Tambuwal and the American dream
By Aminu Mohammed
There is a myth in Ancient America known as the American Dream The American dream simply means equal opportunity for all regardless of class or status. It was and still is a belief that every American is a potential president so long as they live.
The American dream is an aspirational belief that in God’s own country, equality is key. Abraham Lincoln began his political career with a mixture of successes and failures but despite the bumpy roads he threaded on, he was elected president in 1860 having failed several nominations to be a Congress man, senator and vice president as well. But could that be an apt definition of the American dream?
The simple definition of this myth is, every American is a potential president. In America, a cobbler, barber, carpenter, cab driver, a white man, Black man, a native and an immigrant all have that dream in them that one day, just one day, I would be the president of this country. That is the American dream. You aspire to become what you want to become in life.
Here in Africa, the African Dream is to have food on your table, struggle to pay your kids school fees, medical and other essential bills like electricity and perhaps gas? In short, the African Dream is just the opposite of what obtains in America. In Africa, is a race of life full of struggles, “suffering and smiling” according to late Fela who was so philosophical about conditions of life in Africa.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state is one African who believes, the American dream could be proclaimed and achieved in Africa and that, every African can aspire to be the president of their country. As an African cum Nigerian, Tambuwal, who is a former Speaker of the House of Reps in Nigeria has lofty dreams in politics and to achieve those dreams, you have to always remain relevant by your actions and utterances to keep the “plebian crowd” believing in you. On March 28, 2023 just 10 days after his anointed governorship candidate was defeated, the outgoing governor summoned courage and addressed PDP chieftains and supporters where he assured them that the game is not over until it is all over.
According to an audio recording which has gone viral, Tambuwal accused his political opponents of rigging the March 18 guber polls and was emphatic that, his anointed candidate, Malam Saidu Umar Ubandoma is “gwamnanmu na gobe” meaning the mandate given to the APC candidate would be upturned for his candidate to govern. Is that not a wishful thinking in Nigeria, in Africa and Black West Africa for that matter where might is right? Interestingly, 24 hours after that pronouncement or declaration, the APC candidate, His Excellency Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto who was declared winner by the INEC was issued with a certificate of return, meaning, he has been duly elected and on May 29, 2023, would be sworn in as the seventh elected executive governor of Sokoto state.
The implication of Tambuwal’s speech at the Kasarawa Conference Center is that, just like the APC went to court in 2019, the PDP is also borrowing a leaf from their political opponents. The last option left for the PDP and Tambuwal is to file an appeal before the Election Tribunal which would be another marathon case and before the final judgement at the supreme court, it might take close to six months. The APC was too confident in 2019 that, the tribunal, Appeal Court and Supreme Court would overturn the election results but was left mouth gaping. The PDP under Tambuwal should be prepared for a marathon wait and darkness at the end of the tunnel for even president Muhammadu Buhari in far away Ethiopia told the world press that the judiciary in Nigeria is no longer the last hope of the common man. In fact, the president emphatically said he had no confidence in the judiciary. Even in America, a one-time vice president Al gore would tell you, the American judicial system is faulty. We were all witnesses to the marathon legal drama that brought Bush Junior to power. Al gore, who was former president Bill Clinton’s vice lost the 2000 American presidential election in suspicious manner and since then, he has retired from active politics.
The Sokoto PDP has two options after losing the governorship election, either go to court to seek for interpretation and waste resources or as Tambuwal has done on March 28 continue to keep giving hope to its supporters to remain in the party.. Tambuwal is aware that, for him to remain relevant, for him to keep his presidential ambition alive and for him to be in touch with the grassroots, he needs to keep talking, assuring, promising and pledging that he can and he would rise again after that devastating fall.
Without talking and assuring the gullible supporters, it is just a matter of time that many of them who believe in commercialized politics would find their way into the APC. The hard truth is that, not every politician or supporter can endure four years of hardship, four years of ( TAGUMI) and four years of inaction before another election.
Therefore, Tambuwal knows the language the supporters understand, keep talking and you will keep walking with them. Keep walking with them and you will keep confusing them and the more you keep confusing them, the more you keep deceiving them. That is the basic ingredient of African politics which has no lofty dream like the American dream.
Tambuwal has two weeks now to know whether his dream to become president would be real or imaginary with his Senatorial ambition hanging on the April 15 INCONCLUSIVE. Every ambitious fellow comes to this world with a dream but sad as it may seem, most dreams die first.
