Atiku's Emergence: A Soft Landing for IBB

The emergence of Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as Northern consensus candidate was what IBB needed badly to save himself from total disgrace. And that opportunity came yesterday. As Alhaji Atiku was being announced as the consensus candidate of the North in PDP,  IBB was busy thanking his stars for saving him once again from imminent disgrace and humiliation. To some people IBB's silly gambits and ridiculous effusions before yesterday may be new but to people like us this is not the first time.   Confronted with the same fate in 2007 the evil genius sheepishly chickened out of the race, curiously and shamelessly telling the whole world that his family   relationship with that of Yar'Adua's family cannot be ruffled because of his ambition to become president. It was a lie from the pit of hell. A tale told by some idiots full of sound and fury signifying nothing. It made no sense to those of us who know IBB inside out.   Since IBB 'boldly' declared his intention to run for the highest office in the land, I have religiously followed all the comments concerning him and I am yet to see a Nigerian so vilified, so hated, so unwanted, so untrusted and so rejected for his past misdeeds. It was unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. At once, I saw a man reading his unwanted biographies and even obituaries while still alive, I saw a man taking all the bashings in the world as a result of his past misdeeds. I saw a man completely boxed to a corner for betraying his nation in hours of need. I saw a man facing the hell fire while still alive. I saw a man who pretended that all is well while the show of shame lasted. I saw a man who fought the last battle of his life with Dutch courage.   When his campaign organization said that IBB is a hard sell, I thought the master in the art of violence will read the handwriting on the wall and have the courage to disband the organization.   Not IBB. He waited for Atiku to emerge to save his neck. Give it to IBB. He is a 'bold' man. So 'bold' that all the bashings meant nothing to him. But I must say that Nigerians are very good people. He graced the front pages of newspapers, granted interviews that were 'hot potatoes', and made appearances severally in TV stations without harassment. He even got favourable opinion polls from the publishers of THIS DAY Newspapers. Nigeria is indeed a unique country where sinners, traitors, killers, criminals and riggers walk the streets without caring a hoot.   Once again, the judgment day has come and gone for IBB and yet I do not know whether we have learnt any lesson that we all will be remembered in spite of ourselves. But one more thing, the emergence of Atiku or Jonathan makes no meaning to me. I want PDP to be liquidated and destroyed as a political Party in Nigeria for us to make progress. The truth is that if you give PDP 50 more years they cannot fix Nigeria because they have got nothing to offer. This Party has lost the right to govern Nigeria based on their woeful and miserable performance in almost 12 years in power. Case rested!   Joe Igbokwe Lagos