Things to Thank God for in Nigeria

By Fred Igbeare

Another civil war:  We thank God that none has occurred in spite of the ripe conditions from IBB’s tenure to Abacha through OBJ and now Yar’Adua.  The country is still recovering from the effects of the first civil war.  And with sincere efforts, hard work and much prayer, the Niger-Delta conflict may not become a full-blown war.

No military coup: Some of the biggest supporters of democracy in Nigeria are present and former soldiers—that is something to thank God for.  Like the opportunities for civil war, conditions for military coups have been abundant, one example being the recently rigged elections. 

An assertive Judiciary has been and will continue be one of the greatest forces for defusing tension in Nigeria.  Thank God the judges are living up to their responsibilities though not perfectly.  A stain on the justice system though is the thousands of illegally detained Awaiting Trial Prisoners.  By God’s grace, more people will rise up to fight against this gave injustice.

Our new president may have come in under a tainted electoral process but he seems likely to perform better than previous Nigerian leaders.  He has openly promised to vacate his office if the judiciary annuls his election: that is something to be thankful for.  In Pakistan right now, a president has put the judiciary in chains to prolong his hold on power.  It is a great blessing that circumstances, history and opposition constrains our president from going down that route.  That is tremendous progress to be thankful for. 

A better legislature: that the House of Representatives found a way to remove its speaker without throwing the country into mayhem is a blessing.  It could have been worse.  It could have taken a military coup to remove her.  I thank God for how circumstances seem to work for Nigeria’s good even in adversity.  Look at how the previous legislature, especially the Senate under Ken Nnamani crushed Obasanjo’s third-term agenda.  Events could have become more complicated for Nigeria if OBJ had succeeded.

No honor among thieves:  I thank God that many of the people who conspired to rob Nigeria have ended up fighting each other.  We may never again see so much dirt laundry washed in public!  Look at the people who kicked out former speaker Etteh.  Granted that not all of them stole votes to get elected, but it was still amazing to see her ‘friends’ kick against her.   Look also at the third-term debate: a lot of the people who helped kill it were not necessarily your cast of selfless characters.  Many of them were driven by their own ambition or by the promptings of those who desired to replace Obasanjo.  Whatever the motive, it has turned out for Nigeria’s good, not perfect good, but at least we are getting somewhere better than where we were before. 

The quarrel between OBJ and Atiku Abubakar has done more to entrench Nigerian democracy than can be measured.  Powerful forces were arrayed against each other, but they primarily used the judiciary to sort out their differences.  It could have been worse:  Obasanjo largely controlled the instruments of coercion, but his VP commanded tremendous resources to deploy in extra-legal warfare.  I am thankful it did not degenerate into a huge bloodbath.

Tell me though: what differences of ideology or policy exist fundamentally between Obasanjo and Abubakar?   I don’t see any.  What we have basically is conflicts of ambitions and personalities.  And it is all working somehow for Nigeria’s progress.  That is something to be thankful for.

Emerging leadership potential for good: I am thankful that although Nigeria has been plagued with bad leadership, new blood is being infused into the polity.  Outstanding examples include former Senate President Nnamani and my homeboy Donald Duke.  They are not perfect but they did what they could to make their official space better than they met it.  I especially appreciate Ken Nnamani for his integrity.  He spoke out condemning the last elections where he himself was deprived of his voting rights.  Obasanjo’s hounds went after Nnamani trying to tarnish the esteemed Senator’s image.  Nnamani came out clean and remains a favorite to lead Nigeria someday.

Democratic entrenchment: it is a slow process for Nigerians to fully embrace the relative novelty of voting in/out leaders, using the courts instead of guns to resolve disputes and respecting the fundamental rights of other people.  The process may be slow but it leads to a proven system for managing the requirements of human governance.  Our experience with military rule hopefully has proven to us all that imperfect human beings cannot be trusted with absolute power.  I thank God that in spite of how we have abused our resources and talents, we still have a chance to make Nigeria better.  With self-less service to one another, we can still make the life of every Nigerian better.

fredlintaz@yahoo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 Things to thank God for in Nigeria By Fred Igbeare ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 22.11.2007 10:10