26 Feb 2009 |
|
Yar’Adua: Matters that can’t wait By Levi Obijiofor Friday, 27 February 2009 We forget too easily. In the first week of November 2008, the whole world watched the video clip of an incident in Victoria Island, Lagos, where a group of naval ratings in full view of their boss assaulted a young woman, Uzoma Okere, tearing her clothes, punching her and dragging her callously like a piece of wood as a small crowd watched the hideous event. The nation was outraged. Top military officers condemned the incident, as did Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, whose government offered legal assistance to Uzoma. Newspaper columnists and online commentators expressed indignation at the way the naval ratings humiliated the young woman. After a few days of nonchalance and procrastination, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua finally came out of his closet and announced that he was appointing his Defence Chief, Air Marshal Paul Dike, to investigate the incident. Supporters of Yar’Adua yelled in joy. The president has shown he is a caring man, they bellowed. Like a dutiful officer, Paul Dike swung into action and set up a panel to investigate the events and circumstances that led to the bashing of Uzoma. Weeks later, the panel submitted its report. Since that first week of November 2008 when the incident occurred till today, Yar’Adua and his aides have been sitting and sleeping on that report. The nation has waited and waited. Should anyone be surprised that nothing has happened four months since Uzoma was assaulted and more than three months since the panel submitted its report? In his first anniversary speech in May last year, Yar’Adua pledged to initiate changes in the structure of his government. It took him more than six months to conjure up a list of ministers. Judging by how long it took Yar’Adua to reconstitute his cabinet, the nation might have to wait much longer before the Federal Government feels compelled to make an official statement on the report of the panel that investigated the Uzoma Okere incident. When people criticise Yar’Adua’s administration for being too slow, too lethargic, and indeed too unconcerned about serious national matters, they point to the pathetic handling of the Uzoma incident as evidence. And it is a substantial piece of evidence that easily knocks out whatever excuse the government might have for being too sluggish. Why should Yar’Adua care about the public humiliation and human rights abuse of Uzoma Okere? Well, for the simple reason that Uzoma is a citizen of Nigeria. Every Nigerian citizen deserves to be protected by the government from brutality of any kind especially when a group of men in uniform use extraordinary force to disgrace a woman. The brutalization of Uzoma has damaged Nigeria’s image irreparably. Many people overseas who watched the video of the bloodied attack on the young woman now assume that it’s an accepted practice in Nigeria for women to be treated callously. The Federal Government’s silence over the naval ratings’ assault on Uzoma is appalling. It has serious implications for the government and the people of Nigeria. It suggests that it is okay for men in military uniform to assault any member of the public at will. It also implies the government has no obligation to protect its own citizens from any kind of abuse by brutish naval ratings. If you think that Yar’Adua’s silence over the Uzoma incident is not strong enough evidence that the government is snoozing, you might want to ask questions about Yar’Adua’s much publicised power sector emergency. Add to that the government’s delay or failure to release an official statement on the Electoral Reform Commission’s report. Everywhere you look, you are guaranteed to find proof that this government is determined to do things its own sluggish way – regardless of the urgency of individual cases, irrespective of the seriousness of the situation. The irony is that Yar’Adua is not unaware of public criticism and weariness over the slow pace of his government. In fact, he acknowledged it publicly last year. In his anniversary speech in May 2008, Yar’Adua told the nation he was aware of the public’s frustration with the slow pace of his government. He said his unhurried attitude to government business was a part of his “process of learning”. How long would it take Yar’Adua to complete his apprenticeship as a political learner? It would soon be two years since he mounted the presidential throne. Is he still learning? It is unbelievable that Yar’Adua’s government has virtually gone to sleep over some important national issues. The official excuse that Yar’Adua is till learning the political process is a convenient line used by the president and his defenders to cover the man’s administrative flaws. Yar’Adua is not a rookie politician. Before he was dragged to the presidential job, he had served his tenure as governor of Katsina State. As I argued in this column on November 7, 2008, Nigerians don’t want a government that would spend the better part of its tenure learning how to govern. In three months, Yar’Adua will be celebrating his two years in office as president. Nothing has changed. Rather than improve the speed with which the government attends to official matters, everything seems to have been grounded in full view of Yar’Adua. Months ago, official government business was beached -- in a metaphorical sense -- because everyone was waiting for Yar’Adua to name his team of ministers. Months after the new team was sworn in, the ministers seem to have lost energy already. Is there any medical pill that could be administered on Yar’Adua’s team in order to revive the process and pace of government? When Yar’Adua appointed Paul Dike, his Defence Chief, to investigate the Uzoma event, everyone thought Yar’Adua was damn serious. Now, we know he wasn’t. When he announced his determination to solve the crippling electricity problem through his so-called power sector emergency, we felt that Yar’Adua was in tune with the mood of the nation. Now, we know he never meant what he said. Not only has Yar’Adua given the nation false hopes, he has also -- in certain cases -- abdicated his responsibilities. In two years’ time, it would be election time again. That’s when Yar’Adua would mount the political podium to justify his first four years as president or why he needs another term to complete his political dreams. But, I return to the opening sentence of this essay. We forget too easily. I remember how serious Yar’Adua looked on television screen when he received the Electoral Reform Commission’s report. At the official ceremony, he pledged to give the report the urgent attention it deserved. His understanding of the word “urgent” must be different from ours. Where is the urgency and where is proof that Yar’Adua considers the Electoral Reform Commission’s report an issue of significant national importance? The failure of the Federal Government to act on these and other matters has given the opposition the moral strength to assert that Yar’Adua’s government is not just crawling. It is limping. Halfway into its tenure, this is perhaps the right time to wheel the government into the hospital theatre for proper diagnosis of its ailments. This is indeed the season of irony. When the head of a government is quick to take a newspaper to court for speculating over his health and then is so slow and indifferent to serious national issues, we have to wonder how Yar’Adua managed to govern Katsina State. Did he have a proxy who cloned his name and image? Did he rent the services of his Deputy Governor? Did he also work only at night as our pastors and preachers do? Where is the evidence that Yar’Adua performed miracles in Katsina? Of course, in terms of magnitude of national problems, Katsina is nowhere near the problems that confront Nigeria. But Yar’Adua has not given us the confidence to assume, for the benefit of the doubt, that he left lasting impressive legacies when he served as governor of Katsina. Given the casual pace of work in Abuja, could it be that Nigeria is truly cursed?
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
# 
Your Comments
Please make The Square an enjoyable experience for everyone by refraining from gratuitous ad-hominem contributions, defamatory comments and off-topic posting. Such posts will be removed.