08 Jan 2009 |
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We go to the race tracks for many reasons. One reason is to watch our favorite driver avenge the mistakes that cost him a previous race. Another reason may be to have fun and to wish and imagine that we are just that terrific driver that crossed the finish line or to enjoy such energy zapping, emotionally draining, and dangerously exhausting game. Yet, another reason might be, for some, to get drunk, temporarily forget their sorrows while making mockery and fool of themselves and gambling away the meager income with the hope of doubling bets.
The metaphor of race track is apt in describing the Nigerian polity. Each time one goes to a race track, one hears, “Drivers start your engine.” This is the situation with our nation. There is never continuity but a re-start. In Nigeria, one can say, without fear of contradictions that majority of citizens are unwilling to sacrifice in order to correct the rudderlessness of the nation’s moral, spiritual and financial well-being. Nigerian leaders and indeed, Nigerians do not improve where others left or correct the mistakes of others; rather, they prefer to restart the engine in order to help increase the corruption index. The most despicable aspect of live in Nigeria is that citizens are not ready to improve standard of living for the next generation but are willing to kill the hen that lays the golden egg. We are quick to ascribe reasons for our failures just for Nigeria to remain in a perpetual failure mode. In that chaotic and failure mode, some take advantage of the nation. We have corporately failed our nation and we need to make hay while the sun is shining, otherwise, other nations such as Ghana will pass us by. Let us take a cursory look at how Nigeria and its leaders continually start the engine without solving any political, socio-economic, religious and moral problems.
Let us assume that those visionless military coup planners were young idealistic men when they started their leadership encroachment experiments but then, why couldn’t we learn from their mistakes in order to move Nigeria forward. Instead, each leader and each generation are trying to compete to find out which one can best run Nigeria aground.
On December 31, 1983, General Muhammadu Buhari group took over the leadership of Nigeria in a coup d'état. Buhari government announced its reasons for illegally taking over government from the dim-wit, Praying Mantis, corrupt-laden government of President Shehu Shagari. Nigerians welcomed Buhari Administration until the changing to new Naira exposed the double standard of the Buhari government. While Buhari and his small group of coup planners were convincing Nigerians to tighten their belts, they allowed thirty eight suite cases of Naira to conveniently slip through the border. Even, the War Against-Indiscipline that Buhari’s administration started could not safe it from the gap-toothed General, IBB who bamboozled the nation with yet another excuse for another illegal taking over of power. The administration of Babangida, instead of improving on the good deeds of Buhari, stopped WAI, started afresh and exacerbated the corruption that Buhari’s administration was hell bent on containing. IBB’s administration made sure that the coffin necessary to burry corruption was nailed shut with corruption escaping with vengeance. Corruption came alive and was welcomed in full force by those citizens who were sitting on the fence.
There came General Abacha in through a palace coup. He took over from Mr. Ernest Shonekan who, though had performed incredibly well as a CEO, was asleep at the switch of government when Abacha struck. General Abacha started his own administration without taking stock of where those before him such as Gowon, Murtala, OBJ, Shagari, Buhari, IBB, and Shonekan failed so as to make a concerted effort at correcting the mistakes. Instead, he started his own leadership experiment. Unfortunately, General Abacha died a mysterious death. The joy and the euphoria of the death of Abacha brought about transitional government of Abdulsalam. Whatever happened to Mr. “Clean the treasury”, Abulsalam Abubakar? Not much to say about his administration other than he transferred power after surgically and methodically cleaning up the treasury. And then came the administration of St. Matthew Obasanjo who thought he could do no wrong.
The year 1999 was supposed to be an epic year for a radical change. Mr. Obasanjo (OBJ) came into office with lots of national and international political capital and goodwill. All the nation’s hope was pinned on OBJ because, justifiably, a) He had been in office before and had experience, so we thought; b) He was in prison, read the Bible cover-to-cover and had since been, by the saving power of the almighty, converted to a born again Christian like the Biblical Saul; c) Why not believe in the omnipotent OBJ since the nation and by the help of friends like late Chief Bola Ige helped him escape from General Abacha’s hangmen. We had every reason as a nation to be hopeful. Unknown to Nigerians, this man went into trials and tribulation to sharpen his wickedness. Obasanjo grew Nigeria’s selfishness and corruption index. One thing, though, was that he, like Obama gathered together top advisers and Ministers even though the Federal Character apostles invoked the creed without much success. Honorable men/women resign when their hands are cut in the cookie jar but not during OBJ ad other administrations. The thieves just simply become the untouchables.
One can say that this is the singular achievement of OBJ. Obasanjo, by his selfish nature, destroyed the only legacy he would have been credited with. He held the hand of the clock back by doing ungodly things and encouraged corruption at highest levels because of his need to become life president. The jury is still out on this and history may exonerate him but I doubt.
Obasanjo must single handedly accept the failure of Nigeria as a Nation for three reasons which are: a) Nigeria gave him too many chances and he failed the nation even at his old age; b) He single handedly forced an innocent man (Musa Yar ‘Adua) who was unable to say no to a job he was not prepared for. Instead of improving on the areas that OBJ minimally performed, Yar ‘Adua restarted the engine of government again while piling up his own mistakes and so very torturously and slowly. I expected Mr. President to bring on-board professionals that are capable of helping him run his government seamlessly, but took a year to choose Ministers. What has Yar ‘Adua learn in a year that any Nigerian couldn’t have learned and perform better? Even for his health situation, Mr. President has not made healthcare a top priority. Even with his strong religious believes, he could not stop religious riots, mismanagement and looting. Because of his education, he has not replaced the visionless education with education that connotes firm principles capable of standing against all odds in face of injustice. Because he is from the North, he is not capable of diversifying the economy of the North other than following the Northern grab-and-grab of oil revenues. As a Governor, he was humble but as a President, his piousness has been erased ever so quickly such that no infrastructures (roads, hospitals, etc.) are rebuilt.
When Nigerians are called upon to make a difference, selfishness takes over their brains. How else can one read meaning to statement attributed to Professor Iwu that “Nigerians are quick to compare our electoral system with that of other countries, without taking the issue of our peculiarity into consideration?” Professor Iwu, what are Nigeria’s peculiarities other than selfishness, wickedness, shedding of human bloods and corruption? Are all these acquired characteristics in the DNA of Nigerians? Surely these ugly characteristics are not in our DNA and, hence, must not remain uncorrectable. Professor Iwu’s characterization of Nigerians is not only dishonest but dangerously and wickedly dishonest. A nation in love of naked dancing in public and self aggrandizement must be willing to clip the wings of sycophants such as Professor Iwu.
When Nigerians took the election rigging case to the nation’s highest Court, instead of the Justices taking a pragmatic and legal view, they made a political pronouncement thus sending us back to the Stone Age. The apex Court had no political courage to rescue Nigeria but instead the Justices asked us to continue with the status quo and letting the misfits and visionless Nigerians traverse the corridors of power. The minority report captures what is needed to correct what is wrong in our electoral system and it says that, “If the electoral law is broken in any way, the election should be null and void.” By not challenging the ruling, we failed ourselves again.
Unfortunately, our culture is too permissive of corruption, of non-advocacy, and of laziness. Our conscience has also been deadened for over four decades because we have collectively shed innocent bloods in search of position, wealth and power. We cannot continue to restart our engine. Nigeria either must correct all the mistakes that lead her to underdevelopment or a revolution may be inevitable. One such revolution is for citizens to disregard the people at the center and develop each local government one at a time until the whole country is electrified, roads rebuilt, education improved, hospitals built and morality restored. The joy of democracy is in serving people. Leadership is in the readiness to do what everybody could do but would not do and do it with gusto and with pride. Unfortunately, politics leading to a do-or-die exercise with deadly consequences is what we are all experiencing today as a consequence of our own contributions to the decadence. It is a shame that politics that ought to be about service to the nation and about improving lives of fellow citizens has become predatory in nature. What Nigeria needs is not a “gentlemen restart your engines” but a selfless leaders that will find the best in all Nigerians irrespective of their tribal and political affiliation. Can the most unlikely President take unusual steps to redeem Nigeria from her visionlessness? The ball is in Yar ‘Adua’s court. Nigeria can emulate the Ghanaian success if and only if we change our permissive nature to failure, stop sycophancy, allow rule of law to prevail and discourage the restart of systems and processes but building on the successes of previous administrations. It is then and only then that new leadership with selfless rendition of the heroes past can surface.
Happy, industrious and productive 2009.
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