Obasanjo And the Prophecies of Yomi Tokoya

Under normal circumstances, this column should have been devoted to replying Professor Ibrahim Ayagi's well-publicised public relations stunt for the federal government where he lambasted every northern critic of the administration especially the Arewa Consultative Forum. Though I personally hold the economics professor in very high esteem, I found it irresistible not to respond to some of his misconceptions, misinterpretations, misrepresentations and distortions and to some extent blatant twist of logic of the issues at stake. I would have loved to take the professor point by point not on his views on the ACF (of which I am not a member), but on his strange use, or rather misuse of statistics and the so-called achievements of the regime as he sought to defend the indefensible. But whatever is the case, at least for now, one would just be content to seat at the ringside and watch what promises to be a big thriller in ACF vs Ayagi.

Our discourse today is on no other person but the one and the only Chief Yomi Tokoya who earned his fame or is it notoriety at the Oputa Panel courtesy General Ibrahim Sabo, Major Al-Mustapha and their brilliant lawyers. Yomi Tokoya made history at the panel for being the only petitioner who decided to withdraw his petition but was opposed by those he petitioned. At the end of several hours of his cross-examination, he was literally battered beyond redemption. His double-dealings with the security agencies and General Abacha were exposed on network television. In fact, when someone insinuated that President Obasanjo was also patronising him, there was a quick denial from the Villa. Indeed, when he argued that he is now a born again Christian and a pastor, nobody believed him, not even Reverend Father Mathew Hassan Kukah who lamented how characters like Tokoya could get access to the Villa and even influence government actions and policies.

It was only a few days ago that a good friend of mine gave me a four-page leaflet that was issued by Chief Tokoya way back in 1999 campaigning against the election of Chief Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria. Campaigning under the auspices of Movement for a United and Peaceful Nigeria (MOFAU-A-PEN) of which he was the founder, Chief Tokoya gave twelve reasons why Obasanjo should not have been elected the president. Reading this treatise three years into the Obasanjo presidency, one cannot but begin to wonder what manner of man our Tokoya is. Is he just an ordinary pastor or even a "prophet" who is rejected and unrecognised by his own people? I personally found this document quite prophetic and revealing such that sharing it with you became too tempting. We will allow you to make up your own mind as we produce unedited the Tokoya prophecy for your reading delight and reflection:

GENERAL OBASANJO IS NOT FIT TO BE OUR PRESIDENT IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD-1999 AND FOR EVER

We wish to plead passionately in the name of Almighty God to General Olesegun Obasanjo to withdraw immediately from the "presidential race".

General Obasanjo is A CLOWN AND A JESTER who can never ensure the building of a genuine, true, enduring, durable and lasting democracy in our great nation-Nigeria.

General Obasanjo is a candidate of DUBIOUS FOREIGN INTERESTS

General Obasanjo is a candidate whose MORAL INTEGRITY is questionable and he is not a serious-minded character.

General Obasanjo will not be able to FIX A REALISTIC EXCHANGE RATE FOR OUR NAIRA-because of the dubious foreign interests he represents

General Obasanjo will not be ACCESSIBLE to patriotic and nationalistic Nigerians with Revolutionary IDEAS AND SUGGESTIONS on how to build a new social, economic and political order in our great nation-Nigeria.

General Obasanjo will SELL OUR OIL & GAS to his greedy friends, business associates and relatives.

General Obasanjo will keep globetrotting around the world instead of sitting down at Abuja to find effective solutions to the complex and varied social, economic and political problems facing our great nation-Nigeria.

General Obasanjo and his "Mafia-group" will never be able to revamp the depressed Nigerian economy.

General Obasanjo must accept the fact that the NIGERIAN PRESIDENCY IS NOT FOR SALE TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER WITH BILLIONS OF NAIRA TO DECEIVE AND MANIPULATE THE NIGERIAN ELECTORATE.

If General Obasanjo is "RIGGED INTO ASO ROCK-PRESIDENTIAL VILLA BY ALL MEANS"- we wish to assert categorically that the TRANSITION TO A GENUINE, TRUE, ENDURING, DURABLE AND LASTING DEMOCRACY IN OUR GREAT NATION-NIGERIA-WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE IN THE LONG-RUN. THIS IS THE BITTER TRUTH.

We wish to commend the following quotes from the two greatest books on earth (i.e. the Holy Bible and the Holy Qur'an to General Obasanjo and his few foreign and local sponsors.

"Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever-Wisdom and power are His-He changes times and seasons-He sets up kings and deposes them-He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning-He reveals deep and hidden things-He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him". Holy Bible: Daniel Chapter 2: Verses 20-22.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and discipline". Holy Bible: Proverbs Chapter 1: Verse 7.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding". Holy Bible: Proverbs Chapter 9 Verse 10.

"The way of the Lord is a refuge the righteous but it is the ruin of those who do evil-The righteous will never be uprooted but the wicked will not remain in the land". Holy Bible: Proverbs Chapter 10: Verses 29-30.

"RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION-but SIN IS A DISGRACE TO ANY PEOPLE". Holy Bible: Proverbs Chapter 14: Verse 34.

"FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS-FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN-FOR GOD WILL BRING EVERY DEED INTO JUDGEMENT-INCLUDING EVERY HIDDEN THING-WHETHER IT IS GOOD OR EVIL". Holy Bible: Ecclesiastes Chapter 12: Verse 13 and 14.

"THEN AS FOR THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN ALMIGHTY ALLAH AND HOLD FAST TO HIM-SHALL BE ADMITTED TO HIS MERCY AND HIS GRACE-HE WILL GUIDE THEM UNTO HIMSELF ON A RIGHT PATH". Holy Qur'an: Surah 4: Verse 175."

You will observe that number eight is missing. I do not know what would have been there. Your guess is as good as mine. Nevertheless, what is of great interests are numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 a, b, c, d, e, f, and g. If we begin with "prophecy" four, the naira has never been battered as in the last three years of Obasanjo's presidency. You will recall that the exchange rate of the naira to the US dollar was 80 when he took over in 1999. But as you are reading this piece, the naira is something in the region of 140! Thanks to the Dutch auction system introduced a few weeks ago, our national currency is daily being bastardised. Indeed, even Professor Ayagi has admitted this gross failure of the government to stabilise the naira. As for prophecy five, that does not need any clarification or comment. The president has a know-it-all complex such that he is said to be easily irritated with any view or opinion contrary to his own. He hates to be criticised no matter how objective the criticism is. Next is number four, where privatisation of the national assets was foreseen by Yomi Tokoya three years before it began.

It is prophecy seven that is most revealing and mind-boggling. I cannot remember the exact number of trips he has made abroad as I lost count at 99. But one thing that is very certain is that he spent over one year abroad in his three-year presidency. According to ThisDay, he travelled to the United States alone nine times one of which he went to the State Department to see the Sule Lamido equivalent, Colin Powell! But what are the gains of all these trips? Very minimal if one would be liberal. We were told he was looking for investors and debt relief. But in reality we got only very little in comparison to the millions of dollars spent on the trips. Also look at how Uncle Sam is paying him up in spite of all his subservience! Only the other day the State Department issued a Don't-Travel-to-Nigeria warning to Americans because of insecurity. Poor Obasanjo! This is really a stab in the back.

Number nine is very much related to number four. In fact, this does not require any explanation. It is very evident by the gruesome poverty devastating the country, the growing number of unemployed and underemployed, the army of destitutes parading the streets, the non-payment of salaries and pension benefits to several thousands and many more victims of Obasanjoism. What manner of economic wizardry are we experiencing eight months without budget?

I am also disturbed by number 11. That is ominous, but if you remember how our brand of democracy is being practiced in the last three years, you will not be too surprised by this prediction. Ours has been a democracy without rule of law, democracy without political parties and democracy without respect for democratic institutions like the National Assembly. In fact, the way things are going, we may end up with having a democracy without elections. If the rumours making the rounds were true, we will very soon end up with the Bakassi Option that would provide the platform in which all elections would be postponed indefinitely while our military are slugging it out with the Cameroon. This option is constitutionally backed in the period of national emergencies. This probably explains all the dilly-dallying about the local government elections and the issue of reviewing voters' register and national identity card. As things stand now, and if everything were to go according to the script, the local council elections would also suffer the same fate as the other elections. This is the mother of all Tazarce. Do not be too shocked about the extent to which some people desperately determined to stay in power can go. The presidential fixers are determined to leave some kind of legacy from the Legacy House, the headquarters of Obasanjo Campaign Organisation. They could not think of a better legacy than throwing the nation into chaos and unnecessary war.

We all know the several options that the president can choose from to safeguard and protect democracy as well as improve our living conditions. Not long ago we advised him to opt for the Mandela option as his path of honour, he refused. His courtiers argued that he was not as old as Mandela. But if it were true that a Bakassi Option is being considered, it can only bring doom to this country. It is a pity that Obasanjo is going to be disgraced out of office with nothing to show but only medals for corruption, ineptitude, globetrotting, economic mismanagement and squandering of golden opportunities. It is indeed an irony that Yomi Tokoya could make such a brilliant analysis of the Obasanjo presidency even before it began while a whole professor of economics could not grasp the fundamentals of the government's shortcomings.

August 2002