BALA MUHAMMED’S LOYALTY TO JONATHAN

Senator Bala Muhammed, Governor of Bauchi State, is a man whose exemplary loyalty and friendship to former President Goodluck Jonathan should be case study for students of political science and politicians in particular.

When the contentious issue of Doctrine of Necessity was needed and adopted by the National Assembly in 2010 to make Jonathan the acting president of Nigeria, history reported that it was then Senator Bala Muhammed that coined and championed the cause among his colleagues at the National Assembly to enable Jonathan to be sworn in as acting president. 

It would be recalled that then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did not hand over to his vice president (Jonathan) before proceeding on medical leave outside the country. When the politics of Yar’Adua’s succession raged and the country was in quagmire as to how to go about it, Bala Muhammed was at the forefront of strict constitutional compliance regardless of religious and ethnic sentiments.

He became a Senator in 2007. This writer doubts if Jonathan knew him before that time or contributed in any way in making him a Senator. However, as a man of conscience, he insisted that the right thing should be done according to constitutional provisions.

President Jonathan appointed him as the minister of the Federal Capital Territory. He left his Senate seat to take up the job of a minister primarily to help stabilize the Jonathan’s government. He was not sycophantic or jobless to have championed Jonathan’s acting presidency. After all, he had a job as a sitting senator. In this current government, we have seen where a serving minister, Simon Lalong, resigned his ministerial position to become a senator. Therefore, Bala Muhammed could not have done what he did for Jonathan just to become a minister.

Furthermore, one thing that is germane and instructive about Bala Muhammed’s commendable friendship and loyalty to Jonathan is his consistency. He was not the only one appointed by Jonathan. However, since Jonathan lost power in 2015, how many of his political appointees still identify with him publicly? Governor Bala Muhammed is obviously the best in that regard. Even in Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa, he applied his presidential power in ensuring a sitting governor did not get a second term. He made another one a governor, yet there were problems.

Recently, Governor Bala Muhammed was quoted to have said that he would not contest the presidency in 2027 should Jonathan indicates interest in the position. He made it emphatic that only Jonathan’s ambition could stop him from contesting. That’s undiluted loyalty! He still believes that Jonathan was harassed out of power due to his minority origin. Of course, Nigerians have witnessed and seen that comparison between Jonathan’s government and his successors is akin to day and night. Jonathan obviously represents day.

Ifenyi Maduako, Owerri via ifeanyimaduako2017@gmail.com