We live in interesting times. Facts are no longer sacred or sacrosanct. Neither is the truth. Ordinary people prefer to have their truth simple and uncomplicated. But that is no longer possible in an increasingly problematic world.
A set of facts can be processed by interested parties in such a way that they produce alternate realities which distort the original facts. The truth can be handled in such a way that attenuates or even obliterates the original truth. Welcome to the brave new world of alternate realities and post-truth.
In the aftermath of the June 12 settlement, Nigeria has been caught in an epistemic warp reflecting ancient fault lines and making nonsense of the very legacy of the best election in the history of the nation. It is bad enough. But it can be worse. After twenty five years of living in denial, Nigeria has finally come to terms with its self-inflicted injury.
Yet there are significant sections of the country that have refused to assent or applaud. To them, the whole celebration this past week was nothing but hegemonic abracadabra designed to foster the illusion of order while ethnic injustice remains the order of the day.
To others, it is a scam because the current federal government is itself a product of electoral fraud. And to a few state actors, the canonization of 2Abiola is an unnecessary disruption of the order of state confidentiality upon which the modern state is founded and which must not be lightly disrupted.
These anxieties reflect implacable divisions in the land. Yet like the typical Nigerian paradox, the praise is encoded in the damnation. The state cannot remain stagnant and unresponsive to the yearnings and aspirations of its constituent people. The character of the state alters in confrontation with radical realities. The Nigerian colonial state, like the old army of occupation it spawned, cannot remain stuck in the habits of colonial cruelties and crude repression.
What President Buhari has done amounts to a radical rupture of the old order; a breach of the protocol of state confidentiality. For a man who is not known to be a radical in any sense of the word, in fact a man who evokes conservative solidity, this is quite a big deal. It is a remarkable game-changer for Nigeria. This is a confirmation of the hunch that the most remarkable and radical changes in Nigeria are likely to come from Northern power players who are not afraid of looking the traditional supremoes in the eye and telling them to take a walk.
By naming the Abuja Stadium after Abiola, the hero of the June 12 struggle, General Buhari has struck a blow in the heart of annulment. For reasons of self-imposed political correctness, it is arguable if any southern leader would have had the guts to do this. This is an act of spectacular courage. What Buhari, a rebel member of the establishment, has done is to carry the battle to them. Let the memory of Abiola torment them each time they drive round the capital city.
On June 12, 1993, the Nigerian state entered into fatal contradiction with the Nigerian people. The critical issue was whether the military can maintain an electoral overlordship over the nation despite the clear subordination of military to civil authorities in the constitution. It was an epic confrontation between the Nigerian Army and the army of Nigerians. In the process, the army exhausted its historic and political possibilities and was forced to retreat to the barracks.
But the damage has been done. Once a nation misses its way in the jungle, it continues to wade deeper and deeper into dangerous territory. Today, incalculable political, economic and spiritual damage has been inflicted on the nation. The National Question occasioned by the annulment has worsened. Ethnic conflicts have become the norm in the country.
The quality of election has declined. Banditry and kidnapping have escalated beyond the imaginable. Perhaps if the nation had come to its senses earlier, the now implacable centrifugal forces would have been reined in. The political elite have never been more badly divided or sharply polarized.
It is this dire retrogression in many aspects of our national life that has given rise to counter-narratives and alternative truths about the true state of the nation. For example despite the withdrawal of the military, the political climate is pervaded by autocratic intolerance and highhandedness. Corruption is rife and regional resentments have reached a boiling point.
What is obvious is that despite the canonization of Abiola and the recognition of June 12, 1993, the nation is still beset by many problems. It is doubtful if Abiola himself would have had a place in the current climate of feudal preferment and paddy-paddy patronage. But the journey of a thousand miles must begin somewhere and with a single step. The events of this past week represent such a moment and the possibility of a new beginning. President Buhari has every right to soak in the plaudits.
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