The Nation Newspaper

Tag: statesman

  • OBJ, statesman as mischief-maker

    Obasanjo is a global statesman. His contemporaries include Jimmy Carter, the 39th American president (1977-81), George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of US (1989-1993, ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of United Kingdom (1979-1990). He was very active in the international mediation efforts in Angola, Burundi, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa. He played a leading role in the establishment of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), designed to promote democracy and good governance. Only last week, he got another “invitation of the UN Secretary-General to be a member of his 18-member High-Level Board of Advisers on Mediation.”

    Obasanjo, unfortunately, is a prophet without honour among his own people. While he might have succeeded in bewitching the international community, many Nigerians regard him  an ‘incredible opportunist’ (Brigadier General Alabi Isama, Tragedy of Victory) and a mischief maker on account of his periodic letters designed to de-legitimize every government after him  starting with  Shehu Shagari, Babangida, Abacha, Yar’Adua and Jonathan. With a second inciting  letter on the eve of a crucial election, he alleged without proof, that President Buhari is set to rig  while also accusing him of  massive corruption: “If we expose them, all of them will enter hell; they will not only go to jail”. Many are bound to conclude that Obasanjo is probably suffering from messianic complex.

    Discerning Nigerians are aware that since Obasanjo’s first coming as head of a military junta (1976-1979), he has done everything but promote the democratization process. He publicly admitted that as an umpire in 1978 presidential election, he took sides with the late Shagari to spite his more illustrious fellow Yoruba compatriot, Obafemi Awolowo, who according to Biafra Civil war leader, Odumegwu Ojukwu “was the best president Nigeria never had”. His perfidy was to lead to the derailment of the second republic experiment at democratization when the ill-prepared Shagari administration awarded his party ‘landslide and sea-slide’ victories especially in opposition strongholds in the 1983 election.

    Nigerians can also still remember how Obasanjo, the democracy crusader supported Babangida’s interim contraption to deny MKO Abiola, his Egba compatriot, of his pan-Nigerian mandate by claiming the winner was not the messiah Nigerians were waiting for. And after being imposed on Nigeria by General Babangida and his anti-democratic elements, Obasanjo undermined the democratisation process in 2003 and 2007 through massive election rigging and failed third term agenda and in 2011 by imposing Jonathan on the country. Until President Buhari “the dictator” recently honoured MKO Abiola for his supreme sacrifice that democracy may thrive, Obasanjo and his fellow PDP democracy warriors, for 18 years desecrated Abiola’s grave.

    Nigerians, except the wailing and wayward PDP children who instead of telling Nigerian what they intend to do differently from their 16 years of locust have focused more on Buhari’s personal failings, are not deceived. Atiku who as Obasanjo’s deputy did not only publicly denounce him as false democratic and anti-corruption crusader but also alleged helping to disburse public funds for private concerns, is promising to continue with privatization of public enterprises. He thinks Nigerians have forgotten a House of Representatives probe report that claimed the country recouped only about $1.5b from total investments of over $100b between1960-1998. This was in addition to the loss of seven million jobs projected by World Bank because beneficiaries were more interested in asset stripping.

    Besides, Atiku other Obasanjo’s PDP children who will probably be ready to swear their adopted father is a false democratic and anti-corruption crusaders include the late Diepreye Alamieseigha who he chased from France to Britain where he escaped to Nigeria dressed like a woman. The late ‘Governor-General of Ijaw People’ was finally impeached by Obasanjo’s kangaroo impeachment panel of about half a dozen state lawmakers holed up in a hotel room in Lagos. We also have Rivers’ Peter Odili. Although he was saved by the Nigeria’s troubled judiciary that ruled he must not be tried or arrested by EFCC for allegedly defrauding his state, he however lost his dream of succeeding Obasanjo as president. There is also James Ibori who like Odili, was also saved by Nigerian judiciary but finally jailed for the same offences by the British judiciary. Obasanjo’s other estranged PDP children  include Lucky Igbinedion, Doyin Okupe, Ayo Fayose, Gbenga Daniel, Jolly Nyame, Joshua Dariye,  Boni Haruna, Adamu Mu’azu, Chris Uba  and others.

    But those who are really  interested in a critical assessment of Obasanjo’s credentials as democracy and anti-corruption crusader will find  the verdict of Ayo Fayose, Dino Melaye, Gbenga Daniel and Bukola Saraki ,  who are in all respects a match to their godfather’s intrigue, abrasiveness and uncouthness instructive.

    Ayo Fayose, a student of the late Pa Adedibu, the late exponent of ‘amala politics’ and the garrison commander of Ibadan Politics, was foisted on Ekiti by Obasanjo. They later fell apart over Fayose’s chicken farm scam.  Fayose had described Obasanjo while taking a temporary leave of absence from PDP as “a man without honour”  who “shouldn’t just tear his PDP membership card; but should relinquish the ownership of Bells University, Obasanjo Farms, Obasanjo Presidential Library, and other financial benefits he got during his eight years as President.’’  Fayose, the adopted son of Obasanjo, the democracy crusader, according to EFCC, allegedly collected about N3b from Jonathan to rig the 2014 Ekiti election. As governor-elect, he led some of his thugs to a court premises to beat up a judge presiding over his case.  He thereafter with the help of the thugs chased out 15 majority state lawmakers out of the state.

    Gbenga Daniel was drafted from Lagos by Obasanjo to supplant Aremo Olusegun Osoba as governor of Ogun State. When relationship between father and son became sour, Daniel with nine loyal state lawmakers impeached 15 majority who scurried out of the state while Daniel unconstitutionally put the state House of Assembly under lock and key. Obasanjo had to call on those he described as “men of goodwill within and outside,” made up of his secondary school classmates and Afe Babalola, his friend and lawyer to placate Daniel.

    Fresh from medical college, Bukola Saraki’s illustrious father donated him to Obasanjo who without hesitation appointed him special assistant on budgeting. He went on to become Kwara’s two-term governor and a senator.  When he usurped the senate presidency by, according to his confession, outwitting his 51 APC senators to be proclaimed senate president by acclamation by 49 opposition PDP senators, Obasanjo’s house was his first port of call.

    However when Obasanjo in a letter dated January 13, 2016 complained about ‘the mind-boggling expenditure going into cars, furniture, housing renovation which he said were ‘veritable sources of waste and corruption’ and went on to accuse the lawmakers of “massive corruption, greed, impunity and lawlessness..”, Saraki, directed his half-brother, Dino Melaiye who Obasanjo had also appointed adviser on youths, to disrobe their father publicly.

    Dino wrote: “‘Our leader has mistaken the 8th National Assembly as the same National Assembly that defrauded him in 2007; that is those who collected his money and refused to implement the third term agenda. I appeal to Baba that we are not the ones please”. He did not forget to rub it in: “There was the case of bribery introduced by the Obasanjo regime in the desperate attempt to remove Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba from office then. In fact, there was an open display of that bribery money on the floor of the House”. Concluding, Melaye asks; “I hope this is not in an attempt to cover up and distract attention from the Halliburton and Siemens corruption allegations?’’

    Dear compatriots, behold the democracy and anti-corruption crusader according to his PDP children.

  • Garlands for a tolerant statesman

    He will certainly come away with the plaque if there is such award as the most tolerant statesman of the year. In recent times, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has endured a lot provocation from both the Peoples Democratic (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Were all things to be equal, Ekweremadu should at this moment be eyeing the seat of the Vice President. But that was not to be as the gesture was accorded former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, no thanks to Atiku’s decision to overlook Ekweremadu, the highest-ranking elected public office holder in the South East, in his choice of a running mate.

    A pacification visit Atiku and Senate President Bukola Saraki paid Ekweremadu ended up adding insult to his injury. The Deputy Senate President has paid his dues as a loyal member of the PDP, weathering the gale of defections that hit the party before and after the 2015 elections. By the time the dust of the elections settled, he had become the biggest political fish from the South East, serving a third term as the Deputy Senate President. It then fell to him to chart the roadmap for the party’s reinvention.

    Apart from acting as the chairman of the PDP Post-Election Review Panel that zoned the presidency to the North, Ekweremadu is credited with negotiating the return of many PDP bigwigs, including Atiku, Saraki, Sokoto State governor Aminu Tambuwal and some National Assembly members, who had defected to other parties in protest against the violation of the party’s zoning arrangement.

    So, when Atiku began to beam his searchlight on the South East geo-political zone for a running mate after his emergence at the PDP convention in Port Harcourt as the party’s presidential candidate, it was widely expected that Ekweremadu would be picked for the position. The expectation was reinforced by speculations before the party’s convention that Atiku had promised to pick Ekweremadu as his running mate if he became the presidential candidate of the party.

    Based on the foregoing, Ekweremadu was said to have worked assiduously for Atiku who eventually beat other aspirants, including Tambuwal and Saraki, by a wide margin to become the party’s flag bearer. It turned out, however, that a few days after the convention, Atiku announced former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, as his running mate without even consulting Ekweremadu before he made the announcement. And while Ekweremadu was smarting from this slight on his person, the news broke again that Atiku had constituted his campaign council without consulting Ekweremadu and without including his name on the list.

    If the first incident would be taken as an oversight, Ekweremadu and his supporters were at a loss on what to brand the second. Age-long wisdom, they reason, dictates that if Atiku would not eat palm oil for the sake of yam, he should consider eating yam for the sake of palm oil. If he would not appoint Ekweremadu as his running mate or member of his campaign council for fear that he might be advancing the Deputy Senate President’s political career, he should have appointed him for the sake of his own presidential ambition, knowing full well that Ekweremadu could be a good rallying point for the party in the South East.

    In a move that smacked of after-thought as the grumbling in Ekweremadu’s camp grew louder, Atiku, Saraki and the National Chairman of PDP, Uche Secondus, reportedly visited the Deputy Senate President in his Abuja residence last week to pacify him and his supporters. But the fence-mending mission turned out an insult added to Ekweremadu’s injury. In his bid to make Ekweremadu understand why he preferred Obi as his running mate, Atiku reportedly said that he opted for the latter because the former Anambra State governor does not have any corruption case hanging on his neck. As it would be expected, Atiku’s explanation has left political observers wondering if it implies that he did not pick Ekweremadu as his running mate because he is corrupt.

    Observers were also quick to observe that Ekweremadu might have had enough after the visit, going by the mild drama that played out when he presided over plenary at the Senate penultimate Wednesday and seemed to subtly endorse the APC campaign slogan, ‘Next Level’. As senators made to revert to plenary after considering some bills at the Committee of the Whole, Ekweremadu said: “Those in favour that the Senate do move to the next level say aye; those against say nay.”

    This happening a few days after the Deputy Senate President led some governors from the South East on courtesy visit to President Buhari is causing jitters in PDP’s camp.

  • The chronicle of Chief David Attah, a statesman

    I have always known that it will be inevitable for me to tell the story of Chief David Attah, the Ondoma k’ Idoma. This responsibility was entrusted on me right from the moment I could read and write. This duty to share his life unique story became necessary because of the privilege of drinking from his fountain of knowledge and savouring the nourishment of his wisdom.

    This audacious attempt to celebrate my father required me to be as dispassionate as I could possibly be, a though task indeed because all attempts in the past to tell his story always invoked sentiments due to the exemplary life he lived as a son, brother, husband, father and a citizen. It is my desire that his life will inspire the nation to be better and do better. His mantra everytime we discussed any subject was always the virtue of service above self and that was exactly how he lived his life.

    The fact that Chief David Attah was born on the 25th of September, 1945 in Osukpo Village, Igumale District, Benue State to the family of Pa Michael Attah Adotse and Princess Osirefi Enyi of Osukpo and Osipi clan respectively resonates with significance. What is significant is that his birth concided with the end of the second world war and his character reflected peace and tranquility. Also,  worthy of note is that Osukpo his place of birth  is reputed to be the place where the first school in Idoma land was established by the Methodist missionaries. He grew up in Igumale where he was exposed to the cultural heritage of his people.  He was also exposed to western education and this formed his desire to use education as a tool to emancipate himself from the shackles of abjection and also to dedicate his talent and skills to the development of his community. It is remarkable that his love for education did not affect his love for the culture and traditions of his people. He was at home at the most sophisticated places and embraced his culture at rural Igumale. He encompassed the best of both worlds, a genuine all rounder, an ability he later displayed during an illustrous carrear in politics and journalism.

    Despite the low interest in western education in those days, my father was determined to get an education and unlike his peers, he enrolled in Methodist College Otukpo for his school certificate, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (ABU) for his degree programme, the International Publishing Corporation’s Newpaper Training School Plymouth England and the prestigious Brookings Institute Washington DC.

    It is intrinsic to note that his virile activisim was born in ABU where he was the editor of the campus newspaper and a contributor to the campus column of the Daily Times Newspaper. An article worthy of mention was one in the campus magazine where he advocated for the improvement in infrastructure to match the new policy of expansion that had been introduced by the authorities of ABU. This drew the ire of the university authority. It is sad that a problem that my father identified about 50 years ago still persisit in Nigeria today. This is a testiment to his foresight, an attribute that was helpful during his time as a chief executive of various media houses.

    The passion to use writing as a tool to effect desirable transformative change of the society and to contribute to nation building informed his decision to join the Daily Times after graduating from the university in 1970 despite lucrative job offers from both the public and private sectors. The Owelle of Onitsha and Nigeria’s first president Nnamdi Azikiwe had a great influence on his choice of journalism and later politics. He saw journalism and politics as two professions that were intricately related. His thoughts on politics, nationalism and community service were motivated by the Great Zik of Africa. Zik influenced my father’s choice of journalism as a profession and politics as calling. He felt the pen was mightier than the sword and politics was the best medium to liberate his people.  Later in life, when my father left his position as General Manager of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper it was no surprise that he joined Azikiwe’s party- the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). My father later played an important role in the burial of Azikiwe when he served as the secretary of the Azikiwe burial committee, an oppurtunity he relished.

    At the Daily Times, he was originally engaged as a Chief Correspondence for Northern Nigeria and this set the motion for a rewarding and adventurious career in journalism. He was a product of -Alhaji Babatunde Jose, a man regarded as the father of journalism in Nigeria. Alhaji Jose identified my father’s inert gift for journalism and nutured same. At the Daily Times he was fortunate to work with Prince Tony Momoh, the former Minister of Information, Chief Segun Osoba, the former Ogun State Governor amongst other illustrious Nigerians who were also proteges of Alhaji Jose. He eventually became the Group Personel Manager of the Daily Times Group. My father was later seconded to the Plateau Publishing Corporation the publishers of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper as General Manager in 1976. During his tenure he was able to leave his mark by erecting the tallest building in Jos today, at barely the age of 30 years. He also produced the first Sunday newspaper in Northern Nigeria-the Sunday Standard and the first comical newspaper in the country known as Pappy Joe, where various aspect of national life was satirized in the cartoon series. This achievement was a demostration of his belief that one should always leave any situation better than he met it. His collegues in the Standard Newspaper were veterens like Dan Agbese and George Ohemu. Later, he was able to replicate great achievments as the General Manager of the Benue Printing and Publishing Corporation the publishers of the Nigerian Voice and the Sunday Voice. He introduced the Sunday Voice which was the second Sunday newspaper in Northern Nigeria.

    The late Chief Attah

    It was no surprise that my father made an incursion into politics after the return to democratic rule in 1979 because of his desire to serve. At the age of 33 years he resigned as the General Manager of the Plateau Printing and Publishing Company to join the NPP. He contested and won his election to the House of Representative, representing the Okpokwu East Federal Constituency despite overwhelming opposition from the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). His victory was a demonstration of people power, a feat that is currently absent from our political culture. At the House, it was only apt that he served as the chairman of the House Committee on Public Service Matter. He enjoyed a great working relationship and friendship with many colleagues  from various part of Nigeria like Senator Abraham Adesanya, Honourable Bez Idakula, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Debo Akande and so on. He was completely detrabalised. He was close to the great J.S Tarka who took a liking for my father and took him under his wings despite their different political parties, Tarka was electeed to the senate under the NPN. At the House of Representative and all through his life he was guide by three -principles which are love of friendship, virtue of service and sense of nationhood.

    It is credit to my father that with the return to military rule after a shambolic attempt at civil rule from 1979 to 1983, he was not harassed by the junta unlike other politicians during the period rather he was appointed as the General Manager of the Nigerian Voice, a return to his other love, journalism.

    My father never shied away from a call to service, a true subscriber to Frantz Fanon philosophy that a call to service is a show of patrotism. He immediately embraced the opportunity to serve Benue State as a Commissioner of Information, Sport, Youth and Culture and later Commissioner of Commerce and Industry when -Air Commander Jonah Jang as he then was, wanted to set the foundation for the industralisation of Benue State. As commissioner of Commerce and Industry he brought key stakeholders in Nigeria to Makurdi for the launch of the Benue Industrial Development Fund.

    The June 12 imbroglio presented an opportunity for my father to make his biggest sacrifice for the preservation of the sovereignty of Nigeria. As Chief Press Secretary to the Head of State of Nigeria, he saw an opportunity to play a role in the resolution of one of the greatest challenges Nigeria ever faced. He used his position not only to project government’s policies but to sue for peace and for one Nigeria. He served his boss well by ensuring that cooperation and not confrontation was the panecea to the impasse. Many people do not know that my father enjoyed a long relationship with Chief M.K.O Abiola, a strong relationship that made Chief Abiola visit the dusty town of Oturkpo in 1983 on my father’s invitation for the launch of the book-‘Agony of a Patriot’  written by the late Justice A.P Anyebe. Chief Abiola also chaired the launch of the Benue Industrial Development Fund at my father’s request.  He always believed that the June 12 palavar could be resolved through dialogue. Upon the death of General Abacha, he also served as Chief Press Secretary to General Abdulsalami Abubakar for five months out of his ten months and he played his part in the return of democracy in 1999.

    Even at retirement, he continued to serve his people through philantropy to his community and contribution to the national discuss. His entire life was about service to God, service to family, service to community and service to the nation. He believed that what makes a person great is his action, so he was very deliberate about every step he took, mindful of prosterity’s verdict on him. This explains why he had a blemish free career as a journalist and politician, a rare case in present day Nigeria where public servants are summoned regularly by security agents to answer one case of corruption or the other. He rose to the zenith of his profession simply by refusing to be inhibited by the circumstamce of his birth no matter how harrowing or belittling. With this philosophy, he was able to accopmplish a lot. He stood for selfless service to the nation, patrotism, transparency, loyalty, dedication and hardwork all enscapulated in servant-leadership. Some of his modest accomplishments include the construction of the ten storey office complex today known as the Joseph Gomwalk House in Jos, Plateau State, built while he was General Manager of the  Nigerian Standard in his early thirties for less than N2 million with revenue generated from the daily sale of the newspapers. The building remains the tallest building in Jos today, more than 40 years after it was built . He introduced the first Sunday Newspaper in Northern Nigeria-the Sunday Standard in 1976,  contributing to the development of journalism in Northern Nigeria. He introduced the first comic newspaper in Nigeria known as Pappy Joe. A lover of  sports, particularly football, he founded the famous Pen Powers football club as General Manager of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper, the only newspaper house in Nigeria to successfully do that. The team later transformed to the J.I.B Rocks football club.

    He believed that the good Lord created us to be fruitful and to be a blessing to each other and this he demostrated everyday with his interaction with people irrespective of their tribe, religion or circumstance. His selfless disposition was anchored on the fact that the worth of a leader is measured by the depth of his sacrifice and the belief that the real significance of a man is not in the circumstance of his birth but what he tried to achieve for humanity.

    He was concerned about bequaeting a noble legacy for the future generation. I am happy that my girls and their cousins will look back and be proud of their grand father-David Ogaba Attah, the man who tried his level best to make a difference, no one can deny that. Adieu.

  • Accolades for Cross River elder statesman at book launch

    Accolades for Cross River elder statesman at book launch

    It was a torrent of accolades for Cross River State elder statesmanChief Linus Okom during the public presentation of his biography in Calabar.

    Okom, from Bekwarra Local Government Area, one of the founding fathers of the state, was described as a colossus whose legacies are too much to be compressed in one book by a legal luminary and one time member of the Caretaker Committee of Bekwara Local Government, Mr Sunny Odey.

    The book titled, ADA BEKWARA: Biography of Chief Linus Okom was written by his wife, Dr (Mrs) Monica Okom.

    According to Odey, Chief Okom, popularly known as Ada Bekwara, is incontestably one of the most outstanding politicians ever from the state.

    Odey said Chief Okom has bestridden the politics of the state for close to four decades working with the likes of Chief I. I. Murphy, Chief Michael Ogon, Dr. Joseph Wayas, Dr. Okoi Arikpo, Chief Eyo Uyo among others.

    Cross River State governor, Prof Ben Ayade, also described Okom as one of the foremost elder statesmen, whose wealth of experience is still needed to move the state forward.

    Ayade, represented by the Commissioner for Education, Mr Godwin Ettah, expressed delight at the biography and enjoined everyone to read to understand the history of the state, which his life symbolizes.

    He congratulated the author, Dr. Monica Okom for her literary prowess and enjoined her to mentor other younger women.

    According to Dr Monica Okom, she was motivated to write the book because of the love showered on her by her husband.

    Dr. Okom narrated her journey of love in the arm of her loving husband, saying he encouraged her to further her education up to PhD level.

    The book, she said, tells a story of the impact of the Chief Linus Okom on the development of Cross River state especially in the creation of the state, as well as the leading role he played in the acceptance of Bekwara language as one of the languages translated in news in the state broadcast station, among other things.

    The celebrant, ADA BEKWARA, Chief Linus Okom who expressed gratitude to his wife for compiling his activities into a book said he derives a lot of fulfillment for being a part of those who fought and succeeded in the creation of Cross River state.

    In his contribution, the Chief Executive Officer of PROFILES AND BIOGRAPHIES, publishers of the book, Mr. Kammonke Abam emphasized the need for Cross Riverians who have played critical roles in the development of the state and the country to document their stories for the benefit of the society.

    The event was witnessed by dignitaries including the former Chairman of the Peo

  • Statesman, not dictator

    SIR: A statesman is a friend to truth. He has a soul that is sincere in action and faithful with untainted honour. A statesman broke no promise, served no private end and gained no title…and lost no friend- apologies to Alexandra Pope. This great man reminds me of one of my research works on the role of a statesman in a given society. A statesman could be seen as a politician; a

    diplomat or other notable public figures but should not under any condition be seen as a tyrant.

    How do we link up the role of an ideal statesman to what is happening in our political environment? I have also come to understand in the course of this piece that a statesman is a noble fellow full of bedrock of principles; a moral compass; and a visionary to the core. He is one that build bridges and consensus with no intention for mischief.

    But do we have statesmen in Nigeria? If the answer is in affirmative, then, where are they and to whose interests do they represent? Of course, we have several elder statesmen across the six geo- political zones in the country but for the purpose of this piece that is centered on the recent political happenings, permit me to narrow it down to one elder statesman in Ota, Ogun state, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.

    In the last few months, the country had watched enough of Nollywood drama and political tornados emanating from comments and actions of this elder statesman. It is no longer news that we have one powerful ex- General-turned ex-civilian president who sees himself as a god that must always be worshiped and adored. To him, Nigeria is still under his control. One cannot but be disturbed when a past president behaves as if he is still a sitting president. That is abusing his statesmanship status. However, there is nothing wrong if a former leader and statesman choose to identify with the popular tide on issues but such should be done with altruistic motive. Is this the case in the current outbursts of the retired former president? Will he not disappoint on this current adventure?

    For God’s sake, Obasanjo, being a former president like any other past heads of state, do not need any formal introduction, anywhere, before being noticed. Unfortunately, this is not so in this country. One can only hope that Obasanjo will still remain a true CHANGE crusader after the general elections. A true statesman shouldn’t arrogate power to himself. This is the greatest lesson for any genuine statesman.

     

    • Sunday Alifia, a Political Analyst lives in Ibadan, Oyo state.

     

  • A president and a statesman

    A president and a statesman

    •Alhaji Shehu Shagari, president of the Second Republic, turns 90

    Even at 90, he remains true to type – self-effacing, taciturn and stately. In an age in which statesmen and former leaders are quick to take positions in a roiling polity, Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari remains dignified in his silence. His was the rare privilege of mounting the saddle as the first executive president of Nigeria in the Second Republic at the beginning of Nigeria’s experimentation with Presidential system of governance.

    It was the second coming of civil rule in 1979 after the upheavals of the 1960s and the military interregnum. The General Olusegun Obasanjo-led military regime was gracious in returning power to civilians once again. The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) which had the most semblance of national spread had preferred Shagari as its presidential candidate against sturdier, more educated and more charismatic aspirants like Malam Adamu Ciroma and Maitama Sule.

    Shehu Shagari aspired to go to the senate having secured a form to that effect until he was drafted into the presidential race. He did not only win the keenly contested three-horse race during the NPN primary, he also won the presidential election beating political giants like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of the National Party of Nigeria (NPP) and Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

    It was a close race between Chief Awolowo and Alhaji Shagari and the ballot had to be decided by the courts in favour of the latter. That he could win against all the political juggernauts of his time and emerge as Nigeria’s first ever president is no doubt a mark of the Nigeria’s skewed leadership selection process which has continued to dog her till today.

    On the other hand, Shagari’s emergence must also signpost his essence as a very genial and unobtrusive personality. It is indeed these traits of character that must have galvanized his long, illustrious career in the civil service and in politics. Educated at Sokoto Middle School and Kaduna College which was initially a teachers’ training institute, he taught science for many years in Sokoto and Zaria Middle Schools. He also had a long track record as a civil servant that he was reputed to be perhaps the longest serving in the Colonial service of his days.

    He was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and was a minister in Alhaji Tafawa Balewa’s in 1958. Prior to this, in 1954, he had been elected to the Federal House of Representatives for Sokoto southwest. He went on to hold several ministerial positions in the following ministries under Balewa: Economic Development (1960); Internal Affairs (1962); Works and Survey (1965).

    And during the military administration of General Yakubu Gowon he was appointed a Federal Commissioner for Economic Development and later, Finance (1971).  His is a rich trajectory of public service in the different milieus of colonialism, post-colonial civil rule and military administrations leading up to the Second Republic when he won the number one seat.

    Though his presidency was in a time of global economic turmoil occasioned by the oil price tumble of the early 80s, he had no radical answer to the problem as his import licence regime and exposure of the economy to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were no panaceas to the economic ills of the day. However, he will be remembered for his party’s national housing scheme and for investing in the steel mills in Ajaokuta and Delta. He also tried to mechanize agriculture with his Green Revolution initiative which did not out-live his era.

    His otherwise impeccable long public service was almost tainted by a certain permissiveness of nature which gave his appointees leeway to corrupt and abuse their offices. It is as if he was incapable of reprimanding his underlings. It is this seeming leadership flaw that damaged his presidency and led to a shambolic election in which desperate lieutenants hijacked ‘victory’ in some parts of the country. The aftermath of this electoral rascality eventually gave the military the impetus to return to power. Shagari never really had a handle on his presidency nor did he really seem to understand true democratic ethos.

    However, he is considered a man of high personal integrity and dignity; he was never indicted or known to have abused the numerous high offices he occupied. Unlike what is preponderant today, he has lived a lean and Spartan life despite his long exposure to public offices. In this age of mind-numbing graft, he is indeed a statesman.

  • A nation without a statesman

    Nigeria is walking deep into more ironies. Dogs are no more eating dogs. The cheetahs are now food for dogs. Government is no more governing, it is now being governed. Citizens are no more protected by the police, they are now the casualties of the police. Once, there was Apo 6, now we have Gudu 9. Death is no more strange to people, it walks in the streets in the midst of the people. Nations are fasting and praying against atrocities, we are here celebrating Boko Haram and other iniquities. ‘Gbomogbomo’, a Yoruba word for kidnapping, was an uncommon crime in the past, today, it is a commercial venture with its own structure. In time past, people wailed and wailed for losing their kids to ritual killers today parents themselves are hawking their kids for a fee. Crisis used to be a visitor in the past, now it is a bona fide citizen of Nigeria. What private schools collect as school fees from a child today was the total budget for the education of a whole community in those days. And yet we say we are making progress. The progress that is destroying the gains we made in the past.

    The truth is that we need the urgent intervention of a wise man. The intervention of a sage. A sage that is a messiah. A messiah of intervention not a messiah of occupation. A messiah wearing the mantle of peace. More succinctly, we need a statesman: one that will be the conscience of the nation; one whose intervention can halt the raging storm troubling our nation. This is the crux of the matter; there seems to be no such man in our land. We have no statesman that we can depend on to bring things back to order.

    It is freaky that none of our leaders since independence, particularly those who are alive, has transformed into a statesman. It is more confounding that all of them but one stumbled and fumbled while in power. Yakubu Gowon, a repentant born- again General, was shovelled out of office in 1975 by Murtala Mohammed and company for being unfaithful to even his own promise to hand over power to civilians. His repentance and present vocation of praying for Nigeria has earned him the forgiveness of the nation for whatever minor role he played in the Dimka Coup, but forgiveness does not erase the recording of history. Therefore, he has to live with this stigma.

    Obasanjo was not badly rated in his first time out as Head of State in 1976 to 1979, albeit his careless sarcasm which had a veiled reference to Chief Obafemi Awolowo almost affected his rating. His statement, “we know those who will not succeed us” was undignified and impertinent. This explained why the whole 12 2/3 saga was seen as part of the plot by his government to prevent Chief Awolowo from succeeding him. Nevertheless, Obasanjo’s second coming in 1999 to 2007 was an anticlimax to an image already on the slope. His third term project signposted a major deterioration in whatever was still left of his credibility and integrity. It is a sad commentary on Nigeria’s leadership that it is the same Olusegun Obasanjo that is dominating national discourse pretending to be a statesman. Why must we continue to desecrate our national altar by allowing men who are indebted to sanity to induct themselves as oracle of the nation when indeed we all know that they cannot even put their houses in order? Aside from the nonsensical controversies which Obasanjo’s contributions to national discourse normally provoke, there is virtually nothing intellectual, sensible, “statesmanlike” and edifying in most of his contributions. At best, and possibly because of their dramatic presentation, they only provide a sort of comic relief for a nation that is perpetually under tension. Statesmen are not made by lousy visibility and promotional theatrics but by their discretion to maintain dignified silence when there is no uproar.

    Shehu Shagari, Nigeria’s president from 1979 to 1983, is a failed ‘statesman’. The profligacy of his government has no precedent. It was a government that was bereft of vision, mission, character, ideas and wisdom. He secured a political victory through a judgment of the Supreme Court that should never be cited as a precedent because of its peculiarity. If the election that brought him to power was controversial, the one that swept him from power was a monumental fraud with a notorious slogan tagged ‘landslide’. So, what does he have to say on electoral malpractices as a statesman? There was nothing about Shagari and his government that was good for precedent.

    Muhammed Buhari is one man whose ‘sins’ in office have also been forgiven judging from the effusive sympathies people showed him for his many failures in politics. The stigma of the 53 suit cases, the high-handedness of his government which slided into unprecedented tyranny and despotism and the retroactive killings of citizens for crimes and offences committed before the death law came into existence, were just a few of what disqualified Buhari from being a statesman. In addition, his religious disposition is also suspect in view of certain statements he made in the past which did not dignify his personality as a statesman. A statesman should be tolerant of other people’s religions and show some respect for their God or gods.

    Ibrahim Babangida that was favoured by many positives and projections to be Nigeria’s statesman that ever lived having conducted the most peaceful and credible elections in the history of Nigeria in 1993 bungled the opportunity when he annulled the same election. By this heinous action that plunged Nigeria into many days of infamy and mayhem, everything called honour and integrity was squeezed out of him. These days, when he speaks on any national issue, nobody pays attention. It is the people’s way of telling him to contend with the shadow of his evil. Babangida is a ‘staleman’ not a statesman.

    Abdulsalam Abubakar, another General that once occupied the highest seat in Nigeria between 1998 and 1999 kept faith with his transition programme by handing over to Olusegun Obasanjo. But his short intervention was not enough to enrich his profile for the status of a statesman. He was just a providential opportunist.

    I have respectfully excluded Nigeria’s dead leaders from this list in order to allow them to rest in peace. The turbulence of their sojourn on earth was sufficient trouble to contend with in their graves. Besides, their departure does not make any difference to the fact that a nation of about 150million people has never produced and may never produce- going by the decline in the quality of leadership – a statesman of the same aura and personage like Nelson Mandela of South Africa.

    What our leaders should know is that Mandela became a universal legend because his heroic exploits in the era of apartheid and the long years he stayed in jail were complimented by his very rare and ‘unafrican’ decision not to seek a second term at the expiration of his first and only term. He shunned both local and international pressure for his continued stay in power.

    If we claim that Mandela’s enigmatic status was only because of his role during apartheid, what do we say of Robert Mugabe who was also a colossus in the emancipation struggle in Zimbabwe. Of course, Mugabe’s image has nosedived tragically even within his own country because he stays too long in power to command any respect just like it would have happened to Mandela if he also overstayed his welcome in power.

    We need somebody like him (Mandela) in our public space at this critical period. Government needs the input of its citizens on some of these critical issues because it knows that it does not have the monopoly of knowledge and wisdom. This is where the statesman comes in: to assist the government in proffering solutions to some, if not all of these issues: kidnapping, Boko Haram, insecurity, killings in Ombatse, political and ethnic conflicts, government’s loss of focus as a result of distractions, frequent ASUU- government disputes, economic crisis, unemployment, infrastructure deficit, leadership tussles and many more.

    I have an exhaustive list of respectable Nigerians whose interventions in the past had got Nigeria out of some crisis situations but I think they are more of social critics and activists than statesmen. A social critic is at best an active member of the civil society who takes it upon himself to ensure that every policy of government is in the best interest of the people and the country. They operate more with the passion and vehemence of concerned citizens who are very protective of the people and their country.

    The list includes but not limited to the following Nigerians: Olubunmi Cardinal Okogie, Bola Tinubu, Wole Soyinka, Bishop Gbonigi, Matthew Kukah, Tam David-West, Bolaji Akinyemi, Bala Usman, Abubakar Umar, Femi Falana, Jide Osuntokun, Baba Omojola, Balarabe Musa, Eskor Toyo, Emeka Anyaoku, and Alex Ekwueme and other unidentified ones.

    I concede that these are all noble men with integrity, honour and credibility. They are people who distance themselves from government and they are men who talk to government with candour. They are men of wisdom, knowledge and uncommon maturity but they lack the transcendental mystique of an avatar which is one of the special qualities of a statesman. Wole Soyinka, an intellectual who does not indulge in extravagant adoration and exaltation of political leaders, surprised me when he referred to Mandela as an avatar- a god in human form- in his book, You Must Set Forth At Dawn.

    A statesman therefore, is a person around whom there is a mystery of a god, a belief of a genius, a similitude to the supernatural, a tale of the unusual, a story about the uncommon, an explanation for the unknown and a testament of a mythical narrative. A statesman is a person whose perceptive power moves him to the level of a prophet. He sees many years ahead when others are battling to understand the present. He is like a god but he is not a god. He is one of us; he does not enjoy any immunity against mortality. What make him special are the incredibility of his perceptive instinct, humility and the rarity of his sacrifice to humanity.

    I have approached this discourse and evaluation from a captious angle in order to restore the quality of our value system. If we keep encouraging value fluidity, we will one day find ourselves in a situation where the society will attach importance to what every Tom, Dick and Harry calls himself. Already, those who have never added value to our collective corporate existence are calling themselves ‘elder statesmen’. In virtually all the political parties, every elderly person (including those with questionable antecedents and zero-credibility) in the party is an “elder statesman” as if statesmanship is about old age. If we therefore decide to liberalise the template for statesmanship in order to accommodate people on the basis of sentiments, the value we are trying to enhance will sink into banality.

    The question now is: when shall we have a statesman that will become an exemplar for all that is good in leadership? Goodluck Johnathan is the only Nigerian President who has the convenience of becoming the first Nigeria’s statesman ever if he does not allow the trappings of power to delete him from his place in history.