| Humphrey Nwosu and Abacha: Selling a bad product |
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| Written by Levi Obijiofor | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Friday, 13 June 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Humphrey Nwosu and Abacha: Selling a bad product By Levi Obijiofor Friday, 13 June 2008 In the past two weeks, Humphrey Nwosu, the man who left the nation aghast 15 years ago, has recovered his boldness and found his voice to speak again. In this analysis of Humphrey Nwosu, we must keep things in perspective for the sake of history. Nwosu was given a national assignment nearly two decades ago. He accepted the job and smiled expansively as he interacted with the hierarchy of Ibrahim Babangida’s autocratic regime. Nwosu was doing well in his assignment until he approached the finish line in June 1993 and, to everyone’s amazement, he did what all cowards are known for. He quit the job. He did not just quit; the man simply disappeared and refused to talk He offered no reasons for abdicating his responsibility. If he had been struck down by ill health, he would have been pardoned. But Nwosu was in excellent health. His sudden capitulation and the manner in which it was executed turned Nwosu into an instant puzzle, indeed a jigsaw in the unresolved presidential election of 1993. Babangida complicated the political chessboard by his decision not to say anything about Humphrey Nwosu or indeed anything about the government’s reasons for the abrupt termination of the election results. Fifteen years on, both Babangida and Nwosu have remained silent on the inconclusive 1993 elections. The only difference between the two men was that while Babangida went about his business as if nothing happened, Nwosu remained incommunicado. Now, Nwosu, the political philosopher, has been reincarnated. And he is now talking freely, at nobody’s prompting. Last Monday, the Daily Sun newspaper published details of an interview granted by Nwosu. The interview lacked depth because Nwosu’s answers to questions about the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election obfuscated rather than enlightened the nation about what happened more than a decade ago. In the interview, Nwosu consistently hemmed and hawed, repeatedly referring the interviewer to his yet-to-be-published book. The interview, in my judgment, was a spectacular act scripted and performed by Nwosu in collaboration with his marketing managers. The interview revealed a few things about Nwosu but his constant references to God confirmed yet again that our political leaders and public servants always invoke the name of God freely to hide their failures. The way we talk about God, you would think that God was born and bred in Nigeria and assigned to look after the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians only. Why has Nwosu woken up from 15 years of slumber? Why did he decide to talk now? There’s only one word that captures the reasons for Nwosu’s re-emergence in national politics – market. Nwosu is bored of remaining in hibernation. He needs a market to advertise and sell his forthcoming book. He won’t achieve that objective if he maintains silence. Nwosu understands that stirring controversies is the best way to publicise a book. Apart from the pre-publication stunt that straddles Nwosu’s recent public statements, the man appears committed to reviving his political relevance. In his interview, he talked glowingly about the electoral procedures and rules that were in place when he was the boss of National Electoral Commission (NEC). The logic must be that, if Nwosu could sell his views aggressively and credibly enough, his arguments might just strike a chord in the hearts of political leaders. The ultimate outcome would be another national assignment for Nwosu. I don’t know if anyone would be keen to offer Nwosu another national assignment when he has not yet rendered a full, credible, transparent and unexpurgated account of his previous appointment. When Nwosu was asked about Abacha’s role in the June 12, 1993 presidential election saga, Nwosu was as evasive as he was quick to refer to his book. His words: “Just wait… He played a role. But I will not tell you the role he played now. No one has asked me this question before… He played a role. I recommend the book to students of political science, lecturers, market women, just about anyone who is interested in the polity called Nigeria.” Nwosu also said he didn’t agree with Abacha’s decision to destroy the political structures that were established prior to Abacha’s arrival. Nwosu said his personal preference would have been for Abacha to nurture rather than destroy those electoral structures. When Nwosu was asked to compare the two-party political system (institutionalised by Babangida and fostered by Nwosu, in his capacity as NEC chairperson) with the five parties that were registered during Abacha’s regime, Nwosu said he preferred a two-party system. And then he took a swipe at the current multi-party system in Nigeria. His words: “What are we doing with 50 parties? It is just like having a giant and a dwarf. The giant will be defeating the small parties up and down. The giant will never allow the small parties to come together, integrate and form viable choices for Nigerians… That is no democracy.” Nwosu got it wrong. It is not dictatorship to have a multi-party system. What is dictatorship is to place a limit on the number of political parties that people are free to form or join. As long as there are clear guidelines for political party formation and as long as individuals meet the criteria for forming a political party, no one should place a lid on the number of political parties that should be allowed in the country. The fact that one party, such as the People’s Democratic Party, has won elections and dominated politics across the country does not imply we are practising dictatorship by another name. Everyone is bound to hold an opinion in regard to the best possible number of political parties to contest elections in Nigeria. Nwosu seems to suggest that if the choices were reduced to two political parties, then the political problems confronting the nation would either disappear or be reduced significantly. Limiting political involvement and choices to two political parties cannot be said to be a true reflection of a viable democracy. Democracy is all about free choices. Nwosu certainly has not shed himself of the despotic qualities of the military government he served which may have rubbed off on his shirt sleeve. The most telling aspect of Nwosu’s interview emerged when he was asked if the nation had made any progress between 1993 and 2008. His answers were damning. He said: “In some respects, there is nothing to cheer about. In my neighbourhood, there has been no water for the past one year. When I moved into this area in 1988, … water was running. But for one year, there has been no water. Diesel is N140 per litre. I was not using much of generator eight or 10 years ago.” This is a clear indictment of the men who ruled the country in the past 15 years – Ibrahim Babangida, Sani Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Olusegun Obasanjo. The issues that Nwosu talked about concerned mostly basic services – lack of water, electricity, poor network of roads. If four previous governments failed to provide these basic amenities, do we have any reason to expect Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to do better? There are too many contradictions in Nigeria. In the past eight years, Obasanjo informed the nation many times that his government was committed to recovering all the money stolen by Abacha and stored in foreign banks. To a certain extent, some of the money was recovered through direct government intervention and others were returned through the intervention of overseas governments. But in just one week, three former military dictators attended the 10-year anniversary of the death of Abacha, the villain. It was not their attendance at that event that sparked national outrage. It was what they said about Abacha, and how they framed and glorified the man. Those who criticised Ibrahim Babangida, Muhammadu Buhari and Abdulsalami Abubakar for what they said about Abacha did not understand that military dictators have a way of bonding together in good times and in bad times. It is this collegial element, that essence of esprit de corps that informed the stunning testimonials that the three musketeers rendered at Abacha’s memorial anniversary. Nigerians may be suffering from all manner of ailments but amnesia is certainly not one of them.
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Posted by Robot| 13.06.2008 02:26