Emmanuel Aziken
David Cameron returned to the United Kingdom government this week, becoming the first former prime minister to serve in a lower capacity since Alec Douglas-Home in 1970.
For many in Nigeria who would take it as a shock that the former leader of government would come to serve a former subordinate, it would sound incredulous.
But such an attitude is not totally strange in Nigeria. We have had a former deputy governor in the person of Chief Ogiri Ajene, who after eight years as deputy governor in Benue State between 1999 and 2007, contested and won election as councillor for Ibarike-Ito ward, Obi Local Government Area of Benue State.
Following his election as councillor, Ajene said that he saw service as he could do to impact his community.
The appointment of Cameron as Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, however, came as a surprise to many. First was that after he left office as prime minister and then parliament in 2016, that Cameron had been largely out of the political orbit.
Unlike some of his predecessors like Winston Churchill who defied age and political defeats to hang around the thrills and drama of parliament, Cameron took the painful decision to leave parliament albeit at an early age.
His, was undoubtedly, an eventful political career, having become prime minister at the relatively young age of 39. He subsequently left office at 50, following the decision to call on a referendum on Britain’s relationship with Europe after his Conservative Party won an overall majority in parliament.
His decision to call the referendum on Europe was questioned by many, but for Cameron, the principle of not allowing his cabinet to take such a crucial decision was seen as a major moral decision.
Cameron who personally backed the pro-Europe divide resigned his position as prime minister after the success of the anti-Europe campaign.
Of course, it is not as if he has not been accused of one or two misdemanours. While in office and even after office, Mr Cameron as most mortals has had some touches of scandal but nothing damaging.
However, what is of importance is the principle of holding to your position and possibly sacrificing your political office for such.
So, do we have the likes of Mr Cameron in Nigeria? We remember how many who stood on one position because of the political situation changed after their positions changed.
In 2011, a sizeable proportion of those presently in government took a position against the oil subsidy removal plans of President Goodluck Jonathan.
To them at that time, oil subsidies must be maintained irrespective of whatever circumstances. Jonathan afraid of a military coup buckled and restored the subsidy.
Remarkably, Nigeria is now passing through the harrowing pains of an abrupt removal of the subsidy that was not planned for.
The problem with Nigeria is this lack of principle and shift in political positions based on temporary gains.
One interesting case is that of Imo State where all three major candidates who stood for the governorship election last weekend, Hope Uzodimma, of APC, Samuel Anyanwu, PDP, and Athan Achonu, Labour Party were eight years ago serving senators representing Imo West, East, and North senatorial zones respectively on the platform of the PDP.
But today, all three men in their quest to be governor of Imo State drifted to different political parties underlying the fact that their membership of the PDP was never based on conviction.
The situation is even more interesting at the national leadership of the APC where the present national chairman of the party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje started his Fourth Republic politics on the platform of the PDP. His immediate predecessor as national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu was not just a PDP member, but secretary of the Board of Trustees.
The emergence of Adamu as national chairman of the APC and his subsequent attacks on the PDP must be considered as one of the most revolting ironies of our Fourth Republic politics. Your correspondent remembers Adamu as governor of Nasarawa State in 2005 leading the Amen Corner for the Third Term amendment and even coming to the National Assembly to ensure his lawmakers toed the line.
David Cameron’s return to government at a lower capacity has been whispered in some circles as a manifestation of the fact that he may be broke and in need of subsistence. While this may not be wholly true, but it tells us that unlike his contemporaries who had served as head of government in Nigeria at state and federal levels, he did not stockpile for his future generations.
It is telling that people in government in Nigeria like our National Assembly members would not mind betraying the national treasury to purchase overpriced vehicles which generate jobs for foreign countries and after that, pack what they can for their future. If Mr Cameron did that, I bet the mutter that he is broke would not be an issue.
But it is gladdening that the example of Mr Cameron’s evolution is not totally lacking as the case of the former Benue deputy governor who became a councilor. There are many, many good examples of astute Nigerians in the political space. Their only problem is that the present darkness is covering them for now.
