Ill-Wind that Blows No Good
By
Because Professor Sam Aluko, Chairman of the National Economic Intelligence Commission (NEIC) had put his foot down on the issue, General Sani
Abacha had to call a meeting of all the people involved in the sordid drama. What was the issue? The Works and Housing Minister, Major General Abdulkareem
Adisa, had decided to award a contract for the importation of bitumen at a time when there was bitumen at Kaduna refineries and whose price was far cheaper than
the one Adisa wanted to import.
While the meeting was going on, with Aluko reeling out statistics of how it would not be of economic benefit to Nigeria to import bitumen when we could get it
for cheaper prices at home, Adisa intermittently interjected, albeit in childish manner, "Your excellency, I will not agree to you stopping this contract o!"
And if there was any indication that he was not acting alone, the way Abacha tried to calm him with the terse "Abdulkareem, cool down!" made many at the meeting
to conclude the Head of State was in on the deal too. But while Adisa was playing his pranks and Aluko was blowing grammar, Abacha was scrutinizing the
documents placed on his table and at a point, he raised his head and faced his Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete: "Dan, this was not the figure you quoted for me
last week, or am I wrong?" But even before Etete could offer an explanation, General Abdulsalami Abubakar who was sitting to Abacha's left replied: "Your
excellency, you are not wrong Sir. You cannot be wrong. Even when you are wrong, you are right."
Apparently taken aback by this, Abacha faced Lt. General Oladipo Diya, who also got the message and said: "your excellency, a four star General and the
Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces cannot be wrong, Sir."
The above story illustrates vividly the problem associated with leadership in Nigeria where all the people who are supposed to give sound pieces of advice would
want to make a god out of the person in power. Sycophancy is part of government business here and any leader who believes in the nonsense being told him by
aides who think only of their interest is doomed. Worse still is if the leader in question has an overdose of ego in which case he believes he knows everything.
Such people are good candidates for failure. And if there is anything that convinces me today that President Olusegun Obasanjo is not getting good advice or
perhaps that he is not listening, it is the fact that the House of Representatives could pass the resolution of Tuesday calling on him to resign. I had hint of
it on Monday evening and I have it on good authority that the Presidency knew about it as far back as last Saturday, time enough for them to have made the right
moves to smoothen their relationship with the leadership of the House and save Nigeria this embarrassment.
Anybody who has gone through the so-called motion of urgent national importance cannot but see that it is all politics, from all the "whereases" to the
allegations made on the floor. Assuming it is true that the persons who actually want to buy the Mint are Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi's son and our own
Gbenga Obasanjo, representing the Office of the First Son (which we thought died with Abacha) how does that constitute impeachable offence? There are of course
some serious Constitutional issues but I agree with Mr. Akin Osuntokun that given the timing and the motives, the House resolution is not only in bad taste and
a blackmail, members do not seem to understand the essence of the impeachment clause which they tend to trivialise anytime they have disagreement with the
executive especially over money. This is, however, not to say there are no fundamental problems on the ground.
It is equally interesting that the Presidency would ask the Auditor General of the Federation to audit the accounts of 13 Ministries as if audit report can
uncover kickbacks. In any case, assuming the President is serious, why will he leave out the NNPC which is under him? This is assuming we choose to forget the
Defence Ministry which has been gulping the largest vote? At least in one of their allegations, the House says "for the first time in the history of this
country, the NNPC is being run as a private business enterprises of Mr. President which has brought about the cloudy nature of what the NNPC is earning from the
sale of crude oil". Assuming there is good faith in the proposed audit, should that NNPC not be opened up so that we can ascertain the veracity of that
allegation? But we all know that Professor Jerry Gana's press statement of Tuesday was all politics, intended to divert the attention of the public from the
issue of the day which is still this House resolution.
The question now is: What was the President and his aides doing to avert what is capable of heating up the already overcharged polity? I guess his Mr. Fix-It
and some idle aides would have told him to ignore the House, assuming they did not collect money on the pretext of trying to buy some members. What baffles me
about the people who surround the President, from his media assistants to the enforcers, is that, perhaps taking a cue from their boss, all that they know how
to do is abuse people and impute motives for every genuine criticism even when they are indirectly destroying a President who might actually mean well but who
still has a military hangover. But if they don't know, the international implications of matters like this goes beyond the way we perceive it. The House
resolution, for all that it is worth, has a way of causing more dent on our already battered image, making nonsense of the seemingly endless shuttle diplomacy
of the President.
I must point out that there is so much rascality in the House of Representatives which sees itself more as opposition than an arm of the same government but
without even considering the merit (or lack of it) of their positions on this issue, I expected that the President should have reached out to the Speaker to
iron out whatever differences there might be on the issues. If this had been done we would not have most of the problems we have today when the Executive and
the legislature controlled by the same party now run parallel governments. There would have been nothing wrong if the President had, for instance, at the
weekend phoned Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba and set up a one-on-one meeting with him. In such meeting, he could even abuse the man young enough to be his son since
nobody is there, tell him some home truths but he should at least make his viewpoints known. And there are explanations to make. The budget is not being
implemented, we all know this because even Obasanjo's Ministers complain and most often support the House, albeit clandestinely. Of course the usual refrain is
to say they are thieves but such name-calling begs the issue. What is the point in allocating huge sums of money for specific projects on paper but for the
money not to be released, only to rush in insufficient funds at the last quarter of the year when practically little could be done? This only fuels corruption
to the extent that anybody who has had encounters with members of the diplomatic community cannot but be scandalized about the dirty tales concerning some of
these Ministers and the property they buy abroad. But that is an issue for another day.
That the President has also lost the Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, is a pointer to how bad his human relations can be. I recall that several times in the
last two years, the Senate President has had to call me on account of President Obasanjo, trying to make me understand why I should support the man. He was
always attacking my position, trying to explain why Obasanjo is the best man for Nigeria but the same Anyim is now an enemy to be crushed just because some
people have advised the president that he needs Sam Egwu of Ebonyi State, like all other Governors, in the cold calculations to secure his second term votes.
With this, I will not be surprised if the hawks in the Senate now go for the kill against the President with Anyim looking the other way. Already, he has joined
the chorus of those who believe Obasanjo should not seek re-election, basing his argument on some zoning formula that prescribes that power must go round the
zones at a time it is all but settled that the President will seek re-election.
What the people in authority do not seem to understand is that a government can only succeed in an atmosphere of cooperation, mutual respect and tolerance. No
government, however well intentioned, can succeed in an atmosphere of rancour as we have it today. While I do not agree with the submission of the House, I
think the President has to come down from his high horse and discuss with the National Assembly. I understand there are problems but I don't think it has got to
a stage where the President will have to resign. But our politicians have to help us to ensure we do not scuttle this democracy. And the number one person who
can ensure that is the President himself.
Dec 2002