The truth changes color

Depending on the light

And tomorrow can be better than yesterday.

Memory is like a selection of images;

Some elusive, others printed indelibly on the brain

Memory is like a threat,

Woven together to form a tapestry of an intricate texture;

The tapestry tells a story

And the story is our past and present

This writer was preparing to sleep one lonely Sunday when by chance, the Patito’s Gang Dialogue Program came up on the television and rather out of curiosity of the topic being discussed than active interests in the program, this writer stayed up to listen for a while. During the program, the anchorman Ruben Abati, and the rest of the gang were busy trying to convince one of the participant M.M (as he was called) that the collective and inclusive “we” rather than the exclusive “they” was responsible for the socio-political woes in Nigeria. Every Nigerian has a hand and a role in the fiasco, the decadence, the fall in standard and the generally not-going-on-well of the Nigerian polity. I admired the courage and consistence of MM, because throughout the entire duration of the talk-shop, he refused to accept that it was the inclusive “we” that was the problem; past and present leaderships of Nigeria were to be identified and blamed- not the rest of Nigerians. For the duration of the dialogue, he did not shift ground. The consistence of the overwhelming majority against MM, made me imagine; perhaps I am truly part of the problems of Nigeria because of my lack of active participation against misrule, against oppressions, against absolute power of the executive branch to rule absolutely, joining protests against tyranny of the minority over the majority- the tyranny of Obasanjo, over the majority of Nigerians in a democratic system!

The problem that drew me out of my comfort base today into a seemingly familiar residence in solitude and melancholy is why it is so convenient for people and public affairs commentators using a collective “we” to push blames of political and economic woes in Nigeria from “them” to “us”. That phrase of “we” is a generalization that includes me and members of my compound and extended family. I have always been made to believe that within the Yoruba worldview, it is a bastard whose family is insulted and does not protest or defend that family name and honor where and when necessary. They also express solutions to the Nigerian problems in the collective pronoun “we”. That also include me in the problem that neither myself nor any member of my family caused. The generalization made me angry and once again, I recoiled into my usual solitude and melancholy to review things and assess if truly I, personally within the collective “we” is responsible for the Nigerian woes.

As I began to review my shares of the woes, I kept on remembering several obnoxious incidents that usually would and should be recorded as landmarks in accounts of our history of failures as a nation but are soon disappearing from Nigerian memory lists. As Reuben Abati once said, “…Nigerians are quick to forgive and forget; we have a short memory span”. First let me blame others; let me reflect on the actors in the woes of Nigerian development before putting myself into the mess. Mine today will be to remind all of us those obnoxious incidences in our national history- just before our collective illusions and amnesia blur us off in our bid for a sane polity.

If they are saying a “we” is responsible for the woes of Nigeria’s misfortunes, then, where shall we put a system that allows people like Jim Nwobodo to become a senator and seat in the apex law making body to make law which will forbid kleptomaniacs and thieves from stealing whereas he Jim was found guilty for misappropriating money belonging to the people of Anambra State when he was the governor of Anambra State. In spite of his indictments in the embezzlement scandals, a military government made Jim Nwobodo the minister for sports and again, during his tenure, he stole the public generator belonging to the national stadium to his village for his private use. We should never forget that such characters are still around the corridors of powers today and even trying to become the president of this nation. Any public comments that wants to wrap me and my grandfather in the “we” of the woes must explain how I, and not particularly Jim and his cohorts, is the one responsible for the offence of making Nigeria wretched.

We must remember that as it currently stands, Governor Bola Tinubu does not have all the credentials he claimed to have obtained before bidding for the governorship of Lagos State. Some people viciously defended him as though public morality was never ever an issue in a country like this. Journalists and indeed Lagos State based civil society activists went jocular-level after Salisu Buhari (University of Toronto or Toronto State University) who similarly lied, forged certificates to become a lawmaker and assumed the leadership position of the National House of Assembly. He was found guilty; he honorably resigned, left the office, left the assembly and left public life. He went to bite his fingers in regrets.

However, when Governor Bola Tinumbu’s scandal was discovered, the same set of critics and activists covered their mouths and made a collective pretence not to make Tinubu an issue! These are the same set of civil society activists that are currently accusing President Obasanjo of “selective justice” in the matters of EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commissions). They left Gani Fawehimi alone in the crusade for “what is good for the goose is also good for the gender” to insist that public morality, accountability and justice must also be in contention in Tinubu’s saga! Gani was left alone to cry on top of his voice and walk through the frustration of our judicial system, the torture of state and civil society orchestrated lies and deceits; double standards and “ari teni moo wi, a f’opa ibiti bo tie mole!” Once the courts declared in the matter of State vs Gani Fawehimi that the Police could not be compelled to investigate a serving governor. And in another case, that of James Ibori, the court compelled a serving governor to answer allegation of criminal charges. Gani kept on and insisted that probity and public morality is at stake not only now, but the future if public leadership like Governor Tinubu was allowed to lie about his educational certificates and get away with it. Interestingly, not even the Alma matter of Government College Ibadan denounces Tinubu’s soiling of their school name! Tinubu seems to have gotten away with his immorality because no one thinks about it anymore. Nevertheless, in future, if any of our children come up with some funny educational claims to get promoted in the office or to get an appointment or to run for an election-whether public or private-, even if we know about it, we would have to tell him/her “…do not worry; you can get away with it in public accountably because precedence had been laid by “Asiwaju” Tinubu! Indeed, he is true to the meaning of his title “Asiwaju” meaning “…first one to do…”

It is in a country like this that someone who never contested an election wins. Governor Chris Ngige, however noble and belligerent he has turned out to be during the ordeal of his court case and suspension from PDP party, was a confessed criminal. I am often amazed at why the degree of perverse and political repugnance in this country never bothers us as a nation. It no longer worries Nigerians that crooks are in power so long as the possession of such powers favors the opinion movers and people with sufficient clout to resist such insanity. Why, for the sake of rational thinking and maintaining sanity, would PDP unleash such terror on this nation as to rig elections, manipulate and falsify documents to impose, Ngige, Dariye, Alamieyesiegha, and many other questionable characters to bring change into this colony of psychopaths called Nigeria? And when these leopards show that their skins are without blemish, PDP rushes, not to apologize to Nigeria for increasing the landmarks and characteristics of our insanity, but to expel them from the party without remorse, shame or any apology to Nigeria but made us look as though we were the fools for tolerating them thus far.

Just before we forget and suffer collective illusions, the following names or groups should continue to drum sound in our memory and remain landmarks of errors in accounts of our national woes; their character must be taught to our children as how not to behave in Nigeria:

1. General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, who took Nigeria through 8 years of memorable military rule with massive depletion of the national treasury, and who staged 8 years of transition to civil rule only to slide us 100 years backwards with the annulment of June 12, 1993 general elections. He stole our hearts with smile and filled his purse with spoils from crude oil and wages of our disunity. He currently intends to come back and rule Nigeria again as a civilian president! He had the chance to make the life of an average Nigerian filled with pride and confidence, with joy of owning properties and satisfactions of his/her fruits of labor. He could have made Nigeria more effective with functional infrastructures i.e NEPA, Water, Roads Telecommunications and a Nigeria where there is justice and freedom. He did not use that chance then. For eight years he misled us. How can we be sure he will lead Nigeria aright again?

2. General Muhamadu Buhari, subverted a democratic government with the barrels of gun, suspended the Nigerian Constitution of 1979 and promulgated many obnoxious decrees one of which was the notorious decree 4. He jailed many people and abused the hell out of our human rights. Again he wants to govern Nigeria, how can we forget so soon, the terror of the Buhari /Idiagbon regime, the nightmare of their reforms. How can we forget so soon that these ones terrorized us. Eventhough recently, he has proved to be a true democrat, pursuing justice on the premises of rule of law, but let us remember his days as head of state and the short-lived joy of those years.;

3. Evan(s) Enwerem, one of the many Nigerians who shamefully bears the title; Senator but is currently unclear of allegation of forged documents and change of names;

4. Chuba Okadigbo; who resigned as the senate president because the house was going to subject him to debate over allegations of embezzlement of public funds, stepped down from senate to shamefully contest as the vice president to rule this nation (under God!) Chuba Okadigbo was reported to have driven cars in the convoy of 30 other supporting cars. His presidency at the Senate was also characterized by stealing the maze of the Senate to his village in Oyi, several hundreds of miles away from Abuja the city of government where ordinarily the mace should permanently be;

5. Tokunbo Afikuyomi, who was accused of visa scams, and who also accepted to have made illegal entries of Governor Tinubu’s educational claims is still in the senate house and remains a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria;

6. My main man, Arthur Nzeribe, the defender of what is right, the ABN man. He used the Association for Better Nigeria slogan to truncate the June 12, presidential election. During the aftermath of that June 12 political impasse, people wept, people lost lives, lost sense of directions, sacrificed Kudirat Abiola, MKO Abiola, Pa Alfred Rewane, Tunde ?, Chukwuemeka ?, Hauwa ?, Malam Sabo ? and many other nameless civil society members who joined the struggle. During the impasse orchestrated by Arthur Nzeribe/Babangida/Abacha and many other faceless enemies of Nigeria, Nigeria witnessed darkness and bleak; a stage in history that was blurred by the blood of patriots. After that period, we said to ourselves; never again shall we allow such cloud of misfortune. But then came Obasanjo and here comes third-term and that unimaginable period when we paid for liberty with blood of our beloveds looms over the air once again;

7. Mohamed Sani Abacha, that leader who will forever go down in history as Nigerian terrorist against Nigeria. He staged a coup against Nigeria; he won the coup and made Nigeria a living hell;

8. James Onanefe Ibori, the governor of Delta State who was sued to court for being an ex-convict parading himself without reference to his former conviction. The case went from lower to higher courts. Eventually, the case was thrown out and James Ibori declared public holiday in his state to celebrate (eheeheeh…..ahahahah…..Nigeria)

9. Police Commissioner Tafa Balogun, who stole 17 billion Naira (about 140million US$) money meant for the Nigerian Police; meant for the rest of Nigerians. He alone stole so much; and

10. Alophus Wabara, The senate president who collected bribe from the minister of education Fibian Osuji in order to “favorably” consider the budget of the ministry.

The list is long, but I am sure, many other Nigerians who have wept for this country can fill in the rest of the gap.

However, we can, if we want, remember that advanced democracies and civilization such as the US, Canada and Britain, had had their own share of periods of insanity. Insanity was exhibited from the era of trespass against the Aborigines, the period of slavery, the dark ages when blacks were persecuted because of the pigmentation of their skins, when Mafia gangs subverted the existing laws and ruled by their own allegiance, to the present era of “bush”, and The Loss of the Radii or Raid of the Loss Arch (only in this case it is the loss of American/British lead search for nuclear plant in Iraq). The difference between them- the western systems and us- in Nigeria, is that they challenged the judicial systems, they exerted un-ignorable premium on America doing what is right. We must continue to borrow leave from these ones and forge ahead from the colony of insane, the colony of the mentally and socio-politically derailed people into the empire of the sane, the nobles, and a polity of civil righteousness governed by the emperor that is under the rule of law! Then Wole Soyinka at 70 can retire to eating pounded yam and palm wine with Obasanjo in Ota farm, and I can stop writing, leave solitude and melancholy and concentrate on Yoruba folklore!

Dele A. Sonubi

Robot  # 1 | 08.04.2006 13:40

I am often amazed at why the degree of perverse...Read the full article.