STILL ON BARACK OBAMA AND PAT UTOMI: A CASE OF APPLES AND ORANGES?

By Uchenna Osigwe

This article is partly in response to the one submitted by Abdulmumini Yinka Ajia  on 07 June 2008, with the title  “In 2007 Nigeria, We Had Our Obama Moment But Blew It”.  My aim here is twofold: 1. to see (again) if there are enough grounds to compare Utomi and Obama as two presidential candidates, albeit in two different climes; 2. to see if, going forward, there are lessons Nigerians might learn from the abysmally failed Utomi candidacy.          

I want to begin by saying that the comparison of Obama and Utomi by many Nigerians is pathetically misplaced.  Sure, like any two human beings who could be as diverse as possible, they do have a few things in common.  These, apart from being human beings and having very similar skin colours, (I think Utomi’s skin is even lighter than Obama’s), are having published books and articles, having been professors in tertiary institutions, and running for the presidency of their respective countries—Utomi’s bid ended in a fiasco while Obama’s is still ongoing and very promising.  Beyond that, I fail to see any other thing they have in common. 

Now what separates the two men are a lot more substantial than what they have in common.  Before he ran for the U.S. Senate, Obama had been a state senator in his home state of Illinois for seven years (he won the senate seat in 1996 and served until 2005).  Before he was even persuaded to run for that office, he had spent several years as a community organizer in Chicago.  While he was at the state senate, he ran unsuccessfully (against a very popular politician) for the U.S. House of Representatives.  He learnt his lessons from that and continued in the state senate until the opportune time came for him to run for higher office.  He won his U.S.Senate elections, both primary and general, in a landslide.  But before that he had captured the attention of his fellow Americans and the world at large with his rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston on 27 July 2004. That speech did not only thrust him onto the American national political scene but also brought him international media coverage. He subsequently went on to win a seat in the U.S. Senate, becoming the fifth African American Senator in the history of the United States of America and the third since Reconstruction.

Not many people were surprised when after barely two years in the U.S. Senate he announced his candidacy for president, doing it at Springfield where America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, also announced his own bid to become president.  According to Obama, when Lincoln announced his candidacy, it was a leap of faith, and his was no different.  In his own words, he was beginning “an improbable journey”.  Notwithstanding his humble submission, many discerning minds knew that his candidacy was one that shouldn’t be dismissed flippantly.

Those who are keen on comparing Obama and Utomi need to keep in mind that before he announced his candidacy for president, Obama had been in elected public office for over a decade.  His closest Democratic rival in the nomination battle, Senator Clinton, actually had less years of legislative experience.  But even with more than one decade in elected office, questions still remain about his experience to take on the job of the president.  So he has been trying to convince the American people that the little national experience he has, together with his acute sense of good judgment, especially his speaking out so eloquently and forcefully, in October 2002, against the invasion of Iraq, qualifies him for the top job.  Needless to say that it took most Americans over five years to grasp the fact that the Iraq war was, in his words, “a dumb war”. So far he has been very successful in making the case for his good sense of judgment.  Obama’s closest democratic rival, Clinton, had to admit that her vote to authorize the war was a “mistake”.  “If I knew then what I know now…” she had lamented.  Too late.

For our own Pat Utomi, the only thing that qualified him to be president of Nigeria was his citizenship.  He never ran for any elected office in his entire life, either successfully or unsuccessfully.  He never had any sort of national exposure except appearing on TV talk shows and the short spell he had as a low level adviser to the ill-fated Shagari second term.  Even as I write this, I’m still at a loss as to what his message was that was supposed to convince most Nigerians to vote for him. One can only hope that Utomi has learnt his lesson from his disastrous outing in the April 2007 election.

The office of the presidency, although it has been horribly desecrated by successive presidents in Nigeria, still needs preparation.  That preparation must include national experience, most preferably as an elected public official.  Abiola must serve as a good example.  He felt, quite arguably, that he was suited for no other public office than the presidency.  He had tried to run years before under NPN but shelved the ambition.  By the time he ran in 1993, he was already a household name in the country.  But his lack of experience and the accompanying naivety meant he was bound to make fatal mistakes.  The worst mistake being that he did not know when he had won the election.  He thought the best way for him to claim the mandate the Nigerian people clearly gave him was going to the World Youth Championship in Japan, and from there on to other parts of the world while Nigerians who voted for him were fighting and dying for the mandate inside the country. He was waiting for the military that made and ultimately unmade him to proclaim him president.  He naively believed it was the same as winning lucrative contracts from the “boys”.  The rest is what we are living as history in Nigeria today.

Utomi has written brilliant articles.  I’ve not read any of his books but I believe that like some of his articles, they will be inspirational.  I also know that he had been involved in helping to keep some neighbourhoods in Lagos (like Eric Moore) clean.  He appeared often on TV in Lagos with his own panel of discussants. He was also involved in the ‘struggle’ for democratic rule during the Abacha era, and so on.  He’s equally well known to many Nigerian intellectuals and journalists.  But I fail to see how these attributes, taken at face value, would make him the best choice for president of the country.   It was like Gani Fawehinmi running for president on the strength of media coverage of his struggles with successive oppressive governments.

Now, I’m not saying that people like Utomi, or yours sincerely, should not aspire to become president of the country; given what we have had so far as presidents, Utomi could rightly believe, as does yours sincerely, that one could be a huge improvement.  However, as that great German thinker, Friedrich Nietzsche, rightly said, one who does not know how to attain his ideal lives more frivolously than one who has no ideal at all.  What I’m saying in effect is that to redeem our country, we need to move away from mediocrity in all its facets.  Let me explain. 

Albert Einstein, as we all know, was asked to become president of Israel on many occasions but each time he turned it down.  But let us keep in mind that the presidency of Israel is largely ceremonial as the state is run by the elected Prime Minister.  So it is not as demanding as the presidency of Nigeria.  So Einstein could have done it creditably if he really wanted it.  Now I’m not saying that Utomi should think of himself as an Einstein because I believe he is too modest to do that.  What I’m saying is that Einstein, whose brilliance was universally acclaimed, knew his limits when it came to certain things, in this case politics.  He said unambiguously that he was too naïve to be a good politician.  Einstein said that he preferred equation to politics.  But Einstein was very politically active throughout his life.  In his own words, “life is divided between politics and equations”.  Einstein became politically active as early as the First World War when he became involved in antiwar demonstrations while still a professor in Berlin.  He advocated civil disobedience and publicly encouraged people to refuse conscription.  As a reaction to anti-Semitism, Einstein was an outspoken supporter of Zionism.   These political causes made him unpopular, and at a point difficult for him to visit the United States even to give lectures.  An anti-Einstein organization was set up at a time and when a man was convicted of inciting others to murder Einstein, he was fined only six dollars!  When Hitler came to power in 1933, Einstein was in the United States and announced he was not returning to Germany.  A Berlin newspaper headline screamed “Good News from Einstein—He’s Not Coming Back.”  Einstein’s vocal support for Zionism was duly recognized when in 1952 he was offered the presidency of Israel.  He declined, pleading that he was too naïve for politics.  To put it bluntly, Einstein believed he was going to be a mediocre political leader.

Now whether Einstein was naïve or not is debatable.   I think what he meant was that he knew that his first love was equations and so he feared he wouldn’t find enough time to be a good political leader.  The point I’m making is that preparation is very important for anything one wants to do.  Being a successful politician demands a lot of background preparation.  This is true of anything, by the way.  To succeed in anything one needs to do one’s homework conscientiously.   A successful run for president therefore requires that one has a solid political structure on the ground so that one’s name and programs or message become common knowledge; that one needs to have enough resources to run a  successful campaign.  When Abiola ran for president, he had the two most important things he needed from Nigerians namely, name recognition and a belief that he was going to deliver for them.  He didn’t need financial contributions from them.  Indeed he was doling out money to people on his campaign trail.   He had all the resources he needed to win; and he won.  What he lacked was the requisite experience as I’ve argued above.

In the case of Obama, he has most of the resources he needs to win.  And he is winning. The only two issues he’s dealing with are name recognition and experience.  Of course now his name is fast becoming a household name in the country thanks to his ability to defeat another household name in American political consciousness: Clinton.  As for experience, he argues that he has enough experience, and most importantly the judgment, to be commander-in-chief; and has been successful in convincing many Americans that he does.  As Colin Powell put it recently, Obama had no experience in running a presidential campaign, but see how brilliantly he has done it.  He easily outshone his more “experienced” rivals both in fund raising and in getting his message across to the voters.

Utomi on his part was not able to run an admirable campaign; most people never heard of his party and even less his name. And he has no noticeable strategy to change that.  He announced his candidacy very close to the election.  But that was just one in a long list of reckless mistakes he made in his bid to become the president of Nigeria.  Would it not have been a more prudent route for Pat to shore up his popularity in Lagos, not just among the elite, and then run for an office, say governorship or senate first before seriously thinking of running for president? What I’m saying is that there are more credible ways to the presidency than what we have witnessed in the space of four years, first from Gani Fawehinmi and then from Pat Utomi.  Of course the elections were hopelessly rigged, no doubt about that.  But a strong candidate should anticipate that and have a plan to deal with it decisively either before or after the election.

It is time those who want to see genuine progress in Nigeria started organizing, not on the pages of newspapers, not even in law courts, but on the ground, where the people are.  We have a good example of that in Anambra state where Peter Obi went to the people with a message that captured the popular imagination and consciousness and he won the election to become governor of the state decisively.  He had enough resources to run a successful campaign and to claim and reclaim the mandate the people gave to him.  He discharged of both duties admirably.  But imagine that Peter Obi had run for president in 2003, believing (rightly) that he could do a better job as president than everyone else?  It would have been a loss wouldn’t it?

So let me end by saying that I would love to see Utomi come back to the national political scene, but this time in a more effective way.  This is borne out of my belief that he has a lot to contribute to the nation.  But until Pat does his homework well, comparing him to Obama would amount to nothing less than comparing apples and oranges.  For instance, even if Obama ends up not becoming president (which seems unlikely), he has contributed a lot to raise the level of political discourse in his country.  I wish I could one day say the same thing of Utomi and other progressives in Nigeria.

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 03.07.2008 08:33

fredlintaz  Villager

# 2 You make an excellent point here: "Of course the elections were hopelessly rigged, no doubt about that. But a strong candidate should anticipate that and have a plan to deal with it decisively either before or after the election." Posted by fredlintaz| 03.07.2008 08:47

picato  Villager

# 3 This article is right on the money. Posted by picato| 03.07.2008 10:46

toksyleigh  Villager

# 4 God Bless you Uchenna, this article was right on the money. I remember a couple of years ago, every time I visited the website of many states all I see for the post of commissioners are Dr. this and Professor that, as if that was the solution to what ails Nigeria. Immediately, I realized that we do not have our priorities in the right direction in Nigeria. With articles like this, hopefully Nigerians will understand that running a country, a state and even a ministry for that matter goes beyond academic qualifications. No! I do not have anything against educators at all, in fact, I believe they are essential to the survival of any nation; but the fact is that Teachers and Professors teach theories, (with most professions) the application of those theoretical skills to real -life situations is shaped by one's experience, good common sense combined with excellent leadership, inter-personal and decision making skills, ideals, vision, good judgments, values just to mention a few. You have done a good job of exposing one of the mis-conceptions of the Nigerian society. Your next article should be, how may chieftaincy titles equals 1 ounce of a common sense plus integrity? God help us all, Goriola Abamieda Jr. Posted by toksyleigh| 03.07.2008 11:36

emenanjo  Villager

# 5 Your quote: "He had tried to run years before under NPN but shelved the ambition. By the time he ran in 1993, he was already a household name in the country. But his lack of experience and the accompanying naivety meant he was bound to make fatal mistakes. The worst mistake being that he did not know when he had won the election. He thought the best way for him to claim the mandate the Nigerian people clearly gave him was going to the World Youth Championship in Japan, and from there on to other parts of the world while Nigerians who voted for him were fighting and dying for the mandate inside the country. He was waiting for the military that made and ultimately unmade him to proclaim him presidency. He naively believed it was the same as winning lucrative contracts from the “boys”. The rest is what we are living as history in Nigeria today." This is a good article with sound advice for potential politicians but as a panticipant in Abiola's election, I don't buy the above fallacy. First and foremost, Abiola whilst with the NPN did not "shelve" his ambition, he was clearly told by the northern cabal-who have always claimed that it is their divine right to hold on to power in Nigeria and, represented then by Umaru Dikko-that the presidency was not for sale. Abiola, seeing the obstacle on his way, decided to resign from the NPN. On June 12, 1993 election: when you wrote that Abiola's "worst mistake was that he did not know when he had won the election," I don't quite get it. Who told you that Abiola did not know when he "had won the election"? What strand or tread of argument are you trying to establish? Are you implying Abiola should have gone to lick IBB's ass, cajole, banter and promise the "military boys" juicy contracts before they will hand over to him? If that is your insinuation, what makes you think Abiola did not promise some of those and yet was denied that power. I want people to also know that at a point during that June 12 saga, Abiola had sought audience with IBB to get some clarifications. Newspaper reports had it that they later met at the airport. IBB told Abiola that some military boys don't want him. Abiola then asked him to name the military boys, to which IBB declined. The purpose of that question to me, is to enable Abiola reach out to those officers and assuage whatever fear they might be harbouring about him. But did IBB name them? On the part that he fled while others were dying, this is where I always say most Nigerians are hypocrites. The principal actors who advised Abiola to go abroad for safety thought and meant well but most have not come out to say why they advised Abiola to flee the country. However, when Abiola went abroad, he did not go there to drink tea and coffee,no, he used every fora to solicit and canvass for international support. He advised the same western world and their powerful media who are desperate to see democracy in Zimbabwe, to bring pressure to bear on IBB and his military cohorts, to de-annul the freest and fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria. But what did they do? He later came back and just like the followers who died before him, still died for our mandate, even though he has every opportunity to live if he had wanted that. I will please advise commentators on June !2, that if they don't know anything about that election and what transpired, they should not peddle falsehood, otherwise our children will never know the great import and relevance of that election. Please do your research well before you go to the press. I agree with you that people should, in politics, start from somewhere lower e.g senate,House of Rep, state Assembly, local govt chairman or even as a councillor. However, the thesis should not be rigid. it should be flexibly applied. I say this because Nigeria is a peculiar country. The way things work in other climes, they do not work like that in Nigeria nay Africa. We are a peculiar people with a peculiar pattern of behaviour.This has been our political albatross. So one is not surprise that Pat Utomi or Abiola could not make it. Our peculiarities, well garnished and spiced, with our idiosyncracies often take control of our better self. There is no doubt that Abiola made it, but what baffles me was what stops Nigerians from coming out enmasse-when the man came back-to help claim their mandate? Afterall, it was our mandate, not his mandate. Again, I see no reason why people who have managed businesses and people successfully in the corporate world, should not venture into politics. Afterall, Politics is a continuation of business. Unlike America, in Nigeria evil thrives in politics because good men shy or keep away from politics. I will submit that anyone who wants to serve the people should go on but such a person should be well prepared and well grounded as you have rightly advised. Pat Utomi's entry into politics, was to me, circumstantial. I can assure you that if the so called sleazy politicians were efficiently and effectively doing their job and providing services to the people, Pat Utomi will remain in his academia and business world.That is why the struggle to save Nigeria, according to him, has become his life. Posted by emenanjo| 03.07.2008 12:00

ayookun  JJC

# 6 You just made my day. Posted by ayookun| 03.07.2008 12:09

toksyleigh  Villager

# 7 @Emenanjo: There is no doubt that Abiola made it, but what baffles me was what stops Nigerians from coming out enmasse-when the man came back-to help claim their mandate? Afterall, it was our mandate, not his mandate. Here we again, another Abiola apologist. The purpose of my response is not engage you about what transpired on June12. I am sure you know that better than me; the purpose is say that you are a perfect example of what this author is talking about; miss-guided Nigerian and Africans. Point of correction, Abiola is not calming "people's mandate" he was claiming his own mandate, just like Shagari, OBJ, Yar Adua and all other military dictators before, after and others that might soon come. While I would NOT get into my own personal specifics about what I think of Abiola and the likes of him (NVS is not a medium to do that as mature discussions about issues are not very welcomed here with all the insults that follows dissenting opinions), but I will tell you this; what was done to Abiola on June 12 is not new because Abiola did the same thing to others before him. Remember, Abiola dined, drank, and conspired with the NPN brass (together with Akinloye, Akinjide, Umaru Dikko et al...) to deny the rightful winner of the first republic elections, he never once believed in the truth nor justice for ordinary Nigerians, he obliterated the course of justice to something that money can buy and benefited from running the lives of Nigerians collectively, it was only fair that karma would come calling when it was his turn. You see, for every evil that men do; God is watching, the same God he claims to be serving when he was acting like one. I would like to stop here for now. Goriola Abamieda Jr. Posted by toksyleigh| 03.07.2008 13:01

tonsoyo  Villager

# 8 Brilliantly put together article, but you missed the real reason why Pat Utomi presidential bid was a mirage. Pat Utomi did not lose because he did not have the experience or because he lacked the necessary prerequisites to rule Nigeria, compare to some others who have ruled us, and are still ruling us, he is a superstar. He could not have won because he did not have the platform and because of the Nigerian factor. It was apparent from when the election kicked-off that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a non-PDP candidate to succeed Obasanjo. So I think Utomi was just a joker to have conceived the idea of gaining Nigeria Presidency through a party that he formed overnight. For people like Utomi to have a real shot at Presidency he would have to fight within the system by using an electable platform of a popular party. I do not care how many TV shows and and even Radio shows he is able to host, he would be wasting his time, with Nigeria as presently constituted. He is no Obama, and there is no basis for comparison, I agree with you, but even Obama himself would not have had this chance, if he had not fought within the system, if he had used some weird political party rather than the established ones. What people like Utomi need to do, is to enrol enmasse into the mainstream and established parties and slugged it out with these mediocres in charge. They have to fight within and look for a way to flush out the undesirable elements in the parties by letting the progressives take over. Utomi cannot do that alone and cannot be a President fighting outside of the established system. Besides the first republic politicians who were themselves nationalists, how many amongst the present crops of politicians in Nigeria can you really point to as politically savvy enough to know what governance is all about? You are also wrong on Abiola, emenanjo addressed that area to some extent. Abiola did not give up under NPN, he resigned when it dawned on him that the North has reneged on their promise to shift power to the South and make him the party Presidential candidate. Abiola had all it takes to be the President in Nigeria, he knows the politics than most Nigerians. He has personally sponsored coup in Nigeria and has personally financed installation of President in Uganda. His life was politics. Abiola knew all along that the time would come when he would have to call in the favor for all the goodwills he was acquiring all over Nigeria, and he was right, his permutations paid off, the only Nigeria with such political savviness so far. If that is not experience, I wonder what would qualify. IBB personally told Abiola that his life was in danger, that the "military boys" were after him. It would have been foolish of him not to have heeded that advice. Only that some of his supporters felt disssapointed that he did not carry them along, that was the point of departure for Obasanjo who like to be the center of everything, contrary to what many people were saying that he never supported Abiola. But Abiola answered with one of his usual proverbs, that "birds do not tell birds when a stone comes flying at them" The only mistake he did was that he should have come come back to declare his Presidency during Shonekan's clueless reign when the country was standstill and the Supreme Court has declared the Interim Government as illegal, but he waited to broker an agreement with the begoggled devil (Abacha) who was extremely ambitious after he has consolidated himself in power. We need more of our progressives and educated Nigerians to enrol in the establishment parties enmasse and fight these mediocres on their turf. It is their only chance of getting to Aso-Rock. _________________________ _________________________ =toksyleigh;4295064832>@Emenanjo: Here we again, another Abiola apologist. The purpose of my response is not engage you about what transpired on June12. I am sure you know that better than me; the purpose is say that you are a perfect example of what this author is talking about; miss-guided Nigerian and Africans. Point of correction, Abiola is not calming "people's mandate" he was claiming his own mandate, just like Shagari, OBJ, Yar Adua and all other military dictators before, after and others that might soon come. While I would NOT get into my own personal specifics about what I think of Abiola and the likes of him (NVS is not a medium to do that as mature discussions about issues are not very welcomed here with all the insults that follows dissenting opinions), but I will tell you this; what was done to Abiola on June 12 is not new because Abiola did the same thing to others before him. Remember, Abiola dined, drank, and conspired with the NPN brass (together with Akinloye, Akinjide, Umaru Dikko et al...) to deny the rightful winner of the first republic elections, he never once believed in the truth nor justice for ordinary Nigerians, he obliterated the course of justice to something that money can buy and benefited from running the lives of Nigerians collectively, it was only fair that karma would come calling when it was his turn. You see, for every evil that men do; God is watching, the same God he claims to be serving when he was acting like one. I would like to stop here for now. Goriola Abamieda Jr. I do not get your point here. The mandate given to Abiola belonged to Nigerians, Abiola was therefore defending the mandate given to him on behalf of Nigerians. Facts are sacred brother, how has Abiola conspired to deny any winner of "first republic" election? I would take it that you made a mistake there, that you mean to say "second republic" But then since when has it become a "conspiracy" to freely associate with people of your choice as guaranteed by the Constitution? I believe almost everybody on this forum know that I am an unrepentant Awoist. Your insinuation here is another problem with Yoruba politics in the days of Awolowo. Anybody that seeks to rise above Awolowo will automatically become the enemy of Yorubas. Abiola wanted to be the President, and he knew that as long as Awolowo was alive the position was not vacant in UPN, he therefore joined a political party where he felt he could freely contest for Presidency and when it became apparent to him that even the North was not willing to give him the platform as promised, he quickly retraced his steps and resigned from active politics, what is wrong with that? Abiola had his right of association, I beg. Posted by tonsoyo| 03.07.2008 13:36

igwe  Villager

# 9 =emenanjo; On June 12, 1993 election: when you wrote that Abiola's "worst mistake was that he did not know when he had won the election," I don't quite get it. Who told you that Abiola did not know when he "had won the election"? What strand or tread of argument are you trying to establish? Are you implying Abiola should have gone to lick IBB's ass, cajole, banter and promise the "military boys" juicy contracts before they will hand over to him? If that is your insinuation, what makes you think Abiola did not promise some of those and yet was denied that power. He should have declared himself president after winning the election, period. That was the only legal and courageous thing to do at the time. I want people to also know that at a point during that June 12 saga, Abiola had sought audience with IBB to get some clarifications. Newspaper reports had it that they later met at the airport. IBB told Abiola that some military boys don't want him. Abiola then asked him to name the military boys, to which IBB declined. The purpose of that question to me, is to enable Abiola reach out to those officers and assuage whatever fear they might be harbouring about him. But did IBB name them? Abiola should have told IBB that most Nigerians voted for him, that he could understand that some people didn't like him, but that he already had the mandate of the people. On the part that he fled while others were dying, this is where I always say most Nigerians are hypocrites. The principal actors who advised Abiola to go abroad for safety thought and meant well but most have not come out to say why they advised Abiola to flee the country. However, when Abiola went abroad, he did not go there to drink tea and coffee,no, he used every fora to solicit and canvass for international support. He advised the same western world and their powerful media who are desperate to see democracy in Zimbabwe, to bring pressure to bear on IBB and his military cohorts, to de-annul the freest and fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria. But what did they do? I wonder where is the hypocrisy in stating facts? Is it true that Nigerians were dying for the "mandate" while Abiola was on a self-imposed exile? Now you're talking about "The Principal actors". Who are those principal actors who advised Abiola to flee the country? Do they include IBB and Abacha? Isn't it just sheer naivety that he should go to the western world to get them to bring pressure on IBB to "de-annul" the election he already won? Let me give you a current example: When Obama crossed the threshold of the number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, he declared himself the nominee. Why did it take Abiola more than a whole year to declare himself president? Once the elections were called, remember the results were declared at every polling station, he became the president elect. The next thing would have been for him to get a judge to swear him in. If anybody thought he didn't win the election, such a person should go to court. Begging IBB or later Abacha to de-annul the election was a fatal mistake. It was even worse when Abiola allowed his supporters, including his vice president, Kingibe to serve in Abacha's junta on the strength that Abacha, whom he called a "personal friend", promised to hand over to him. Please do your research well before you go to the press. I certainly did my research. We are dealing with facts here, not sentiments. There is no doubt that Abiola made it, but what baffles me was what stops Nigerians from coming out enmasse-when the man came back-to help claim their mandate? Afterall, it was our mandate, not his mandate. You should by now know the answer to your question as to why Nigerians didn't come out en mass to support him after he declared himself the president. In politics a day could mean a whole year. The moment he got into his private jet and jetted out of the country, his "advisers" knew they had gotten rid of him. That singular act dealt a fatal blow to the mandate. Abiola was an Are Ona Kakanfo. You don't abandon a battle and still hope to win it. Yes, you could temporarily "withdraw" as a skirmishing manoeuvre, but never on the on the terms of your enemy. If it was absolutely necessary for him to go outside the country, it should have been for a day or two, certainly not for more than one week. Most importantly, only his closest confidants, and not the whole country, should know about it. I invoked Abiola's case as an example of what needs to be done to usher in real progress in our hapless country. The mistakes he made are just that--mistakes. At every time he believed he was doing the best thing for his country. We should learn from those mistakes. Thank you. Posted by igwe| 03.07.2008 15:50

Lovenest  Villager

# 10 =toksyleigh;4295064832>@Emenanjo: Here we again, another Abiola apologist. The purpose of my response is not engage you about what transpired on June12. I am sure you know that better than me; the purpose is say that you are a perfect example of what this author is talking about; miss-guided Nigerian and Africans. Point of correction, Abiola is not calming "people's mandate" he was claiming his own mandate, just like Shagari, OBJ, Yar Adua and all other military dictators before, after and others that might soon come. While I would NOT get into my own personal specifics about what I think of Abiola and the likes of him (NVS is not a medium to do that as mature discussions about issues are not very welcomed here with all the insults that follows dissenting opinions), but I will tell you this; what was done to Abiola on June 12 is not new because Abiola did the same thing to others before him. Remember, Abiola dined, drank, and conspired with the NPN brass (together with Akinloye, Akinjide, Umaru Dikko et al...) to deny the rightful winner of the first republic elections, he never once believed in the truth nor justice for ordinary Nigerians, he obliterated the course of justice to something that money can buy and benefited from running the lives of Nigerians collectively, it was only fair that karma would come calling when it was his turn. You see, for every evil that men do; God is watching, the same God he claims to be serving when he was acting like one. I would like to stop here for now. Goriola Abamieda Jr. Abamieda, You are the person who is "miss-guided" because you fail to see the point emenanjo is making. Emenanjo praised the article but {only} corrected some historical facts which are verifiable. And I support those corrections. June 12 was a watershed in Nigeria and if people like you don't understand that it was "our" mandate that was desecrated by IBB and not Abiola's mandate, then I pity you. _________________________ _________________________ =igwe;4295064994> =emenanjo; He should have declared himself president after winning the election, period. That was the only legal and courageous thing to do at the time. Abiola should have told IBB that most Nigerians voted for him, that he could understand that some people didn't like him, but that he already had the mandate of the people. I wonder where is the hypocrisy in stating facts? Is it true that Nigerians were dying for the "mandate" while Abiola was on a self-imposed exile? Now you're talking about "The Principal actors". Who are those principal actors who advised Abiola to flee the country? Do they include IBB and Abacha? Isn't it just sheer naivety that he should go to the western world to get them to bring pressure on IBB to "de-annul" the election he already won? Let me give you a current example: When Obama crossed the threshold of the number of delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination, he declared himself the nominee. Why did it take Abiola more than a whole year to declare himself president? Once the elections were called, remember the results were declared at every polling station, he became the president elect. The next thing would have been for him to get a judge to swear him in. If anybody thought he didn't win the election, such a person should go to court. Begging IBB or later Abacha to de-annul the election was a fatal mistake. It was even worse when Abiola allowed his supporters, including his vice president, Kingibe to serve in Abacha's junta on the strength that Abacha, whom he called a "personal friend", promised to hand over to him. I certainly did my research. We are dealing with facts here, not sentiments. You should by now know the answer to your question as to why Nigerians didn't come out en mass to support him after he declared himself the president. In politics a day could mean a whole year. The moment he got into his private jet and jetted out of the country, his "advisers" knew they had gotten rid of him. That singular act dealt a fatal blow to the mandate. Abiola was an Are Ona Kakanfo. You don't abandon a battle and still hope to win it. Yes, you could temporarily "withdraw" as a skirmishing manoeuvre, but never on the on the terms of your enemy. If it was absolutely necessary for him to go outside the country, it should have been for a day or two, certainly not for more than one week. Most importantly, only his closest confidants, and not the whole country, should know about it. I invoked Abiola's case as an example of what needs to be done to usher in real progress in our hapless country. The mistakes he made are just that--mistakes. At every time he believed he was doing the best thing for his country. We should learn from those mistakes. Thank you. Dear Igwe, I would have taken up on these issues as you'd addressed them one after the other concerning emenanjo but you disarmed me with this very solid submission: "I invoked Abiola's case as an example of what needs to be done to usher in real progress in our hapless country. The mistakes he made are just that--mistakes. At every time he believed he was doing the best thing for his country. We should learn from those mistakes." Infact, I concur with you. This your article is one of the best I have read on NVS. Please keep it brother. Posted by Lovenest| 03.07.2008 16:27

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