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OBJ’s near death
experience in Abacha’s gulag can be likened to that of Saul on his way to
Damascus. It is not the purpose of this article to compare the external
features of Saul’s experience but to note that like many of our leaders, Saul
passed through a notable crisis in his life and afterward believed that he
received indubitable evidence that Christ had risen from dead. Here, I
want to inquire the nature of the changes wrought in Saul by his experience and
how the upcoming Nigerian leaders must use their own experiences to change
Nigeria and depart from how OBJ employed his heroin experience.
Like Saul fighting
against Christians, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo went into the military to fight a
just or unjust civil war depending on which side one is. Saul killed so
many Christians according to his convictions. In some sense, OBJ was a
Major and we’ll assume he also killed to maintain his war hero status.
In order to establish the full comparison and to understand the
changes in Saul and OBJ, we must go to the root of what these men were before
their experiences; we must understand their previous character and
history. Two major comparison indices: frivolity and righteousness will
be considered in this comparison.
1.
Saul sort after righteousness but OBJ simply talked about being righteous
without embracing and exhibiting it. The Lord’s blessing on those who
hunger and thirst after righteousness, it seems, was profound on Saul even
before his conversion. OBJ was never righteous right from the beginning
nor did he pretend to be, neither was his conversion emulate such righteous
characterization.
2.
These two men were men of profound moral earnestness. For these two men,
frivolousness cannot be said to be one of their vices or characters. Like
Saul before conversion, OBJ was intense on his earlier believe in keeping
Nigeria one and on confusing patriotism with military dogma of perfidy and
diabolism. Saul believed before his conversion that “he lived before God
in all good conscience until his day of conversion.” OBJ also believed
that he was God sent to deliver Nigeria from herself and from Abacha and for
this he was sent to jail like the biblical Saul.
Chief Obasanjo wrote of
corruption and proffered solutions to corruption when he left office and as a
member of the Transparency International. After his conversion, Saul
stood for what was Christ and fought to emulate Christ. After his
conversion to a civilian President, OBJ abused his own sensibilities,
encouraged sycophancy, saw himself as a god who could do no wrong, ditch his
tribe’s men, may be said to be instrumental in extra-Judicial killings but most
importantly he abandoned the same essential values and sensible policy prescriptions
which he criticized Abacha for lacking. And if we think that PDP is
paying any attention to this spectacle of suffering that Nigerians are going
through, we will be wrong as always. OBJ showed his disdain for Nigeria
by increasing the price of petrol on Nigeria a few hours before he left office
while he and his children were getting richer. What a wicked soul and an
ingrate to a nation that gave him so much.
We expected Chief
Obasanjo to fight for the poor and defend Nigerians after having gone through
Abacha valley of shadow of death but instead, he created a pseudo
anti-corruption agency which he used to rail-road his perceived enemies.
He indirectly dismantled the rule of law and only following it when it is to
his benefit. He prevailed over NNPC as the de facto Petroleum
minister. He awarded contracts and sold oil blocks to cronies and foreign
partners. He did not take his time to groom a successor but instead,
horridly asked the Governors to find one among them that could be controlled.
It seems that OBJ had a near death experience without letting such an
experience impact his and people’s lives as Saul’s experience did. To
this point, OBJ’s political and military experience to this needing nation is a
waste of time because the nation has over paid for his like’s services.
For us, OBJ learnt
nothing from his jail experience as Nelson Mandela’s experienced was used to
impact South Africa and indeed Africa. Instead, Baba decided to acquire
more land, more money from the treasury, emulate IBB by building his own
46-room mansion on the hill, bought and sold parastatals and gave away our
common resources to himself through cronies, pumped more money in to the energy
sector and the nation is now faced with less energy that in 1999. Instead
of OBJ thanking the almighty for His benevolence and becoming just a
king-maker, he injected himself and his children into national politics of loot
sharing.
Under OBJ’s leadership,
Abacha loots were recovered and re-stolen. Under OBJ, projected budget
was based on less than $30.00/BBL but the actual price of crude was over
$70.00/BBL. With this, OBJ cannot boast of any infrastructural
development. His near death experience under Abacha was inconsequential
in matter of leading Nigeria. OBJ gave us a president called Yar ‘Adua
whose health is not the greatest but who like OBJ does not want to praise Allah
by at least improving the very sector he needs most, heath sector.
What lies before Yar
‘Adua now are the gathering forces of perfect political storms which OBJ laid
siege in his track. Such storms are quietly building into what may become
a Tsunami of imaginable proportion. Yet, Yar ‘Adua’s advisors tend to
bask in the calm eye of this storm because his godfather, OBJ says Yar ‘Adua is
covered. The storm is oblivious to the intensity of the political
maelstrom just over the horizon. Nigerians are getting fed up with the
politics of sharing which PDP has perfected as a mantra. If Yar ‘Adua
falls for the temporary calmness, he has himself to blame. Retired
General Bamayi is out and Major Mustapha is to be released, OBJ must be having
heart palpation. Nigerians knew OBJ and prayed that he would change because
of his experience but Nigerians knows very little about Yar ‘Adua and prayed
that he would not become OBJ.
The unfortunate issue
here is that the collision of history, the current looting political climate,
and the PDP forces are the seeds that will lay waste to Yar ‘Adua’s Aso Rock
life. While history and the political climate of 2007 are forces beyond
President Yar ‘Adua’s power to change, the right, which is the most damaging
ingredient in the storm, could have been beaten by addressing the needs of ordinary
Nigerians: good roads, quality education for our children, affordable
healthcare for those that need it in light of his own personal health crisis,
jobs to reduce the tide of armed robberies, compassion which was lacking even
with the near death experience of OBJ, and plentiful food. Instead Alhaji
Yar ‘Adua has done something anathema to what those who described him before
the election to be: He has surrendered to the greedy few, manipulated by
political operatives, kept prisoner in Aso Rock and seems to protect sons and
daughters of political thieves instead of being on the side of Nigerians.
Ironically, the hear no evil and see no evil attitude of Yar ‘Adua might be
responsible for his own political obituary like Alhaji Shagari before
him. If anyone is close to Yar ‘Adua, let them advise him that he should
repent and move Nigeria forward to the next level. He cannot embark on
politics of protectionism of men and children of political armed robbers.
It is either Mr. President decides to be on the side of good history or side
with OBJ whose time is up except he has direct line to God for prolonged life.
But for some
inexplicable reasons, after winning the questionable election and sworn in as
the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alhaji Yar ‘Adua abandoned
his seven point agenda and started courting the right wing of PDP at his own
peril. He promoted the very Justice that was to decided his legitimacy to
presidency; he failed to vigorously overhaul electoral process; failed to overhaul
our road network system; he failed to take the challenges of the crucial energy
needs of the nation; he has not considered rebuilding Nigeria’s national flag
bearer, call it New Nigeria Airways; he has not revisited our hospital needs
and never trusted in Nigerians to take care of his health needs; business in
Nigeria is still in a comatose stage and it is as dead as under the leadership
of our born again Christian, ex-President OBJ. President Yar ‘Adua owes
Nigeria for their willingness to accept the faulty and rigged the election that
brought him to power.
In a massive flip-flop,
President Yar ‘Adua reneged on his promise to follow OBJ’s policies but instead
he is recklessly dismantling them. Not is he not following the Policies
but seems not to have discernable policies of his own. To make
matters worse, President Yar ‘Adua’s capitulation to the right wing PDP has
forced him to remain silent on many issues that are of interest to Nigerians
while the elected representatives absconded their responsibilities as advocated
of their constituents but instead of being a good government they maintain
partisanship PDP image. This image, once presented by the supporters of
the servant leader, could have been the most powerful message and a rallying
point for the president if he is a good student of Nigerian history. For
now, President Yar ‘Adua is seeing as terminally indecisive even find it
difficult to champion efforts in the healthcare improvement which he could
benefit most from, this is an agony … the grand spectrum of
political thoughtlessness, and unfortunately, the differences between OBJ
and President Yar ‘Adua can now be measured in microns.
It is time to change the
trajectory of Nigerian politics in a way that Buhari – Idiagbo attempted to for
which the country was not ready for. Unfortunately, OBJ promised to have
a radical change because he had seen the glory of God but instead, his camp
began howling that he (OBJ) was God sent and he could do no wrong while he was
killing us softly. They even floated a Third Term Agenda for man who
exhibited selfishness as a political dogma.
Today, we still live in
Okigbo's Wonderland. Our narrative as a people still defy the terrain of normal
human politics: It's not the government's money; it's our money. Nigeria
ought to have been the shining city located on Aso Rock, the beacon to all
African nations that is willing to protect her interests in Africa and globally
as the largest and most blessed African nation. Government can't be the
solution; Nigerian government is more of the problem we face today.
Alhaji Yar ‘Adua must craft a different centrist narrative, by not squandering
opportunities; by dismantling the untouchables in a land of nothingness, and he
must not follow OBJ’s wicked line of thinking of acquiring money at the expense
of the citizens he is elected to serve and protect. Federal Republic of
Nigeria must protect citizens with and without especially in the current
imbroglio of 136 Nigerians kicked off the airplane by British Airways.
Nigeria’s past
experience is scary instead of teaching us to go deeper in side of ourselves to
make concession to make Nigeria’s economy better and not make us second class
citizens within the geographical space called Nigeria otherwise the day of
reckoning may just be approaching. I hope this will not be on your
watch. You must create a whole new political landscape of service not
encouraging politics of looting. You must shape the narrative that will
replace OBJ's crumbling fairy tale of success.
I appreciate OBJ entrant
to the politics when it seemed to matter. OBJ has done all he could
within the limitation of his ability and it is time for OBJ, IBB, Abulsalam,
Saraki Snr., Adedibu, and the Ubas to leave the stage and allow the nation called
Nigeria to be. As OBJ’s experience meant nothing to Nigeria, Nigeria’s
tolerance of Yar ‘Adua must mean a lot. For reasons best known to
Nigerians, OBJ and his political operatives must leave Nigeria alone and pass
the baton to the next generation with fresh political doctrine/ideology.
Nigeria now needs to shed the toga of slave mentality in our foreign and trade
policies. Mr. President, your citizens are depressed beyond any
recognition. President Yar ‘Adua, your dabbling into national politics
must be iconic and be positively earth shaking for Nigerians.
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Authors 
Posted by Robot| 23.04.2008 13:07