Obasanjo, IBB, Atiku and the 2007 Battle Royale!

By

Olayinka James

yinkajames@yahoo.com

 

 

I have been following very keenly, recent developments in the Nigerian political landscape especially as it relates to the battle royale for the 2007 presidential election. A lot has been said by various commentators on the latest crisis within the ruling party, PDP.  I would like to contribute my 2 cents. 

 

In the majority of the comments I have seen, there seem to be a lot of focus on the revelation that the VP bought a home worth $1.7 million in Potomac, US. This has led to a lot of outcry and many calling for the head of the VP for violating the code of conduct for a serving public official. In the meantime we seem to be forgetting that the following events happened in quick succession.

 

1. There was a change of leadership in the PDP and all the VP's loyalist were swept out of office one after the other.

 

2.Then came the exposé on the VP's home in Potomac

 

3. The said home was raided by the FBI and the official reaction from the government of Nigeria has been that they are waiting for the conclusion of FBI investigation on the raid

 

4. President Obasanjo publicly accused the VP of disloyalty on national TV

 

5. Some PDP party leaders are beginning to call for the VP's resignation and/or impeachment.

 

6. The president has ordered a thorough audit of himself, his VP and the senate president.

 

In all the above, I do not believe there is a co-incidence. To all discerning minds this is a very familiar script since we began this democratic adventure 6 years ago. This to my mind is the reason why we should not treat any of the above events in isolation.

 

Let me say here that I am not in any way holding briefs for the VP. With all that transpired in BPE right under his nose, I do not think that he is the kind of leader  the country need at this time. Neither do I think any of the looters in PDP have any moral right to vie for any elective office in Nigeria. But I must however ask the following questions even if rhetorical....

 

Regarding the VP's home in Potomac, I ask, which elected public official do not have a house and/or investments abroad?.... Thank God for the good job people like Sowore and Elendu are doing not only exposing them one by one, but going a step further by revealing the ways they circumvent the law to acquire these assets with looted funds. So why all the noise about the VP's "mere" $1.7million home. When the VP said it is no big deal, I think he is right in some sense. If local government chairmen are buying million dollar properties all over the world and if there was a report suggesting that Nigerian leaders have stashed away over $300billion oil money in foreign countries, I think the surprise should be why only $1.7million??... where is the rest, we are talking about the VP here, it got to be much more than $1.7million......If the truth need be told, I think there is so much we are yet to uncover a bout the VP's investments outside Nigeria. $1.7million is way too little if you ask me. 

 

We all know this is about the 2007 presidential election and the succession game. All we are seeing is a dog eat dog game and we need to be careful so they don't fool us one more time. Isn't it curious that as soon as the president began the frontal attacks on his VP, somehow IBB and all his jobless sycophants suddenly went underground?.. Now there is a lot of talk about the president having a third term agenda. I think that is the joker!.. With the kind of support and loyalty IBB command in the senate, I think the president is smart enough to know that it will be almost impossible for him to get the needed votes to change the constitution in favor of a possible third term agenda. (Remember majority of the senators remain very loyal to IBB because they benefited from his generosity in the past). I sincerely believe that what we are seeing is vintage IBB selling us all a dummy, typical of the evil genius.

 

While commending the press for exposing corruption by government officials and those vying for elective offices, we all need to be extra vigilant. I remember the words of Frank Kokori when he came out of the "gulag" after the June 12 crisis. He said we need to do all we can to ensure that this kind of terrible leaders never find their way back to power. Never again! It will be very sad indeed if 14 years after the June 12 debacle, we are back to square one. It is been said that only death can stop IBB from emerging the president in 2007. I suspect that Obasanjo do not have the balls to stand in the way of his God father, (IBB), who is determined to "step back" into Aso rock where he merely "stepped aside" few years ago.

 

This is the time for us to redouble our efforts at doing all that we can to stop those who ruined the country in the past from recycling themselves in power. If we desire genuine freedom and prosperity for our beloved country, and if we don't want to wake up to the IBB's and the Atiku's of this world sworn in as president in 2007,  all hands must be on deck to do all that we can to stop them.

 

Following the 2004 US presidential election I realized the enormous power organizations like the MoveOn.org possesses, in swaying public opinions and perceptions of political candidates. I am calling on the press, the human right community, NIDO, PRONACO, and all well meaning organizations to join hands and work together to awaken the consciousness of the electorate  as we approach 2007. We must also be careful not to turn ourselves into the cannon fodder in their 2007 battle royale!

 

May the good Lord save our country!