Weep not for Nigeria.
Ubanese Nwanganga
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Nigeria is an interesting country where anything is possible. Consider the abundant human and material resources, with which the Almighty has blessed us, and contrast them with the unacceptable and shocking poverty afflicting our countrymen and women. There are no jobs for school leavers. As a last resort many of them desire to immigrate to developed countries in search of greener pastures. In the process, many of them are being duped daily by crooked and wicked men and women who promise to obtain non-existent visas to America, Europe, and Asia. Blackout has become accepted as normal. Education is decaying with speed. Cult activities prevail in every federal and state university.
In some other places, poverty would have been banished from Nigeria immediately after the oil boom of the 1970s. We were told then that Nigeria’s problem was how to spend the money and not lack of it. When the man of that moment made the statement, the eastern part of Nigeria was at the peak of suffering occasioned by the ravages of the 30-month civil war. There was no single standing solid bridge across any river in Igboland. Bailey bridges used to prosecute the war were still in use. Accidents were rampant as vehicles plunged into rivers from time to time. Schools bombed to rubbles during the war were still lying in ruins. Those who fought on the losing side licked the wounds of defeat. Yet, Nigeria had so much money that she did not know how to spend it. Viewed from winner/loser perspective, some Nigerians would not hesitate to defend the callous attitude of the government of the day to their compatriots from the east. But what do we make of the inaction of government in promoting policies that would have freed our compatriots from the north from ignorance and poverty? They won the war and were in charge. Poverty was as grinding as it was unacceptable there. And the Niger Delta? What was it that gave rise to ethnic militias in the area?
The impossible elsewhere are possible in our dear country. It was in Nigeria that a young man called Daniel Kanu sold his conscience so cheap and formed a ruse organization called "Nigerian youths yearning earnestly for Abacha." He called a murderer a "great general, a great leader." Nigerian youths, the type that existed in the figments of his imagination, wanted Sani Abacha to continue in office indefinitely. He was aware of the kleptomaniac records of Abacha right from the ministry of defence. While he received pittance from Abacha for his dirty role in the Abacha-for-life-transmutation, the London trained thief together with his family and some faithfuls such as Ismaila Gwarzo, Jerry Useni, Tony Ani, Tom Ikimi, Dan Etete, Dalhatu, Gidado Idris, Aminu Saleh, etc., helped themselves to billions from our oil revenue.
Nigeria is different from any other country on the planet. It is only in this country that the number ONE enemy of democracy will find his way into the senate. Not only did he find himself there but also he did everything possible to make the upper house of parliament unworkable. He wanted to be the president of the senate. Nzeribe is still relevant and in reckoning.
Therefore, when
Omomiomwan Omoruyi, professor, erudite political scientist, politician, joined
in the clamour for Ibrahim B. Babangida’s second coming, I concluded that he was being true to
type and keeping with our tradition of anything is possible. Omoruyi, from his
account in the Tale of June 12, worked tirelessly to persuade IBB to
uphold the people’s mandate to Abiola. Today, Omoruyi’s efforts of the past have
counted for nothing. He has made a volte-face and is all out for the tyrant to
continue from where he left off in 1993. Has anything changed? Has IBB suddenly
transformed to a Garibaldi? Or, are we being told that he will become our George
Washington, Khamal Atarturk, or Ben Gurion? No, nothing has changed. IBB is
still his old self, ambitious, ruthless, mean, arrogant. His vision and horizon,
if we could in all honesty credit him with any, have even shrunk since he left
office in 1993. He was an absolute, maximum leader who wasted a great
opportunity to write his name in gold in the annals of Nigerian history. He blew
the opportunity and instead wallowed in self-deception. He was trilled to be
labelled the "Maradona," the main issue in Nigerian politics after the sage,
Chief Obafemi Awolowo. We have not been told that since living office, IBB went
to further his studies where he gained more knowledge, which he now desperately
wants to apply to governing Nigeria. I cannot remember coming across any public
or private lecture he delivered, which showed his dept of knowledge, acquired
since 1993. I know he has read, and he admitted it himself, Machiavelli’s The
Prince over and over to reinforce his perception of leadership as a means to
self-service as well as service to family and cronies, which my Bini friend has
now joined.
IBB is from Minna. I spent sometime in the town as well as Suleja, Bida, Agaie, Lapai, etc. In short, I am very conversant with the area called Niger State. Although he used his position as a maximum leader to bring about a facelift to Minna, that was it. His programmes, expectedly, favoured the fat cats in the town who continued to sing his praises. But who is not aware that Niger State occupies a prominent place in the guinea-worm zone? From Paiko to Suleja through Kaffin Koro, Lambata and Izom, drinking water is obtained from streams, which are also used by herds of cattle. Whatever relief the people of these areas have received came from outside sources such as the Carter Foundation. Jimmy Carter is a former US president. After he lost his reelection bid in 1980, he committed himself to promoting humanitarian work all over the world especially in Africa. His involvement in advancing the cause of democracy is internationally recognized. While in the White House he did not take what he was not entitled to nor did he allow praise singers flashing dubious credentials to deceive him. When he failed, by his country’s standards, he did not blame it on anybody else-the buck stopped at his table.
IBB, by contrast, has not given his money for any worthwhile humanitarian work. The poor of Niger State were there while he held sway and will continue to be there even if he is made life president of Nigeria. He is at his best listening to jesters whose only mission and intention is to massage his ego and thereafter smile straight to their banks, at the expense of the oil-producing communities. Omoruyi has advised us to demand from him what he will do for the poor when he returns to power. In eight years of absolutism, IBB failed to transform the lives of the poor of Nigeria. Omoruyi has faith in his capacity to deliver this time around, in a democracy. There is only one way, to me, this could be possible. Come 2007 he will settle Nigerians (read Omoruyi & co) and the national assembly will be peopled by his cronies. Whichever party he will choose as his platform will have absolute majority in the parliament. As 2007 approaches I will not be surprised to hear that one Igbo man has formed "Nigerian politicians earnestly ask for Babangida" (Nipeab), and then use the organization to either settle or intimidate IBB’s political opponents.
That IBB is being mentioned in Nigeria as a potential candidate for the presidency of this country is indeed sad. IBB says his staying power is being contented. And you turn round to ask him, how? This man who is driven like a rocket by personal ambition claims to be contented. Contented in what and how? He is not an inventor of anything. He is not a known businessman, like, say, Dangote. Yet, he is one of the richest men in Nigeria of today. He was an absolute ruler for eight years. Instead of enjoying his ill-gotten wealth he wants to amass more wealth. Since IBB left office he has not travelled by any public means of transport. He charters his flights. Where does the money come from? Adewomo described his (IBB) son’s recent wedding as presidential. All roads led to the venue of the wedding. Why would it not be so? Money flowed like water. Eleven years after he left office everything about him has the money touch. How much did he earn in all his years of military service?
Wale Adewomo, sorry Ademowo, has described IBB as kind. Other cronies describe him as generous. Kind and generous with our collective wealth? Being generous with our collective wealth is no generosity. It is stealing, embezzlement and misappropriation. What many of his beneficiaries do not understand is that what appeared, as outward generosity was no more than creating avenues for enriching himself. They expect him to open up the arena for them to continue as during Nigeria’s eight years of locust under him. Obasanjo has been selective in allowing looting of the treasury. Those who have been shut out want a piece of the action. This summarizes all the noise about IBB being the only man who can fix up Nigeria.
IBB’s declaration that only God can stop him from contesting come 2007 is in consonance with his arrogance. Nigerians cannot stop him from contesting. Yes, if he can settle a man like Professor Omo Omoruyi, who else in this country has not got a price? Everybody, to him, has got a price, which he can conveniently afford from what he stole from us in the past. And in a country suffering from mass poverty, tell me who has not got a price? IBB is right. Nigerians who have not got any price tag on them have no conscience. Otherwise, how can the Abiola family absolve IBB of responsibility for the death of their patriarch? Weep not for Nigeria.
Nobody is afraid
of IBB and he is not afraid of any Nigerian, dead or alive. Wale Ademowo does
not need to waste his time and money (IBB’s money, anyway) wondering about who is
afraid of his mentor. The feeble reactions against IBB’s ambition do not
constitute any threat to 2007. Marwa, Atiku and any Igbo man who will have the
guts to challenge him cannot turn the table against him. Nigerians are already
in his pocket. Anyone who is still outside it will soon be inside before 2007.
And if all of us are in his pocket, who can stop him from fulfilling his
ambition except God? Weep not for Nigeria.
Initially when IBB was being mentioned as a likely successor to Baba [Olusegun Obasanjo], my reaction was that the Yoruba would never change. I thought it was a grand design by the Yoruba to humiliate Ndiigbo. Then the Clement Akpamgbo dimension. And of course the fox from Oguta. Of all the coterie of Igbo men who think their salvation will come from Minna, none hurts me as Max Gbanite, an Igbo man domiciled in the United States. Max has wasted a lot of ink and paper trying to sell his man to us. He went to town to remind us of all of the many good policies for which IBB deserves a second chance. After reading his treatise on the IBB’s eight "fruitful" years in office I chuckled. I began to wonder why Nigeria was not transformed after such eight years of solid achievements. An American president takes, at most, a maximum of two terms of office of eight years to leave lasting impressions on the lives of his people. So, why did IBB’s lasting legacy collapse like a pack of cards so soon after he left office, more so Max has told us, that his successors bought his programmes hook, line, and sinker?
So, if the likes of Max, Akpamgbo, etc. have no hesitation to support IBB, why not the Yoruba? If the man who will stand to benefit from Igbo presidency of Nigeria wants to have nothing to do with it, why should an outsider bother? As a young boy we used to hunt bush rabbits for food. A bush rabbit lives in holes and usually has several secondary holes, which it utilizes to escape to avert danger. We used to hunt in groups. The oldest member of the group usually received the lion share of the game. But he had to justify his premier position by action. Therefore, if he became disinterested in catching the rabbit, those who would receive the least of it would wish the animal to escape, not from one escape hole but also from all of them at the same time! Egwuwe ewi, onye ga-ebu n’isi adighi egwu egwu. Some well meaning Nigerians from outside Igboland are prepared to work for power shift to the Southeast. But when prominent Igbo sons including those living in America are working against it, who should be blamed? Why should a Yoruba or northerner for that matter work for Igbo ascendancy when the Igbo man is against it?
Tony Anenih, the oracle from Uromi, ex-assistant commissioner of police, ex-minister of works in Baba’s first cabinet who could not account for more than three billion naira road construction and rehabilitation budget, has spoken. Like a high priest he has revealed the decision of the gods concerning who becomes our president come 2007. Ndiigbo and the people of Southsouth should stay away or get crushed by the wind from the north. It is only in a country like ours that a man of dubious credentials could have the type of profile he has acquired in PDP. Anenih comes from Uromi. Yet, his people have benefited from the oil wealth of Niger Delta as if they produce anything. Uromi has no strategic importance nor has it got the population strength that could be of any value to a political party. Yet, an Uromi son is the one to point fingers at those on whose wealth the fragile unity of Nigeria rests. Fire on, errand boy! We are listening.
Max Gbanite, in an attempt to justify Omoruyi’s turncoat, described it as seeking forgiveness from IBB. Yes, Omoruyi sought forgiveness for being on the side of the Nigerian people during the struggle to make Nigeria like other countries on earth. Who is being fooled? My reaction? It is greed, stupid! Why is it that Nigerians cannot afford to stand on principles? Consider the rash of defections into the ruling party of late? Jerry Useni is now in PDP. At the inception of the fourth republic Tom Ikimi and a host other politicians were in ANPP (then APP). Because they were men without conscience who could not die or even stand up for any cause or ideal, they changed alliance and trooped into PDP where they would not be left out of the action.
Leadership in Nigeria is all about stealing and has nothing to do with service to the people. Otherwise, why kill Dikibo, Bola Ige, Harriman, OGB, Barnabas Igwe & his wife, Ugwu, and numerous others? Those who have not been part of it since 1999 now want to displace those deep into it. How else can they do it but to look for the numero uno of public looting? To IBB they must cling. I can understand when Clement Akpamgbo, Wale Ademowo, Duro Onabule, etc, say only IBB can fix up the country. But I find it difficult to understand the volte-face by Professor Omoruyi. Omoruyi was born in 1937 making him six years IBB’s senior. He has taught the strength of politics and even participated in politics in practice. He nearly lost his life for saying the truth. So, what went wrong? Can Omoruyi in all conscience label IBB a democrat? What will Omoruyi do with position and money today, in his twilight? I feel like weeping but there is no need to weep for Nigeria. Yes, Omoruyi has disgraced those of us who thought they had found in him a guiding light to take Nigeria out of the woods.
Let us not weep for Nigeria. IBB will, come 2007, become president of Nigeria. He is not coming back because of his programmes. It is not that he is loved by the wretched of our country. He is not coming to change anything for the better. Those who have been dormant or inactive in the looting of our national wealth since 1999 will foist him upon us. Let us not lose sleep because of it. I suggest therefore that we give him another twenty years from 2007. He will probably become a life president, which will be easy to achieve. All he needs do is to cause the rubberstamp national assembly to amend the constitution accordingly. However, if radocupathy (don’t mind the spelling; he was treated for it in Paris while in office) does not kill him before then, age will definitely take its toll. Pinochet can no longer today kill his opponents. A day will come when IBB will beg Nigerians for forgiveness, not to rule them but that he will have peace in his last days.
In an interview granted to Tell Magazine not long ago, Chief Sunny Okogwu claimed to know the man who killed Dele Giwa. He asserted that the man was a serving military officer. In any decent country, Chief Okogwu would be picked up to give the name of the killer of Giwa. But who will expect that in Nigeria? No way! Chief Okogwu is the brother-in-law of IBB and IBB is the benefactor of President Obasanjo; after all, one hundred and thirty million naira is not a chicken change, more so at the time it was donated -- Baba had not transformed into a man of timber, calibre and juggernaut, who can make and unmake millionaires! But Nigerians are watching.
The courts of our land have cleared Governor James Onanafe Ibori of Delta State of being an ex-convict. The James Onanafe Ibori convicted by the Bwari Upper Area court is different from Governor Ibori. What did we expect? Believe it or not, this case will be revisited at the appropriate time. Whenever Nigeria becomes free from rogues in positions of leadership Governor Ibori will go on a proper trial.
In summary, the clamour for IBB to rule Nigeria a second time has nothing to do with the welfare of the poor. His tract record does not recommend him as the champion of the poor masses. IBB is a master crook that understands the mentality of the Nigerian elite. Unfortunately, the Nigerian elite does not understand him. The elite mistakes him for a Robin Hood. We all know how his wife nearly fainted on the deathbed of Aliyu Dasuki, the point man of the northern thieving class. Even if IBB was a wonderful performer, an achiever of remarkable standing, are his chorus men saying that there is no other Nigerian who can do better? If every politician will rule Nigerian twice like Baba, will it go round? As an evolving nation with multiplicity of ethnic groups, are other groups not entitled to a piece of the action?
Professor Omoruyi’s about-turn is not in the interest of democracy in Nigeria. He is after his pocket, even at his age. There is nothing strange about it for, in Nigeria, nothing is impossible. Professor Omoruyi is after all a Nigerian, his long sojourn in United States notwithstanding.
All the same, I call upon men of integrity in Nigerian, no matter how few your tribe, not to give up. Let the likes of Abubakar Umar, Edwin Madunagu, Balarabe Musa, etc., not give up. Do not weep for Nigeria. Believe in God for at his appointed time he will save us from evil men.
I completed this essay early September 2004. For one reason or the other I had put it on hold. On 5/10/04, I heard Shuaib Badeggi on BBC Network Africa defending the indefensible. A hireling looking for relevance, he declared as a matter of fact that whether IBB liked it or not he must come out to rule Nigeria. He denied that IBB annulled June 12 elections and called him a democrat. We have heard it all before from self-seeking praise singers whose only interest is their belly. Whether or not Nigeria sinks is of no importance to the likes of Badeggi provided they are taken care of from our collective wealth stolen during IBB’s reign of infamy. But to engage in mercenary activities against ones own people is the height of treachery. But is God mocked? Never! God has never been mocked. Those who think they are mocking Him in Nigeria will live to regret it no matter by how much their bank balances increased and no matter how long it takes.