09 Jan 2004 |
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| From The Guardian Friday, January 9, 2004 PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo can no longer feign ignorance or innocence, or neutrality in the Anambra crisis. Every democracy has its extremes. What we are witnessing in Anambra is not just a case of extremism, it is madness carried a little too far, and the disembowelling of the present democratic process. President Obasanjo has both a moral and official duty not just to respond to the queries that have been raised about him, he must also be seen to be playing the role of a statesman. If he has any further doubts about the seriousness of the situation, let him read copies of yesterday's newspapers, particularly The Daily Independent, which in a front-page story pointedly accuses him of being the mastermind, the instigator of the Anambra crisis, the protagonist of a multi-layered intrigue. The details of The Daily Independent report may be open to question, but significantly, the story confirms the pervasive impression that President Obasanjo, either by omission or commission, is the Godfather of all Godfathers behind the Anambra debacle. Besides, both the women of Anambra in a ritualistic protest and the Anambra House of Assembly have pointedly accused President Obasanjo of complicity. Is it true that Chris Uba is President Obasanjo's agent in Anambra? Did the President instruct the Inspector-General of Police to act swiftly beyond the call of duty? Was there a meeting between Justice Stanley Nnaji and President Obasanjo? Why would the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi sound so weak in a matter that requires a definitive declaration? What does he mean by "status quo?" What status quo? Anambra is burning. President Obasanjo is fiddling. If this were to be a crisis in Liberia, he would have jumped into the next available plane. If the embattled Governor were to be a man with an unpronounceable name in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, he would have seized the opportunity to grandstand. Now, in his own country, for the second time, in less than one year, a whole state is on turmoil, democracy is on trial, the integrity of public institutions is threatened, and Baba, as he is otherwise called, is pleading federalism, the rights of states, and due process. When in July 2003, the ugly drama began, President Obasanjo boasted "I will handle the Anambra case, the way I handled Sao Tome and Principe". In Sao Tome and Principe, President Obasanjo reinstated a deposed President, and worked out a peace deal with the coup plotters. In Anambra, he has left Ngige at the mercy of gangsters who claim openly to be "Baba's boys". The women of Anambra should therefore not be blamed for handing over Obasanjo's soul to the demons of Igboland. Twenty-six out of the 30 lawmakers in Anambra State are also calling for his impeachment by the National Assembly. By allowing public opinion to heap the blame of the Anambra crisis on him, President Obasanjo has unwittingly armed his political opponents. They will feast on the Obasanjo angle to the crisis. Already, they are using it to devalue his office and reinforce existing prejudices about his person and conduct. Simple question: what kind of President would sponsor anarchy in his own country? What does President Obasanjo stand to gain from the Anambra crisis? He alone can answer these questions. This is why his continuing silence does him no good. The Anambra debacle is an evil wind, the end of which no one can tell anymore. What can be said clearly is that for as long as Ngige remains Governor, he will not be allowed to govern. If he is removed from office, there will be no peace either. The losers, to repeat the obvious ad nauseam, are the people of Anambra State who are being denied their due entitlement to peace and stability. They are being compelled to watch the transformation of their government into a battle-field; the warlords have taken over their state; the government itself has gone into hiding. This alone is a singular contribution to the democratic process which the international community must find exceedingly curious. When a State Governor goes into hiding, and communicates with the rest of the world, with the aid of secret telephone lines, then of course, that is no longer democratic governance. It is something else - something unnamable. Chris Ngige, the embattled Governor of Anambra State, has clearly learnt a few lessons about surviving in the battle-field, in the midst of snipers and mercenaries, since his first failed abduction on July 10, 2003. This time around, he has managed to stay one step ahead of the forces of opposition. He has turned the tables against the judiciary, President Obasanjo and the police. His case is strengthened by the moral victory on his side. But for how long can he remain in hiding? With the kind of desperation that his enemies are demonstrating, it is obvious that they will stop at nothing. These are men who have shown that they have no regard for the rule of law. These are political contractors who are willing to pull down the roof, just to make a point. They run a Mafia, and Ngige, whom they sponsored to become Governor, is the rat who betrayed them. Thrice, they have attempted to remove him as Governor. On all three occasions, they have failed. They got him to sign a resignation letter. He renounced the resignation, claming that he was forced to sign the letter, against his wish. They attacked his convoy hoping to kill him. They have also used the court of law to get rid of him. Even a peace meeting meant to resolve the crisis failed. Ngige needs not be told what the calculations of his enemies could be. They have signed a contract on him: they want him out of Anambra Government House, dead or alive. Could this be the effect of the oath to which Ngige swore in the presence of his sponsors and a dibia? Is it true, after all, that the oracle is powerful? The only good thing is that Ngige has found sure protection in the court of public opinion. However, public support in the Anambra case, is not necessarily about Ngige as a person, but about the expectations of the average Nigerian. From Awka to Ayetoro-Gbede and Kaura Mamoda, the average Nigerian feels scandalised by the open reign of brigandage in Anambra. The invention of one illegality after another, and the co-opting of the institutions of state (the police and the judiciary) into the perpetration of scandal is an assault not just on the Anambra state government, but all decent and law-abiding Nigerians. What we find is a disconnection between the people as citizens, and the privileged cabal that has hijacked both our political parties and public institutions. This in the end, is a struggle between the forces of good and evil. Ngige may be a charlattan considering the circumstances of his emergence as Governor, but that cannot justify the violation of the rule of law, by even a court of law. But so far what we have been hearing are the voices of the ordinary people of Anambra. Where is the Anambra elite? They are all so silent. Are they silent out of fear, or exasperation or indifference? When politics is left to contractors and speculators, when good people refuse to be involved in politics, then the Anambra situation becomes inevitable. Where are the elders of Anambra community? Are they going to wait until Anambra becomes a killing field: surely, the next phase of this confrontation between the contending forces. The foundation of this crisis is to be traced to the lawlessness that characterised the April 2003 elections; and the failure of our society's moral framework. It takes a certain decency of the human mind to be able to run a stable and decent state. It is in the nature of all things that what a man soweth, shall he reap. Ngige is reaping the whirlwind. The rest of us are paying a price for the disorganised nature of our society. Public institutions are manned by human beings. In an amoral society, immorality is bound to overtake institutions, imposing on former centres of excellence, unbridled anarchy. Quite a number of commentators have tried to explain the fine points of law to Justice Stanley Nnaji, in an attempt to draw attention to his desecration of the temple of justice. The issues involved are so elementary that anyone would wonder how the learned Justice got to the Bench in the first place. But did Nnaji act out of ignorance? Should we assume that he does not know the law? Of course, he does. I have no doubts about that. What is scandalous is the fact that anyone in his position would use the court of law, so blatantly, to play politics. The judex are supposed to be above board like Ceasar's wife. They are required to dispense justice without fear or favour. But in recent times, we have had judges (first, Egbo-Egbo, now Stanley Nnaji) behaving like politicians. This abuse of the rule of law, by the custodians of the law, is a veritable indication of the mess in which society has found itself. Justice Moshood Abass of the Ibadan High Court, in the Iyiola Omisore trial, had indicated in August 2003, that judges are usually under pressures from "unexpected quarters". Judges have been known to succumb to such pressures, and have fraudulently subverted due process. High court judges are especially notorious: they abuse ex parte injunctions; so many of them, in the past year, brought the judiciary to open ridicule. As it is with the judiciary, so it is with the Police. When AIG Raphael Ige led the team that abducted Ngige on July 10, 2003, the public had called for a thorough investigation. This did not happen. Ige was sacrificed. Now, it is obvious that the Police, in the Anambra debacle, is dancing to a tune that is beyond the call of duty. Why should this be so? We live in a society where people do what they like, in open defiance of decency and commonsense. Chris Uba, and his cohorts have declared openly that Ngige's emergence as Governor was a business investment for them. They intend to reap profit. While the rest of us are dealing with the issues, they are doing everything to remind Ngige that there is no hiding place for him. They have fought him in Anambra, Enugu, and Abuja. I wouldn't be surprised if they "smoke" him out of his hiding place. Even if Ngige survives the present phase of the debacle, what is the guarantee that one of his security aides, in a fit of drunkenness, won't turn the gun on him, and claim accidental discharge subsequently? Every major political crisis involving personalities has always resulted in the death of one of the parties: Akintola, Bola Ige, Marshall Harry, Rewane, Abacha, Yar'Adua, MKO Abiola. Would Ngige be a martyr or anti-hero? Or would he end up as a comical historical figure? "If anything happens to me in the end, the people would blame me", he reportedly said. But whatever happens, the Anambra crisis continues to erode public confidence in the democratic system. It exposes the moral crisis in our lives which has made nonsense of our public institutions. It advertises the failure of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the so-called largest political party in Africa, and the ruling party in Nigeria which at every turn advertises itself as a party without either vision or a moral centre. Now, we know" the Anambra crisis is obviously "not a family affair". If Chris Uba and others had been tried for staging a coup against an elected government: and the supremacy of the law had been affirmed in 2003: if the Eso report on the judiciary had been faithfully implemented: perhaps the madness that has now taken over the courts and Anambra politics, could have been prevented.
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