The statement credited to Senator Wilson Ake represents for me everything wrong with Nigerian politics. At a function organized to drum up support for the 2019 governorship ambition of distinquished senator Magnus Abe, he was quoted to have stated as follows:  “in 2015 APC played a match with formidable PDP and benched its lionel messi. In 2019 we shall play another match and the coach is saying that we shall bench lionel messi again”. Will that happen? We shall not bench messi again. Rather we shall change the  coach”.
The reference to messi and coach was an allusion to Magnus Ngei Abe and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, two men for whom I have great respect. Both men, have contributed immensely to my political experience and professional development. I am very grateful and would forever remain grateful. I have deliberately refused to make any comment on the balkanization of the party into interest groups for reason of how close both men are to me. But at moments like this, truth ought to be removed from a non-transparent bushel.
For the avoidance of doubt, I have nothing against the part of the statement with the ascription of ‘lionel messi’. It is chiefly a matter of political perception. There is nothing wrong in supporting a particular candidate. No one should be crucrified for daring to do so. We are human beings and the right to association is deemed inalienable under various charters of the United Nations and that of other regional organizations and independent nations  including the constitution of Nigeria.
That said, the reference to ‘changing the coach’ is most uncharitable coming from Senator Wilson Ake. Amaechi showed great respect to his elder brother (the late G.U Ake of blessed memory) and himself. Against the wish of the orashi people, Amaechi supported his candidature for the great respect he had for his late elder brother (God bless his soul). He has little or no political currency as at that time. The innuendo of ‘changing coach’ is a political strike over the bar. It is an attempt to ‘eat a squirrel while it is still alive’. No politician including the author of that quote will tolerate that.
Magnus Abe is very qualified to be governor. There is nothing wrong if anyone supports him. Rotimi Amaechi as political leader is not of ethereal origin either. He is a human being with preferences and feelings as well. He also has a right to support whom ever he wills to be governor and peddle every influence there is to ensure that that person emerges. Politics is a question of interest after all.
But to talk about changing coach is to say the least, most disrespectful especially by someone like Ake who was a major beneficiary of Amaechi’s unsparing political magnanimity. I do not see how throwing insults on the leader who has been the rallying point of a banqueath of political burden and benefit sharing in the APC would further anybody’s ambition. It is a political sin. One that calls for circumspect for its propensity to bequeath a culture of desperation which leaves the impression that friendship can be destroyed on the altar of ambition and political preferences.
Rather than indulge in such show of  braggadocio, the former senator would have called for the entrenchment of internal democracy within the party. I support a free and fair primary and the right of every party man and woman to participate in the choice of choosing who flys the party’s flag. But will never support the disrespectful ascription of innuendoes to the minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
I must add also that the tug of war currently brewing in the APC serves nobody’s interest. The earlier we realize this, the better for all of us. ‘Nobody plays sports in a burning bush’.
My one cent of advice!
