Buzz by Olumide Iyanda
Email: oiyanda@yahoo.com Twitter: @mightyng
I have met Senator Daniel Dino Melaye only twice. Incidentally, both meetings were outside Nigeria.
The first encounter was in 2007 at the Edward Radisson Hotel in Mayfair, London during the Nollywood road show organised by the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). All we did was exchange greetings. Our second meeting was in May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Mr. Melaye bumped into me as he was entering the Nigerian Pavilion managed by the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC).
He was at both events in his capacity as chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information. I am not sure he added much value to both events in terms of networking, production development or artistes’ welfare but his larger than life character made some impact on those who had even the briefest of contact with him.
The London road show took place while the then Speaker of the House of Reps, Patricia Etteh, was facing allegation of spending N628million on the renovation of her official residence and that of her deputy, Babangida Nguroje, and the purchase of 12 official cars. Melaye was an unrepentant supporter of Etteh back then and was one of the characters seen on national TV throwing chairs when the crisis came to fisticuffs. The man who represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal constituency of Kogi State made no secret of his sympathy for Nigeria’s first female federal Speaker. When other men shouted at her, Melaye and his group carried her shoulder high. Etteh eventually lost the battle, was forced to resign as Speaker and Oladimeji Sabur Bankole was chosen as her replacement.
With Etteh out of the way, Melaye soon launched what he described as a campaign to clean the House of its battered image. In 2009, he crossed swords with former Chief Whip, Emeka Ihedioha, and Majority Leader, Tunde Akogun, accusing them of mismanaging funds approved by the House for the celebration of 10 year of democracy in Nigeria and retreats for members. Melaye announced Ihedioha’s political obituary, accusing him of pocketing N150 million. After boasting that he had the signature of more than 200 members to bury the latter, Melaye later turned around to apologise for embarrassing the House.
Many suspected back then that the man Melaye was really after was Bankole.
In June 2010, a group called “The Progressives”, led by Melaye, accused Bankole of mismanaging N9billion of an N11billion budget for the House of Representatives from 2008 to 2009. Just like it happened in the Etteh era, the matter degenerated into a free-for-all on the floor of the Green Chamber. Melaye and his co-crusaders were beaten and their clothes torn by their colleagues. Spokesperson for the House, Eseme Eyiboh, confirmed that minimum force was used on the troublemakers to get them out of the National Assembly complex.
The House immediately announced Melaye’s suspension. Also suspended were Independence Ogunewe, Solomon Awhinawi, Austin Nwachukwu, Hon. Abba Adamu, Gbenga Oduwaiye, Kayode Amusan, Gbenga Onigbogi, Bitrus Kaze and Doris Uboh. With Melaye out of the way, Bankole’s attention shifted to foes in other places like former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel.
Reprieve came Melaye’s way when the court in December 2010 ordered his reinstatement along with five others. All allowances due them from the date of their suspension in June of that year were also ordered to be paid. They were initially prevented from resuming when the Sergeant at Arms and policemen barred them from entering the National Assembly Complex but threat of contempt of court made the leadership of the House tow the path of wisdom.
It was an unrepentant Melaye that returned to the Green Chamber. He accused the equally unyielding Bankole of refusing to obey the order that their allowances be paid.
That wasn’t the only fight he picked during that period. Melaye also challenged the convention in Kogi Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which states that members are to get just one shot at the House of Reps. When he lost at the party primaries he quickly defected to the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). His loss at the April 9, 2011 National Assembly election did not come as a surprise to many.
He, however, made sure he left the sixth National Assembly with a bang. Faced with the prospect of not collecting all the N120million accumulated allowance during the period for which he was suspended, Melaye led others to raise fresh allegations of N10biilion unauthorised loan taken by Bankole on behalf of the House. That was what finally did the ex-Speaker in.
Melaye reportedly collected his accumulated allowances, leaving Bankole to answer questions on the allegations of financial recklessness levied against him beginning with a N2.3billion car purchase scam initiated by lawyer Festus Keyamo in 2008. Bankole was eventually arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and arraigned before an Abuja Federal High Court. Melaye celebrated his victory over the former Speaker by posting a picture of his arrest on Facebook with the message: “Victory of evil over truth is temporal and evaporative.”
Out of the National Assembly, the former students’ union leader refused to leave the public space. Social media became the preferred platform for his brand of crusade, and former President Goodluck Jonathan was ready material for target practice. Of course, GEJ was an easy pick. He was losing popularity faster than a dehydrated patient losing fluid.
Melaye kept his Facebook and Twitter followers entertained with constant attacks on the Jonathan administration. Nigeria under Jonathan, he said, was like a car driven by a drunken driver. Beyond the insults, he added a dash of spirituality by posting prayers on social media on Sundays. How Nigerians bought into it! The clincher was the report of an assassination attempt in April 2013. According to a report he lodged with the police in Abuja, Dino was driving home in his air conditioned car, all windows wound up, and listening to a “cool music” when a range rover sport drove past him and the sound of gunshot followed. That ticked the last box in his qualification as a true opposition politician.
Re-branded, Melaye contested and was declared winner of the National Assembly election held on April 11 to represent Kogi West in the Senate on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). That was when the Shakiti Bobo in him was let loose. With former Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) President, Smart Adeyemi, challenging the result of the election, the man who once led the National Association of Democratic Youths (NADY) introduced the world to designer wines and flashy cars with his imprints on them. The former brawler under Etteh and Bankole become a baller under current Senate President Bukola Saraki. Before that infamous escort of Toyin Saraki to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Melaye had been all over town with pictures taken on Aliko Dangote’s luxury boat. And there is that Abuja mansion said to be worth N1.6billion.
With Saraki as mentor and Dangote as role model, Melaye’s new brand of activism is built around a Bentley and Ferrari lifestyle. The kind of activism that tries to justify a shameful act with the statement: “I also went there (EFCC office) as a private investigator and anti-corruption crusader to find out the extent of the culpability of my sister and friend since she (Mrs. Saraki) was not told the content of the petition against her before her appearance in EFCC.”
It is now “zero dulling” for the Geography graduate of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He told Twitter on May 17 that “My future is guaranteed in Christ Jesus”. Going above and beyond the call of duty for Saraki is double guarantee. There is more to be gained aligning with the leader of the National Assembly than he did fighting Bankole. And that is whath is group, “Like Minds”, is doing for because its survival depends on it.
If I was a betting man – which I am not – I will put my money on Melaye doing a good job on Olamide’s music video or a Nollywood movie. The only fear is another paternity scandal.
