below will worth your while.

For the greater part of the 1992/1993 academic year, the Nigerian Law School was the only institution of higher learning that was in session, thanks to the inability of ASUU and the Shonekan led Interim Government to resolve their differences. When Professor Bab Fafuwa was the Minister of Education, he was able to work out an understanding between the Government and the academic staff union that ensured the continuous opening of classes and lectures. That understanding was structured under the leadership of one activist, Dr. Attahiru Jega of the University of Sokoto who took over the leadership of ASUU from Dr. Festus Iyayi of Uniben.

When IBB stepped aside, the new man in charge of Education, Professor Nwambueze, turned out to be more legalistic than a conciliator in the strength of Pa Bab Fafuwa. So, it was no surprise that the crisis escalated. But the worst was yet to come. The turbulence took a dramatic turn when General Sani Abacha came into power sacking the Interim Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan in a Palace coup.

General Abacha was not willing to negotiate with ASUU. He resorted to playing ethnic and religion cards and schemed ferociously for the dismantling of ASUU. He told the Nigerians that ASUU is a Southern conspiracy to derail his new government and undermine his legitimacy. And he was undaunted in his mission, even when he knew very well that the Chairman of ASUU at the time was not a Southerner. He was astutely confident that he was going to succeed. After all, a Hausa/Fulani man like him is the head of ASUU. As it turns out, Dr. Attahiru Jega was more stubborn, antagonistic, and irrepressible than his predecessor, Dr. Festus Iyayi.

Dr. Attahiru Jega was naturally urbane and too smart to play the stooge or succumb to General Abacha's dubious race-baiting and divisive game. He stood his ground and maintained in no uncertain term that ASUU is indivisible - there is no Northern ASUU or Southern ASUU - we are fighting a common cause for a better life for all Nigerian University lecturers. And he singlehandedly saved ASUU from disintegration. This is not a research work, I witnessed it live and I was buying the Nigerian Guardian Newspaper every day. 

As providence would have it, Dr. Attahiru Jega, now a Professor, was about a decade later, appointed the Chairman of INEC by President Goodluck Jonathan. (I know a lot of you reading this paragraph right now didn't know who he was before he became INEC Chairman). He is presently a lecturer at Bayero University, Kano. And as things stand today, Professor Attahiru Jega stands a better chance of becoming the President of this country than Mallam El'Rufai in 2031, if and only if, all the El'Rufais of the North do not push Nigeria to disintegration with their race/religion biases and entitlement culture before then.

Mr. El'Rufai should wise up and come out clean and stop the drama from developing further. You destroy the NBA or provide a cover for the destruction of the NBA by your sympathizers, you destroy your future in Nigerian politics. The ball is in your court. The lesson of the moment and of the past five years are clear enough, there is not going to be another him or his like occupying Aso Rock again. He has become a ready-made benchmarking tool for electability equations. And I hope you won't be his reflection. Thank you.