|
BILL AGAINST DICTATORS: SELECTIVE OR UNIFORM BAN? SHOULD IT APPLY TO OBASANJO? By
It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favour of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion. ------Ralph Inge (1860-1954) One of the tunes you will hear Nigerians sing mostly is The Cry Of Lost Opportunities. It’s a hymn. They will tell you how they were so rich at one time, the country’s leader had to ‘confess’ that his country had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it. You will be inundated with stories about a time not too long ago when Nigerians used to be the toasts of London, New York and Washington societies and how that country is today a beggar nation. Of course, all this wouldn’t be complete without interspersing these usually eloquent laments with elegies of lost Nigerian brains overseas, powering foreign economies; about lost revenues, lost policies, lost discipline, lost legacies and lots and lots of meaninglessly lost lives. Need we repeat that every country that gets done unto what is done and is still being done to Nigeria must bleed? But when you bleed this long, and this hard, what happens to the body politic?
Answers do not come easy even as most of us think IT IS A LOST CAUSE, though a great many still find it difficult to say. Everywhere around the nation and abroad though, the story is being told at different levels, with different tones through diverse mediums. Yet, our countless deadlines for answers creep past unnoticed - the nation driven a thousand kilometres more aground. But the real lost opportunities do happen higher; they happen with authority. Indeed, it is only by way of example can we even refer to the above bill presently before our National Assembly. Here we are, presented with the opportunity of a lifetime – the opportunity to change the whole face of Nigerian politics forever and only for the better. But the question is - are we really aware of the opportunities being pushed our way by the mere fact that the bill is right there at the Assembly? Yes, we are aware, of course. We know that by the time the tin gods of Nigerian politics swarm the Olympus of The National Assembly, and let lose their ‘settlement demons’ in the forms of faceless operators and their bags of ‘gold’, we can only acknowledge in knowing glances and well-shaken heads, cringing in our own little corners of the world. We may have collectively plunged a new depth in cynical aplomb; you never can tell.
But is there a chance for good news and REAL nation-saving opportunities? We suggest there are. And this is the purpose of this message to Nigerians everywhere, including all those who sit today as members of the National Assembly. We are tired of angling for lost opportunities; we would rather claim one and we would rather do that with every true Nigerian alive. After all, it is not something we’ve ever done, so the question of whether or not we will benefit from it has not arisen, at least in the context of direct experience. But the fact that it’s been tried elsewhere successfully; that people have actually seized their opportunities to make their country better is too overwhelming to ignore. What should stick in our minds right now is the chance for us to have TRUE AND SUSTAINABLE DEMOCRACY. Anybody questioning the fact that we have not as yet installed true democracy must be living in another world. Yes, we have the semblance of democracy, but it’s so abridged that sometimes you wonder why they bothered to describe it as change. Of course, Soyinka hit the nail on the head when he’s reported as saying one of the main reasons for the slow pace of economic and social reform in Nigeria is the fact that military collaborators still hold influential roles in government at all levels, including Obasanjo’s cabinet.
The real chance here is that this bill presents us an opportunity to cleanse the Augean stables. It is a chance to start afresh – a chance to redirect our democracy into the sacred hands of the civil populace, a chance for the people to claim back their lost power and do with it as they truly wish, without being hamstrung by a Hobson’s choice or the bogey of a wayward military. It is a chance for us to re-establish the true Nigerian grundnorm and declare the supremacy of a Civil Constitution. It is an opportunity for us to toss at least part, if not the major part, of the Baggage of Shame we’ve been carrying from the first day we were subjected publicly to the ridicule of martial tunes. And what shall yet prove the biggest legacy of this move is the true opportunity it shall offer our citizens in the Armed Forces for genuine professionalism. As we speak, the Chief of Army Staff is doing his best to dispel rumours of a coup. It’s all part of this problem and until the civil populace realise that it is in their hands to really return the Armed Forces to true professionalism, these sort of rumours, these sort of problems would remain the norm. We must recognise that each of these significances mentioned above can in themselves spawn a million discussions, but right now we should only imagine it to see its worth streaming down our consciousness.
SELECTIVE OR UNIFORM BAN? This question must be resolved before we embark on this exercise. If our aim/objective/principle is to reclaim our democracy and the supremacy of the Constitution it should not matter to us whose horse is gored. If justice must be done, it must be done uniformly. Of course, we have experienced the politics of ‘banning’ and ‘un-banning’ courtesy of the same Babangida, one of those well-known former dictators evidently gunning to rule Nigeria again. Among him and his cohorts, the simple logic is if Obasanjo, one of them and a former dictator as well could make it to Aso Rock, backed by the cash and guile of the dictatorial establishment, why can’t another dictator? Why not a Gowon, Buhari or Babangida or indeed an Ojukwu? No matter the pros and cons of the arguments for and against the idea of a Babangida presidency, the question the people must not lose sight of should be and should remain how Babangida and his class of fellow dictators, serving or out of government, benefits/benefited the nation and her people. If there are benefits, we do not suppose that they would be worthy of being pointed at by any genuine observer of the Nigerian scene. These ‘benefits’, if we may call them that, only ‘survive’ because they benefit the class that have established them in the first place. At the end of the day, it is the Nigerian people that bear the cost of the collective burden of dictatorial rule; a burden still being borne today in the form of the recycling of old and failed hands and ideas packaged as solutions to our contemporary problems. The system has to be fed by men spawned by the system; so to expect Obasanjo, Babangida, Gowon, Buhari or indeed Ojukwu to do otherwise, is to be naïve. None out of this class can positively turn around our nation’s fortunes – their best bet Obasanjo is there now and perfectly making a hash of the job. What else can they offer? What can we expect from the other apex siblings of one systemic mother?
Perhaps, at this stage, it would be pertinent to remind ourselves, by way of thematic history the role of these men in the affairs of our nation. What immediately becomes clear and in stark relief is that Nigeria has always suffered GREATEST politically, economically and socially when these men of the establishment fight amongst themselves for control. The main crises of survival have never been between the Nigerian people. It has always been between apex figures in the establishment who, one way or another, drag the common people into it.
Think of the Western Regional Crisis of 1966 and its culmination in the Nigerian Civil War. The rudiments of these two crises encapsulate the principle we are about to espouse – which is that they have always been personality wars imposed on the rest of us as national crises. On the civilian level, it was a personality clash between the Sardauna and Awolowo. Of course, in a democracy clashes on the level of personality and ideas are inherent, it was the extent to which this was taken that unhinged it. The attempt by the Northern-led government to stifle the opposition and impose the ‘NEPU Treatment’ can only be interpreted as democracy devouring itself. Little wonder that by the time the military came for the keys of the nation, poor Nwafor Orizu and his hapless senate were already calling on them to pick it up!
The immediate result of this was that a new class was created within the establishment – the military class. This class stumbled into government and proceeded immediately to do its own impression of a class devouring itself. Imagine the meaningless losses of the 1966 coup and counter coup. Imagine the loss of ordinary lives during the pogroms. When all is said and done, the civil war, in real human terms, started as a personality war between Lt Col Ojukwu and Lt Col Gowon. By the time they finished with us in 1970, we were asking for peace at any cost.
Yet, God smiled on us. He blessed our country with so much wealth as though he was enjoining us to rebuild what we have destroyed. The Gowon reconstruction project was a sham in spite of all pretensions to the contrary. True, we built the flyovers and the high rises, but these were only concentrated in certain cities. What it really did was to institutionalise corruption and ‘militocracy’. Gowon’s governors became tin gods and ran riot, he vacillated on his promise to return the country to democracy and by the time Joe Garba and his colleagues were inundating us with the martial tunes once more, he was cooling his heels in Kampala, putting it down to the personality conflict between him and Murtala.
But the crisis did not come with Gowon’s overthrow; it came with the death of Murtala on February 13 1976. By some handiwork of fate, the Murtala that took over government was far different from the rabid ethnic chauvinist that led the counter-coup of 1966. Indeed, he should have been the successor to Ironsi, were it not that he was still too far a junior officer, being a Major. In reality, it was a case of Gowon being a compromise candidate – though a Christian, he was a northerner. But his unending battles with Murtala, who was the de facto head of the northern wing in the Nigerian Army, finally became his undoing. That Murtala became a different man as he took the reins of government is one of the most cherished ironies in our national history. That was why his death touched every nerve of our nation - he was a ray of hope of sorts, cut short by establishment infighting. What immediately came to the fore was the personality conflict between Murtala and Gowon. The latter was immediately accused officially of masterminding the coup from England. The ‘neo-colonialist’ angle was well played out at the time. But at the end of the day, what we should be taking away here is the fact that Gowon and Ojukwu are today well rehabilitated, well entrenched members of the same Nigerian establishment. They are the survivors; those who died from the vile effects of these negative personality clashes are the losers. For the rest of the nation, the nightmare continues.
Obasanjo’s first coming was nothing short of the establishment doing another Gowon, but this time more legitimately. Though he was the compromise candidate, he was also the second in command to Murtala as the Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters and as a Southerner and a Yoruba was immediately a beneficiary of the need to ‘atone’ for the fate of Brigadier Ogundipe after Ironsi. More importantly, Murtala’s legacy could not be easily jettisoned because they were popular with the general populace, even as the establishment hated them. It was important for the government to give a semblance of unity against the ‘neo-colonialists’ who have allegedly eliminated Murtala. So, Obasanjo was their best bet.
But Obasanjo came at a cost to the people. That cost was the steady jettisoning of Murtala’s idealism. Though he had committed them before his death to a return to democratic rule, the military and civilian wing of the establishment knew the real power struggle was beyond the fanfare of the so-called democracy. Indeed, to underscore the powerlessness of the first Obasanjo leadership, we may note the propelling of the young Lt Col Shehu Yar’Ardua to Obasanjo’s old post of second in command but, in reality, he was the king behind the throne. The establishment promptly went back to its old ways. Amidst subtle establishment-sponsored ‘mini-denunciation’ of Murtala’s ‘harshness’ and ‘rigidity’ the old members of the establishment who suffered Murtala’s purge were soon bagging new government jobs and those with no jobs got contracts. The nation was back to the old routine. People like Babangida were sitting pretty at the Supreme Military Council, the apex ruling body, despite his controversial role in the mission to apprehend Dimka after the coup. Abacha was Brigade Commander in Port-Harcourt; Buhari was governor in Borno etc. The personality wars during this era didn’t concern Obasanjo for obvious reasons. He wasn’t the one with the power. The real powers were content to leave him at his effectively ceremonial post while they slugged it out amongst themselves. The personality conflict between Yar ‘Ardua and Danjuma was palpable and also that between Danjuma and Babangida, but the consequence of these wars were not to be witnessed nationally until after the ‘interregnum’ of the ‘Second Republic’.
The Buhari/Idiagbon regime that came in on the last day of 1983 was facilitated by Yar ‘Ardua. He succeeded in putting in a fellow Katsina man, Buhari, as Head of State but after the debacle of the Second Republic, Murtala’s legacy was still proving too hard to ignore. There was therefore the need to find a Yoruba second in command, but more importantly was the need to ensure that power remains with the ‘North’. The search zeroed in on Tunde Idiagbon, a Yoruba from the North. By now, Babangida had been wheeled in as the counterweight in the form of the Army Chief of Staff. But while a deadly three-way personality war developed between the three men at the top, what other apex members of the establishment missed at this time was the growing ambition of Babangida. Here was a man who had held positions in every army position that enabled him influence the career of a lot of young officers. Some of those officers, including Sani Abacha soon found themselves in the hollow corridors of real power by having some of the most strategic jobs in the army; waiting for the right opportunity to propel their man to the top. That opportunity came when it became glaring to the establishment that Idiagbon was taking his job too seriously. It didn’t help that the regime had grown dictatorial and anti-human rights. One day, Buhari just woke up to find Babangida’s boys pointing their guns in his ears and their boss riding on the wave of popular discontent to power.
At this juncture, it would be right to stop this thematic history of our nation’s history. This is because the Babangida period to the present day is so intertwined with the lives of so many of us who are conscious enough to recount it today that we are not likely to do justice to it within the limitations of this topic. At another level, we may say that this period is still very fresh in the minds of any thinking Nigerian that it bears no repeat. Suffice it to say, we shall be dealing with this in a fuller analysis at some other time.
So, let’s all relax and consider the touchiest of the issues here which is whether such a law should apply to Obasanjo. Let us quickly put our cards on the table, our hands on our hearts and declare that our utmost wish is that the law apply uniformly, plus or including Obasanjo, Ojukwu, former military governors or administrators, including civilians who held such posts under a military regime. We also expect that other forms of legislation shall deal with civilians who had held very high ranking or sensitive positions with the regimes at different levels. Having said this, let’s now proceed to explain our reasons why it should apply to Obasanjo as a person.
SHOULD IT APPLY TO OBASANJO? If the Obasanjo presidency had truly been the shinning success his spin doctors are making out, there would have been a case, even though a limited one, for such a law to take effect sometime after his expected re-election, so as to give him more time to consolidate the good works he may have started. But, that is not the case. If anything his government has exhibited the most acute case of myopia instead of vision, it has continued along with the systemic condonation of corruption and parasitic patronage because he himself is a product and beneficiary of that unproductive system. In every aspect of national life and aspiration, we lag behind so badly that even original backers of Obasanjo within the international community are only stopping short of calling him an embarrassment. Increasingly, his government buries its head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich while exposing its thinking parts! In real terms, it would be difficult for him to point convincingly to a CLEAR success story, either in terms of idea or implemented policy. Let’s not be deceived, two years is enough time to reap some benefits. If they are not coming now, they are unlikely to come ever, as far as the system in which he serves and in which he’s head, titular or otherwise, remains.
On a personal level, Uncle Sege should bear no grudges. As far as we are concerned, he’s the luckiest southerner alive, the luckiest Yoruba man and may still prove to be the luckiest Nigerian, depending of course, on what he does next. Nigeria and Nigerians have done so much for him and he has also done a lot. He had led men to the battlefield against brothers so he understands sacrifice. This time the sacrifice required is not in the nature of guns and bullet – it’s a democratic one; it is one asking him to honour the pledge he made sometime at the beginning of his campaign not to seek a second term. Of course, it may turn out that he really didn’t say that; but whatever the position, it’s a sacrifice worth making for the nation that has taken him this far. So, of what value to democracy would be a sitting President, if he cannot come out to Nigerians to ask their endorsement of what him and his team think is a great job? Are we not in danger of the accusation we lay at the doors of the establishment – the accusation of abridging democracy, in whatever way we look at it? We say no. What we are talking about is a nation RECLAIMING democracy not a case for an extension of an unproductive system. Uncle Sege should be the first to acknowledge that good intentions are not enough. The nation had kept faith with him this far, let him do everyone the favour by handing over the reins back to the people and Nigeria shall forever be grateful to him. Let him save the nation the trauma of another establishment slugfest, the kind we see now looming. We’ve had enough of this brinkmanship; we want our nation back, sane and intact, at least, as we still know it now. If Obasanjo has any point to prove to those who have doubted him, to those who have been stumbling blocks to his desire to be a shinning success, let him prove that point by sacrifice. Let him do what he did with the Oputa Panel; let him put himself forward as a non-beneficiary of that bill. Let him declare himself its first willing victim. And once the uniformity of application is agreed, let him champion the passage of the bill. We say Nigeria and Nigerians would paint his name in everlasting gold.
Even if this does not change the system markedly, Obasanjo would still have redeemed himself and would be recorded by history to have genuinely left Nigerians to determine their fate, not the sham of a handover he did with the Shagari crowd. All that he has to do is to announce that he does not wish to seek re-election and support the bill to ensure that Nigerians would not be saddled with another dictator when he’s gone. His job as he must understand it is to take his systemic siblings with him and bequeath us some well-deserved fresh air. For Nigerians, this is your chance. Seize the day! Start today by intimating your political representatives at all levels with your views regarding this issue. Let them know what you think. Most importantly, LET YOUR NATIONAL LEGISLATORS KNOW! This is just the beginning of the battle to AVOID the contrived crisis looming again in our national horizon. If you are a patriot or a scoundrel, this is the moment of truth. Kenn Emetulu Coordinator (Special Duties) NIGERIAN CONSULTATIVE FORUM INTERNATIONAL
September, 2001
|