![]() He constantly referred to him as Shehu while Malami referred to President Mandela as Madiba. Present at the meetings with President Mandela was the then Nigeria ambassador to South Africa Alhaji Shehu Othman Malami(88), Sarkin Worno in Sokoto state and former Chairman of Union Bank, who was not only a friend to President Mandela and also part of his household. We met the then South African President, Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918, Mvezo, South Africa-died December 5, 2013, Johannesburg) in Pretoria and Johannesburg. I accompanied Alhaji Gidado Idris on the trips. He dispatched his then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Gidado Idris, GCON, (15 March 1935 – 15 December 2017) to South Africa and East Africa to sell his transition programme to the leaders of that region. Suddenly they were contacting old friends knowing fully well that they will soon be out of power.ĭuring the lame duck era of General Abdusalam Abubakar, GCFR, he only concentrated on the construction of the Eagle Square, the National Assembly building and devoted much of his time to the transition programme. Suddenly those who wielded enormous power before became human to the extent that they were answering telephone calls and receiving telephone calls by themselves instead of through secretaries. At those two occasions, I saw power fading from those in authority. The second time was the last six months of President Olusegun Obasanjo (85), GCFR, during which President Umaru Musa Yar’adua was elected at the PDP Presidential election in December 2006. The first time was the last six months of General Abdusalam Abubakar (80), GCFR, between 19. I have witnessed the era of lame duck twice. It is a very interesting time we about to witness. In this case fewer appointments will be made and the era of imperial Presidency is coming to an end. In our own case, Ministers, special advisers, special assistants will be thinking of their own future since all of them will go with the President next year. In some instances the flag bearers will undermine the power and influence of the political parties. The Chairman of the political parties and the party headquarters’ will be mere passengers in the political drive. The political parties will have fewer roles to play during the campaign. In a Presidential System of government, the Presidential candidate is the leader of the party. It will affect the political parties too. ![]() The Presidential flag bearers will make more news than THE VILLA. Henceforth, the spotlight will shift from THE VILLA to the campaign field. The lame duck era will create more confusion for us and it will be like a government on holidays. The emergence of a ruling cabal is failure leadership. Hence we hear of cabal ruling the country. The danger about weak leadership is that you do not really know who is in charge. We need a dynamic leadership with initiative. He can even split the country with indecision and failure to act. A leader with excessive weakness can be a danger to democracy. The good news is that nothing lasts forever too. The bad news is that nothing lasts forever. We have nothing that is really our own we hold everything as a loan. Exit date humbles any government official and that is why they say power is transient. Nothing humbles a man or a woman who has been in power to realize suddenly that he or she has to lose the power. ![]() What is about to happen is the deconstruction of the imperial Presidency. Lame-duck became the term used to describe politicians, especially the president, who either lost an election or decided to forgo reelection.įor some time, we have been witnessing a weak Presidency, but it is likely going to get worse now. The lame duck definition refers to when a person in power has entered the final stages of their control, and the chosen successor has been elected or soon will be. With the selection of the Presidential flag bearers by the various political parties for next year’s election, the era of lame duck, especially in the Central Government is here. ![]()
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