Date: 2014-07-31

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi's public declaration of his membership for the All Progressives Congress (APC) does not come to us as a surprise. Unknown to most Nigerians, Mallam Abdullahi, on Saturday 8th February, 2014 secretly registered as a card-carrying member of the APC in Kwara State. So, contrary to media reports, Mallam Abdullahi actually became a member of APC five months ago, before his disgraceful ouster as Nigeria's Minister of Sports. His latest 'open declaration' was only a facade to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

This development has therefore evidently confirmed the fear of well-meaning Nigerians who raised the alarm then that Mallam Abdullahi was planted in the cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to sabotage the government of Nigeria from within. The good news though, is that he was spotted by the Presidency way before he could do further damage to the government he pretended to be serving.

On national development, there is no worst case of self-indictment than that of a man who served for an upward of four years as a Commissioner of Education to now turn around to lament over the quality of education in the state and by extension, the country at large!

What can Mallam Abdullahi point to as his concrete contributions to the socio-economic development of Kwara State in the last eight years that he presided over critical state and federal ministries and parastatals? How has he impacted on the lives of his people within the period that he held sway as both Minister in charge of the Sports and the Youths ministries?

It is only when Abdullahi and his handlers are able to truthfully answer these questions that he can have the moral high ground to disparage the impressive achievements recorded over the years by the PDP-led Federal Government. Mallam Abdullahi is a liability to any political party that he joins; he is a man with a past that is riddled with controversies, sorrow, blood and tears.

A candid advice to the APC - before Mallam Abdullahi is eventually admitted into the party fold, he should be asked to first purge himself of the vestiges of the past.

He should be asked to seek the forgiveness of families of innocent public school teachers that he sent to their earlier graves as a result of his obnoxious and draconian policies when he was Kwara's Commissioner of Education; he should also be asked to seek the forgiveness of thousands of Kwara youths who now, unfortunately, roam the streets without education as a result of Mallam Abdullahi's stifling educational policies. This will be his minimum precondition to transit from his illusionary world of 'technocracy' to being a full term politician.

And this is why his reversion to the APC does not move us in the Kwara PDP. Mallam Abdullahi is a mere paperweight that cannot boast of a 10-man followership in his ward, let alone the state. His reversion is therefore a typical case of good riddance to bad rubbish!

Rex Kola Olawoye State Publicity Secretary