The Roman Cultural Institute described Nemesis as a woman called the goddess of revenge, also known as Rhamnusia, the goddess of Rhamnous, an ancient Greek city in Attica. For the ancient Greeks, and later for the Romans, Nemesis was the embodiment of jealousy, envy and anger of the gods and was believed to punish human gluttony.
Therefore, the nemesis was the keeper of balance in the universe, the one who weighed the deeds of mortals and offered retribution. Also, there is the “law of karma” which is a force or law of nature which causes one to reap what one sow”. Thus, Abubakar Atiku’s loss in the 2023 presidential election for Ahmed Tinubu is destiny and fate at play. This is the nemesis of history, it is beyond human comprehension.
In this saga, the retributionists are the G5 governors. The “G5” is the abbreviation for a group of five. All five are members of the People’s Democratic Party but have broken ranks with the national leadership of the party for not honouring what they called the agreement to return power to the Southern part of the country. The G5 Governors comprise Nyesom Wike of Rivers State (the de facto leader), Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.
Even their request to the national leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to appease the South with the position of the chairmanship of the party was rejected by them. Atiku and his ilk potentates refused to listen to the voice of wisdom. They garrulously beat their chest with the assurance that with or without G5 governors, Atiku would win the election.
Now Abubakar Atiku has paid dearly for his stubbornness and sneaky political chicanery of cross carpeting to oil his political ambition at all cost irrespective of whose ox is gored. Retrospectively, Abubakar Atiku and Senator Bukola Saraki led out the G5 PDP governors against the then President Goodluck Jonathan, on the flimsy reason of not abiding by his promise to spend a term in office which was verbally agreed by the party when Jonathan assumed power at the demise of President Umoru Musa Yar’adua.
The sudden defection of Governors Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano, Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers was an Armageddon that led to the unprecedented loss of power by the ruling party PDP in 2015 presidential elections. Atiku and his die-hard supporters mocked president Jonathan, forgetting the Yoruba adage which says that “Egba ti afi nan iyale ile, nbe loke aja fun iyawo” which literarily means “the cane used to whip the senior wife is preserved on the ceiling for the new bride”.
Read also: Atiku’s costly political mistakes
In a twist of fate, the G5 governors that were surreptitiously used by the foxy elements in the PDP to truncate Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency from winning the second term election were equally unpremeditated grievously assembled to thwart Atiku’s life ambition of winning the presidency. This is simply the nemesis and law of karma at play. President Goodluck Jonathan, Peter Godsday Orubebe former Minister of Niger Delta (who protested Jonathan’s election loss at the collation centre) and other PDP leaders would laugh hysterically when Atiku and his tightly knit coteries of power seekers protested at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) head office in Abuja calling for the cancellation of the February 25, 2023, presidential election.
Nothing captures the mood like a mockery statement made by Governor Wike that when they were protesting in Abuja, “I and my friends were drinking 40 years old whiskey and watching them on Television.” This is to say that what goes around must surely come around. The PDP elders who could have called Governor Nyesome Wike the de facto leader of the G5 to order refuse to intercede in power plays because they are all happy at yeoman service that Wike and others Governors displayed. Some PDP leaders believed that Atiku played a vital role in the PDP election loss in the 2015. Therefore, his presidency bidding was a drab tale programmed to fail and an opportunity to pay him back in his coin.
Noticeably, twice in recent times G5, a mysterious number has played devil’s advocate in shifting geopolitical tectonic plates to the North in the 2015 and now to the South in the 2023, irrespective of the bizarre political climate that permeates the atmosphere. Both alphabet G and number 5 are odd letters and numbers differently, which signify a bad omen for the loser and good fortune for the gainer. I presume our political leaders will pay attention to this political logjam which incidentally repeats itself twice in recent times. The lesson in all these is that no matter how minute an individual contribution might be in a factor that makes history, he is a factor, as was rightly said by an anonymous writer. Those who advised Atiku to ignore the G5 governors must have seen the collateral damage they have caused for him.
In the meantime, the 2023 presidential election has come and gone. However, it leaves Nigerians with mixed feelings, it is not as bad as how the vocal minority painted it to be, although there are pockets of issues in a few places across the country, this is not significant enough to call for outright cancellation. It is good news that those who lost have gone to court to challenge the validity of the election. Today, phalanxes of lawyers have picked up their wigs and gowns to square up in court, each convincing his client that he has a case. This might be the beginning of another lengthy litigation expected to terminate in the Supreme court. Whichever way it goes, our democracy will be strengthened and life must continue.
Bello, a social commentator, writes from Canada
