Calm down Nigerians – What you should know about Modu Sheriff and his new romance with Jonathan’s party?

by S’ola Filani

In the past few days, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has constantly made headlines, following accusations of sowing the seeds of the Iroko that Boko Haram has become today.

Although Sheriff vehemently denied the allegation, there was outrage on the social media when when he was pictured pumping hands at the Chadian airport with President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in Ndjamena, Chad, for an important regional meeting. He was also pictured sitting in at a meeting between the president and the Chadian leader, Idriss Derby.

Nigerians accused the president of hobnobbing with alleged sponsors of terror by travelling to Chad in company with Sheriff. The president should not be found smiling with Sheriff at all when weighty allegations against him are still being probed by the security agencies, they insist.

Reacting to the controversy, President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday denied travelling to Chad with the former Borno State governor, adding that Sheriff is still being probed.

He however forgot to mention that Sheriff is the most powerful Nigerian in Chad – but that is not the story.

The guys at The Cable News have come up with a new report claiming that Sheriff is one of the biggest investors in the oil sector in the neighbouring country, where he regularly spends his time trying to run away from Boko Haram militants.

They have been out to get him since the Maiduguri uprising in 2009 when the sect’s members were mass-murdered by the Nigerian security forces ─ allegedly with the full involvement of Sheriff, who was then the governor of Borno State.

They killed his younger brother, Goni, who was all set to become his successor in 2011, and Sheriff himself can no longer visit Borno without full security. The sect, it was alleged, felt used and abused by the former senator. Sheriff completely disappeared from public glare after leaving office in May 2011, and rumours had it that he was on self-exile somewhere in Dubai, waiting for the tension to calm down. “What many people did not know is that he spends more time in Chad than in Nigeria,” a security source told The Cable.

“He has, we believe, a business relationship with President Derby. He has large investments in the oil sector. We believe that aside the big multinational oil companies, Sheriff is the biggest investor in Chad. His relationship with the Derby dates back to decades.”

Having defected to the PDP ─ he has been in the opposition since 1999 ─ Sheriff has become quite close to Jonathan, and was recently at the Presidential Villa to see the president.

He had always been treated with suspicion by APC leaders, who thought that he was a “mole” in the party. After eventually leaving the party complaining about how he was treated at the party’s convention in June, he has always used every opportunity to flaunt his relationship with Jonathan. It is a well used strategy in Nigerian politics. When you move to the ruling party, don’t waste any opportunity to show the world that you and the president have breakfast, lunch and dinner together. It will strike the fear of God into your opponents and rivals. “Sheriff has fallen out with his successor, (Kashim) Shettima,” a former Borno commissioner told The Cable.

“Elections are around the corner. He wants Shettima out next year. By moving to the PDP, he now has Abuja backing. He regularly wants to be seen in Jonathan’s company to remind his opponents that he not only has money, he has the powers-that-be within his reach.”

In fairness to Sheriff, though, it would have been a slight if Derby did not bring him to the airport to welcome the president. As the most powerful Nigerian in Chad, Sheriff would ordinarily be on the front row to meet his president. With no objections from Jonathan, Derby would also not leave Sheriff behind while paying a courtesy visit to the Nigerian president at his hotel.

And with no objections yet, a sumptuous dinner would cap the day. And with no objections, Sheriff would feel free to smile with the president and shakes his hands ─ for the camera. The message was apparently intended for APC and his critics.

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