| Atiku’s Destructive victories and lethal reprisals: Which way now? |
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| Written by Frisky Larrimore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monday, 23 April 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There were days in Nigeria when the North was a synonym for the Hausas as far as the South was concerned. Then Northerners were regarded with a sense of frightful awe. Dreaded for the ruthless notion that the dagger does the speaking for them in contemptuous controversies. “Wallahi Tallahi” was the phrase with which we joked as ignorant kids trying to murmur some semblance of the Hausa man speaking in exclamations of rage. The few Hausas down South in those years would hardly speak discernible words of English and if pushed to a corner, they would wield their dagger. They were then strongly associated with the stereotype of implied ruthlessness that is hard to stop if set in motion. Thank goodness however, that this mythical typecasting of the North has long been proven wrong. The truth has become clear that the Southern Nigerian is also not different from the Northerner in terms of ruthlessness. The Sharia upheaval that saw anti-southern riots in the North and brutal anti-northern reprisal in the South is just one example. Unfortunately however, I am unable to suppress let alone, dismiss this uneasy thought that the Vice President Atiku Abubakar strongly rekindles this prejudice in me about the Hausa of a few decades or perhaps, century past. Prejudices of what made up the African history of expansionist ruthlessness in the spirit of the Zombie’s programmed path. In every democracy that every learned citizen of the free world has been privileged to witness, the predominant rule has always been that of negative and positive horse-trading. Deals are struck in which victors are made and the vanquished retreats to fight another day. Most importantly, people stand up to intervene when the fragments and fabrics of the system is threatened by a fallout among major players. I will never relent in constantly highlighting the George Bush / Al Gore dilemma that would have put the age-long American democracy to a dangerous test in the wake of George Bush’s first term election. Armed with a majority of popular votes and proofs of electoral manipulation in the sense of disenfranchisement at least, of Black voters in some states, Al Gore had all he needed to fight a relentless battle. But having won more Electoral College votes, George Bush was declared President-elect. That was the single edge George Bush had over Al Gore. Friends and well-wishers with a clear foresight on where the long-drawn battle will lead or may never lead to, descended on Al Gore with words of wisdom. He heeded their words and retreated. The American democracy was saved a more damning embarrassment than it already had through the third world characteristics in the conduct of that ominous election. In Nigeria however, people simply refuse to permit a dose of foresight and redemptive intervention. Vindictive and vindicative dogmatism has become a normative style of cantankerousness. While the adult democracy that we seek to copy would take cognizance of the higher edge among the parties at loggerhead, Nigerians choose to focus on total destruction and humiliation informed by hatred and a dubious call for vendetta. Obasanjo as the President of Nigeria clearly had the hierarchical edge over his deputy Atiku Abubakar. Even though many intelligent Nigerians with a clear vision of the consequences of a long-drawn battle between the President and the Vice President surrounded the scene and the political gladiators, these invaluable political multipliers failed to unite in recognition of Obasanjo’s edge over Atiku and caution Atiku to stop when the time was ripe. Unfortunately, personal interests dictated the agenda, pace and tune of the ensuing tale of evil feasts. Quite recently, one of my readers was friendly enough to write to educate and inform me on possible reasons behind the actions of eminent persons like Abubakar Rimi who urged Atiku on to the present stance on the tiny edge of the Himalayas overlooking the dreary invitation to the scary depth of a free fall. Obasanjo has never been a saint. There are very many credible indications of crimes with which he is suspected to have been associated. The killing of Bola Ige is one of them. The protection of Adedibu is another. However, in the absence of the certainty of guilt, Nigeria has now simply mutated into a country where guilt is clearly proclaimed in all earnest all the same. Obasanjo further fanned the flame by pursuing a third term agenda, which he shouldn’t have started in the first place. Ever since, the President and everything he stands for has only been subjected to a one-sided perception and injustices of all kinds and from all quarters. Worse still, he is even denied the right to fight back or devise a counter strategy of his own. How far more may shortsightedness prevail? In a wave of attack that does not seek to stop short of a total humiliation and destruction devoid of intelligent calculations and an accommodation of the interest of the man at the top, let the wise and the prudent ask what victory may emerge. Would it have been impossible to allow Obasanjo sail in calm waters and hold him accountable when the time is ripe? Would it have been impossible to devise a strategy in this sense rather than seeking to destroy and humiliate him with the instrument of a subordinate Vice President? Now we are at a watershed. One pertinent question remains if opponents simply expected the President to watch hands down and surrender without a fight? What did Atiku expect? Why is anyone surprised that the nation stands on the edge of the abyss today? Seeing the impending uncontrollable danger looming, Muhammadu Buhari displayed a high sense of patriotism and rolled back the threat of boycotting the Presidential election. Again it is Atiku who cries foul! Does anything else matter at all outside the personal interest of a political aspirant? Does it matter at all if Nigeria boils over in the quest to humiliate Obasanjo? The courts failed to postpone the elections. A truck bomb failed to blow up the headquarters of the Electoral Commission. Killings have been rampant. A last-minute Supreme Court judgment failed to sway INEC towards a postponement of the election. Every tenor now sings from the hymnbook that Umaru Yar’Adua has been pre-arranged to win. It doesn’t really matter if he had the stuff to win in the first place. What matters is laying the groundwork for a credibility doubt. The ground is being prepared for a stage where credibility can be deemed given only if anyone else wins but definitely not Yar A’dua. Now Atiku, who does not stand a single chance of ever winning, is calling for cancellation after all else have failed. In fact, truth is as complicated as much as it is the brainchild of relativism. Indeed my high regards for Muhammadu Buhari, whose image was badly dented by Wole Soyinka’s articulate and well-structured revelations, grew in several strata in the wake of his far-sightedness in handling Atiku Abubakar! Gani Fawehinmi opined is his homepage that a man should stand up for what he believes even if he is the last man standing. Today’s Nigeria seeks to define the truth through overwhelming majority sentiment. My experience in a democratic set-up like Germany has however, taught me that the ultimate truth is not necessarily embedded in the wave of public sentiments, which are easy to ride upon. Not the least the reunification of East and West Germany is one example that left a lasting scar on the collective psychology of the German society. In the euphoria to reunite both Germanys, the wave of public sentiment knew no bound. Only one renegade politician summoned the courage to warn of the dangerous economic consequences of the pattern of unification that the mainstream ideologues professed and pushed through. Oskar Lafontaine was jeered and denigrated. However, at the time the pains of compromising long-standing social welfare benefits began to stick, it slowly dawned on the Germans that something had gone wrong. It became a household reality that Oskar Lafontaine should after all, have been listened to. Much like George Bush of today who is adamantly refusing to publicly acknowledge the terrible mistake he has made in entering Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, there is no mainstream politician in Germany today, who will publicly acknowledge Oskar Lafontaine’s foresight. The collective psyche of American nationalism also made a ridicule of voices of reason in the run-up to the Iraq war. In the end, it is always a joyride to be on top of the wave of popular appeal. It may however, also be pertinent sometimes, to ask if the best interest of the nation is being served by joining and riding high in the cheap and tasty bandwagon of popular concerns. Drivers of bandwagons and sponsors of the bandwagon define the direction of the trip, not the passengers. Drivers of bandwagons and sponsors of bandwagons usually have motives and objectives. Passengers perceive only a few of such objectives that appeal to them. Today, the President of the Senate has jumped aboard the bandwagon, which he has probably co-sponsored through several months of backdoor diplomacy. Those who cannot wait long enough to see the collapse of Obasanjo are seeing Namani today, as a positive rebel in his own party. But now I hear that he had long been denied a PDP’s return ticket to the senate. Such is the relativism of truth no matter its source. For the avoidance of ambiguity however, let me hasten to emphasize that there is no iota of my personal set of beliefs and logical contemplation that holds Olusegun Obasanjo in exoneration of all he has done wrong and is being accused of. I strongly believe that the wave of hatred that was carefully engineered by the Vice President and other opponents, to which the President is being subjected today, is not only wrong in its substance, vehicle and execution, it is also partly to blame for Obasanjo’s resistance and the chaotic state of the country and its elections today. Atiku is drawing his fight to a length that is beginning to take a childish dimension and because he simply does not know when the die is cast. He may be the popular hero of Obasanjo’s haters today, but history may not take kindly to him for the role he has played so far. Worse still, the scenario is further threatening to degenerate if Namani allows himself to be instrumentalized upon. The lethal weapons at the disposal of the President may spell mayhem if people just don’t know where and when to stop. A well-meaning and academically drilled strategy would have long devised a more intelligent political replacement plan in the overriding interest of all Nigeria. An unjust fight will always be futile as long as the cause remains fundamentally misleading.
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Posted by Robot| 23.04.2007 13:33