A decade ago in 1996, the civil society groups in Nigeria, namely NADECO, Afenifere, Civil Liberties and other Human Rights groups were engaged with the fascist dictatorship of the Abacha regime.  So much blood, sweat and tears were shed and by Monday, June 8, 1998, General Sani Abacha “died for Nigeria”.  Kindly spare me, at least, a moment for employing the soon to become popular expression “dying for Nigeria” in this article.

      Today, we as Nigerians, are back to where we were ten years ago battling a civilian regime that possesses all the attributes of dictatorship or a totalitarian approach to governance.  As an individual, I find it difficult to believe that the same man, who voluntarily returned power to the civilian in 1979 as a military head of state and government, would find it difficult as a civilian president to relinquish power when the nation’s constitution makes such a demand imperative.   

Why is Nigeria in this deplorable political situation?

  One would think that after General Babangida’s ignominious departure in 1993 and General Sani Abacha’s extirpation from his devious scheme to make Nigeria his personal empire in 1998, no Nigerian leader of any positive consequences would ever attempt to foist any form of negative or dictatorial policies on the Nigerian people.  But here we are again resisting a carefully orchestrated design to subvert our constitution by a civilian president who was on the political death row of Sani Abacha a few years back.  It could be inferred from the above scenario that Nigerian leaders with military background and training may not be able to lead a developing democracy such as ours.  The rigidity of military training and its command orientation may not be good or flexible enough to accommodate their adjustment to civilian leadership in a young democracy.  Even though General Obasanjo kept the national political faith in 1979, the incidence of a voluntary hand-over to a civilian government in 1979, which was uncharacteristic of military regimes, can now be seen as a mere “flash in the pan”. 

      This write-up wishes to discuss some relevant factors, which are partly psychological and partly social to determining the qualities required for democratic leadership in today’s Nigeria.  All the professional military men who found themselves at the helm of Nigeria’s public and political affairs as heads of state and government since the first coup d’etat of January 15, 1966, namely Aquiyi Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, Mohammed Buhari, Badamosi Babangida, Sani Abacha, and Abdusallam Abubakar have in common, a rigid and command structure orientation as professional military men. Any of them, either killed or removed by some coup d’etat with less than a year or two in office, had his period of rulership typified by dictatorial policies.  By their nature, all military regimes had no need for legislative chambers and therefore no parliamentary legislation would ever take place on any issue of national importance.  They all initially resisted having a constitution written for transfer of power to the civilian governments.  Gowon kept pushing forward the drafting of a new Nigerian constitution until he was overthrown in 1975.  Murtala Mohammed’s tenure of six months was too short a time to infer any clear ideological pattern or style, even though Obasanjo and the rest of the team including Musa Yar‘adua finally prepared the constitution for the Second Republic. 

       For the purpose of this discussion, these military leaders would be described as active-negative leaders considering their military background and their common dictatorial disposition.  Being active-negative suggests that they all had deep awareness of what is right but would rather do what is wrong or unacceptable on many occasions, owing to some flaws in their beliefs coupled with some complex ambition; a product of some institutional advantages which are esoteric in character.  They all belonged to the Officer Corp of the Nigerian army, the membership of which gave them the uncommon privilege (esoteric) to capture political power with violence at their command in Nigeria. 

      None of these past military leaders was a graduate of a regular university within or without Nigeria before holding the privileged position as head of government.  The failure to have been exposed to the civilian studentship life at tertiary institutions prior to attaining political power through the military had its negative effects in terms of social, political, and economic orientations of these individuals.  For an instance, General Gowon went to Britain after losing power as head of state to read political science and received all the degrees in the discipline including a terminal Ph.D. with which he has done virtually nothing ever since its award. 

      General Obasanjo has always had himself surrounded by academic intellectuals, yet it seems he has not benefited much from the abundance of research fellows who have made his Africa Leadership Forum possible.  The situation does not compensate for direct studentship privileges and personal academic life and orientation.  General Badamosi Babangida reflects some calculated but negative brilliance and smartness, but he also was not a university product.  Buhari and Abacha are no exceptions.  As far as we try to know about Abacha’s educational background, no evidence could be deduced that the man had or even completed secondary school education.  He was involved in the execution of all coup d’etats in Nigeria before he finally took over government in person in November 1993.  His brutal regime was reminiscent of Idi Amin in Uganda 1971-1979 and Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa of Central African Republic, 1965-1979. 

      Nigeria, as a developing nation, needs active-positive leaders.  This means that leaders; individuals or collective, who possess some character traits of positive conviction and self-belief in the values of democracy as the best philosophy (at least for now) for the governance and development of the Nigerian state.  Active-positive individuals are adherents of realities and objective truth.  They react positively to legitimate socio-political and economic demands of their people and empathize with the needs and aspirations of the societies they belong.  Examples of active-positive characters and leaders world-wide include:  Mahatma Ghandi, Pandit Nehru, F.D. Roosevelt, J.F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyerere, Obafemi Awolowo,Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa, John Kuffour of Ghana, Indira Ghandi, Sonia Ghandi and Abdoulaye Wade, the current president of Senegal who is well known for his astute advocacy for democracy in Africa..  They were/are all visionaries and believers in leaving this world a better place than they met it.  The Rule of Law remains the watchword for those of them involved in politics of nation building.  They eventually become statesmen before their lives become terminated by nature or by the circumstances in which they ultimately find themselves These are the kinds of elite characters needed by Nigeria of today. 

      All of Nigeria’s former military heads of state including the present “civilian president” Olusegun Obasanjo fall within the active-negative types of leaders.  Although they partially believe in the introduction and execution of democratic values yet they have the tendency to work against it at some point in their convenience because they are not convinced of its continued utility and need.  The definitive and command orientation of their military background militate against their active sensibilities to appreciate fully the positive aspects of common civilian objectives, in this case, the desire of the majority of Nigerians for composite democratic life as their choice for political, social and economic development.  After Obasanjo’s exit, Nigeria will be opportuned to consider a thorough-bred civilian leader whose profile will reflect the common and regular training that tertiary institutions in Nigeria provide at home and their counter parts dispense overseas for a civilian studentship exposure that such potential leaders need to acquire during their formative development and growth.  Attending educational institutions especially at the tertiary level overseas may be an advantage owing to the quality of exposure to social and political life that exists in the individual societies where democratic institutions have become permanently resilient to arbitrary influences and threats.  Visiting nearly all of the capital cities of the developed world after attaining public leadership office would not compensate for the kind of exposure and training required of our elites who wish to lead our country in the future. 

The So-called Third Term Presidency: 

      The political stance of President Obasanjo and his minions about the extension of his tenure by desecrating our constitution in order to effect their unpopular desire is an absolute deception by trickery or sophistry of the Nigerian people.  As a Nigerian, I feel disturbed and ashamed that my president, a Yoruba man (sorry for the ethnic implication) will engage in this kind of elementary approach, by pretension and deceit in running the affairs of Nigeria as an executive president.  As I write, the newly elected lady President of Liberia, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is addressing the joint Congress of the United States.  Any foreign leader who is privileged to address the Congress of the United States enjoys one of the highest respects and recognition that could be accorded any world leader.  Whereas, President Obasanjo has paid more than ten official visits to the United States during his presidency. Whereas when all political and economic factors in Sub-Sahara Africa are considered, Nigeria, its people, and government occupy the continent’s leadership position, yet Nigerian leaders or presidents may not be offered the privilege or honour to address the joint Congress of the United States, the House of Commons or the French National Assembly because our national leaders are guilty of indiscipline, corrupt tendencies, half-hearted or lip-service promotion of democracy at home, violation of human rights and violation of court orders, all suggesting to the outside world that Nigeria is still at sea or in the jungle of  uncivilized politics.. 
 
 

Nigeria’s Image in West Africa

      Among West African nations, Nigeria stands tall as the “super power” of the sub-region. Socio-economic tranquility and desired political stability of West African nations rest solely on Nigeria’s effective leadership within and without.  Nigeria’s meaningful and effective contribution to internal political order and peace in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast in terms of men, money, and military materials cannot be easily quantified.  When Togo outrageously violated its succession constitutional order about a year ago, Nigeria stood firm as a regional leader in West Africa and effectively invoked the Ecowas Economic sanctions with the support of the European Union and the United States to make Togo comply accordingly.  Why does the same Nigerian political leadership that successfully achieved all these goals within the West Africa sub-region behave irrationally, irresponsibly, and undemocratically at home? The problem rests with Nigeria’s political elite. Nigeria should be a stable constitutional democracy in order to acquire or claim the immediate, remote and long-term benefits of its leadership in West Africa sub-region, Africa and the world. Nigeria’s shaky and unstable domestic image has its adverse effect on the nation’s diplomatic effort to resolve the Darfur/Sudan crisis effectively. On the situation in Chad Republic in relation to Sudan and Darfur’s displaced people, Nigeria is not likely to record any meaningful diplomatic success even though, the conference is holding at Abuja at Nigeria’s instance. Why? Our abundant human and material resources, notwithstanding, we shall discover that  the inadequacy of our political integrity coupled with our fragile political stability at home portray us as a weak mediator in external political issues. The quality of our political strength at home determines and reflects our influence among other nations. We should not be surprised if we fail to muster enough support among African countries to secure a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council. 

      The view of this writer is that Nigeria should be the leading light of Africa.  It is just not a grandiose dream; it can be done politically, economically, and consequently socially.  All the political and economic factors required to put Nigeria ahead of all other African developing states are available to us as a people.  The material and human resources are there for proper utilization.  Democracy should grow and spread to all nooks and corners of the country with absolute cognizance of the “Rule of Law”, which is the cornerstone of any developing democracy, including a Bill of Rights which would enhance the individual freedom of all Nigerians regardless of ethnicity, religion, region, social class and essentially the individual rights of the minorities. 

      Regional, ethnic, sex chauvinism and religious partisanship which abound in Nigeria today, would evolve into a multi-partisan approach or some centripetal political convergence or national social axis to build a solid and cohesive nation, provided a sober and magnanimous democratic leadership which is active-positive in orientation would emerge.  But Nigeria’s leadership today is keeping mute, allowing its attack hounds to fashion falsities and deception to desecrate our constitution and other government institutions. One would be amazed to discover that the four most stable polities in Africa today are Mauritius, off Madagascar on the Indian Ocean, Botswana in southern Africa, Senegal and Ghana in West Africa.  Their governments command greater respect internally and externally than Nigeria because of their meticulous and orthodox recognition and respect for the Rule of Law, which remains the cardinal principle of their democratic beliefs and practices.  All the above-mentioned countries share internal peace and social tranquility, which have given them political stability. Popular elections for the purpose of change of government and renewal of political mandate have become societal cultures in the above named African nations. Extension or elongation of term of office in an absurd and arbitrary manner is completely out of question. 

      At the moment, the Mantu joint committee is engaged in holding the conscience of Nigeria to ransom.  The Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, Anthony Anenih and others in the PDP are nothing but hardened political crooks whose behavior no longer needs the attention of psychiatrists.  Anthony Anenih is a retired policeman who supported Abiola and later shifted his support to Sani Abacha when Obasanjo was languishing on the death row.  Today, he is supporting Obasanjo on a reckless and unholy mission to legalize illegality.  Mantu is due for a recall in Plateau state as an ineffectual Senator whose services are no longer needed by his people, yet he is falsifying public hearings on constitutional amendments which seem criminal in intent and strange in any meaningful democracy anywhere.  One also wonders listening to people like Tom Ikimi of the Sani Abacha fascist regime opposing Mantu and Anenih. The Nigerian elite class is unprincipled. They change or shift their pattern of behaviour like the weather to serve selfish purposes. They are marketable like goods, yet they want to lead the people.  Tom should join Anenih and Mantu because that is the camp of political evildoers that he belongs. Or has he metamorphosed into a new a democratic convert from the Abacha Gestapo group?  Democracy has a wide network of freedom and rights, otherwise Tom Ikimi and his likes in the evil camp of Abacha should reassemble to work for Obasanjo to actualize this mad “third-term agenda”.  If the president wishes to die for Nigeria, we appeal to him that his death will solve nothing vis a vis Nigeria’s problems, which he helped to create since he got into office.  What Nigeria needs from him is to abide by the constitution he swore to preserve and leave unceremoniously for Ota farm at the end of May 2007. 
 

      Now we know that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set up to hound those who resist Mr. President’s improper intervention in their state’s political affairs.  Unfortunately, Alayiesiegah’s situation is exceptional.  He is the kind of prey Obasanjo needs to sacrifice.  If one is going to claim independence of the President within ones political party,. one should be clean.  You cannot eat your cake and have it at the same time.  Governor Ladoja’s situation constitutes the expose’ that throws open the mounds of political wheeling and dealing that underlie the mess that is artificially embodied in our national politics.. Alas! Akala was a policeman too, his deputy probably attended Adedibu High School whose location and records have not been verified yet to confirm his profile and academic records.If Adedibu is consulted,the records can be dug out.( Please, this is not a matter for laughter)  

                   The EFCC has become an agency for intimidation and blackmail.  The scourge of corruption will get worse because the EFCC’s mission is exclusively known to the president and Mr. Ribadu. Mr. President can deny it countless times, he should realize that,  that is the image he has created for the EFCC and his third term politics.  What a national disappointment?  With all the brutality openly exhibited by Idi Amin in Uganda between 1971 and 1979, the nuisance thought that “foreign exchange” was an identity of a man he did not know.  He ordered “foreign exchange”, who was supposed to be an alien living in Uganda to be apprehended and be brought before him. That is the level of Idi Amin’s intellectual capacity and comprehension. Our president is lowering his own understanding and profile to the embarrassing level of irresponsible leaders who ruled some African nations shortly after political independence.  In a comparative sense, when our president talks about his economic achievements on a national basis, we should like to have him quote available and visible data to corroborate his claim.  Nigeria is one of the most unstable countries in Africa and the world.  Ethno-politics is regularly tense, religious strives are constant, unemployment is massive especially for the young graduates.  Power outage is a regular feature of Nigerian life, and the roads are bad and cannot be properly maintained.  The health sector is an embarrassment and a good number of Nigerian doctors have left the country to seek better professional opportunities elsewhere. Mushroom universities are created without adequate human and material resources, University libraries are old and full of outdated texts while at the same time research is not encouraged due to paucity of funds but Anthony Anenih can afford to squander as much as three hundred billion naira of public money budgeted for federal roads between 1999 and 2003, without transparency and accountability.  The EFCC is not supposed to go after Anenih. The newspapers have raised the issue several times but the EFCC is deaf. The Senate is conducting an enquiry into some financial improprieties of Alhaji Mantu. The President cannot stop that enquiry, if he could, he would have done so. He allegedly approved as much as forty and fifty million naira for himself on separate occasions and got them paid into his bank account. Nigerians are not idiots as some of our politicians think. All the protagonists of the illegal notion of ‘third term’ are supposed to be out of  reach of the Almighty EFCC by the order of our President.. A good number of politicians will learn their lessons in the next election in 2007, especially those promoting and supporting the illegal third term plan to subvert our sacred constitution..   

      If Chief Moshood Abiola had not been systematically eliminated by the Nigerian military, the present president, Chief Obasanjo would not have had any opportunity to become the nation’s president in 1999, yet his administration pretends not to know the relevance of June 12, 1993.  Obasanjo’s administration cannot rewrite history.  If I may ask, where is a third term presidency operated among the meaningful democracies in this world?  Some sick minds content that President Obasanjo is a unique leader of Nigeria.  If anyone believes that, I should love to be enlightened because I cannot see his achievements beyond the common cell phones which the republics of Benin and Togo; our neighbors have introduced many years before big brother Nigeria adopted it and the debt reduction by the Paris Club which was given other African nations on better terms. 

      The security of life and properties are begging issues, day in day out, in Nigeria.  The police organization is moribund.  They are not adequately paid and the public demands on them out-stretch their capabilities.  The Nigeria police establishment needs adequate and commensurate remuneration and a huge number of multiple types of automobiles and helicopters to move from place to place for public security purposes and several units of well-established maintenance and or mechanic centers to service and maintain their vehicles, helicopters, and other equipments.  Once the security of the individual Nigerian is adequately taken care of, the issue of state security is more than a half resolved. We have the financial resources, provided all the huge amount of money being thrown around to illegally actualize the third term agenda can be used to benefit the generality of Nigerians. 

      The National Political Reform Conference, its deliberations and its recommendations seem to have become irrelevant to Obasanjo’s administration.  Initially, the president was opposed to any kind of Reform conference.  By the time he thought the conference might become useful to him, he decided to sponsor it and fund it outside the national purse.  A democratically elected president who believes in the tenets of democracy would not do that.  Where did the money to sponsor our nation’s Political Reform Conference come from?  Why can’t the President tell us the source of the fund for sponsoring the Political Conference?  Where is the Presidential transparency and responsibility?  Is he aware that he can be impeached for funding the conference, an authority he does not have and an expenditure he arrogantly refuses to account for? Our President behaves like one of those absolute kings of old Europe. 

      The Conference was held without the National Assembly passing any law to that effect.  This behaviour implies the president’s belief in absolute dictatorship.  It also means that he can arbitrarily call off the Conference if he so desired.  There is also a total absence of “separation of powers” in the Nigerian central government.  Between the states and the federal government, there is no established order of relationship.  President Obasanjo feels unrestrained intervening in any issue he is personally interested in.  He dabbles in political and non-political issues any where to the detriment of the survival, growth, and development of democratic institutions in Nigeria.  He uses the might of the central government and the PDP’s overwhelming control in various states to intimidate PDP governors, Senators, members of the House of Representatives, down to members of the State House of Assembly.  Nation-building cannot be achieved with all that we are witnessing in our country, Nigeria, today. 

      One wonders why people in high political offices cannot afford to do what is constitutionally right and preserve their personal honour.  The Speakers of Imo State House of Assembly and Osun talk to reporters as if they have no reasoning faculties They also want to die for Obasanjo and Nigeria. Before one knows what the matter is, all the PDP governors except a few may want to die for Nigeria like the President told his Chinese guests.  One is shocked to read the perception and impression of some so-called political leaders who are believed to be working to build a new Nigeria.  The word “impeachment” has been over used, over flogged and over applied in Nigerian politics because most of the legislators in the states are intellectually redundant and ignorant of the objective of the word and they do not bother to improve themselves.  Impeachment is an indictment, an accusation or accusations leveled against a highly placed public officer such as the President, Governors, Judges of the Supreme or High courts and such other highly placed people in public positions.  The accused individual must be given a fair trial and allowed maximum opportunity to defend himself against the charges levelled against him.  It is not supposed to be a kangaroo or a mock session trial court set up in violation of established legal procedure.  The spirit of the Nigeria constitution as the basic law of our country does not accommodate the senseless and outrageous resolve of the “Adedibu boys” in the Oyo State House of Assembly.  Whoever considers himself fit, knowledgeable, and honest enough to lead our country, at this time of its primary constitutional development must try to correct the nauseating situation in Oyo State rather than surreptiously condescend to use it for personal political benefit.  Every legislator in Nigeria including those holding the offices of state executives, federal executive positions and all the ministers are obliged to know that the Nigerian constitution is made up of “words and spirit” in which one cannot be separated from the other.  Political matters or issues in Nigeria cannot be handled with such levity and indiscipline as they are being done today.  If matters continue to unfold by manipulation, as Mr. President would like them done, based on his orchestrated political benefits and personal rulership, Nigerians will rise at some point, in a huge number, to take their country back from the precipice of collapse.   

      It is advised that all Nigerian political parties, especially the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which has built a huge and extensive patronage network to encourage kickbacks and other corrupt practices, should look outward and study the organization and management of the Congress Party of India; a third world and a developing nation’s political party which espouses responsibility, responsiveness, integrity in leadership and governance and more so, nation-building, if it wishes to survive and participate in serving the people of Nigeria in the near future. The PDP is on its way to becoming a minor political party before a final disintegration. Cantankerous leadership rooted in personal ambition and reckless drive against one another without civility or any means for “checks and balances” coupled with elite indiscipline and common propensity for dictatorship will surely push PDP to dissipate and collapse.  The PDP as a political party is stoking Nigeria as a polity and Nigerians as its citizens. It has no moral fiber to do that to our country. There has never been any political party with such a virulent display of political vulgarity in Nigeria since the formation of the NCNC, the AG, and NPC before Nigeria’s independence in 1960. The mandate given it at the last general election in 2003, though falsified in many states, was not a license to abuse our national resolve and moral sensitivities. The least problem our nation needs today is the third term agenda, which in all its ramification is utterly preposterous.  It violates all common sense and democratic norms everywhere. I have read some cheap and dishonest academics who try to falsify their own discipline by providing some meaningless rationale for a third term in a democracy. They are employed by this current administration of President Obasanjo. Research or other academic efforts don’t accommodate falsehood. It is too risky for any academic to engage in politicizing issues that fall within academic disciplines. I should like to caution them to be careful. Our country Nigeria should not be sacrificed at the altar of falsehood. 

      If anyone is upset by all I present in this article, he or she is free to controvert them and present a polemic. That is the essence of the democratic spirit which we all should struggle to acquire as a culture for our society. I should have the right to express my views as a Nigerian and so likewise every other person without recourse to violence or vendetta. 

Professor of Political Science
University of Arkansas
Pine Bluff. Arkansas, U. S. A.

Former legislator, Ogun State

Robot  # 1 | 27.04.2006 16:57

None of our past military leaders was a graduate of a regular universit...Read the full article.