by Saatah Nubari

If one of your friends turned against you, and now his friend who happens to be your new friend, supports you and is against him, whose side will you be on? Be truthful, nobody will know your thought.

Although the Presidency has claimed ignorance in the ongoing fracas at the Rivers State House of Assembly, smart people don’t need a soothsayer to tell them that he has definitely taken sides with the Honorable Minister for Education, Nyesom Wike. There are questions we should and must ask. Why must the President pick sides when he is the “father of Nigerians”? I know that anti-Jonathan forces will be happy with this question, a closer look at their CV and don’t book shocked if you find “hatred for Jonathan” written in the hobby section. Let’s get back to asking questions, a question that will spark outrage: why shouldn’t the President pick sides? Don’t crucify me yet, let’s go through the issue of side taking and maybe people who’re still undecided on which side, easily decide without fear of being harassed.

Taking sides has never been a big deal, but we now know that anything the President does or doesn’t do can and must be used against him in the court of opposition. I just quoted section 2, sub section 4 of the opposition constitution. Let’s get back to taking sides. The ACN, APC and the Emperor himself, Tinubu has come out to claim saint in this game of sides, thereby taking sides. Now you get? Never mind, let’s go on.

In 2007 after Femi Pedro made his intentions known that he was interested in being the governor of Lagos State, his principal, Bola Tinubu didn’t find it funny at all and so decided to marshal him out. The reaction then was totally different from the reaction now. Did I hear you say we’re getting wiser? I’ll pardon your ignorance; we’re getting more hypocritical than ever. Back to the matter; the AC leadership then decided to take sides with Tinubu—sorry I tend to forget that Tinubu himself was the AC leadership. So in essence, the same man criticizing the President and the PDP for taking sides is no stranger to side taking.

Before we were treated to a free cinema show of the movie “THE MACE”, most people never knew of the quiet wrangling that was taking place at the Rivers State House of Assembly. How many of you knew that the five pro-Wike law makers had their allowances seized by Amaechi and his pro-Amaechi law makers just because they decided to take sides with Nyesom Wike and not Amaechi himself? This was months before the cage fight. How many of you knew that an LGA chairman was suspended some weeks after he refused to be a part of other LGA chairmen that passed a vote of confidence on Amaechi? You probably didn’t know that too. You are probably thinking I’ve also taken sides, well you’re correct, and by the end of this piece, you’ll know which side and why.

The First Lady has taken sides with Nyesom Wike, that’s no news, and neither is it a criminal offence. We might not be used to First lady’s taking sides, but hey! This is Nigeria nothing surprises us anymore. Governor Amaechi and Dame Jonathan were once on the same side, we shouldn’t forget that. The Dame decided to “port” to another side and support her people (Okirika) against a rampaging demolition machine with Governor Amaechi in the driver’s seat. This side “porting” occurred when Amaechi said he “must” demolish houses in Okirika. The First lady felt differently and snatched the microphone right in the middle of his speech, something she shouldn’t have done. She told him that he “mustn’t” use the word “must”. Funny enough, the word “must”, must take the blame for everything.

I actually thought Prof Soyinka was a novice in this game of sides, but he shocked me to my marrow when he proved my fears, that he was on Amaechi’s side. He even added a literary twist by calling the wife of the President a “domestic appendage”. On a very good day, if anybody calls me a “domestic appendage” we must be in heaven thirty minutes later for judgment. Prof has been a frequent visitor to the State Government House since Amaechi was made governor by the courts. I would have been shocked if he had taken sides with the Presidency. Falana has taken sides too, I am not shocked. Few people know that Falana was a part of the legal team of Amaechi that brought about his emergence as governor. You can’t bite the fingers that fed or still feeds you, or else there’re new fingers ready to take over. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging people who take sides, I’m only saying they should not make naïve people believe they are neutral, even God himself is not neutral.

Our Amaechi has taken sides with the opposition, which is not a sin. He has also taken sides against the President; this is also not a criminal offence. Nyesom Wike has taken sides with the President,I just went through the constitution now, it’s not criminal to do so. Wike has also taken sides against Amaechi, not also a criminal offence. I’ll ask you a simple question. If one of your friends turned against you, and now his friend who happens to be your new friend, supports you and is against him, whose side will you be on? Be truthful, nobody will know your thought.

The thing is this, when you criticize a side for taking sides with another side, you have inadvertently taken sides against the side you’re criticizing—I so love the rhymes in this line. We shouldn’t be hypocritical about this side taking issue. Chidi Lloyd took sides with Amaechi when he “maced” Chinda’s head. Bipi took sides with the First Lady when he punched Chidi Lloyd. The Presidency took sides with Wike from the point he showed he was against Amaechi’s hard stance towards the President. Prof Soyinka took sides when he called the First Lady a “domestic appendage” (which was uncalled for) and so does Femi Falana.

On my earlier question: why shouldn’t the President Take sides? It is simple, even God takes sides. Today God and Lucifer are not in good terms, and we’ve all taken sides. God on the other hand has taken sides with people on his side and the devil has reciprocated the gesture.

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