Nigerian politicians may be adept at opportunism and political cannibalism but one thing they struggle however with is how to be out of power, particularly how to manage the qualified obscurity that being out of power brings. This is largely surprising because to be a politician anywhere is to sign up for a game in which one has to deftly manage being in and out of power. Just as every successful football team has to expertly manage in-game transitions between having the ball and being without the ball, politicians have to do so with or without power in politics. To fail at this basic but most brutal of tasks is to court political disaster.

Mallam Nasir el-Rufai is easily one of Nigeria’s most accomplished politicians. He has been minister of the Federal Capital Territory and governor of Kaduna State, during which periods he spent substantial time in public office and in the public eye. There was also the stint at the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He is one Nigerian politician who feels in his heart of hearts that he has contributed his quota to the Nigerian cause. He is not reluctant to say this. His daring book, Accidental Public Servant, divulges as much.

Defiant, no-nonsense and tough talking, el-Rufai has never been afraid to take tough decisions and get in people’s faces. He showed as much as governor of Kaduna State and minister of the Federal Capital Territory.

He was pencilled to return to the Federal Executive Council under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu after his time as governor ended in Kaduna, yet a combination of last-minute horse-trading and public uproar ruined his chances. Since then, he has been out and about, caught cold by being suddenly shunted out of power, eight years after he returned.

Experience shows that el-Rufai is not good at managing being without power. He spent the period between 2007 and 2015 when he was out of office criticizing successive governments and encouraging Nigerians to gather and throw stones.

Since he missed his ministerial appointment by whiskers, he has threatened to dish to President Tinubu what he calls the “Jonathan treatment”.

Conspiracy against former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by Northern politicians and their Southern counterparts, tagged “Jonathan treatment”, brought about a slew of rather avoidable situations.

First, there was the terribly ineffective and inefficient government and governance of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Under him, security failed and terror advanced substantially with Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen and banditry from Northeast to Northwest, including southern Kaduna, and Plateau, gaining more grounds.

Muhammadu Buhari’s time in office also deformed, distressed, and disgraced the North. His poor performance generated abuse which divided the North and brought the good people of the North into conflict with other parts of Nigeria.

Terrorism was also transferred to the South-East in the period, with the North experiencing a sharp increase in out-of-school children.

Buhari’s time in office also impoverished critical sections of the Nigerian population.

Over the years, Nigeria has struggled badly with a dearth of good leaders and good leadership. This has led to a situation where whoever has led Nigeria in any capacity in the past few years is tarred with the same brush of incompetence and ineptitude. Goodluck Jonathan’s treatment has been neither different nor surprising.

But despite the heinous challenges Nigeria encountered under him, Jonathan was not all bad news. He brought Nigeria peace by promoting democracy, manifesting humility and advancing Nigeria’s image. He developed and enhanced Africa’s democracy and also created a model for other African countries to follow. He moulded Nigeria into a prosperous and peaceful nation. He made spirited efforts to stop Nigeria from being a country steeped in transgender, homosexual and same-sex relationship.

Goodluck Jonathan may have lost the 2015 presidential election, but blood did not flow as planned, routed and projected.

Even current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu now benefits from Goodluck Jonathan’s good model, and the losers are crying and frustrated.

In threatening President Tinubu with the “Jonathan treatment”, el-Rufai clearly misses the point. El-Rufai does not know who he is dealing with. He needs that lesson and precedent. Tinubu is alert and awake to teach him.

Jonathan has moved on with his life, enormous goodwill, and the dignity of being an ex-President.

If he so desires, it will be well within his rights to seek for the office of President and become President again.

Until date, the former President operates on a spiritual law of least effort. He does not need to abuse anybody anyhow, as he enjoys his peace and is at peace with himself.

Thankfully, age is on his side, as he remains the youngest former President alive today in Nigeria.

In a venue of vultures, Jonathan’s unpardonable failure was that he failed to be a vulture. He failed to be a bird of prey, one desperate to prey on Nigerians to retain power, no matter what it takes.

El-Rufai and his co-travellers will never understand the man, the mentality and the model. But there is no doubt that it is what Nigerians need.

*Willie-Nwobu can be reached at ikewilly9@gmail.com.