The trouble with Abati’s phone -By Max Adeleye

Reuben Abati

Tantrum, insults, vituperations, attacks and diatribes of higher magnitude have continued to trail the recent emotion-provoked epistle coined by the immediate past Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati titled “My Phones No Longer Rings”.

In the article, Abati’s attempt to explain to the general public some misgivings people had about him when he was in office seems to have boomeranged as most of his enemies subjectively refused to be convinced. They said Abati derailed when he got power. They said Abati had no excuse because according to enemies against Abati, he (Abati) out rightly forgot his constituency when he held the crest of power.

The Abati’s affirmation that 90% of calls he received daily were made to curry either financial or material favours from him or his boss and failure to do what they (callers) needed leads to puerile attacks on him on social media was also described as a failed damage control by his (Abati) critics. These critics said Abati has caused his reputation a great disservice by working with President Jonathan and a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) led government, which he once bashed.

I read all the diatribes and accusations from people mostly the members and chronic supporters of the All Progressives Congress unleashed against Reuben Abati on social media. I must confess these allegations are laughable. The vituperations looks like the ones exhibited by Satan against Jesus Christ. The allegations were characterized by envies and unbridled jealousy.

The mistakes I think Dr. Reuben Abati made when in office was that he publicly poke nosed into political issues while his predecessor, Olusegun Adeniyi did his own poke nosing silently. A smart Man Adeniyi was.

Meanwhile, Reuben Abati was 100% loyal to Goodluck Jonathan (his boss) and the course of his boss while Olusegun Adeniyi was a MOLE for some opposition figures in Yar’Adua’s government. Adeniyi served two Masters-Yar’Adua’ and the opposition figures paying his (extra) bills to extract information from him about the policies and actions of the government he was serving.

Today, Abati is hated by the political enemies of Jonathan because he (Abati) refused to be a MOLE while Olusegun Adeniyi is loved by Jonathan’s political enemies (the two men served same PDP government) because he did a MOLING JOB for them smartly and excellently, well.

To juxtapose, the incumbent Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai told the pubic in his book titled THE ACCIDENTAL PUBLIC SERVANT how his phones stopped RINGING immediately he left office in 2007 as Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT); today, El-Rufai’s PHONES have started ringing in a double fold. El-Rufai was more vilified in 2007 than the way Abati is being abused now.

More also, on Dec 2nd 2012, Mr. Ayo Fayose told some of his aides and myself that no man or woman of high calibre called nor text to wish him a happy birthday on his 52 birthday on November 15 of same year. Fayose said, “I got a CARD which was presented to me by my wife and over 20,000 text messages sent by the common people across the towns and villages of Ekiti State”.

Today, Fayose is back to reckoning. His phones now ring endlessly with no thanks to those that refused to identify with him when he was in the trenches. Consequently, Dr. Reuben Abati, please do not worry yourself, keep moving, your phones will ring again. Everything that has a beginning must have an end in a democracy.

Written by Maxwell Adeleye (maxwell_adeleye@yahoo.com) from Lagos.