Senator Shehu Sani could not have envisaged the spiral he would be setting off when he made that Facebook post about hyenas and jackals in the second week of July.
While President Buhari was still in London and the tide in the country seemed to be rising against Vice President Osinbajo from his confrontations with the Senate, Senator Sani’s post was followed up by the prayer of First lady Aisha Buhari on behalf of “the weaker animals’ that the Lion King will come back and put the jackals away.
As it would happen, it has been Buhari himself who has been put on hold from using his office by rats which are really weaker animals, aren’t they?
The use of the metaphors of an animal kingdom to describe the evolving politricks at Abuja has not maintained a logical flow, thanks to these rats which have gained the angst and beastly reputation that should be reserved for more destructive animals. But that may, in fact, be the metaphorical explanation for the events happening at the Aso Rock right now; those who are feared and expected to cause the most trouble are not doing so, with the unsuspected and trusted taking the initiative to make inroads.
But the proper identifier for those who show such cunning should be snakes, and a President who has intentions to retain his mandate in less than two years time in the midst of other popular candidates within his own household cannot be naïve to the presence of crawling elements.
While President Buhari was airborne and making his way to Nigeria, readers were on this platform nodding to the opinion piece by Dele Momodu on the postures of 2019. Some of those persons mentioned in that piece have sent their congratulatory messages to the Villa to commemorate the President’s return, with victory rallies organized in one or two states.
Snakes are not domestic animals and they are very able to help the housekeeper scare the rodents away. But they could easily turn on the keeper, when the grass on the outside becomes too grey for comfort.
