In Search of National Understanding: Nigeria at Crossroads

By

Olumide Ogunleye

shilgba@yahoo.com

 

After forty five years of political independence, it is time for Nigeria to leave the crossroads and choose a meaningful highway to development. The Malaysian and Singaporean experience is there for us to use as a reference.

Nearby Ghana and South Africa are handy examples of progress and development. True, Nigeria is more populated than these countries but we have more material resources than all four combined. So what is our problem? I am one of many who believed the problems of Nigeria is not only lack of good dedicated leadership but also lack of followership that demanded to be led and not ruled. Nigeria is not a kingdom but a modern day nation state but the political elite would rather talk and act like medieval kings or emperors instead of 21st century statesmen. For most of our post independence years we have had rulers and few leaders of credence. All Nigerians are not soldiers so it is not conducive for the military or retired military men to rule all Nigerians at all times. Civilians and military men do not speak the same language; their structure and culture also differ so to say. No wonder the soldiers (when I make subsequent reference in this article to soldiers or military men I mean both retired and active) do not understand what we civilians want and we do not understand what they want in government for over thirty years of directionless underdevelopment. The soldiers treat Nigerians nonchalantly, they come and go in corridors of powers at will, and they make decisions of monumental importance out of sheer arrogance of power without consulting us whose lives are directly impacted by such decisions. If they are leaders and not rulers or kings in their kingdom they will lead by examples, they will be more concerned with our welfare, health, education, productive economy, telecommunication, mass-transit and less in contracts for white elephant projects, oil lifting, foreign exchange deals and other self-serving programs. We the followers of these past and present rulers have our share of responsibility for the present Nigerian situation. There are two groups of followers in Nigeria by my classification, i.e., the Followers in Power (FIP) who are also in the corridor of power either as serving officials, advisers, friends or businessmen who assist in the desecration of our treasury and political engagement. The other group is the disenfranchised masses that have no say in this charade of the devils. The first group of followers is as guilty as the rulers we have had so far in Nigeria. In this group are the top civil servants, political jobbers, first ladies, Obas, emirs, Obis and concubines or girlfriends to the leadership. As I mentioned in a previous article, these group are very powerful and they are routinely consulted by the leadership. They can make or mar any administration. These Followers in Power (FIP) have the best chance to help Nigeria change things for better. They have the ears of both the soldiers and politicians but because of their own selfish reasons they give self-serving experts or technical advices to the rulers. Not only are these people allowed to make inputs into policy formulation and direction, they are also involved in the implementation of such policies. In short they are Nigeria’s policy whiz kids! Here lies the stranglehold the FIPs have on the Nigerian nation. If the policy whiz kids of a nation are up and doing, focused and committed there is no stopping such nation from marching into greatness. On the flip side if the formulator and implementer of a nation’s policy like ours is more interested in kick backs, contract padding, treasury looting, houses in choice locations abroad, expensive automobiles and fancy suits than in rapid and palpable socio-economic and infrastructural development we will get the kind of under development we have today. There is a general disconnection between the aspirations of the political elite and Nigeria’s national aspiration. Actions such as outright treasury looting, prevalent corruption, Udoji salary awards, Festac 1977, OFN, Green revolution, 1983's twelve two third, the non- implementation of Aburi accord, June 12th election annulment, wasteful transition programs, interim national government, SAP, uncontrolled privatization and commercialization of government firms and properties, diversionary confab etc are all symptoms of the disconnection. The FIP and the technical experts’ advice have been a disservice to Nigeria and we also hold you equally responsible for what has happened to our Nigerian dreams. The businessman, lawyers and others who act as conduits for illegal deals such as ten percent on contracts, over-invoicing or padding, siphoning of foreign exchanges overseas to deposit for soldiers and politicians or buy them real estate you are also guilty of actions of treasonable standard just as Abacha and the gang felt the demand for recognition of June 12th winner is treasonable. The second group of followers, who just wake up everyday and are very involved in simply living till the next day, always worries from where his next meals will come have their own share of creating the Nigerian debacle.

They are disenfranchised. The agony of day-to-day living, no food, no transport, no money, no jobs, no health care provisions, no roof over his head is just too much. As far as they are concerned, the struggle to keep body and soul from separation is enough to keep them busy and silent but if you want a better deal you have to ask for it from either soldiers or civilians. Political participation is a continuing process of demanding for improved conditions of life and living from those who have the privilege to lead and serve. The constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria puts premium on these basic things as shelter, food, housing, a good education, primary health care, decent drinking water, protection from armed or unarmed robbers, simply the good life. The soldiers usually suspend the constitution and probably don't read whatever is left of the constitution. Their civilian cohorts are too busy sharing their booty and plotting how to rig elections or plotting how to slide by judicial pronouncements and avoid obeying court orders. They don’t have time to tell their followers what their constitutional rights are. Therefore, the "onus" rests on the followers, the masses, the NGOs, civil society and the majority of the citizenry to organize ourselves to demand and defend our constitutionally guaranteed rights to decent living. We should not wait until a crisis drops on our head before we start building coalitions, we should not wait until another June 12th or the abominable elections of 2003 and 2004 confronts us before we start demanding for our right to defend democracy. We fought for it and people lost their lives in the fight and we must protect it. The political elite do not have any incentive to protect and defend democracy because they will serve and have been serving both in military dictatorship and civilian democracy so either way they will benefit. They are always wining. We should not wait for the president or governor or the FIPs to tell us what they want to do to us before we tell them what we want. I am sure most Nigerians know what type of government they need now and also sure it is not a military dictatorship. We don't need another confab to know that we don't want soldiers in uniform ruling this nation or that the Niger Deltans deserve a bigger share of the oil proceeds drilled from their back yard or the north proceeds from cotton and groundnut or the east proceeds from coal, oil palm or the west proceeds from cocoa, bitumen and so on. By the way, who is paying for this charade of no purpose again called NPRC. Suddenly this administration became a convert of the political conference and they could not do it properly. Babangada, spent forty billion odd naira in eight years for the constitutional conference and transition programs, Abacha spent close to that figure in addition to dipping his massive hands in the nations treasury we have not recovered from that and now it is de javu. The tax payers must resist, our oil money should be spent on meaningful development programs that would improve our living conditions. Reports have it that the soldiers in and out of uniform and their civilian counterparts have enough funds outside our economy to pay off our foreign and domestic debts and prop up our ailing economy times over. I know the problems of religion and ethnicity looms large but it is a fact that all religious/ethnic groups face similar problems nationwide daily maybe of varying degrees. Most Nigerians have no access to good health care at fair prices and I thank president Obasanjo for the newly introduced health insurance program for federal government employees. Unfortunately very few of us work for the federal government so there is a long way to go but then it is a good beginning, We are faced with bad roads, shortage of fuels, excessive food prices, armed robbery, shortage or non-availability of good drinking water. These problems cut across ethnic and religious lines therefore we should not allow our differences in terms of religion and ethnic background to destroy whatever common grounds we have. All Nigerians should unite to demand for leaders (not rulers) of their choice and not by imposition or occupation by a group of gun-totting men in or out of uniforms. Nigerians must demand for leaders by free and fair election and not by appointment, selection or imposition. Talking about election the followers must learn to vote for their conscience and demand responsibility from their candidates as the reward for so voting.

Once a voter demands and collects monetary or material rewards for their votes, they have inadvertently sold their rights to demand for good government. In my public speeches, panel and personal discussions, in the past, I have always reiterated this basic fact that once you get paid by a candidate for your vote, you have by your own actions created a ruler, a monster, a soldier in power, a dictator, tyrant, a servant that is no longer responsible to you or for you. The Nigerian nation after 45 years of political independence is a grown nation. If Nigeria was personified he will be an adult now married with children and taking care of his family. In other words, Nigeria has no time left to fool around with a bunch of soldiers with no ideas or visions to move Nigeria forward. If after thirty odd years of military rule, this is all we have to show for it we should abandoned the concept and allow civilians with good antecedents that were elected and accountable. Allow us to be responsible and to make our own mistakes. Allow us to build institutions that can punish and correct us for such mistakes and keep moving on until we entrench a stable polity. The military have gotten away with most mistakes while the civilians get sent to jail after they must have left office with no opportunity to correct or learn from such mistakes. If our masquerades have danced for twenty years and came home empty-handed and broke, we should abandon such masquerades -- the military is the masquerade.

2007 is just around the corner and the leading presidential materials in Nigeria are mostly ex-soldiers Buhari, Babangida, Marwa or ex-para-military men (Atiku Abubakar VP was an ex-customs officer). This is a direct result of the long years of corrupt military government in Nigeria. We have been continually robbed of the opportunity to develop real leadership in most other sectors by the abusive military. There are serving governors who are being touted as interested in the presidency – Kalu, Muazu, Odilli or who else? If we have to choose from the soldiers Nigerian must be reminded of their antecedents and the people surrounding them. Even among soldiers there are upright soldiers and there are the others. The two years of Buhari for whatever it is worth was marked by radical changes for better. Nigeria was beginning to look up, discipline was being instilled in the society at large, government officials were called to account for their deeds and acting with impunity was abhorred. Depending who is analyzing and what, two years is both a short and long time in the management of a nation. We do not know what would have become of the Buhari administration had it lasted longer than two years. He had another opportunity to prove himself as the head of the PTF under the Abacha government. PTF under Buhari was judged to have done well within the prevailing environment then. My concerns with Buhari were based on reports that he had Islamic extremist tendencies and his record as student of democracy. His government was considered repressive but which military government was not repressive? Babangida on the other hand is in Nigeria’s black book for his presiding over the annulment of the June 12 1993 elections won by Chief Abiola. The election was adjudged fair and free of violence and therefore expected to usher in an era of peace and socio-political and economic development. The annulment led to a chain of events from which Nigeria is yet to recover fully. This singular event has overshadowed any other achievement that could be ascribed to Babangida. He opened up the economy to an era of free market and free floating exchange rate regime. The banking sector enjoyed tremendous growth. He has been accused of corruption, abuse of office, accessory to murder, drug trafficking, human rights abuses but none of these have been proven in any court of law. He has not been indicted or convicted for any crime so he is qualified to run for office. It is we the people who will sift the wheat from the chaff. It is the uncompromised members of the society that will help to show case the presidential materials that could represent our interest better. Buba Marwa has a good record as a former military administrator of Lagos state and as chairman of a domestic airline. He is regarded as a good manager of men and other resources. The civilian contenders have not shown their hands as serious. I guess they are watching for where Obasanjo is heading before making their moves and unfortunately Obasanjo is keeping his aces close to his chest. My call is to all Nigerian ‘bloody’ civilians and the other side; we must take full responsibility for what is happening to our country now and in the future. For those of us who have voices especially the media who choose to keep quite in the face of the present crisis, we must consider ourselves collaborators in the gradual destruction of our country by the military and the political elite particularly the FIPs.