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Introduction
During the NPN days, the magical year was Year 2000. Presently, the magical year appears to be Year 2007. I have also been caught by the bug of Year 2007 and so decided to take another look at the leadership question in Nigerian politics . The focus of this short essay will however, be on the political leadership at the local, state and federal level of our great country. But before I proceed a short review of the Indian Experience. The Indian Experience
Upon his return from South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi said to Congress that the few elites in Bombay should not claim to represent the whole of India. That the leaders then were as alien to the peasants just as the British were and that they were simply interested in power and not the welfare of the people. That until leaders stood in the fields, worked and lived with the peasants, they shouldnt have the moral courage to ask people to reject British rule. Mr. Jinnah and a few others who wanted power for the sake of power dismissed his submissions, but subsequent events proved that Gandhi was right. Also during a discussion on the proposed emergency rule by the British, Mr. Pandit Nehru in response to Mr. Jinnah’s suggestion of large scale “direct action” said something which brings the Nigerian situation into focus. He said “terrorism will only justify their repression. And what kind of leaders will it throw up? Are they likely to be the men we will want to head our country?” Again Gandhi. He was informed while in protective custody by Messrs Patel and Nehru that India was on the move to independence after a series of bloody riots. Instead of jumping up for joy, he chastitised the members of congress for the violent acts and said "If you want your freedom on the basis of the shedding of blood and violence, I dont want to be a part of it" He immediately ordered them to halt the campaigns. Members of congress were surprised but they complied and history has it that the british left India as friends of India ; not enemies when they eventually left. "They may torture my body, break my bones or even kill me, then they will have my dead body not my obedience"(Tribute to Gandhi). Gandhi became the spokesman for the conscience of mankind not through violent acts (including verbal attacks) but through simple truth, humility, perseverance, hardwork etc. WE HAVE A LOT TO LEARN FROM THE MAHATMA! The Nigerian Experience
Personally, I have come to the conclusion that there were two major struggles in Nigeria : the struggle for Independence and the struggle against Military Rule. The Struggle for Independence
The struggle for Independence, according to available records was fought by nationalists who applied their God given talents and other resources to the process of freeing Nigeria from British rule. They were honest, devoted and above all selfless in their service to the nation. We will forever cherish the contributions of our founding fathers notable among which are : Herbert Macaulay, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Michael Okpara, Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Anthony Enahoro and others A recollection of the massacres that took place in India during her struggle for independence, the inhuman treatment of South Africans, the depositon of King Kosoko (in Lagos) and the banishment of Oba Ovonramwen to Calabar for his “opposition to trade with Britain on their terms” (courtesy join@ijebu.org) will testify to the great achievement of our nationalists who secured independence for us on a platter of gold. Unfortunately, the post-independence period was not properly managed such that personal ambition, greed, ethnicity etc soon took over to produce disturbances which led to the first military coup in 1966. The Struggle Against The Military
So much has been written on this that I do not consider it necessary to go into details. We had the good, the bad and the ugly. Several thousands of people lost their lives during the struggle. This period, in view of the nature of the struggle provided an excellent breeding ground for dishonest, corrupt and selfish “leaders” - the type that Mr. Pandit Nehru warned about earlier. This set of people I will label ACTIVISTS - the carpetbaggers! On the other side of the divide, and also active participants in the struggle were men and women with such attributes as integrity, purposefulness, truthfulness etc who risked their lives and applied their intellectual power to the struggle without losing focus, or veering into the class of ‘activists’ described above. To them protection of values is paramount even in a war situation. The list of leaders in this category is very short and I wish to recall the contributions of Late Prof. Ayodele Awojobi ( who was apparently betrayed by the politicians of that time. Recall that he described their so-called world press conference as a hoax) and Prof. Wole Soyinka ( Radio Kudrat). Chief M.K.O Abiola though during his lifetime was rejected by the activists, the vision for which he died became a veritable tool for negotiation in the hands of the activists after he passed on. I pray to Allah to place him in Al-janah. Amen Prof. Ayodele Awojobi, a very brilliant, intelligent and resourceful Nigerian applied himself to the struggle for the emancipation of the ordinary citizens of Nigeria. He applied Mathematics, Physics, even the law to challenge, in a transparent, violent-free, honest and sincere manner the ills of society. Just as was said of Gandhi, generations yet unborn will scarcely believe that one such as Ayodele Awojobi ever walked upon the Nigerian soil! Lastly, one legacy from the military period is that we succeeded in breeding an army of anarchists through violence and wild speeches. The Nigerian psyche was primed to believe that until you apply violence you cannot get anything done. We failed to produce leaders with positive ideas that can improve and rule our country. That is why today no discernible ideological class has emerged. The present crop of the so-called Awo loyalists apart from Alhaji Jakande and his colleagues in the Awo camp of old, are nothing but a very bad counterfeit of the original. If he could wake up today to see those calling themselves Awoists, he will most likely declare “ depart from me, ye workers of iniquity”: Transition
During the transition period supervised by General Abubakar, the activists were MISSING IN ACTION. For some it was “siddon look” or dormancy, for others it was lack of political ideology to present to the people, absence of veritable platform to actualize their goals (if any),individualism rather than collectivism, non-cooperation and collaboration between like minds, lust for power and the attendant booty and perhaps phobia for public office as a active participants. All these and more were responsible for the emergence of political outfits with unidentifiable programmes or philosophies. This transition also saw the death of manifesto presentation as part of the electioneering process. Clearly the political process was never meant to be people-centred as no manifesto or programme was agreed with the people prior to election. The qualifications were: Awo Cap, Owelle Beads, Who fought Abacha, Who had more thugs, Who was imprisoned by Abacha, Who financed what and the usual ethnic and religious considerations. Even Alliance for Democracy (AD) which pretended to be Awoist sacrificed decency and uprightness in her bid to secure power at all costs. Integrity of the candidates did not matter. It was also unimportant to verify their academic and other qualifications. It therefore did not come as a surprise that except for Lagos all her governors in the southwest were booted out of office in 2003 with no single public demonstration by the people! At least we knew about the four cardinal programs of UPN in the second republic. The other parties did not pretend to represent any ideological block, so evaluating them is unnecessary. Suffice to say however that most of our activists found themselves in AD and it is interesting to note that the best governors so far in terms of visible contributions, as opposed to “media governors”, are not from the activists’ clan. The performing governors include Their Excellencies: Duke, Saraki, Markarfi, Turaki, Gbenga Daniel, the Sharia governor and a few others. Back to the activists. After elections they started war of attrition against the winners. The weapons of destruction this time around was “ how come this people came to power when we were the ones that fought Abacha”. Once again Abacha became the marketing tool for favours and blackmail when our friends eventually woke up from their slumber. Some even accussed Mr. President of reaping where he did not sow. Can you imagine! It is true that almost every Nigerian fought Abacha in one way or the other, but had the man lived he would have become a civilian president after having been adopted by almost all the political parties in existence as their sole presidential candidate. They used the name of Abiola and June 12 (even though they distanced themselves from it initially) then Abacha’s name came in handy during the 4th republic and perhaps till today. I guess the next strategy (in 2007) will be “we fought President Obasanjo”. Their relevance is in fighting and that explains why they criticize anything and everything done by this administration. To be relevant they must criticize on a continuous basis even if they sound inarticulate and incoherent! ARE THESE THE SET OF LEADERS WE WANT IN OUR COUNTRY IN 2007 AND AFTER? Finally, in an advertorial in THISDAY of Friday 23rd September, 2005, the Ijaw Liberation Organization wrote “we write you because we believe that he is your colleague and his actions reflect the attitude of human rights individuals and groups…… This would save human rights workers and social justice crusaders all over, from being seen as political jobbers who carry out social advocacy for the sake of currying favour from politicians and receiving grants from the international community and do another when they are in power”. The lawyers among them are seen more in the media than in law courts. Their deficiency in law advocacy is more than complemented by the media attention they get from time to time, the masses being used as cannon fodder. Conclusion
We should ask ourselves these questions. Are these the men and women we want as our leaders come 2007? What role will intellectualism play in the political arena? Of what relevance is vision, integrity, uprightness etc in our future political arrangements? I may be labeled a political jobber or whatever. Others who refused to criticize this government as is being done by the professional critics have been so labeled in the past. They criticize so vehemently that the first causalities in their pursuit of their agenda are objectivity, truthfulness and objectivity. What is important is whether what I have written is true or resembles the truth or is outright falsehood Happy anniversary and Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Thanks for having read this article,
Taslim Anibaba(FCA)
27th September, 2005
Comments are welcome and can be forwarded to tanibaba@nigeriavillagesquare.com
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Posted by Robot| 29.09.2005 14:28