The world is filled with men of unusual loves and even more bizarre odium; some would readily show warmth and affection to foes tirelessly seeking their downfall and not a few men have been known to despise and seek the end of folk that would unquestioningly die for them in the twinkle of an eye.
More worrisomely, there are men whose contempt for each other stem from pitiful pandering to pettiness and hideous pride – such men are incapable of joy or any form of cheerfulness unless they hate some other person, nation or creed.
It is uncertain what breed Senate President Bukola Saraki and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi belong but what is infinitely confounding about both men is their bothersome capacity to treat each other with loathing and contempt. It’s exclusive: they do not see eye to eye.
The increasing gulf between Senate President, Bukola Saraki and the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, would make the Grand Canyon look less wide.
Interestingly, both have been friends and political associates for more than a decade. Apart from belonging to the same All Progressives’ Congress, APC, they have so much in common. Saraki and Amaechi are in their early 50s and are both two term-governors in Kwara and Rivers States respectively.
Amaechi succeeded Saraki as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Brilliant and non-conforming, they were in the forefront of the revolt that led to the defection of some governors from the People’s Democratic Party, and the Goodluck Jonathan-must-go campaign which they succeeded at.
For some time now, the two political figures have not been seeing eye-to-eye. Though some political watchers argue that the run-in might have arisen from Saraki’s dalliance with the opposition which saw to his election as Senate President, against the party’s wish, other sources say Saraki actually prevented Amaechi from getting the vice presidential slot under Muhammadu Buhari in the run up to the 2015 presidential elections because he is Niger Deltan.
The party did well perhaps to cover this scandal, it seemed. What is not in contention however is the evolution of a deep-seated animosity which the leaders have turned a blind eye to as both are powerful and have the resources for any warfare. Alas, President Buhari that could have intervened has been incapacitated for months. It is left to be seen if the two power brokers would find a middle ground in the days ahead.
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