When Eddy Grant echoed these words in his song “War Party” several years back, little did he know that he would be perfectly describing the state of his once adored ancestral home Nigeria, almost 50 years after independence. Let us all sit back for a while and truly take toll of the valiant and the brave and figure out what decorations we find.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was brave. He had no solution but was vocal enough in accurately identifying the problems of his time, which paradoxically, is the problem of our time. He is one Nigerian decoration, whose soul is now resting upon the grave. Murtala Mohammed had solutions. Revolutionary solutions. He is truly one outstanding decoration whose soul is now upon the grave. Tunde Idiagbon was sent to a premature death. He had his vision that was understood only too late. His soul is a decoration upon the grave of the valiant and the brave. Obafemi Awolowo had a vision. Clear and comprehensible uplifting visions in proportion to national resources. No one gave him the opportunity. Today, his soul is resting upon the grave. The soul of the courageous fighter Tai Solarin now rests upon the grave leaving major questions unanswered on what has become of all his labors and relentless fights.

But where are the living heroes to decorate today’s surface of our naked earth?

Since 1979 when the baton of leadership was passed over to undeserving political underdogs, a new era of self-destruction was ushered in. Except for the brief interregnum of the Buhari-Idiagbon era, Nigeria has witnessed almost no leader in her recent political history, with the love of the nation at heart. The victim of willful plundering was not confined to the national treasury alone. The decay took its toll on moral values and intellectual standards. It is for the attempt to arrest this trend on several fronts that the immediate past administration glaringly stands out in its quest to restore lost glory. No doubt, many intelligent analysts have done a lot in highlighting the laudable achievements of the past administration in laying the groundwork for the future path of development. Unfortunately however, General Olusegun Obasanjo cannot be counted as a living hero whose soul is not upon the grave. So many are evidential atrocious acts that the plane of Murtala Mohammed may be too much to lay the General-turn-President despite his chain of undeniable achievements.

Even if we chose to ignore the recent anointment by President Obasanjo, of one Adedibu scalawag as the father of the People’s Democratic Party, we can only hope and seriously too, that recent claims by the erstwhile Abacha’s hitman Sergeant Rogers that he served the government of President Obasanjo faithfully does not enclose a can of worms.

Opportunities Nigeria has had in abundance. She has been blessed with the best of talents. Mentally and physically. General Ibrahim Babangida is one uncommon intelligent compatriot with the gift of tactical dispositions. What came out of his reign as President? The consolidation of fraud and graft and the flattening of all that was left of Nigeria’s image and infrastructure.

Today, records have it that even pastors are not left out in this ‘419’ game of getting rich in hide-and-seek. A female pastor was recently reported to have made an evangelical trip to the United States, where she preached in various parishes and ended up feigning the sudden death of her husband prompting an immediate return back to Nigeria, for which she didn’t have the resources. The unsuspecting chain of parishes quickly raised the sum of $ 50,000.00 in goodwill donations. Getting back home, the pastor had high hopes for the fruits of $ 50,000. An accidental telephone call answered by a maid uncovered the game of hoax. Her husband was alive and kicking. Yet many Nigerians lament that Oprah Winfrey does not embrace honorable Nigerians – citizens of the giant!

We are citizens of a country that is nothing but conspiracy in itself. Built on the foundation of imperial conspiracy to safeguard the perpetual reign of overtly controllable Northerners, exclusive colonial control has now made way for a hybrid of domestic/imperial conspiracy. Today, we operate pseudo-democracy on the strength of a fraudulent constitution that was itself a product of military conspiracy. America and Britain saved Nigeria from drifting into daylight anarchy in the aftermath of fraudulent elections that could – on no account – have been free and fair given the prelude of selfish and aggressively destructive and challenging ridicule of the government of the day by self-proclaimed adversaries. It was the declaration of readiness by the White house and No. 10, Downing Street, to work with the fraudulently elected government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua that spelt the provisional defeat of Atiku Abubakar and his national team of moral disgrace.

Some sharper tongues even contend that no Nigerian politician can ever hope to stand out in substance without being an agent of influential western powers. Powers that are guided by the cold calculation of strategic interests than by principles.

What an embarrassment we have become to have our former Vice President who fought tooth and nail – alas unsuccessfully – to become President and disgraced his own boss in public dressing-down, to be mentioned incessantly in corruption cases in far-away USA! What an embarrassment if Atiku Abubakar was President of Nigeria today! What conspiracy is it that is prompting overt discreetness by the American government in refusing to expose cases against Atiku’s involvement in corruption while General Noriega of Panama was militarily hunted down and dumped in prison in jungle justice? Every obvious reference to Atiku in the indictment of congressman Jefferson is shrouded in concealment while bogus references are made to a high-ranking Nigerian politician.

Everyone knows that Orji Uzor Kalu simply let his tongue too loose and thus strayed too far in chastising President Obasanjo. His temporary imprisonment that would have dealt him a serious blow, left to Ribadu, was finally engineered by vagabonds in power, in such a way that it did not exceed a mere lifting of the warning finger. What conspiracy is it that saw the massive contribution of stolen funds on the part of the Kalus, the ‘Iucky’ Igbinedions, the Iboris etc. to the campaign trail of the ruling party in the last election? What role have all party and government stalwarts played in rendering political thieves presentable in civilized societies that Nigeria has now become one major embarrassment to the wits of viable nations?

From my own dispensable and superfluous position of an onlooker without the benefit of ‘insider’ sight, it would be easy to rain abuses on Aondokaa as the devil incarnate and personification of all the evils that corruption stands for in modern Nigeria.

Alas, it is very difficult if not outright impossible to ignore or oversight unmistakable signals of the can of worms beyond the view of public watch at the depth of the political establishment.

The unfortunate loud-mouthed fellow Aondoakaa is nothing more than a pawn on a complex chessboard of near invincible players. His childish clamoring for the title of Chief Law Enforcement Officer as befits the typical Nigerian craze for status and titles is – unknown to him – a laughable catalyst for backdoor jeers and scorns by real powers that matter and in whose interests he knowingly or unknowingly advances his futile fight. Slowly but steadily, Aondokaa is treading a path that was towed by former President Obasanjo before him. While President Obasanjo ruled in an I-couldn’t-care-less manner in handling people of all creeds and color, his focus was based on ruling strictly on his own terms. All his good deeds for the nation now end up being drowned in the clangs and fangs of people he had offended as well as in his own overwhelming mass of wealth within a short time in addition to murderous crimes within his tenure. On the contrary, Aondokaa is openly standing stoically upright in defense of his bishops, knights, kings and queens on the subtle chessboard amid the stench of indefensibility and clear warnings of grievous consequences.

Obasanjo has ruled and if indeed he is guilty of crimes of which he stands accused, he stands a very good chance of going away with it in the face of some milestone achievements that will count in his favor no matter the vehemence of surrounding controversies. Aondokaa however, is playing in a different and far more subordinate league altogether. Given the current ridiculous status of Nigeria among civilized societies as is strongly symbolized by Aondokaa’s drive to safeguard certain powerful quarters, there is no doubt in my mind that the day of reckoning will come sooner or later. If accountability shoots to the limelight in the prevailing political agenda, the pawn will surely not have the status of kings or queens before him in the battle for survival. Babangida and Obasanjo may survive, but the readiness to sacrifice Aondokaa for survival may come too fast for the liking of the ‘Chief Law Enforcement Officer’ that he may even end up becoming a historical precedent for everything an Attorney-General should not stand for.

Nigeria is now a laughing stock almost in all civilized democracies of the world – above all else – in Germany. Our beloved country, which single-handedly accounts for over 80% of a company’s budgeted bribe money while less than 20% were distributed among recipients in other strategically important countries, is now a symbol of deeply rooted and endemic corruption high up the leadership ladder.

What has gone so badly wrong in Nigeria, where a Ribadu man is keen on ridding the country of at least, less than 1% of its corrupt forces and is tactically and intelligently frustrated with a cleverly coined slogan?

Where is it all going wrong so badly in a country where lawmakers refuse to pass budgetary allocation for the power sector because the money budgeted for utilities in the previous year was not accounted for? Lawmaker Elumelu stated lately that “there is no evidence to show that what were appropriated for personnel cost in 2006 and 2007 were properly utilized.” What is wrong with Nigeria?

We have judicial activism on the part of a supreme court playing to the gallery with populist and illegal judgments and throwing the legal system in disarray. Foreign nations praise the bold and independent stance and laugh behind closed doors at the amateur quality of popular appeal.

As if that was not enough, legislative activism is slowly beginning to take hold. The slogan is Bakassi. When an unnecessary military onslaught compounded by bloodshed finally begins to dictate our relationship with Cameroon amid needless attacks on innocent citizens in urban and rural settlements in a full-blown war, heaven will know where the wisdom of legislative activism derives. No doubt, Nigeria is not short of sources (old and new) for oil drilling. If now, bloodshed is deemed imperative to the advancement of a controversial interest for abiding by the ruling of an international judicial organ, I pray vocal legislative operatives of the present day would send their sons and daughters as fighters to the battlefront as a shining example of patriotic sacrifice.

When the toll is taken of the valiant and the brave, let the only decorations not be the ones upon the grave.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 04.12.2007 15:46

MrOneNaija  Villager

# 2 LAUGHABLE REVISIONISM The futile attempt by the author of the above article to present a glossy picture of the Obasanjo disaster cannot go unchallenged. To talk of "laudable achievements" and a vision to restore Nigeria's past glory in reference to the visionless and bacchanal tyranny of the former despot from Ota is to take Nigerians for fools. Except for the brief interregnum of the Buhari-Idiagbon era, Nigeria has witnessed almost no leader in her recent political history, with the love of the nation at heart. The victim of willful plundering was not confined to the national treasury alone. The decay took its toll on moral values and intellectual standards. It is for the attempt to arrest this trend on several fronts that the immediate past administration glaringly stands out in its quest to restore lost glory. There seems to be an absurd attempt these days by some individuals to re-write recent history. A case in point is the commentary by one Yusufu Olaniyonu (Thisday Online, Nov. 30, 2007) entitled "Obasanjo phobia: The Newe game in town". The article was also the initiating piece of a thread in the Main Square. I repost here my reaction to the Thisday commentary. As for AGF Aondoakaa, his insistence on due process and the rule of law does present him as a much better AGF than the last one under Obasanjo who was nothing short of a PDP apparatchik at the beck and call of his master. THE DESPERATION TO SUGARCOAT THE OBASANJO MESS The writer of the Thisday article must be a funny character indeed. His desperate and futile attempt at sugarcoating the Obasanjo administrative debacle should be dismissed as misguided. On what planet has this guy been living in the past eight years of a largely clueless and vicious tyranny? Instead of mustering the courage to call for a probe and arrest of the former dictator on account of his numerous crimes and atrocities against the Nigerian people, what one hears from this individual is an inconsequential whimpering about "continuity" for continuity's sake and how Obasanjo is being a victim of "phobia" directed against him. Obasanjo as a victim, what a bizarre notion! For much of his disastrous 8-year kleptocracy, Obasanjo was consumed by an idée fixe: The waging of a vicious personal war against political foes, real or imagined. The single-minded obsession to hang on to power by hook or by crook - the Third Term plot - was responsible for the fact that real governance took the backseat. The nation's collective resources were plundered in orgies of unimaginable bestiality, all in the forlorn bid to remain politically relevant without actually assuming leadership responsibilities. Huge sums of money meant for road infrastructure, electricity, health, education, communications, just to name a few areas, were squandered in a most callous manner with little or no thought given to the impact of such reckless conduct on the citizenry. In the area of human rights, the ex-dictator holds an unenviable record as one of the most murderous despots on the African continent as exemplified by his massacres and atrocities in places like Odi and Zaki-Biam. And what about the political murders of the likes of Bola Ige and Dikibo? To make a bad situation worse, the tin god inflicted on the nation the worst electoral heist in its history. The havoc Obasanjo and his errand boys caused in the domains of the rule of law and Nigerian democracy does bear scars that will take at least two generations to erase. How then does one impudently and insensitively insinuate that a character responsible for such wilful and unpardonable destruction of a country be viewed in a positive light rather than as a dangerous pariah deserving of contempt and jail? It is in Yar'Adua's interest (but mostly in the interest of the people) to put a clear distance between his regime and the ruinous Obasanjo misrule. A policy aimed at recovering the loot by Obasanjo and members of his regime is in order. Importantly also, there is the imperative to accelerate the systematic dismantling of Obasanjo's evil empire and what it implies for the country. It is self evident that Obasanjo has always made it a point of duty to kowtow to the very alien interests who perceive Nigeria as a potential threat to the realisation of the nebulous imperialist fantasies they entertain in Africa. It is believed that this uncletomist streak in Obasanjo did play a critical role in his eagerness to submit to Yaounde and its foreign allies in the Bakassi misadventure. Posted by MrOneNaija| 04.12.2007 16:51

adeponle ademola  JJC

# 3 A well written, insightful article.As clearly pointed out in the article, Fela, Murtala, and Tai were men who 'walked the talk'. To these honorable men, personal aggrandizement at the expense of the overall public good stood for one thing only-'the anti-thesis of of successful nation state',one over which compromise of any kind should not be entertained. Posted by adeponle ademola| 04.12.2007 23:11

Donn  Villager

# 4 We have judicial activism on the part of a supreme court playing to the gallery with populist and illegal judgments and throwing the legal system in disarray ....I wonder what you mean by the above statement....,would you prefer a timid judiciary whose pre-occupation is pleasing the government??? I think we should set aside sentiments and personal interests when discussing or commenting on national issues. The current attempt to cajole the judiciary into giving 'politically correct' judgements will fail. On the Attorney General,....honestly i don't know what people have against him....,i think we should try to understand the reasons he has given so far for all his actions which are sound and constitutional. Nigerians should allow due process to be adhered to irrespective of what we think of the 'looters of our treasury'...,there should be no jungle justice for anybody. ....or would you prefer the AGs of Obasanjo's era that goes to lower courts to seek interpretation of Supreme court judgements? Posted by Donn| 05.12.2007 03:55

ifeolooni  Villager

# 5 understand the reason why he doesnt want to sign the legal assistance asked of him we need alot of understnading to do then,if u know it is co0rruption dt makes vvf prevalent in nigeria,unnecessary road accident,child mortality u wont wanna understand anytin but call for martial law or derogation, the usa has guantanamo bay for its own safety if we hv to hold a diff opinion let it be reasonable pls,he doesnt need to behave like bayo ojo but he has to do the right thing. we knew wt obj could do(still remain a big flop tho) but ds yarado nothing guy is deceptive n dts dangerous Posted by ifeolooni| 05.12.2007 06:20

omo naija  Villager

# 6 Mr. Larrimore, can you honestly tell me when you last visit Nigeria? and while i don't know your relationship with Nigeria chief of thief (OBJ), please stop insulting the poor Nigerians that are suffering, despite years of record oil prices under OBJ rule that things are now better, they are not. OBJ has more luck than all Nigeria ex Presidents put together. OBJ failed in restoring Nigeria on the path of greatness full stop, the man is a failure, whether you like it or not - OBJ was given so much, but he pissed it down the drain, Nigerians now or in the future will never forgive OBJ for not writing his name in gold, with so much opportunity to put Nigeria on the road to full recovery, he's a failure, Frisky you need to recognise that. WHO MORE IS GIVEN, MUCH IS EXPECTED. I still don't know why Nigerians writers keep refering to Muritala Mohammed as some kind of hero, the man is nothing but a WAR CRIMINAL in the same boat with the likes of Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and on a smaller extend Adolf Hitler, for the massacre of the Asabians and other war crimes, and the destruction of Nigeria civil service. Frisky nothing works in Nigeria, except banks declaring massive profits, and those milking the system. Yar adua may be OBJ saving grace if he takes Nigeria to a higher ground, if not OBJ name will be written in infamy, of those who failed. Frisky, can you honestly tell me, how a man that was almost bankrupt (20000naira), can now boast of billions of naira, dollar, you name it, and please give me the address of OBJ stock traders, so that i can invest the little one i have, and expect to be not a billionaire or millionaire but a thousanaire in all currency. WE MUST ALL FIGHT THIEVES WITH ALL OUR WEAPON, NO MATTER WHERE THEY MAYBE, WHETHER IN ASO ROCK OR STATE HOUSE, THEY MUST ALL BE BROUGHT TO BOOK, THEN WILL NIGERIA PROGRESS, INSTEAD OF TRYING TO PORTRAY FAILURE AS HALF MARK, FAIL IS FAIL. GOD BLESS NIGERIA AND AFRICA. Posted by omo naija| 06.12.2007 12:48

omo naija  Villager

# 7 =Donn;4294969548>We have judicial activism on the part of a supreme court playing to the gallery with populist and illegal judgments and throwing the legal system in disarray ....I wonder what you mean by the above statement....,would you prefer a timid judiciary whose pre-occupation is pleasing the government??? I think we should set aside sentiments and personal interests when discussing or commenting on national issues. The current attempt to cajole the judiciary into giving 'politically correct' judgements will fail. On the Attorney General,....honestly i don't know what people have against him....,i think we should try to understand the reasons he has given so far for all his actions which are sound and constitutional. Nigerians should allow due process to be adhered to irrespective of what we think of the 'looters of our treasury'...,there should be no jungle justice for anybody. ....or would you prefer the AGs of Obasanjo's era that goes to lower courts to seek interpretation of Supreme court judgements? THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE ABOVE, YOU TOOK THE WORD RIGHT OUT OF MY MOUTH. LET THOSE THAT LOSS OF IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS CONTINUE TO SHOUT FOUL PLAY. GOD BLESS NIGERIA AND AFRICA. Posted by omo naija| 06.12.2007 12:52

Frisky Larr  Villager

# 8 Omo Naija Sir/Madam, Did you really read the article in its entirety sir/madam? If you did, you may have missed out on this sentence: "All his good deeds for the nation now end up being drowned in the clangs and fangs of people he had offended as well as in his own overwhelming mass of wealth within a short time in addition to murderous crimes within his tenure." The underscored part should have answered your question. Its all about being fair and objective sir/madam. I guess we have gone through all these before. You belong to the line of the divide (probably constituting the majority of active villagers), which holds the view that no achievement can be attributed to OBJ as long as nothing has improved in the life of the common man. I simply disagree with this view because there are clear evidences of achievements in several other fields. We do not have to go through this issue again as we will simply agree to disagree. God bless! Posted by Frisky Larr| 06.12.2007 19:11

omo naija  Villager

# 9 =Frisky Larr;4294970370>Omo Naija Sir/Madam, Did you really read the article in its entirety sir/madam? If you did, you may have missed out on this sentence: "All his good deeds for the nation now end up being drowned in the clangs and fangs of people he had offended as well as in his own overwhelming mass of wealth within a short time in addition to murderous crimes within his tenure." The underscored part should have answered your question. Its all about being fair and objective sir/madam. I guess we have gone through all these before. You belong to the line of the divide (probably constituting the majority of active villagers), which holds the view that no achievement can be attributed to OBJ as long as nothing has improved in the life of the common man. I simply disagree with this view because there are clear evidences of achievements in several other fields. We do not have to go through this issue again as we will simply agree to disagree. God bless! Frisky my brother, i don't acknowledge half-mark, even with my children, as i wrote previously, WHO MUCH IS GIVEN MUCH IS EXPECTED. I don't care if we are all living in poverty, as long as there are solid institutions to curtail abuses in high places, this OBJ failed to do (pls, don't mention the EFCC), this is my main gross against him. The man failed because he was blind with his ambitions of ruling Nigeria forever. Please Mr. Larrimore, i have tried to be fair to OBJ but there is nothing to defend him on; the man "na wayo he dey all of the time" (Fela - Army Arrangement). OBJ is a failure in all ramifications. Frisky please tell me all the achievements that you claimed that OBJ achieved, and i will point to you all the failures - believe me if the man has had is way with the 3rd term that would have been the end of Nigeria has will know it. Please let us stop praising mediocrity, we deserve better than that. GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS NIGERIA AND AFRICA. Posted by omo naija| 07.12.2007 07:01