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This country is awash with democracy pretenders who hide under the cover of Human Rights ,Pro-democracy and Tribal parochialism. They believe that the rest of the country must dance to their tune. This writer was briefly "caught up" in riotous Lagos on Tuesday July 7, 1998 following the announcement that the acclaimed winner of the June 12 election 1993 election, Chief MKO Abiola had died. If the rest of Nigeria had responded to the events in Lagos then, the result would have been disastrous. The recurrent madness of the OPC and other miscreants ever since points to the need for Lagos to be "Fortressed" for all Nigerians to feel to belong, particularly given its political and economic status in the Country. One had cause to warn a couple of years ago that we cannot resolve the "National Question" in a situation where a well connected minority backed by powerful media organisations are holding the majority to ransom and playing with the destiny of the nation. The lethal misuse of press power by the Lagos-Ibadan press is simply more than meets the eye. People who claim to be "Democratic" must be persuasive and accommodative in dealing with other contending groups to win respect and acceptability. Intimidating one's neighbours does not portray good democratic potentials. A lot of agitations especially from the restless South-West are largely traceable to the annulment of the June 12(1993) Presidential elections by the former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. The 8-year transition to civil rule was disastrously handled by Babangida to the chagrin of those of us who believe in the corporate existence of Nigeria. The "National" or "Democratic" questions in Nigeria in my humble opinion, should not be about how to break up the Country; but how to fine tune the Federation to achieve a just and balanced society in which no group (Tribal, Religious or Sectional) feels alienated. It is a pity though, even before the unfortunate June 12 crisis, a well orchestrated campaigned was on against the Hausa-Fulani or core Northerners, winning the presidency again. So it was that following the 1992 Presidential primaries in which two Northerners Adamu Ciroma and the late Shehu Musa Yar'Aduwa emerged as the flag bearers of both the defunct NRC and SDP political parties, one Reverend Idahosa (now late) threatened the nation with fire over an attempt at "Islamising" the Country. Idahosa said Arab money being used to impose Islam on Nigeria. This is a funny country; the same group of agitators who criticised Abiola as an "Agent of the (Sokoto) Caliphate" during his electioneering campaign, were to turn late at the head of the demand for the actualisation of a Muslim (Abiola)-Muslim (Kingbe) mandate. Funny enough though it was people like Chief Olu Falae and Mahmud Waziri who "signaled" or connived with Babangida to annul the 1992 SDP primaries then won by the late Shehu Yar' Aduwa. Most of the noise makers of NADECO-the National(?) democratic coalition and other opportunistic so-called pro-democratic groups, were infact principal connivers with Babangida to scuttle real democracy in the Country. Democratic "Born-Again" like Professors Bolaji Akinyemi and Wole Soyinka for instance, reached the pinnacle of their political career under the full blown dictatorship of General Babangida. Democratic pontification only after on has lost out with the Military dictatorship, is the highest form of deception. In 1998 or since the days of Babangida's discredited transition programme, the catch phrase was "Power Shift" now that it has "shifted" we are inching towards a monster which on can describe as "Power Retaining". Even when they talk of power shift these days, it is to tribal groups not the straight jacketed "North-South" monster forced down our throat with its devastating consequences. Political non-starters unwilling to build bridges across the National divides, will always capitalise on parochial sentiments such as June 12 and Obasanjo's Marginalisation to get to power on the platter of Gold without qualifications and without working for it! In my humble opinion there is no short cut to power in a democratic setting; the freely run ballot box shall remain the best arbiter of all political claims and squabbles. Part of the National burden imposed on Nigeria through the painful presidency of Obasanjo was the very reason for conceding power to him back in 1998/99;to "Repatriate" the lost of the same coveted office by a fellow Yoruba (this notorious tribalism!) from the same Ogun State. Thus Obasanjo's undoing is seeing himself first as the representative of his tribal enclave first and the President of greater Nigeria of more than 2,000 ethnic groups and more than 300 language groups in distance second. Sometimes, Obasanjo would want probe he is a "Born-Again" Christian by playing this the game dangerously particularly under his "Divide and Rule" Northern project. On a final note though, Nigeria which survived previous tribulations against the wish of its detractors, shall triumph and be afloat once again through the resolve of its patriotic citizens to mutually respect one another and give every one his fair share of the National Bargain. Nigeria of our dream must come to terms with the positive wishes of the majority while providing protection to the minority, as a traditional process of any genuine democracy. GARBA ISA Yekuwa Communications, Kano, Nigeria.
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