Two weeks ago on this page, I underscored the importance of the rehabilitation of the most ubiquitous dinosaur of Nigerian politics, Chief Tony Anenih. Most commentators sunk teeth into the rapprochement between Obasanjo and Atiku, better known as ‘the dance of witches’. Focusing on the witches’ conclave, analysts forgot to read the interconnectedness in political affairs, missing the significance of the flanking maneuver which extended Chief Tony Anenih’s political shelf life. Yar’adua proved himself a most consummate political operator with that move. Anenih enjoys the aura of power, as the ultimate fixer and enforcer.
He was deserted the moment he lost out under Obasanjo; but in writing a letter to Senate to leave Yar’adua alone, the other day, he was killing many birds with a stone: report to his new posting as Yar’adua’s man; announce to the sundry presidential enemies that he has re-discovered his métier at the heart of the smoke-filled, cloak-and-dagger recesses of Nigerian politics; hope the president will re-license him accordingly as fixer-in-chief. Of course, he will build a huge war chest at NPA; woe betides whoever crosses the path of Chief Tony Anenih in the next few months. He will bite with the venom of the black mamba! That is the political outlook for our dear Chief Tony Anenih. I hope no mischievous journalist will ask uncomfortable questions about the hundreds of billions of naira which he husbanded under Obasanjo, just to ensure that we harvested pot holes on Nigerian highways, between 1999 and 2003. But stay tuned, as we used to say, when I worked as a continuity announcer on radio!