The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Reflections

  • Reflections on postponement of the elections

    On February 7, Professor Attahiru Jega, chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the postponement of the elections from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11, largely for security. The postponement is a glaring sign of incompetence or inability of the country to do anything good most of the times- a big shame and disappointment.  The cost is high. It shocked society, sagged trust, confidence and energy of citizens, threatened democracy, boosted the morale of the insurgents and increased the already high emotional and physical exhaustion and financial expenses of the campaign.

    Jega would want us believe that INEC was not ‘coerced’ but the public knows better that there are long knives around. It was the best he could do in the circumstance because as the great Zik once observed ‘only a mad man argues with the man with a gun’.

    Ordinarily the postponement could have been taken as given. After all the framers of the constitution and makers of the electoral made provision for postponement in sections 76(2),116(2), 132(2), 178(2) and section25 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. As Jega admits the period could be used to fine-tune some of INEC’s operations especially the distribution of the PVC.  But we are worried because of the threat which the postponement poses to democracy, its high cost in terms of emotional strains, physical exhaustion, financial wastage and general paralysis that attends campaigns in Nigeria, the broken trust between the people and government, the subtle attempt to meddle unduly with the electoral process and the damage to the image of the military.

    The growing involvement of the military in party politics suggests that democracy is under threat and trial in Nigeria. The postponement carries the traits of a well rehearsed drama: a hint to test the waters in London, some denials at home,  a passing remark before a visiting  US Secretary of State John Kerry, orchestrated demand for postponement by some parties, a  presentation at the National Council of States , an ‘advisory’ letter by the service chiefs asking for at least six weeks extension etc. All these are too neat and frightening to ignore and they tell much about our inability to do the needful most of the time.  Jega was on the right way before he met security road block.

    Though President Jonathan in a recent media chat assured that democracy was on course and come May 29, a new government  either headed by him or any other person would be in place yet the assurance has not dispelled the fear of interim government, rumour  of impending replacement of Jega and the looming threat democracy. There is the need to build trust and confidence in the system. Jega should not be sacked because the service chiefs did not allow him to work freely. Dr Jonathan is a product of democracy with its emphasis on the constitution and rule of law which ensured the election of a person from the minority zone as president of the country and he has the responsibility to protect and deepen it so that the baton will not drop in his time.

    Unfortunately in every society many things are done in the name of the king – some of them unclean and unauthorized and there are men and women ready to violate the system under the pretence of supporting the leader. While INEC chairman had insisted on hosting the election as planned, the service chiefs and the NSA were against it. Jega confirmed  his commission’s impotence when he observed  that  INEC ‘being not…a security agency that could by itself guarantee protection for personnel and materials as well as voters cannot  lightly wave off the advice by the nation’s  security chiefs’ .  Their obstructive role was too visible to be cloaked easily.

    Many things are at stake including the fate of democracy, integrity and image of the military, the broken trust of the average citizen in the system occasioned by the increasing but avoidable meddling of the political process by the security chiefs.  Though better late than the late, yet it carried more harm than good for the armed forces and the society at large. What did the security chiefs expect the average citizen to do by their public show of inability- extol or resign themselves to fate knowing that there is no hope for protection from them?

    By their action, the service chiefs opened their flanks to both internal and external attacks and ridicule of the armed forces.  We are so far lucky that the barbarians have not taken advantage of the ugly situation. The service chief’s action creates doubt, fears, distrust and hatred in the minds of the citizens some of whom may decide to seek ways for personal security. The problem of the high incidence of militias is already frightening enough and woe betides us all when many more are formed by helpless but desperate Nigerians in search of security, safety and protection of lives and property.  Public trust and confidence have been badly shaken if not broken-unwittingly.

    Once trust is lost it is difficult to reclaim and this is one of the reasons that we should not allow any one including the military to break the trust patriotic Nigerians have in democracy. As Barbara Misztal observes in her work – Trust in Modern Society: ‘Trust makes social life predictable, creates a sense of community, makes it easier for people to work together and there is evidence to show strong positive correlation between ‘higher level of social trust’ and economic development. The point here is that Nigerians placed their trust on the security agencies for protection but when their service chiefs wrote to express inability to discharge that function, there was great cause for alarm and distrust.

    It is dangerous to tempt the military with power –more so in developing countries where it is said to stand as alternate party and in more advantaged position to capture power because of its possession of deadly weapons. This is what made some scholars to say that the appropriate question to ask is not whether the military can seize power any time, any place  but why they are not doing so in  mature democracies?  The secret is the presence of strong public opinion and respect for it. Unfortunately public opinion is still weak in Nigeria.

    The service chiefs must do self –examination to warm the security agencies to the public and win their trust and confidence. The political class must find ways to keep soldiers far away from party politics, find answers to some questions such as why the gallant forces yesterday have become the cowardly type of today booed by foreigners and loathed by many at home? Why are there mutinies and squealing today? Still the military can be made to protect democracy if the public sharpens its eyes and speaks with one voice against any false step towards power. It needs some help to help itself and safeguard our hard won democracy. It should be insulated from partisan politics.

    • Dr Abhuere FNIM, CCYD writes from Uromi, Edo State

  • Reflections on the elections

    As the elections draw near, global focus is on Nigeria. There are several reasons for this attention. There is no doubt that the first reason for the attention is that elections are to be held in the most populous country in Africa thus bringing into bold relief the march or otherwise of plebiscitary democracy in an important African country.

    A second and definitely compelling reason for preoccupation with the elections is that the elections of 14 and 28 February is scheduled to hold in a situation in which the nihilistic insurgent group, the murderous extremist group Boko Haram, is said to control about 50,000 square kilometres. The seizure of Nigerian territory by the terrorist Boko Haram has resulted in the displacement of over 650,000 Nigerians and another 80,000 as refugees in Cameroon and Chad. In effect, thousands of Nigerians may not be able to exercise their right to vote.

    Yet, a third factor why the election has attracted the attention of the international community is the unpleasant history of electoral malfeasance in Nigeria. Past elections in Nigeria were characterised by rigging, switch of election results, vote suppression, and use of public media to promote the governing party. In addition, security forces were deployed by the federal government to intimidate the opposition, their candidates and supporters. The inexplicable election result of June 21, 2014 in Ekiti State is a reminder.

    Regrettably, we appear not to have learnt from past gross electoral chicanery of 1964, 1965, and 1983 when turmoil followed elections of those years. Indeed, the pattern of past electoral malpractices appears to have reared their heads again or is in the offing as seen in recent events. Briefly, these events are purchase of voter cards, character assassinations, disruptive court cases, false opinion surveys, and sudden transfer of top police officials. In addition, the PDP- led federal government is said to have released billions of naira to farmers, in order to influence Nigerian voters.

    Instead of investing in infrastructure, the PDP, on the eve of a crucial election is bribing Nigerians with a one-time so-called stomach infrastructure. After the elections, the PDP will abandon ordinary Nigerians to insecurity, darkness, hunger, starvation, and unemployment whilst PDP political barons feed fat in the house of patronage and continue their loot of the treasury. They will continue to ignore 60 percent of Nigerians who live below the global poverty level that is less than a dollar a day that is 188 naira.

    The Nigerian middle class, a dwindling class due to President Jonathan’s economic mismanagement, is also suffering. The spending power of the class has been eroded due, amongst other factors, to the dramatic depreciation of the naira by about 25 percent since October 2014. This has inflationary consequences. Further, import duty on used cars which the middle class can only afford has gone up by 35 percent. An additional 35 percent is to be added in April making 70 percent increase in a dubious effort to produce vehicles which prices will be beyond the reach of the average Nigerian.

    The salaried category in the Nigerian middle class, most of who are public employees in the states of the federation, are owed salary arrears due to late transfer or non-availability of statutory funds under federal control to the states of the federation. Of course, the PDP may blame the crash in oil prices as the cause of the financial difficulties faced by Nigerians. However, Nigerians know that in 2010, at the time he took over as President, Dr. Jonathan met over $9billion in the Excess Crude Account and about $60 billion in the Foreign Reserves Account. Over $7 billion and close to $30 billion have been spent in these accounts under President Jonathan leaving a balance of barely 2 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account, an account that was meant for a period like this when oil prices are falling. A visionary and competent government should have known that prices of oil crash between 5-7 years and accordingly prepare for the rainy day. The last oil crash was in 2008; six years later, 2014, there was another crash. What makes the current crash very problematic for Nigeria is that the United States of America, a major importer of Nigerian oil now exports oil and in a year or two might be the largest oil producer in the world. This is due to United States production of shale oil through the technology of fracking.

    In the old days, Chief Obafemi Awolowo would have warned Nigeria about the economic and financial difficulties Nigeria is now experiencing as he did in 1980 on the verge of then Nigeria’s economic and external debt difficulties. That is why when measured against the standards adopted by Chief Awolowo, then the leading light in Afenifere, he would certainly not have endorsed Dr. Jonathan. Indeed, he would have trenchantly criticised him for gross mismanagement, incompetence and condoning of wanton corruption. He would also have noted the marginalisation of the South-west except for the little crumbs thrown at the greedy elements in the PDP from the region. Even with less than 10 days to the election, appointments are being made to ministerial positions and the appointee is gloating. In another political clime, the status quo would have remained as the outcome of the election may not return to office the incumbent. Of course, except there is a hidden master plan to rig the election and thwart the preference of Nigerian people.

    In the history of independent Nigeria, not once has there been a change of power at the federal level between the ruling party and opposition (Nigeria since 1964 has held six federal elections under civilian administrations and three under military rule). African countries such as our neighbours, Republic of Benin, Ghana, Senegal, and Mauritius in southern Africa have peacefully voted out ruling parties in favour of the opposition. Indeed, power has changed hands between government and opposition twice in Ghana, Republic of Benin and Mauritius. These African states thus meet the test of Professor Samuel Huntington, late American political scientist, as democratic states. Nigerians can advance, deepen and begin the process of consolidating democracy by peacefully voting out PDP and installing APC in power.

    The elections coming up in the coming weeks thus provide Nigerians opportunity to make history by installing in power the opposition APC which will work for Nigerians, a party that will not loot the treasury, and a party that will truly serve the Nigerian people and bring genuine change.

    When Nigerians effect peaceful change through the ballot, the country can then begin the arduous task of building institutions of state that will provide security for all, promote the rule of law, improve the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians, and hold all public officials accountable.

     

    •Senator Fasanmi is a  member of the Second Republic Senate

  • Reflections on the army mutiny

    I am a bloody civilian. But I know what mutiny is not. Mutiny is not the caricature the Nigerian Army is passing it off to be. Mutiny is not hesitating to charge into battle empty handed. Mutiny is not bringing your superiors into cognizance that you need proper weapons to have a fair chance of putting the enemy to rout. Mutiny is not pleading to be equipped before being deployed to the front line.

    The Nigerian Army has bastardized the spirit of the word. And the new definition is made to serve our unique malady – like a Peugeot 504 built for Nigerian roads. Mutiny is now the manifestation of reluctance to dash off in the right direction, like some suicidal robot, when you are gifted an opportunity to self-destruct.

    Last week the Nigerian court martial found a new batch of soldiers guilty of mutiny. The Nigerian Army had to find them guilty of mutiny. The court martial set out to discover mutiny and they wound up landing a treasure trove. They found 54 cases. Their find confirms the validity of the scriptural guarantee: Seek, and you shall find.

    The mutiny sentence represents an abuse of the power of life and death. This is the revenge of army chiefs for the embarrassment of being asked to produce what they didn’t have. I learnt on a couple of Christmas shopping that asking anyone for a thing he cannot provide had consequences. The child in me wanted to rid the whole market of all colorful items I liked and pointed at. Needless to say, such requests fluster the nicest parents and can force a feeling of inadequacy.

    But the soldiers did not make a frivolous demand. They didn’t ask for toys or cigarettes. They asked for working tools. They asked for instruments that they could not function without. And that’s not indiscipline.

    Isaac asked Abraham, his father, midway into their mountain climb, where the lamb they were going to use for sacrifice was. The lamb was what would give meaning to their exertions. Abraham didn’t produce any sensible answer. Instead, he tried to make a sacrificial lamb out of the boy. Today, the Nigerian Army is playing Abraham on 54 Isaacs.

    The soldiers are no cowards like the accusers say. They didn’t shrink from the call of duty. They had signed up to defend their fatherland voluntarily. And they knew before time that they would be required to plunge into life-costing scenarios. But they did not sign up for martyrdom. They didn’t pledge to submit themselves to be killed for their belief in the territorial integrity of Nigeria.

    This mutiny bazaar is a shame. It reflects the slump from the sublime to the ridiculous of an army that used to be the toast of the peacekeeping world. In those days, our troops acquitted themselves creditably in trouble spots of the West African sub-region and beyond. Our soldiers did not mutiny. The ECOWAS and UN missions tended them. Now they are learning mutiny on home soil.

    The other day in Maiduguri barracks, wives of soldiers formed themselves into a roadblock. They stopped trucks that was packed full of troops from reporting to the war scene. Their husbands had not been furnished with deployment materials. They had nothing to fight with. The soldiers were being shipped off to go and die.

    In September, the Army sentenced a dozen soldiers to death on the same charge. The newsbreak generated outrage. The Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, was flabbergasted. Nigerians did not give him compliments. These civilians are not grateful for the extraordinary favour of being informed about the sentencing. Why are they raising hell and making noise about the military trivializing human lives? Did we want him to regret not using the other option? Did we know he could have had those soldiers tried and dispatched in the evil forest and we would have been blissfully unaware?

    The Nigerian Army has made an exhibition of the sentencing. This is to pass the message that some truths consume the men who tell them. Weapon or no weapon, you must run towards the adversary, like a Usain Bolt eager to breast the tape.

    Our arms deficiency is proverbial. Everybody knows we are trying to snatch victory from the jaws of a near empty armoury. The damage we manage to inflict on the Boko Haram camp once or twice a week often results from very desperate situations. Our deprived soldiers produce those flashes of brilliance when they are cornered and have no choice other than to fight for self-preservation. The US no longer sells us arms. And we can’t fetch arms from South Africa without making ourselves the butt of a joke. But our soldiers cannot complain.

    The fact that Nigeria is missing arms in this war is accentuated by the rising profile of poisoned arrows and cutlasses in dispatches from the combat zone. The locals are throwing their crude weapons in the fray because the dearth of arms on the Nigerian side leaves their villages vulnerable to attack. They are defending their own homesteads.

    Governor Kahim Shettima of Borno State once called for the boosting of our military capabilities. He said that he had observed that Boko Haram insurgents were gaining momentum because they were more motivated and better armed than our troops. The Federal Government dismissed his concerns. He was of the opposition. He did not contribute any beneficial insight. He was just slandering the Presidency.

    President Goodluck Jonathan tried to make Shettima apologize. Jonathan threatened to prove that the governor was wrong by ordering the withdrawal the soldiers that guard Borno Government House. The governor would know that the Nigerian Army was still of use if he found himself stripped of all protection. The President made his point. There is an inviolable ban on expression of certain kinds of opinion. Don’t say the troops are in need of anything. Don’t say it even if it is obvious.

    Interestingly, only small soldiers stand trial for mutiny. Only little men deserve to die. The big chiefs who squirrel monies away from Nigeria’s multi-billion naira defence budget deserve to live forever. It would be too awkward to knock them off their pedestal and try them for sabotage.

    Everywhere the mode of defence spending is a delicate matter. It is a top state secret. The problem is that secrecy is more likely to breed criminality. And our experience is that security vote and other defence related allocations are stolen and spent like pocket money. It’s the money our defence chiefs and politicians binge on.

    The Nigerian Army can find among its top brass a dozen Judas Iscariots who kiss well in the public and steal from the purse in secret. They can make mutineers out of those who have been minting money out of the blood of our soldiers. They can make mutineers out of the generals whose greed perpetuates the conditions that make the eagerness to deploy tantamount to suicide attempt. The healing of the bitter waters must start at the spring.

    The Nigerian Army cannot shy away from addressing the fundamental issues of lack of battle equipment and appalling troop welfare. These issues will not vanish into the thin air. And the Nigerian Army cannot solve them by criminalizing legitimate complaints and creating a batch of scapegoats every three months. If it persists in “sharing”  mutiny to just about anybody, we will arrive at a point when youths be unwilling to enlist in the Nigerian Army.

    • Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu
  • Michael Brown contra Eric Garner: further reflections on the twilight of the racism of impunity

    Michael Brown contra Eric Garner: further reflections on the twilight of the racism of impunity

    Racism is not a constant of the human spirit.
    Frantz Fanon, “Racism and Culture”

    In last week’s essay in this column, I wrote with great but cautious optimism that the racism of impunity, the racism that is violent and completely unashamed to show its face to the world, this crude and destructive racism is in the twilight of its long, historic existence. One justification that I gave for this cautious optimism is the fact of the sheer number of people of all races, black, white, brown and yellow, in cities across every region of the United States who were protesting and demonstrating against the slaying of unarmed black men and teenagers by white police officers. A week after I wrote last week’s essay the protests and demonstrations have not only continued they have grown bigger. As a matter of fact, in one of the most dramatic expressions of these protests, athletes in major American sports like basketball and football – with tens of millions of fans – have been displaying powerful, symbolic expressions of protest against the racist violence of the police, expressions like the wearing T-shirts bearing the inscription “I can’t breathe”. Indeed, as I write these words on Friday, December 12, 2014, the word is out that next weekend, a big, “Million-Man March” against racism is planned to take place in the American capital, Washington, DC.

    Now, this is all well and good but it is not the main reason why I am asserting that the racism of impunity is in its twilight days. Indeed, as important as the protests and demonstrators are, they do not constitute the real reason why I am returning to the subject in this week’s column. For this, we have to turn to an unprecedented development that is closely connected to the social media that has turned the tables decisively against the forces of violent racist impunity among white American policemen and their millions of defenders and supporters in Congress, the media and ordinary citizens. Since this development is, in my opinion, an absolutely crucial factor in the ongoing protests, demonstrations and debates pertaining to the slaying of unarmed black people by white police policemen, I would like to put it across in as concrete and dramatic a way as possible. This is why, in the title of this piece, I have hinted at this development by the contrast I am implying in the phrase, “Michael Brown contra Eric Garner”. Both men, unarmed, died at the hands of white policemen, one in Fergusson, Missouri and the other in Staten Island, New York City. What contrast am I making between the deaths of these two men and, more particularly, the role of social media in public perceptions of, and debates on their deaths?

    On the surface, the difference is quite simple and indeed may seem unremarkable: no video clip exists of the last moments of the death of Michael Brown at the hand of officer Darren Wilson in Fergusson, Missouri; by contrast, the video clip of Eric Garner’s last moments in the chokehold of officer Daniel Pantaleo in Staten Island, New York immediately went viral on the Internet from the moment of its release and millions of people have seen it across the length and breadth of America and the world. But the matter is not that simple. If I may put the significance, the weightiness of the difference quite sharply, I would say that while to all people of goodwill of all races the video clip of Eric Garner’s last dying moments says a lot, to the defenders and supporters of the Darren Wilsons and Daniel Pantaleos of this world that video clip means absolutely nothing. In other words, to their millions of supporters, no evidence, no proof that their black victims were unjustly and senselessly killed will make them waver in their support of killer white policemen. What this means is that black lives do not matter in the least to these white cops and their supporters. And if this is the case, they cannot be persuaded by any evidence to withhold their support for the Darren Wilsons and Daniel Pantaleos among white police officers of America.

    But, this, it is beginning to become more and more apparent, is not exactly true. No nation, no social group in the world is immune to the effects and ramifications of the social media. The supporters and defenders of racist killer policemen are no exception to this rule, this norm of the 21st century world of the pervasively mediatized interplay between reality and the images circulated and consumed through the digital appliances that dominate our lives all over the world. The “evidence” provided by the social media can no longer be either ignored or left out of the logics that structure our daily lives, personal or collective. In other words, if the social media catch you in a compromised or damning moment and then circulates that moment to the whole world, you cannot continue to act as if you are untouched by the national and global circulation of your moment of inhumanity, embarrassment or shame. This is the unexpected dilemma that has hit the defenders and supporters of the racism of impunity in the United States like a tsunami of moral and social crisis. Let me explain what I am claiming here by briefly returning to the concrete cases of the racist killers, Darren Wilson and David Pantaleo, and the difference between them that was established by the social media.

    Fortuitously, the decision not to charge Darren Wilson by the grand jury in Fergusson, Missouri came two weeks before the decision not to indict Daniel Pantaleo in Staten Island, New York. Since there was no recording, no video clip of Wilson’s slaying of Michael Brown, the grand jury hearing that case was presented with widely varying and divergent testimonies of what actually took place in the fatal encounter. Moreover, the public prosecutor who presented the case to the grand jury was quite openly sympathetic to policemen and their unions in general and Darren Wilson in particular. In the absence of any recording of the fateful event, this white public prosecutor manipulated his presentation of the evidence to the grand jury in favor of Darren Wilson. At any rate, the case became one of the classic instances of “take-your-pick” between one man’s word against another man’s word, with the jurors left to choose which side of the evidentiary divide to lean toward. In a country in which, overwhelmingly, all-white or predominantly white jurors never rule against white police officers who kill unarmed black men, the die was cast and not too many people were surprised that Darren Wilson was declared free to walk away, no indictment if you please.

    Things were completely different in the case of Daniel Pantaleo and the grand jury that he faced in Staten Island, New York. The evidence against him presented in the video clip on the Internet was both unambiguous and overwhelming. The Chief Medical Examiner of New York City had proclaimed Pantaleo’s slaying of Garner a homicide. Moreover, the use of the chokehold with which he killed Garner had been banned by the New York City Police Department for more than a decade precisely because it had caused many deaths of suspects in the course of attempted arrests by police officers. Above all else, the evidence of the video clip not only showed that Garner was unarmed, it also showed that he was in fact jumped and pounded upon by five burly white policemen; since he could therefore not have escaped the grip of the arresting police officers even if he had wanted to, they did not have to apply lethal force in arresting him. For all these reasons, as people awaited the decision of the Staten Island grand jury in the wake of the disappointment of the decision of the Fergusson grand jury’s decision that had absolved Darren Wilson of any criminal indictment, the feeling was high among the general population in America that this was one case in which the police could not use the convenient argument of conflicting evidence to abort the cause of justice and let Daniel Pantaleo off the hook. But of course that is precisely what the grand jury in Staten Island did; they chose to completely ignore the damning evidence against Pantaleo and his fellow killer officers. In other words, to the impunity of the policemen who killed Garner, the grand jury members of Staten Island added their own impunity of complete disregard for the evidence provided in the video clip that showed to the whole world how Garner was killed.

    Impunity has its limits and sometimes those limits can make all the difference in the world. There have been countless cases in which all-white or predominantly white juries completely ignored clear-cut evidence of criminal wrongdoing of white policemen and consistently ruled to uphold and sustain terrible miscarriages of justice against black people, especially black men and teenagers in the inner city ghettoes of America. But those were days before the rise, rise and further rise of the age of social media in which the eyes of the whole world are turned on America and on every single nation on the planet. In the period before the advent of the social media to a place of commanding presence in the world, impunity in American race relations always relied on a cloistered, hidden and protected form of white tribalism. To most decent, progressive and fair-minded white people, this was always a cause of great shame, embarrassment and guilt, this protected and unashamed white tribalism that kept alive blatant forms of racism that belonged to the epochs of slavery and separate and unequal segregation. Now, the social media are relentlessly stripping the cover off this revanchist, murderous and racist white tribalism and things will never be the same again. In this past week alone, we have seen, read or heard about condemnations of the Staten Island grand jury by prominent groups and individuals among American whites that had always defended and supported grand juries that shielded white policemen who shot and killed unarmed black men or teenagers. Where this unprecedented departure from a long tradition and practice of defence of the racism of impunity will lead no one knows, but it is important to record this rupture, even if it is a small, inchoate one.

    At any rate, I repeat: impunity does have its limits. And I add: look for some of the most telling expressions of those limits in the effects and ramifications of the social media of the new and still unfolding digital age, with their anarchic, uncontrollable and contradictory tendencies.

    In conclusion, I ask the reader to please note that in this piece, I have limited myself to the racism of impunity. If it is the case that it is by far the worst form of racism, it is however not the only racism that the world still has to deal with. My main or underlying point in this essay – as well as in last week’s piece – has been to suggest that if this racism of impunity that is the worst of all forms of racism can find no refuge from the changing, transforming forces of 21st century experience, then we can agree with the utopian view of Frantz Fanon as stated in the epigraph to this piece: “Racism is not a constant of the human spirit”.         

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

    bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • Reflections on APGA’s defection crisis

    SIR: Nothing is static in nature. Everything is in a state of flux. So, not surprisingly, the dynamics and features of our politics have undergone negative evolution. In the first republic, men with robust intellect, deep erudition, and moral scruples were in our political arena. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, K.O Mbadiwe, Anthony Enahoro, Festus Okotie Eboh, and others dominated our politics. The duo of Azikiwe and Awolowo stood out from among the pack owing to their political sagacity and erudition. Dr. Azikiwe, the ceremonial President of Nigeria, was a top-notch, fiery, and brilliant journalist, who studied in the USA while Chief Awolowo was a London- trained lawyer. Both wrote good books that are studied by university students in Nigeria. They’re the true representation of the philosopher-king leaders, which Nigeria needs urgently.

    Sadly, our warped perception of issues has negatively affected and influenced our manner of politicking. Politicians perceive their occupations of exalted political offices as an opportunity to corruptly enrich themselves. It is corrupt political leadership that has stalled our national development. So, for all our oil-wealth, our roads are death-traps; and hospitals, mortuaries. Our educational system is dysfunctional, and the country is grappling with energy crisis. These are the imprints and consequences of failed and inept political leadership.

    But, not all our political leaders are guilty of corrupt enrichment and bad leadership. There are politicians who acquitted themselves very well in the area of political leadership. Kayode Fayemi and Peter Obi, former governors of Ekiti and Anambra states respectively, readily come to my mind. A dispassionate and impartial assessment of Obi’s eight years in office shows that he performed well as a governor.

    On his second coming as our governor, Peter Obi rode to power on the coat tails of late Chief Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the former Biafran war leader. Upon the death of Ojukwu, Obi became the face of APGA. He was the cornerstone of the party, and he fended off the political offensive and darts that came from PDP and APC in Anambra State.

    But, to our greatest surprise, some weeks ago, Obi publicly defected to PDP after rumours concerning his romance with PDP had made the rounds. He said that he was alienated and ostracized from the party. He accused the party apparatchik of sidelining him. But, is he telling us the truth? He played a pivotal role in the emergence of Dr. Obiano as our governor.

    The fact is, Nigerian politicians have Jekyll and Hyde personalities; they are two-faced wily people who do trick us into believing that they intend good things for us. I have no doubt that Peter Obi has become infected with the political disease called duplicity. He was denied the job of becoming the aviation minister on the grounds of his non-membership of PDP. So, he joined the ruling PDP to achieve his selfish goals. Can Anambra people repose trust and confidence in him again?

     

    • Chiedu Uche Okoye

    Uruowulu – Obosi, Anambra State

  • Reflections on Abia at 23

    Since Abia State came into being 23 years ago, it has become the norm to celebrate the birth of God’s Own State by the government and the people. This annual event which falls on August 27, has assumed a larger context since the inception of the present democratic dispensation. This is because the event has gone beyond an occasion for parade, pomp and pageantry to a period for stock taking in the developmental efforts of the state.Before Abia became a reality, the founding fathers had already put in place the developmental architecture of the state.

    Their dreams and vision centred on making Abia the first among equals in the achievement of human development. This dream was not far-fetched given that Abia is a state well endowed with human resources fired by creativity, resourcefulness and resilience. Indeed, the vision of the founding fathers was that if the human capital was adequately harnessed, Abia would become a state of abundant opportunities for its citizens.There is no denying the fact that the dreams have not been fully realized, largely because the past administrations, both military and civilian had not followed the charted course of development. But today things have changed for the better.

    With the coming of Chief T.A. Orji as governor, the state has been redirected from the course of rudderless journey to purposeful developmental journey. That is why in this year’s Abia Day celebration, the usual lamentation about the slow pace of development was absent. Rather the people are now in high spirits to continue the journey to greatness.The attainment of the present developmental achievements did not come out of the blues.

    It took the wisdom of a well-focused leader who deviated from the worn out path and a personal decision of leaving a legacy for posterity. T.A. Orji inherited a state devoid of any foundation for development. He set out, first of all, to lay the foundation on which his own administration and successive ones could build on. While it may sound absurd that for over two decades Abia government was operating on temporary structures, the truth is that the Government House and the Secretariat are temporary structures, a rented structure made available by a patriotic and enthusiastic citizen immediately the state was created.

    As Abians celebrate the 23rd anniversary of their dear state, they can afford to wear broad smiles and point to tangible infrastructures that define a state in full motion for development. Governor Orji has built a modern secretariat hence Abia workers now have a conducive office environment that inspires creativity and hard work just as the new Government House is fast reaching completion. Today, the state is also in good stead to host big conferences with the coming of an ultra modern International Conference Centre. It is not for nothing that the projects being executed by Governor T.A. Orji have been christened Legacy Projects.

    These are projects that would outlive his administration and sustained for posterity. These are projects that would enhance and sustain the internally generated revenue of the state and enhance the standard of living of citizens, including those in the rural areas where rural roads are springing up. For the first time in the history of Abia, the hitherto static capital city, Umuahia, has started expanding in all directions. It is rapidly growing with new infrastructure thereby shedding its old toga of a glorified village.

    The movement of the Umuahia Main Market to a new site at Ubani Ibeku on the northern flank of the capital city has decongested the city centre and created a new settlement. Umuahia has also expanded eastwards with the relocation of the former Timber Market to a modern Industrial Market at  Azueke Ibeku and southwards with the new Spare Parts Market at Ohiya that replaced the old one at the city centre. The relocation of the markets has added to the environmental cleanliness and aesthetic beauty of the capital city.

    The zeal with which the governor tackled the infrastructure deficit he met when he came on board underscores the feelings that Abia was in a hurry to take off in its flight to development having been dragging along. But in putting in place the needed infrastructure the governor centred everything on people. That is why he prioritized health and security in his development agenda since no matter the level of infrastructural development, if the people are not healthy enough they would not enjoy the facilities and if their lives and property are not secured good roads would make no meaning to them.

    The revolution in health infrastructure is rooted in the rural areas where over 710 modern health centres have been built across the state and equipped with some designated as referral health centres.At the secondary level of healthcare, nine general hospitals have been built and well equipped to take care of the health needs of the citizens that could not be handled at the health centres. Governor Orji has further expanded the accessibility of citizens to quality health care services by building tertiary health care institutions of international standard. His aim is to stem the tide of health tourism that has constituted a major source of capital flight in Nigeria.

    To this end, three Specialist Hospitals and Diagnostic Centres were built in Umuahia and Aba where such complicated diseases like renal and heart problems are diagnosed and treated. Abia also boasts of ultra modern dialysis and eye centres, which are part of the huge medical complexes at Umuahia.On security, Abia State now ranks among the most peaceful and safest states to live and do business in Nigeria. This feat was not achieved by wishful thinking. It took the courage and commitment of a governor who knew that dividends of democracy are for the living to wrest Abia from insecurity of the past years. As the chief security officer of the state, the governor has not spared any available resources in assisting all the security agencies including the Army, Navy, Police, Department of State Security (DSS), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), among others. Indeed his strategy in matters of security has become a reference point for other governors. Governor Orji has this strong belief that no amount of resources invested on the security agencies is a waste because the peace dividends, is unquantifiable.

    At 23 Abia State is now witnessing an unprecedented job creation and empowerment programmes that has contributed in making the state a haven of peace and security. Under the youth empowerment programme of the administration, thousands of youths have been empowered to go into transport businesses, others trained in various vocational skills and equipped to make their own living while a sustainable scholarship scheme have been put in place for those in tertiary institutions. Abia women have also been adequately accommodated in the empowerment programme as many of them are beneficiaries of loan schemes to engage in small-scale business ventures.

    The massive investment in education which has resulted in transformation of schools is a measure of the importance the present administration attaches to sustainable human capital development, which the state is well endowed with.In the Abia State of today, the self-esteem of citizens is very high because the government encourages creativity and blossoming of talents. Abians express their God-given talents in many forms and bring honour to the state and nation. It is on record that Abia is the only state in Nigeria presently sponsoring three football clubs in different levels of professional football. Enyimba International Football Club and Abia Warriors Football Club play in the Nigerian Premier League (NPL) while Abia Comet is in the National Professional league.

    This is because the governor not only loves sports but also provides the avenue for youths to channel their energy and talents into positive ventures. The investment is paying off handsomely. As Abia looks ahead after 23 years, the founding fathers, both living and dead, can for the first time ease a sigh of relief that their dreams for the state they fought for its creation is living up to expectations.

    • Ajunwa is the Chief Press Secretary to Abia State Governor

  • Reflections on future of progressive politics

    Reflections on future of progressive politics

    “Mankind will never see an end of trouble until… lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power… become lovers of wisdom”-Plato, The Republic

    Without equivocation, the Osun State governorship election has become history, but the fact remains indubitable that for long, it will remain one epic election that gave so much goose pimple to both the progressive and conservative political camps in the country. After the defeat of progressive-inclined All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Ekiti governorship election of June 21 by the conservative People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the latter, it seemed, became emboldened to think that it would repeat the feat in Osun without ado.

    The Ekiti election’s outcome threw the politics of “stomach infrastructure” that has always been an important but uncelebrated factor in the nation’s politics to the front burner of national discourse. But in truth, those who are hypocritical of stomach infrastructure, especially within the progressive fold, laughably started to embrace the hypocritically derided phrase, and often times, practicalising it in their enclaves to a ridiculous level.

    The issue for today is not about stomach infrastructure. Although it is incidental to it, but more importantly, it is about using the Osun election template, won by inscrutable incumbent Governor Rauf Aregbesola, to give a prognosis of what the future holds in store for progressive politics in the south west region of the country. The pertinent questions are: What would have happened in Osun, if its governorship election had come ahead of the Ekiti election in which out-going Governor Kayode Fayemi lost woefully? Would the feverish preparations for Osun still have been as high as what was witnessed before and during last Saturday’s election?

    Osun presents interesting credentials. Of all the south west states’ APC governors, Aregbosola stands out among the genuinely grassroots-oriented. He understands core politics and true meanings of party loyalty, reliability and commitment which he often plays to the extreme. It was to his credit that only Osun State, of all the lot in southwest, admirably upheld progressive tenets by voting against PDP presidential candidate in the 2011 Presidential poll. Others, for inexplicable short-sighted reasons, went conservative and are today facing the shameful consequences from the incumbent president. Also, of all the south west states, Osun, under Aregbesola, is the only state bereft of internal hullabaloo in its branch of APC. In digression, the party’s internal crisis in Ogun has assumed a frightening dimension, while Oyo and others are witnessing peace of the graveyard. Above all the afore-stated, Ogbeni’s urban renewal scheme is wonderful.

    Consequently, one would have expected that with these laudable credentials, he would enjoy an easy re-election, notwithstanding his being unnecessarily controversial often times. But no; the contest was fierce because the conservative PDP was desperate to take over Osun, thinking that once that was done; the free fall of other APC-controlled states is guaranteed. The PDP presidency did everything unthinkable, including deployment of hooded security men and the militarisation of the process, to harass and intimidate members of the opposition in the state before/during the election. But because the people were adequately sensitised on the evil being planned against Ogbeni, whom majority of the voters preferred to PDP’s Iyiola Omisore, it failed.

    The failed evil machination in Osun was a plot by PDP to destroy the stronghold of the progressive-inclined APC, especially the south west. The actual target was the current political leader of Yoruba, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The plot in Osun was to hit the shepherd so that the flock will disperse; but, sorry, it failed. Whatever reservations anybody might have about Tinubu, the bitter truth is that he has, through commitment and unrelenting struggle against conservative politics in the southwest, emerged the immovable symbol of progressive politics and the most effective political leader of the Yoruba after Papa Obafemi Awolowo. The only frightful thing is that this column would not want his leadership mileage to be frittered away under the guise of attempting to bring the west to mainstream politics of the country through political alliance with politicians from other regions that merely respect and revere Tinubu as an astute and brilliant politician and not necessarily as leader of all regions.

    However, a word of caution here: That the grand conspiracy in Osun against Tinubu could not fly does not mean that the opposition should go to sleep. All efforts must be geared towards ensuring an unalloyed internal unity of purpose in the progressive fold in Oyo, Ogun, Edo and Lagos states before it gets out of hand as 2015 approaches. Besides, a genuinely progressive strategy to win Ondo State after Governor Segun Mimiko should theoretically commence in earnest before 2016.

    There is a saying that “con is the opposite of pro” and to achieve the afore-stated, the APC in professed pursuit of progressive ideals must be able to affirmatively answer if it is truly the opposite of conservative PDP. This becomes imperative because of the infiltration of the progressive fold by some “aliens.” Yes, politics is a game of numbers, but should the progressive be seen to be playing politics without principle of like minds in pursuit of power, whether at the state or federal level?

    In case the progressives may not easily realise it, these conservatives’ unholy alliance with them has done a lot of damage through leakages of secrets and political strategies. For example, Femi Fani-Kayode came into APC, hobnobbed with the fold for a while and used the platform to regain national prominence only to bolt back into his natural conservative constituency – the PDP. Mimiko exploited this same gimmick to regain his stolen mandate in Ondo. Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former presidential candidate of the progressives, is as good as having gone to PDP to oil his ambition of becoming Adamawa governor.  The progressive inviolability of APC cannot be vouched for in recent times because several conservative elements are now in the fold, not because they share its ideals, but for sheer political convenience.

    Unlike in countries like the United States where partisan beliefs are guarded jealously, politicians here are driven by raw pursuit of inordinate ambitions and most times seen criss-crossing about three political parties before getting to a destination where their bread will be buttered at the detriment of principle and people’s overall interest. There is the need to sieve the grains from the chaff if progressive politics must survive beyond the moment in the southwest – and this is damn urgent!

    The issue of party discipline is an important aspect of what the progressive family must address very without. Most current progressive governors see their platform as just mere footpath for attaining power and quite unprogressively, stand aloof from their people and erroneously think that high taxation, road construction and other capital projects are all what it means to cater for the welfare of a poverty-ravaged people.

    The future of progressive politics rests in not taking the people for granted. Afterall, Sydney J. Harris once declared: ‘Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be.’ If the progressives must continue to rule the western states, the leadership should not give the people any opportunity to ask ‘whether they are the powers that ought to be.’ These reflections are indeed, for the wise!

  • Reflections on Bamidele Aturu – a pure spirit

    Reflections on Bamidele Aturu – a pure spirit

    I was at the Abuja Airport on my way to Gombe for a matter when a journalist from AIT called to find out whether anything was wrong with BamideleAturu as he needed to verify the information he had just received from Abuja that the fire brand lawyer may have passed on. I was too frightened to contemplate my next move as I preferred to see the news as a dream far from possible reality. But I also know that considering the enormous respect I have for the person of Aturu and the personal relationship we had shared, I needed to verify the information quickly especially having assured the journalist that I will get back if I found any useful information concerning this extraordinary Nigerian. I quickly put a call through to my contacts that were in a position to know and the response was not quite helpful. With trembling fingers I summoned courage to call Aturu’s private line to make enquiries about the safety of my friend. The unfamiliar voice on the other end simply informed me that BamideleAturu had been rushed to the hospital and that he was asked by Aturu’s wife to retain the mobile phone pending further developments.

    I was left with no other alternative than to wait in prayers that it should turn out that the journalist who earlier called for verification may have been misinformed afterall. My worst fears were confirmed when credible sources later confirmed to me that indeed our own BamideleAturu had passed on. I was devastated, shocked and traumatised by this unpleasant news the reason being that BamideleAturu was one of the finest spirits of my generation. The rest of my journey to Gombe was a disaster as I nursed throughout the journey a very heavy burden in my heart.

    Further investigations revealed his last moments. A day previously, BamideleAturu was said to have worked up till 7 p.m. in his chambers putting finishing touches to a Notice of Appeal which he personally drafted. Billed to travel the next day for an assignment at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State he had suddenly complained of body weakness and was promptly rushed to LASUTH for urgent attention.  Our Aturu died within 20 minutes of arrival at the hospital. What a life! Very tragic! Very sad!

    The sadness occasioned by Aturu’s sudden passing is not however without some consolations and worthy legacies which definitely will endure forever.

    Aturu was a man of finest virtues, very unique, genuine and different and indeed a reference point in this clime where a life of commitment to principles, integrity, service delivery quality and professionalism is sadly in short supply. In this climate of corruption, uncertainty and moral degradation, Aturustood out from the crowd like a million stars and was uniquely different in terms of exemplary character and moral rectitude.

    Aturu was a visionary who had a mission to fulfill and set out to accomplish same both by a life of personal example and in the manner he organised and structured his legal practice.BamideleAturu& Co, the law firm he founded has as its motto:”Serving the people by promoting justice”.

    The vision/mission of the law firm are as follows:

    •To serve the Almighty God in all ways but in particular by defending the poor.

    •To serve the cause of social justice by effectively and competently using the law inspite of its limitations.

    •To defend the under privileged, the dispossessed, the oppressed and the abused against the rich and the powerful.

    •To be a leading voice in the struggle against all forms of discrimination and undue privileges.

    •To participate in all forms of actions aimed at social reform and change.

    Aturu said “In pursuit of this vision/mission, we will not accept a brief simply on account that it is lucrative or reject a poor prospective client simply on account of inability to pay if we are convinced that he or she is truly unable to pay our fee”.

    Clearly from the foregoing, Aturu was a forthright individual who decided early in life to build his professional practice on altruistic considerations and empathy for the poor and under privileged segment of the society. Not given to materialism, he had set out to embrace pro bono services as an integral part of his practice. This is salutary and a reflection of the degree of humanity and compassion that he had for his fellow human beings and the rest of the society.

    Aturu also led a life of personal example worthy of emulation. He was adjudged the best corps member during his NYSC programme in Niger State. However, when it was time to honour him with accolades he bluntly refused to accept the NYSC award at a time when it was not fashionable to dare any military regime in this part of the world. In rejecting the award he wrote:

    “I saw the award as an attempt to co-opt me into the bestial capitalist power structure…I cannot feel honoured by this award or any award for that matter due to the general and specific differences between the present government and myself”.

    This may have revealed Aturu as a sterling example in moral courage.

    I have a personal experience on Aturu to attest to this trait in moral rectitude. I recall a time I was briefed to handle a drug related matter for a client who later approached me for a related segment of the brief that I could not handle for conflict of interests. The client was ready to pay the sum of Two Million Naira and requested me to recommend a good lawyer since I could not handle the brief. I had no difficulty in zeroing in on the choice of BamideleAturu. I called BamideleAturu ahead and informed him that a prospective client was on his way to brief him armed with a princely sum of Two Million Naira. Aturu said he was waiting. However to my shock and utter surprise when Aturu got the details of the brief he turned the brief down together with the sum of Two Million Naira on the ground that his conscience will not permit him to accept the brief in the circumstances. He called to apologize to me while insisting that his decision was final. What a Nigerian!

    At his death I was forced to reflect on the significance of the name BamideleAturu and how the meaning of his first name and the interpretation of each of the surname may have defined the life and times of this extraordinary Nigerian. Bamidele simply means ‘Come home with me’ little wonder why this Nigerian threw his doors open to all Nigerians who desire his assistance as a reflection of his innate generosity and empathy. The okada riders in Lagos and Baba Suwe who benefited from Aturu’s generosity would attest to this trait.

    On this score as a friend of the poor, Aturu wrote:

    “Lagos State should review the way it treats the poor”.

    Each of the alphabets in the surname of Aturu is significant.

    A: Stands for Amiable/Astuteness/Activism

    T: Stands for Trustworthy

    U: Stands for untiring

    R: Stands for reliability

    U: Utility driven.

    Aturu combined all of these attributes and more – a factor responsible for his greatness and uniqueness.

    Aturu was also a scholar of immense stature. He wrote standard text books on Labour Law and Election Matters which remain reference materials for scholarship. His latest work is on the Law & Practice of Industrial Courts, a work that constitutes imperishable guide to legal practitioners and other users of Industrial Courts nationwide.

    Aturu’s scholarship was consistent with his pedigree. He read Physics at the University of Ife graduating with first class honours. In 1996 he graduated on top of his LL.M class at the University of Lagos with distinction, a feat which confirmed Aturu’s rating as a first class brain indeed.

    Aturu was also a philosopher in the mould of the philosophical king with power of ideas and power of action.  Beyond these, however, was the ability of Aturu to galvanize the elements of ideas and positive action into concrete crusade for policies and laws capable of transforming society. As a result, a fitting tribute to Aturu would be a reelection on the views he expressed on diverse issues affecting the well-being, growth and development of the country and its citizens.

    Aturu for example, was vehemently opposed to deregulation of the down-stream sector of the petroleum industry and wrote scathing articles in leading newspapers exposing the evils of deregulation and why our government ought to jettison the policy.

    Aturu’s views on politics are also instructive. He wrote:

    “The trouble with Nigerian politics contrary to the dominant public view is not the absence of issues  – based politics or lack of ideological commitment by the existing political parties but the fact that the dominant political parties are committed to the same ideology or world – view and therefore essentially not different one from the other…all the dominant parties in Nigeria are committed to privatization of public utilities and assert that the state’s only role in the economy is as regulator of the competing interests of the various factions of the ruling class”.

    Aturu may have made the point that the existing political parties owing to lack of ideological clarity may have left the Nigerian electorate with little or no choice. The difference between all of them is between 12 and half a dozen. I doubt whether anyone can fault Aturu’s thesis in this regard.

    Aturu will be remembered for his dogged pursuit of egalitarian society and his crusade against oppression and marginalisation of Nigerians. He was an activist whose struggle had a strong spiritual foundation. He was a Pastor of the Redeemed Church of God who believed in social justice and equal opportunity for all and sundry because that is the wish of Almighty God. Throughout his life, Aturu fought for democracy, rule of law, constitutionalism, due process, transparency and accountability, free, fair and credible electoral process, zero tolerance for corruption, respect for fundamental rights and good governance.  Whenever he granted interviews on print and electronic media, Aturu deployed his creative talents and energy in pursuit of these fundamentals of the democratic tradition.

    Aturu was humility personified, Integrity personified, cerebral, Courageous, principled, intellectual, non-materialistic, contented, good natured, caring, kind, supportive, friendly, accessible, business-like, serious-minded, genuine, revolutionary, radical, luminous, passionate, conscientious, selfless, intelligent, brilliant, analytical, current, relevant and deeply spiritual. What a human being!

    I must also add that Aturu was controversial and this was in a positive sense. In the words of an American Psychologist:

    “Historydoes not record the achievements of any great man of vision and dynamism without some comments of controversy”.Aturu was a great man.

    Aturu was also a great advocate. I recall our separate and joint appearances for the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Chairman of the EFCC and EFCC in a case involving the Delta State Government at the Federal High Court Benin at the inception of President Yar’Adua’s Administration. Aturu in his elements was on his feet for nearly two hours marshaling forensic arguments in well thought out English and eloquence to the admiration of all.  At the end of the proceedings, I was one of those permanently converted by the sheer advocacy skills of this wonderful Nigerian. We shared this friendship borne out of mutual admiration until he breathed his last.

    I recall our last encounter three weeks ago on a flight from Lagos to Abuja and how characteristically Aturu expressed to me his wish for a better Nigeria and how he will not rest until that objective was achieved.

    Aturu loved Nigeria and Nigerians. He loved humanity. He was prepared to sacrifice all he had for a better Nigeria. A fitting tribute for this illustrious Nigerian would be for all of us to ensure that his sacrifices and struggles for a better society are not in vain.

    Adieu BamideleAturu! A rare breed, a pure spirit, a courageous attorney, the hero of Nigerian masses and a real human being.

    •Shittu is a lecturer at the Univesity of Lagos.

  • Reflections on Essays in Honour of Wole Soyinka at 80

    He cannot heap enough words of praise on Ivor Agyeman-Duah and Ogochukwu Promise for initiating Crucible of the Ages: Essays in Honor of Wole Soyinka at 80, and also for bringing the project to a successful completion. At a time when Africans worship the wrong gods, with deluded and demented congregations, who praise those who are neither historical figures nor human beings, these two co-editors have done what is both essential and right by honoring the right person and worshiping the right god! For it must be said that the gods that this new generation of Lilliputian Africans worship must be first and foremost, inhuman with profound capacity for callousness and emptiness; second, arrogant cannibals whose stomachs are never full yet forever constipated with greed and lucre; third, self-absorbed juveniles who validate the distasteful characterization of primitivism as depicted in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; and fourth, righteous Jezebels who give Satan (the devil himself) a good name in order to continue to idolize it. Shockingly, I have even come across praise for terrorists, cold-blooded and ruthless murderers, comrades of deceit, wolves in sheep’s clothing, infantile inventors of hoax literature, and intellectual lightweights and pirates who adorn their clumsy signatures with viperous abbreviated numerals and viperish alphabets. Another layer of generation that comes after us will as well see the imprint of these demonic hagiographers, yet we refrain from casting the first stones because we want to claim a higher moral ground.

    In over 200 pages, a variety of opinions, views, reflections and interpretations on the indomitable Wole Soyinka have been given by a cast of talents in diverse fields, from notable literary figures to credible politicians, both from the older as well as newer generation of men and women. There are even new poems that will lead to new essays, and new essays that will lead to new critical appraisals, and new appraisals that will generate new dialogue. I do not want, at least for now, to expand on these spaces of engagement on Soyinka, other than to add, inter alia, two additional paragraphs:

    One can hold the view that human beings are fundamentally evil, and that the best way to conquer them is to be fundamentally good. In Soyinka’s engagement with many African leaders, the reality that we are daily confronted with evil means that life, if we are overwhelmed by those characters, loses its meaning. To restore that meaning, I think that we have to be fundamentally so good that we purify ourselves of any evil thinking—it is the very purity of our own minds that sustains us and emboldens us to speak the truth. We can be angry at those men who have destroyed millions of men and women, but Soyinka refuses to translate that anger into that what can be defined as evil, as I sincerely believe that by doing so we complicate all lives, both innocent and non-innocent, making life itself irrelevant.

    Art, as we know, is life, and its essence must capture all that is good and not so good about life itself. The subject of this tome, Professor Wole Soyinka, is a spiritual wanderer in the land of the living as well as an expert hunter and of the ghosts. That wandering, on the one hand, does say that we are all products of history, whether we are proud of it or not. In this inter-subjectivity of being a “product,” the artist may be assumed to be offering subjective art and narratives. But that subjectivity can be representational of something fundamental as in the defense of poor people. Intellectual inquiries, even in the paradigm of autobiographical subjective narrative, can frame the objectivity of a place, a person, and, in the end, of a race. In Soyinka’s case, the subjectivity of the permanent state of transition from one chaos to the next becomes the art of liberation, manifested from one text to another.

    Life, when viewed objectively, is art, insofar as it has to be represented in content and form, in reality and drama, in words and body language. Even when the representation is fake, it speaks to that which is real.That, obviously, is why art converts us into dreamers, speculators, and interlocutors. We become migrants, even when we are fixated on a point or occupying an immoveable chair. We are converted into something, as while watching Soyinka’s drama, but that “something” in all its coloration and individualistic expression, is a form of mobility that is mental but also physical. We locate and relocate, mentally and emotionally, creating a spiritual restlessness.

    My own spiritual restlessness is to wander back to this book, as I read it for the purpose of this commentary. The co-editors are themselves distinguished. For example, Promise is an award-winning poet, a scholar, and a painter. Ivor is a famous writer, a cosmopolitan gentleman, and a consummate diplomat. The skills and competence of the two of them reflect clearly in their choice of authors and in their careful attention to detail. A tremendous accomplishment, the book provides an accessible set of ideas to understand Wole Soyinka, allowing a new generation of Africans that seek role models to reject the mythology that we are doomed to failure, the deepening counter-narrative of pessimists that we have no hope now and forever more.

    The celebration of Wole Soyinka at the ripe and seasoned age of 80 is much deserved. The unquestionable hero in the condemnation of the post-colonial state, sometimes as a lone ranger and other times as a member of the collective whole, is Wole Soyinka, who has been the continent’s foremost writer and critic for over half a century. Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s title “The Conscience of Africa” for his piece in the book, captures a long history of battles. The most multitalented of them all, the preeminent public intellectual, all his writings, irrespective of the genre, carry a compelling universal message, applicable not only to Nigeria but to all countries where similar conditions exist. A crusader with uncommon skill and talent, his prolific energy has been used to oppose injustice, cruelty, and corruption. He can be emulated but not imitated, and this genius cannot be intimidated—not even by the most evil of rulers!

    This publication, in its totality, is a majestic master stroke, which has been nurtured to become a major scholarly enterprise, rather than merely an ordinary adulatory exercise. It illustrates in brilliant chapters the useful connections between art and politics, and between individuals and society. It is emblematic in showing how one person can be a force of change, putting literature and performance in the context of larger politics.

    Most certainly, the book is crackling great; a well-packaged agglomeration of views on a great man. It shows how a commitment to a just culture of politics can expose poor governance and political graft. We are not slaves of power, prisoners of crooks, passive victims of murderers, but agents of change. Full of positive words and passion, the arguments, built on elevated ground, are compelling in showing the relevance of intellectual work.

    Above all, this commemorative volume represents the struggle for our dignity, for the Africa we want, and for the type of person we want to become, both as individuals and, indeed, as a race. Celebrating Wole Soyinka through this serious publication is a most worthy undertaking, as it honours one of the intellectual giants, an octogenarian of stunning repute, who conducted the interception between the 20th and 21st centuries. This book, in the final analysis, is not just another literary festschrift but, most certainly, a notable testament in the annals of modern social and intellectual history! It is a publication that will certainly stand the test of time and human history for its subject— Professor Wole Soyinka— to be acclaimed forever more!

     

    • Falola is the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities and Distinguished University Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

     

    • Prof. Osuntokun returns next week

  • Reflections on May 29

    Reflections on May 29

    TODAY is Democracy Day. Really? May 29 was so decreed in 1999 to mark the day the military returned to the barracks, having exhausted their big bag of intrigues in a complex power game among their leading lights.

    To the military, Nigeria – the envy of many and hope of the black man – was a conquered territory. And it was so run.  Attempts to call them to order were brutally suppressed.  Many patriots were jailed. But those were the lucky ones. The unlucky ones, such as the Ogoni Nine, got killed after a trial that mocked the very essence of justice and despite a global outcry.

    Now, Nigerians have realised that democracy is not just the absence of military rule, just as “good health is not just the absence of diseases”. The weird one, the late songster Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, saw it all a long time ago when he, in a remarkable pun, described the system as demoncrazy and its practice as demonstration of craze.

    Many derided May 29 as a caricature of June 12, 1993, the day the late Basorun Moshood Kasimawo Olawale Abiola won the presidential election that was hailed at home and abroad as Nigeria’s fairest and freest ever. That historic election was annulled by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida regime for no sane reason. Abiola, frontline businessman, charismatic politician, exceptional philanthropist, newspaper baron and sport enthusiast of a rare kind, fought the battle of his life to get the election revalidated. He failed. In fact, he died in detention, fighting to reclaim his mandate. His wife, Kudirat, was shot on a Lagos street in broad daylight. She died.

    Chief Ernest Shonekan, an accomplished businessman, was cajoled into heading a hurriedly cobbled Interim National Government (ING), the one Yoruba broadcasters derided as Ijoba fidi he (a government that is perching on the seat as it is temporary). It all became a joke. As the government, hobbled and humbled by a debilitating credibility crisis, fumbled on, it became obvious that the joke would not last long. It all blew up in Shonekan’s face and the Egba chief had to return home.

    But the pantomime continued, with the late Gen. Sani Abacha seizing the reins after beguiling a naïve Abiola into believing that he would restore his mandate. He stood like a rock in the way of the sacred mandate that was freely given by 14 million Nigerians.

    It was not to last for long. Nature supervened in its mysterious ways to end the misery that was the country’s lot. Gen. Abacha died in strange circumstances, rumoured to have foamed from the mouth after jerking like a motor engine with adulterated fuel as he was being ministered to by some expatriate prostitutes flown in specially to quench his lasciviousness. Talk of bedlam in the bedroom. The dreaded General, obviously one of the world’s worst dictators and corrupt rulers who defiled the treasury with a bizarre rapacity, was said to be fond of Indian women.

    Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami stepped in to stabilise the ship of state. He  conducted an election that produced Chief Olusegun Aremu Okikiolakan Obasanjo, who never saw Abiola as the hero of democracy. After running the show for eight years, he reluctantly yielded the seat to the late Umaru Yar’Adua (May 29, 2007 –May 6, 2010).

    When President Goodluck Jonathan stepped in, there was so much hope that all would be well. The goodwill was tremendous. Pentecostal giants were excited. So were all youths and members of the academic community. Now, the Jonathan presidency is struggling to set its hands on the plough, even as its tenure is fast running out.

    The age-long division among Nigerians has never been this pronounced since the civil war. Nigeria, in the view of many a student of history, is at the brink. To spiritualists, the cycle is rushing to a cataclysmic end. Political scientists are warning against a return to the days of the jackboot. I don’t see that happening. Nigerians will rise against that. My fear is anarchy, the type that will be forcing the world to ask: “Hey! Who’s in charge here?”

    But, let’s get it right. It is not that the Jonathan administration sowed the seed of discord. No. Neither is it the cause of all that troubles this beautiful country. No. The question is, has it done enough to stem a dangerous tide? What will it be remembered for?

    The middle class is struggling to return as the division between the rich and the poor keeps widening. The economy is all figures; no facts. We are regaled with data, empty data, to show that it is growing, yet the citizens do not feel good. Recently, a rebasing of the economy put Nigeria at the head of others in Africa, but many insist it is all voodoo.

    Textile manufacturing companies that used to provide thousands of jobs remain dead, their factories becoming entertainment centres. The cost of doing business keeps flying up, with energy expenditure bursting the books. Small scale businesses are dying, done in by a seemingly intractable power problem. The level of infrastructural decay is beyond belief, even by Nigeria’s strange standards. Hospitals – remember Gen. Abacha called them mere consulting clinics – are sick. Good doctors have fled a system that mocked their training and oath.

    After a long university teachers’ strike, polytechnic teachers launched theirs. For almost a year, students have remained at home. Education is in crises.

    Roads are bad, destroyed by years of neglect that is fuelled by corruption – an ailment that has brought many sectors to their knees. Pensioners are dying, their sweat stolen by evil officials who do not know when they have stolen more than enough in a desperate race to secure their own future.

    Add these to the wave of insecurity from which nobody is insulated. Suicide bombers are here, killing and maiming. Jungle justice is back as many lose confidence in the system. Armed robbers are getting more sophisticated. Boko Haram says it wants an Islamic enclave for itself. The pursuit of this mission, says the sect, is by jihad in which innocent people must be killed in their thousands. Military barracks and police stations are attacked at will.

    The police felt eliminating the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf, would solve the problem. How wrong. His elimination sparked  the conflagration that is threatening to take away our humanity.

    Boko Haram has killed thousands. It has burnt down homes and businesses that represented many years of toiling and sweating. But the April 15 abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, has got the world rushing down here to launch a rescue mission. Over one month after, the girls are yet to be found and reunited with their families.

    Suicide bombers have had bountiful harvests. Nyanya. Jos. Kaduna. Maiduguri. And many others.

    Our leaders have elevated politics above governance. Their dream is to “capture” power, not as a means to an end – service that will bring happiness to the majority of our people – but as an end in itself for the selfish interest of the holder and his henchmen.

    Despite the disenchantment and the disillusionment, Nigerians display an amazing sense of humour. Sardonic humour. They laugh when they are supposed to cry, perhaps because they are tired of crying. Consider this that once appeared on this page:

    “A man died and went to hell. There he finds that there are different hells for each country. He decides to go round and choose the least painful to spend his eternity.

    “He goes to the German hell and asks, ‘what do they do here?’ He is told, “first they put you in an electric chair for an hour, then lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the German devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day.’

    “The man does not like that at all. He moves on. He checks out the USA, UK, Russian hells and many more. He discovers that they are all similar to the German hell.

    “Then he comes to the Nigerian hell and finds a long queue of people waiting to get in. Amazed, he asks, ‘what do they do here?’ He is told, ‘First, they put you in an electric chair for an hour and then they lay you on a bed of nails for another hour. Then the Nigerian devil comes in and whips you for the rest of the day.’

    ‘But that is exactly the same as all the other hells; why are there so many people waiting to get in?’ asks the man. A fellow calls him aside and says, ‘because there is never stable electricity so the electric chair doesn’t work. The nails were paid for but were never supplied by the contractor, so the bed is comfortable to sleep on. And the Nigerian devil used to be a civil servant, so he comes in, signs his time sheet and leaves for his personal business.”

    It pays to be a Nigerian. And despite all its ailments, democracy – never to be confused with May 29 – is it.