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The matter of Obasanjo's security

By Dillibe Onyeama (Guardian of May 15, 2006)

The trouble with shouting at a six-year old is that in no time at all you too begin to sound like a six-year old. If one listens to the deafening protests of the anti-'3rd-term' crowd against the strident insistence of pro-'3rd term' campaigners, one hears a riot of hysteria that evokes a bemusing picture of a kindergarten slanging-match - leaving one open-mouthed at the incredible triteness of it all.

Is it really to say that the fate of a potential medium power like Nigeria must be sealed on the question of whether or not a President with a sound track record in performance should be allowed an extension of one more term to complete an unfinished symphony in reform that would otherwise be promptly jettisoned by another President (trust Nigerians) whose innate human vanity would compel him to structure his own survival option? Is there a Divine law that prohibits such an extension, or is there not a first time for everything in mortal human life?

The certain calamity that would be wrought if Obasanjo is denied a third term should be immediately apparent from the implications of the imminent 'cashless economy' innovation. This reform was billed to kick off almost a year ago with a sustained high-tempo public enlightenment campaign calculated to open the eyes of the Nigerian people to the fact that with such a package the pains of Nigeria's peculiar 'Third-World' status would become a thing of the past, and one would begin to derive real enjoyment, security and patriotic pride from the abundant resources of this long-plagued nation.

Though the 'cashless society' package will, from all accounts, involve a phased progression to fully unwind its 'goodies' within four years of kick-off, it does at any rate demonstrate the keen foresight of a peace-creating formula that saw its definitive birth with the 'Anti-Corruption Bill'. That 'beginning' was followed by a decisive 'middle' that demolished the top hierarchy of corruption in law enforcement, eclipsed same in the law-making body, and also mowed down crooked executive juggernauts in the corridors of power at both Federal and State levels. The 'End' of this exercise would be the entrenchment of a 'cashless economy' in which a credit-card scheme would replace physical cash as the official commodity of exchange.

What are the ultimate benefits of outlawing cash from circulation?...There would be no more armed robbery attacks on banks, luxurious buses and private homes; there would be no more money laundering; no more printing of counterfeit notes; no more trafficking in hard and fake drugs; no more ferrying of looted funds in oversized 'Ghana-must go's; no more police extortion; no more cash bribery; crime detection would be greatly facilitated; in effect, fraud and insecurity would be wiped out by at least 80 per cent. The people of Nigeria would now be accorded the sanctuary and relief of overdue peace and a stress-free existence. For President Obasanjo it would be mission accomplished, and he could then bow out from the stage for his own overdue rest.

In the light of the foregoing, should there really be any fettering over the need for a four-year extension in office to enable Obasanjo to bring about the very real Utopia that a 'cashless economy' would usher in?...The ongoing 'Third Term' furore is little more than the exaggerated efforts of desperate business twisters, whose many short-cuts to larger-than-life wealth are already being blocked by the 'Anti-Corruption Bill' (and to be finally cut off by the 'cashless economy'), to finance powerful interest groups nationwide to rise up against the Obasanjo 'obstacle'.

The only real source of concern now is Obasanjo's security. One reason why Babangida could be hailed as a master of the survival game was his prudence in promptly dismantling the former Nigerian Security Organisation (NSO) when he came to power, and setting up his own State Security Service (SSS), well knowing that the NSO comprised many operatives who were still loyal to the military administration which he had overthrown. General Abacha failed to do the same. General A.A. Abubakar, Babangida's cousin, had no need to reorgansie the system. Obasanjo has not done it all this time, and that is now a matter of pressing concern.

Onyeama, a writer and publisher, lives in Enugu.

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One of the few leading lights in Nigeria politics...