Of Table Dusters And ADC ‘Rescuers’, By Olusegun Adeniyi

Richard Lederer, an Octogenarian linguist dubbed as ‘the wizard of wisdom’, once wrote about how George Orwell (19th century English writer renowned for such novels as ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’) “warned us that dishonest language is a drug that can put conscience to sleep.” We see a lot of that today in Nigeria, especially within the political arena. There is perhaps no better proof than the video clip of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura currently doing the rounds on social media. What the former Nasarawa State Governor said in the video is as dishonest as it is remarkable in its naked servility.

Describing himself as “an incurable loyalist, a committed party member,” Al-Makura declared with stunning candour: “If Mr President calls me today as a leader of this country and tells me ‘Almakura, I want you to come to my office and dust my table every Monday. That’s what pleases me, that is what I feel will make this party and this country progress.’ I can assure you I will make it a date that every Monday, at that appointed time, I will come and dust the table and go and I will be satisfied I have done what the President wants.” In my piece, ‘Sycophancy Nigeria Unlimited’ last October, I rehashed the admonition by George Kunz in his book, ‘The Paradox of Power and Weakness’, for President Bola Tinubu. It will still serve him: “When my authority inspires sycophancy, I have no followers, only resentful manipulators of my power for their own selfish gain.”

True loyalty to a president, or anybody in a leadership position for that matter, involves principled support, constructive criticism when necessary, and the courage to speak truth to power. What Al-Makura offers is performative submission that prioritises personal favour over institutional integrity. It is loyalty not to the country or constitution, but to the ego and whims of the president. Such a slavish declaration is a disturbing phenomenon that has plagued our political landscape for decades: the transformation of public servants into palace courtiers.

If we take Al-Makura’s table-dusting disposition as a metaphor for the political situation in Nigeria, it is easy to understand the retrogression of our country. Here is an educated and accomplished 72-year-old man, reducing himself to a domestic servant in the name of political loyalty. By confusing subservience with service, Al-Makura mistakes the president’s personal comfort for national progress. This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what public service is all about. When capable individuals choose to become table-dusters, everyone loses, including the leaders who most need honest counsel.

What makes this even more troubling is how such behaviour corrodes the entire system. When leaders are surrounded by eager table-dusters, they lose touch with reality. They receive no meaningful feedback, no challenging perspectives and no honest assessments of their policies. They inhabit echo chambers where their smallest preferences are elevated to matters of national importance. The result is poor governance, as is evident today in Nigeria. Meanwhile, history is littered with examples of how sycophancy destroys nations. From the Roman Empire to more recent autocracies, the pattern is always the same: leaders surrounded by yes-men make increasingly poor decisions until the system collapses under the weight of their own delusion.

One must ask: What drives intelligent people to such degrading behaviour? Often, it is the mistaken belief that personal subservience guarantees access, influence, or protection. But history also reveals that such relationships are fundamentally unstable. Sycophants who build their careers on personal loyalty most often find themselves discarded when the political winds shift. Al-Makura wants to be the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and for that, he is ready to play ‘Clarus and Gringory’ in Aso Rock. But he must be a poor student of recent history. Just two months ago, a certain Abdullahi Ganduje was telling Nigerians that the 2027 general election was already a done deal for Tinubu because ‘there is no vacancy’ in Aso Rock. I am sure he is singing a new song now. I will not be surprised if Ganduje joins Abubakar Malami, Babachir Lawal and others who seek to ‘rescue’ our country from the current administration before the 2027 general election.

In Nigeria today, sycophancy is creating a culture where merit is secondary to loyalty tests. And when public officials see themselves as servants of the president rather than servants of the people, they lose sight of their true mandate. They become focused on pleasing their patron rather than serving the public interest. When competent individuals are passed over for positions because they are deemed insufficiently obsequious, such a government cannot deliver public good.This is how we end up with policies that make no sense except as demonstrations of loyalty to the leader.

Since Al-Makura has delivered his ‘manifesto’ for the APC chairmanship, we must ask a few salient questions. What does the table-duster gain from his weekly ritual? A moment of recognition? A sense of importance? The illusion of being close to power? These are poor substitutes for the dignity that comes from principled service and the satisfaction of contributing meaningfully to national development. But let’s even look beyond Al-Makura to the bigger picture. That Nigeria is in a bad place is no longer in doubt. What worsens the matter is that whichever direction you look, you don’t see anything to inspire hope. Not even from the new political ‘special purpose vehicle’ being established ahead of the 2027 general election.

Last week, the structure of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was taken over by some politicians from other parties, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar—who contested the 2019 and 2023 general elections on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket—as well as his 2019 running mate and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate at the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi—a former Governor of Anambra State. With former Senate President David Mark as the interim National Chairman and former Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, as interim National Secretary, two former governors, Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna State) and Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers State) are among the leaders.  

That there is no courage of conviction by members of this new coalition and that they offer nothing new has been revealed, albeit unknowingly, by former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido in his interview with WEEKEND TRUST, last Saturday. “There is no rule of law in PDP. So, I will stay behind and fight,” Lamido said to explain why he would not leave the main opposition party that was in power for 16 years until 2015, yet he also added this: “I am hand in gloves with the ADC. I am with them…The ADC by its own composition is almost 90 percent PDP between 1999 and 2004. The people in ADC are brothers and sisters because they have been together.”

There are several things to unpack about this brotherhood and sisterhood that is positioning itself to ‘rescue’ and ‘save’ Nigeria, but that is not for today. If the ADC membership is 90 percent of the PDP from which the APC ‘rescued’ Nigeria in 2015, what does that tell us? Stripped of all pretensions, the political landscape in Nigeria is strewn with table dusters who then become ‘rescuers’ the moment they lose the access that means so much to them. In his inimical way, Senator Shehu Sani has summed this up in one X (formerly Twitter) post: “From 1999 to date All politicians want to RESCUE NIGERIA from fellow politicians.”

Even if only for optics, is it not curious that a political structure that seeks to ‘rescue’ our country offers no programmes or policies? Beyond the banality of ‘fighting corruption’ that we hear from some of them, Nigerians are yet to be told of what these politicians would do differently if they gain power in 2027. But then, it is difficult to blame them since the current APC (which most of them also helped to cobble together to ‘rescue’ Nigeria from President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015) offers nothing either. The only allure of the party is that being in power at the centre, it dispenses patronage. Mostly to table dusters!

Meanwhile, there are interesting developments within the ADC that make its future uncertain. The two most prominent figures in the new coalition, Atiku and Obi, still retain the membership of their ‘old’ parties, PDP and LP respectively. That presupposes that each is gambling on getting the ticket in which case if that fails (and it will, for one of them), there must be an ‘exit’ strategy. But the bigger issue is the character of the ADC platform. In endorsing the coalition’s takeover, the ADC chairman in Plateau State, Mrs HanatuGagara, said something instructive. “This party started about 20 years ago, and until recently, only one person, the former National Chairman ADC Ralph Nwosu, has been funding and taking care of the party.” The less said about the absurdity of establishing political parties as business ventures, the better.

While we wait for our ‘rescuers’ and ‘saviours’ in the ADC to get their act together so we can have a serious opposition platform to challenge the incumbent president in 2027, and we desperately need one, Nigerians must also begin to reject the APC table-dusting syndrome in all its manifestations. True patriots serve their country, not their president’s furniture. They maintain their dignity and integrity even in the face of pressure to conform. They understand that the greatest service they can render to any leader is honest advice, not sycophantic submission. Our democracy will only mature when we learn to distinguish between service and servility. Until then, we will continue to be governed by leaders who mistake the sound of dusting tables for the applause of a grateful nation.

2025 Teens Career Conference!

While cultivating healthy relationships helps to define expectations from others, setting appropriate boundaries allows for mutual respect and provides the platform for such engagements without negative consequences. That’s the thrust of the 2025 edition of the RCCG TEAP Teens Career Conference, which is scheduled to be held on Saturday, 16th August. Started in 2016, the objectives of the annual conference include teaching the teenagers to take responsibility for their future; firing their imagination through interaction with accomplished professionals in the society; making them realize that no matter the odds, they can reach their goals and getting them to understand that God still intervenes in the affairs of men. 

With Pastor Evaristus Azodoh as chief host and participation strictly by online registration, speakers include Mr Fela Durotoye, a renowned leadership expert, motivational speaker, business strategist, and nation builder who has mentored thousands of young people across the continent. Durotoye’s notable impact in values-driven leadership includes leading the celebrated ‘Mushin Makeover’ project in 2009, which saw over 2,000 volunteers transform one of Lagos’ poorest communities. The First Lady of Anambra State, Mrs Nonye Soludo, a dynamic entrepreneur and wellness influencer, will also be speaking. A former CEO of Healthy Living Foods Ltd—the establishment behind the better-known Royal Foods, Mrs Soludo has for years been using her ‘Nonye’s Healthy Living’ to share expert advice, motivational content, and practical tips on nutrition, fitness, mental well-being, and holistic health. Another invited speaker is Adebowale (Debo) Olujimi, Group Managing Director of Emadeb Energy Services Limited. Quiet, yet impactful, Debo—who has carved a niche for himself for his strategic thinking in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas industry—is a strong believer in hard work, and national transformation through enterprise.

Although a Christian programme, the conference is open to youth of all religious backgrounds—mostly undergraduates—from Abuja and environs. Previous speakers include former Cross River State Governor, Mr Donald Duke, UBA Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu, wife of then Vice President, Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo, ace comedian, Mr AtunyotaAlleluyaAkpobome, popularly known as Ali Baba, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Deputy Governor, Mrs Serah Alade, former Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) chair, Mrs IfuekoOmoigui-Okauru, former PENCOM Director General, Ms Chinelo Anohu, Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD), Nollywood actress, Linda Ejiofor (who was join by her husband, Ibrahim), wife of the late former Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Mrs Charity Shekari. Others are Executive Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil, Mrs Folorunsho Alakija, former House of Representatives Speaker, Hon Yakubu Dogara, former Deputy European Union Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Robert Young, former Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi as well as Dr Helen Paul, Messrs Samson Itodo, Seun Onigbinde, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Chinedu Azodoh, J.J. Omojuwa and Mrs Omowale David-Ashiru.

The theme for this year’s conference is, ‘Cultivating Healthy Relationships; Setting the Right Boundaries.’ Attendance is by online registration at rccgteapteens.ng.

• You can follow me on my X (formerly Twitter) handle, @Olusegunverdict and on www.olusegunadeniyi.com