Of cobras and mongooses, By Wole Olaoye

“Did you call me a hunchback?”

“Me? Why would I do something like that? I’m just talking about other people who have hills on their backs and chests.

The dialogue above is an estimate of how many people interpreted Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s denial that the new salvo in Abeokuta was meant for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Tinubu has added a new twist to the current fuel scarcity and the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the N200, N500 and 1,000 notes as he stated that the two developments are planned to sabotage his victory in the upcoming polls. He said: “I hope the price of fuel will be raised, the price of fuel will be increased, let’s know where to get fuel, the price of money, naira; we will go and vote and we will win. Even if they change the ink on the Naira notes. Whatever the plan was, it was going to go away. We will win…”

The PDP presidential campaign organization opportunistically, but understandably, followed through on what it saw as a monumental gaffe and lashed out at Tinubu for insulting Buhari. The PDP stated, inter alia, that, “Our campaign finds it sad that Asiwaju Tinubu is trying to save face before the election defeat by shedding crocodile tears and claiming that he is redesigning the Naira note and the following fuel crisis. The APC government, which reportedly got profit by corruption, it is a plan to spoil the 2023 general election…”

The PDP added, “It is only politicians who always win elections by relying on bullion vans that are a problem with the monetary policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the Naira.” Opposition parties further accused Tinubu of trying to oust the Buhari administration he helped put into office.

Nigerian politics is in a world of its own. Imagine PDP trying to sound more Buharist than Tinubu! This is not to indict the PDP, though. No doubt, if the shoe was on the other foot, the APC would have welcomed the same intervention.

So, only a one-sided analyst will take PDP’s opinion of APC, or APC’s impression of PDP as gospel truth. Both sides have attacked each other with some of the vilest attacks since the current campaign season began.

Twenty-four hours after the Abeokuta blast, however, Tinubu pooh-poohed the PDP’s accusation that he had insulted the Buhari administration. His vituperations, he said, were directed at the PDP itself. (Nigerians on social media have been asking if the PDP is responsible for redesigning the Naira!)

He insisted that the misunderstanding of his speech arose because he spoke in Yoruba. “Those who do not understand the nuances of this layered and subtle language may unintentionally but mistakenly miss the true meaning of what I am saying when trying to translate my statement,” he said.

No one was fooled by the spin, especially when an insider, Prof. Itse Sagay, shut down all pretensions. Sagay confirmed Tinubu’s allegation.

Sagay Sagay, “What Emefiele is doing by saying that you cannot use the existing currency after January 31, in a situation where the new currency is not available for use, is a plot to create disaffection against the government and indirectly create .unfavorable image for the government that before the populace in a few weeks for the Election… What is surprising is that no one stopped people. The President did not stop him… It’s just incredible”.

On the fuel shortage, Sagay noted, “It will be three months now and the NNPC says there is no shortage, they have enough supply for another three months. However, we cannot find petrol anywhere. Someone is playing. I suspect after the election we will have petrol. I agree with what Tinubu said. Something is happening in this country that is going to affect the outcome of the election.

Even though the gloves are now off and the presidential candidate’s spokespeople have to dig deep to manage the fallout, I still don’t understand why they can’t align their campaign organizations’ positions on certain issues. Each speaker has his own special thread for a certain question – which makes the public wonder what the correct position is.

We all know that rebuttals come with the territory, but as Judge Judy Sheindlin, the host of the American reality court show always said, “If you’re telling the truth, you don’t have to have a good memory… If it’s not common sense, it probably isn’t.” true “In this age of social media, spokespeople are walking around because the public can, through just one messaging application, combine multiple conflicting answers given to the same question by different spokespeople working for the same candidate. The Internet never forgets. When your camp is known for lying, the world will not believe you even if you tell the truth.

The truth, as I see it, lies in the undercurrents. There are many conspiracy theories flying around, from the plausible to the outlandish, but it seems some APC supporters are not happy with President Buhari’s reluctance to give undue advantage to his party’s candidate over other contestants. He criticized the declaration in London last year, as he said it would ensure a level playing field for all contestants.

In the interview, Buhari stated that Nigerians should vote whoever they like from any political party in the 2023 general elections. He warned that no one will be allowed to use resources and thugs to intimidate people in any constituency. “My goal is to make sure that Nigerians believe that we respect them as an administration. This is what I want in the history of Nigeria as a leader,” the president said.

Even though he has established these principles, when asked to assess the chances of APC in the 2023 elections, Buhari is still in his party; “We will win the election”, he predicted.

But that’s not enough, critics say. He prefers to lead the force in all rallies and pull out all the stops to install party candidates. Political observers, however, suggest that the most important need for any aspiring Nigerian president is not a presidential Deus ex machina device but oratorical discipline. All too often, political aides worship the principal instead of guiding and educating them in the fine art of messaging; this causes an avoidable hoopla that countless hours will then be spent trying to paper through the cracks. Say what you will, it’s ill-advised to cast innuendoes on a sitting president.

Congratulations to the 18 presidential candidates. I’ve listed it in the past as sharing free PR tips on messaging and crisis management. In the same spirit, I would like to advise the political cobra to remember that nature never gives birth to a thesis without a corresponding antithesis. For every political cobra, there is a mongoose.

Cobras are scary. The bite is a medical emergency. The amount of neurotoxin that can be delivered in one bite is enough to kill 20 people, or even an elephant. King cobra venom affects the respiratory center in the brain, causing shortness of breath and heart failure. King cobra, the largest of the species, can be seen in its beauty and majesty.

The mongoose, on the other hand, is a small carnivorous mammal with a long face and body, small round ears, short legs, and a long, thin tail. The length is between 24 and 58 cm; weighing between 320 g and 5 kg. It is to this relative Lilliputian that Providence has handed over the key to the destruction of Cobra. Mongoose is a strong and powerful hunter. His attack was lightning fast. In a typical fight with a cobra, the mongoose rises on its short legs and snaps at the snake with its snout. Cobra struggled, even tried to coil itself around the mongoose, but the game was over. King cobra is food.

To appreciate his legendary reputation as a cobra killer, consider what happened in India when a snake catcher was called in to capture a cobra that had become a threat to a large family compound. The snake catcher came out and produced a mongoose from the bag. And, in no time, the mongoose dragged the snake away!

Now, talking about political cobras and mongooses, where do you place the controversial development in Osun State where the electoral tribunal just swung the pendulum in favor of former Governor Oyetola? The drama is just beginning!

Wole Olaoye is a Public Relations consultant and veteran journalist. He can be reached at wole.olaoye@gmail.com, Twitter: @wole_olaoye; Instagram: wolula2021