El-Rufai: Prophet, nation builder or the devil’s advocate?

It is a miracle that the recent video of El-Rufai asking for religious domination in politics and mimicking the Nigerian Christian Association died without the expected provocations and division. I am so happy the statement by Nasir was taken with a pinch of salt or ignored as irrelevant, though with enormous consequences and a significant setback to a progressive Nigeria.

We have voted for a Muslim ticket just as we did in 1993. Nigerians voted for a need to have someone competent with a track record of performance. An average Nigerian who is hungry is not bordered by religion or tribe. They are simply concerned about how to make ends meet.

Is El-Rufai helping Tinubu’s administration to make enough enemies? His unfortunate comment cannot compare with the trouble on the ground. We have the subsidy removal, the new exchange rate unification, and the new levies on car users and market women. All these are taken from the poor masses. The government is yet to give to the people but has taken all except the air Nigerians breathe.

Nasir’s comment is either a massive slip of his brain and tongue or a devil’s advocate expressing his desire to see Nigeria destroyed on the platform of politics and religion

I admire El-Rufai greatly. He was the only first-time governor I knew that made difficult decisions without considering the implications on his second-term ambition. He sacked a considerable number of incompetent teachers and did a lot of reforms during his first term in office. He treaded without caution where others dare not. I likened him to a prophet for daring the political godfathers and doing what is suitable and helpful in the best interest of Kaduna state.

In the build-up to the 2023 general election, Nasir was a person who openly toed the line of equity in the power rotation. He positioned that the presidency should come to the South after the tenure of Buhari. Though he was shut down by the powerful coalition of northern groups and sat at the same table with people who claimed the North must retain the presidency, he still worked underground to support the Southern presidency.

Thus, He is a nation-builder who understood that there cannot be a united Nigeria except where equity reigns. Gone are the days of the military, where decrees are used to oppress people without balancing resources generation, position, appointment and diversity in decision-making. We cannot continue to have any region in a dominant position and contribute little to the country’s general well-being. We should be fair to all the constituent nations that make Nigeria.

Kaduna State was delivered to the APC in the 2023 election. The credit can be given to Nasir as the governor. He worked for Tinubu and Shettima. He was speculated to have been considered for a top position in the Tinubu-Shettima administration.

His recent comments on religious domination of the polity are the most unfortunate from an El-Rufai, who I have ascribed the title of a nation builder and a prophet. A man who has been in government for years, including being the chief security officer of a state where Christians are being killed, should not be so low as to make such a divisive comment.

I believe Nasir is cerebral and understands the fault lines of Nigeria more than anyone. By all standards, he should not be found wanting and around religious propaganda in a secular nation like Nigeria, except there is more to things than said. His statement, though taken without much malice, will in the future hurt the fabric of the nation he had serviced, benefitted from, and claimed to love. The election is gone now, and there is no need to open the cancer wound again.

But in the subsequent elections, the fear of having the same religion ticket will come on board as a reminiscence of Nasir El-Rufai’s legacy of destruction to the nation-building process of Nigeria. People will be scared and find it challenging to forgive him for the killings of Christians in Kaduna state since he can descend so low and fall short of the privileges and education Nigeria had provided him.

We wonder why Nasir made such an erroneous statement or what his intention was. Even his greatest advocate, Femi Fani-Kayode, cannot defend him but was polishing him with his past achievements.

Read also: El-Rufai’s quest for Islamic domination of Nigeria

Again, is El-Rufai making his statement to negotiate for something in this political dispensation or an attempt to make an enemy for Nigeria? Is he truly a religious apologist, or is it a jovial, deceptive comment to win his audience’s mind and heart? Whatever the reasons for his comment, Nasir’s comment is either a massive slip of his brain and tongue or a devil’s advocate expressing his desire to see Nigeria destroyed on the platform of politics and religion.

I want to take the perspective of a slip of the brain and admonish Nasir to come out openly, admit to the slip of his tongue and apologise to the Christian community and Nigerians. We are lucky the Christian Association of Nigeria is civil in its approach, and the religion is without a penchant for violence. Otherwise, we would have witnessed another riot or killings as witnessed severally in the past.

For anyone privileged to have held or is holding positions of influence in a diversified community, being mindful of what they say is as important as weighing the consequences of their utterances on the people and unity of the country. We sometimes have a second chance to correct our errors, but leaders’ words can do more damage than they intended. Therefore, Nigerian leaders must be careful in their actions and words to not mislead their followers.