Little by little, Baba, himself the Ebora Owu, is fast emerging the golden letter writer of Muhammadu Buhari’s second coming.
After letter-shellacking the luckless Goodluck out of office en route to Buhari’s entry; and pouring ice-cold water on a naive Jonathan seeking some Aremu of Ota endorsement for his new Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has turned his restless soul on the National Assembly.
In his hard-hitting letter, Senate President Bukola Saraki, he generically dismissed, with his band of senators, as undistinguished; and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, he no less sweepingly slammed, with the whole House as, well, dishonourable!
But Omo Baba Oloye, Bukola, perhaps used to court intrigues, with a special eye on surviving his on-running Code of Conduct trial and fortified, even more, by the trademark Ilorin mesu jambawiles, chose to drink his Obasanjo hemlock stoically and graciously, saying it was imperative the often opaque National Assembly made its books open to all.
Baba must have been readying his famous hyena laugh for yet another whoop of victory over the integrity infidels of the National Assembly when up bobbed the irreverent voice of the erratic Dino Melaye, who practically told the Owu chief to go jump into the rocky River Ogun and get drowned!
Still, is this Dino’s voice for real? Or the Senate equivalent of the hands of Esau but voice of Jacob? We’ll see.
Now, between Aremu and Dino is a gripping study. The one spent his entire public life preaching the right things but most times doing the opposite. But somehow, he has permitted himself the costly conceit that since he is Obasanjo, he has divine immunity from his own preachments.
Worse: he seems to claim some modern day papal indulgences from Rome to excoriate in others what he himself is probably guilty of! Remember the Geoffery Chaucer Canterbury Tales, specially referencing the Summoner and the Pardoner?
But Dino, stout soul, would not stand such humbug. Now to many, Dino is the very devil of the public space, the proverbial enfant terrible of the current Senate. As Din-o tends to suggest, he just loves making a din: you like it, you hate it but you cannot say you don’t know where the Dino din is perched — absolutely no pretences!
So, Dino gave the pretentious Obasanjo the short shrift: the eighth Senate is not the Senate of his era that, he claimed, collected Obasanjo’s money for an illicit and illegal Third Term and yet didn’t deliver — ouch!
Is that a sucker punch for Baba, the Nigerian political equivalent of the late Smokin’ Joe, Frazier?
By the way, those rumoured humongous cash to fund the ill-fated Third Term — where did they come from? An earlier undisclosed variant of Dasukigate? Just Hardball’s stream of consciousness!
Anyway, you can trust Dino to up the ante: he reminded Baba that Siemens and Halliburton scandals would soon bob up; and the Ebora should not try his perfected old trick of shifting attention to others to turn gullible noses away from the rot oozing from his own side. Ha!
Dino, popular or notorious, does not do humbug and doesn’t shy away from picking a fight. But Baba too, old, baleful warrior, does not forgive, does not forget , does not let go! And the audience leer, bawl and bay for blood.
Now, Hardball can hear the opening gong and the almost insane cheer, from an almost deranged crowd. Scrambling for a ring side seat!
It promises a bruising, helluva fight between pious letter writers and irreverent responders!
Gba-gan … Round One!
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