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Third Term Agenda: Who Really Is To Blame? By Abdullahi Ibrahim Mahuta
"A society is never destroyed by the wickedness of the wicked, but by the weakness of the weak" INTRODUCTION Over the past few months, especially during the period between pre and post the National Political Reform Conference, so many things have been said and written about the alleged intention of the Obasanjo administration to extend it’s tenure beyond 2007. While those who oppose the idea continue to be suspicious of the administration and try to give meaning, mostly negative, to every action of the administration, the suspected brains behind the idea use every opportunity to distance the administration from such a ‘rumour’, as they call it. The debate got to a worrying level, last week, when ‘Weekly Trust’, in it’s November 5 - 11 2005 edition, run a cover story titled ‘THIRD TERM: Who Can Stop OBJ’. In the said cover story, the paper tried to link the recent plane crash with the alleged third term plans. It also went ahead to present, among others, a "…. curious theory, with pundits positing that the crash is the result of a reprisal attack by those who want President Obasanjo out of power in 2007. It is hoped that this will send a strong warning to the President to back off his bid". And the only reason advanced by the ‘Weekly Trust’ for this ‘curious’ theory is the involvement of seeming "…staunch supporters of third term project, like Alh. Umaru Mohammed, NPI chairman and former managing director (is it MD or chairman) of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, Alh. Waziri K. Mohammed…" (emphasis mine) The said story, further, holds responsible, some segments of the society, for the success or failure of the alleged third term plans. These are: ‘The Toothless National Assembly’, ‘Civil Society…. ’, ‘Opposition Party’s Powerlessness’, ‘Atiku, The PDP ……’, ‘A Jaundiced Judiciary?’ and ‘The Mass Media And The Nigerian People’. Again, on page 32 of the paper, there was another article, beautifully and intelligently written by one Tijjani Gwani Jallaba from Bauchi, titled ‘How Feasible Is The Third Term Agenda?' Mal. Tijjani tried to put the whole blame of third term agenda on the ‘evil plots’ of some ‘professional sycophants’ around Obasanjo. The intent of this article is not to support or oppose this popular or unpopular agenda - depending on which side of the divide one belongs. The aim here is, first, to stop sentimentalising the issue which, if not checked, could go to the extent of attributing all our weaknesses, failures, misfortune and every act of nature, to the alleged third term agenda. Secondly, is to look at the history of self perpetuation in leadership, why and how it is resisted and who really holds the aces to the success or failure of such resistance. SELF PERPETUATION: A HUMAN HERITAGE If one is to look at the history of world leadership, religiously and traditionally, from Adam up to the period just before the advent of democracy, one would see that leadership was permanent in nature. Even though religious leaders are divinely appointed or chosen by consensus and traditional leadership is usually through competitions or wars in which the strongest survives, both type of leaderships are perpetual in nature. Religious leaders like King Solomon, David, Moses, Jesus, Mohammad (peace be unto them all), who were divinely appointed, all served life terms. And all their successors, including the Rabbis, Popes and Imams, who emerge through consensus, all served life terms. Looking at it also from the traditional point of view, leaders like the Pharoahs of Egypt, Julius Cesar, Alexander the great, Queen Elizabeth including our traditional Obas, Obis and Emirs all served and still serve life terms. Another common feature of the history of leadership, both religious and traditional, is that: when it comes to succession, leaders are usually succeeded by their relations. Religious leaders are sometimes divinely succeeded by their children. In some cases such leaders even made request to the almighty for them to be succeeded by certain members of their family. For example all the prophets of God after Abraham (AS) are his children and grand children. When Moses wanted a ‘Waziri’, he asked for Haroon his brother(Taha:29-30); when Zakariya wanted an heir: one who would continue the good work after him, he asked for a son (Maryam: 5-6). The practice remains the same in the case of traditional institutions. Traditional leaders always make policies which will ensure that they are succeeded by their children. In most traditions, these policies are so sacred that it is unthinkable and sometimes considered a taboo for any one outside the royal family, no matter how highly qualified, to succeed a deceased king. Try to suggest the names of Sheiks Dahiru Bauchi, Ja’afar Adam or Ahmad Gumi as possible successors to Sultan Maccido, as Sarkin Musulmi, when he eventually dies. By divine tradition, the only condition that guarantees and safeguards the prosperous perpetuation of religious leaders, dynasties, kingdoms and even empires, is their strict adherence to the divine rules and commandments. Any leader or nation that refuses to abide by God’s laws will definitely meet destruction sooner or later, no matter how strong or firmly established. This is a divine promise! (QNahli: 112-113) The same thing applies to traditional leaders. If a leader becomes a tyrant and gets out of control, the people eventually revolt and get rid of him. But as long as a leader, religious or traditional, remains a just and God-fearing one; as long as his leadership brings justice, peace and prosperity to the people, usually, the people do not care for how long he remains a leader. In fact, sometimes people mourn the retirement of such a leader. Dr. Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, who ruled for about twenty years, is a good example. As such, bad governance is the reason behind leadership failures. DEMOCRACY AND THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE The first conference on human equality, which took place in France in the sixteenth century, is the bed rock of the modern day democracy. The conference declared all human beings, male and female, equal with equal opportunities. Presently, the concept of democracy gives the people the right to elect their leaders for a certain period of time. In addition, these elected representatives are to be guided by carefully drafted laws and regulations called the Constitution. This document, which is usually made subject to periodic review, also prescribes punishments for erring leaders. All in an effort to make sure that they do not get out of control. In advanced democracies, America or Europe, no military officer will ever contemplate staging a coup; no politician will ever contemplate the kind of day-light-robbery called elections as is obtained in Nigeria, no matter how badly run the government is; no matter how unpopular the policies of such a government are. This is not because of adequate constitutional provisions, but because the people will not allow such an insult on their collective intelligence. Some Generals tried it in the former USSR against Mikhail Gorvachev, but the people resisted. Recently some politicians tried it in Ukraine, but the people resisted But in Africa, especially Nigeria, the people do not yet understand the magnitude of their power. The people do not yet comprehend the meaning behind the P.D.P slogan, ‘Power To The People’. And indeed it is that power of the people that has been sustaining the P.D.P as a party and as a government. One irony is that: while the people are now complaining about the policies of the Obasanjo administration, it was the same people that brought it to power in the first term, second term and possibly a third term, through our ‘siddon-look-attitude’. While the general opinion is Obasanjo was popularly voted into office during the 1999 elections, it is also the general opinion that Obasanjo was massively rigged into office during the 2003 elections. The big question is: who voted Obasanjo into office in 1999 and who rigged him into office in 2003? The answer is The People. The same people that voted for Obasanjo in 1999 are the same people that rigged the elections for him in 2003. Most of us either fully participated in the said election malpractices or did nothing to stop it. And through the same acts of commission or omission, we may be the same people to grant him another term by 2007. THE ONLY WAY OUT All I have tried to achieve above is to prove the fact that President Obasanjo and his professional sycophants, like every other person who suffers from the hang over of religious or traditional perpetual leadership, have an inherent attitude towards tazarce. And they should not be blamed, because it is in our blood to want to cling on to advantaged positions, unless we are sent packing. I believe, given the chance, most Nigerians would behave the same way. Check out the result of the recently held P.D.P. congresses across the country from ward to state levels. Also try to suggest it to our religious leaders or the Obas, Obis and the Emirs that their tenure should end after say five years. After the clear lost of relevance; after the lack of any meaningful roles to play in the lives of talakawa or Musulmai, still a salary-earning person would want to be seen, acknowledged and addressed as the all powerful Sarki of Musulmai, oba of Yoroba or Obi of Ibo. Consequently, in our effort, haste and determination to fight the alleged third term plans of the Obasanjo administration, we should be educated, matured, just, fair and large-hearted enough to realize and accommodate the fact that: aspirations or calls for constitutional review to grant tenure extension or another term for this administration is, in its self, not constitutionally, morally or religiously wrong, provided that is the wish of the people and the laid down procedures are followed. What is wrong, which must be resisted at all cost, is when such extension becomes a forced marriage - against the wish of THE PEOPLE. When the people get a strong, committed, patriotic and visionary leader: someone who is ready to sacrifice his life, they always rise to the occasion. The people of America did it against the then powerful British Empire and got their independence. The black Americans did it against the segregation of the then white America, the French people did it against their king. In Africa, the Sudanese removed Ja’afar Nimeri; a military leader, because of increase in price of bread - bread not fuel! The South Africans did it against apartheid. Even in Nigeria, the people, led by Usman bin Fodio, once did it against the Hausa Emirs. Now who would spear head this resistance against the alleged self perpetuation agenda of the Obasanjo administration, if it goes contrary to the wish of the people? It is the opinion of this writer that our educated people, especially the youth and the middle class, should be the back born; the engine that should propel the required popular resistance against any unpopular government. They should embark on mass mobilization to educate our poor people on their rights and how to protect them in a constitutional, peaceful and orderly manner. And when the bullets start coming, as is the case with most popular resistance, such people should be in the vanguard. But unfortunately, most of our educated lot could not see beyond their noses; they are short-sighted. Our certificates could not go beyond making us literate: that is teaching us to read and write thereby making us glorified messengers to our ‘elected’ representatives. No wonder the western world no longer recognize our certificates. An average Nigerian educated person, in public or private service, from the rank of grade level 08 - 16; does not see the sense in active political participation; does not see the wisdom in going out to elect good and patriotic people and defend his vote with his last drop of blood against any perceived injustice. When the opposition parties called for mass action against the day-light robbery of 2003 called elections, less than one percent of Nigerians answered. But when the Ukrainian people were called out for mass action, everybody answered. The professors, the doctors, the engineers, the civil servants, the business men, the students and that inspired the whole masses of the country to join including the peasant farmers and market women. In Nigeria, the only thing we are good at is grumbling in our working places, sitting rooms or on the pages of newspapers. And this method has never helped in the history of mankind both religiously and traditionally - NEVER! Historically, bad leaders are resisted and removed by the people. Not by the ‘Professional sycophants’ around them, not by their ‘Legislative Councils’, not only by the ‘Civil Societies’, not by the ‘Opposition Parties’, not by their ‘Deputies’, not by the ‘Judiciary’ and certainly not only by the noises on the pages of newspapers, but by the people - through a popular and all-in MASS ACTION. Abdullahi Ibrahim Mahuta |