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Why Nigeria Will Remain Doomed By Crispin Oduobuk
You're most likely on top of this week's third term drama so you don't need a recap here. The thing to note though is how the cookies are now stacking up. The show, in a manner of speaking, is well and truly on the road. Where there were mere speculations prior to this time, this past week some major third term proponents have been taking off their masks so everyone can see who they are. It is good that those against the project, like some members of the National Assembly, are standing up to be counted too. The major problem with those opposing tenure extension for President Olusegun Obasanjo is that they are not showing a serious level of organisation and mobilisation at this time as those who want the President to change the Constitution and continue in office. And therein lies another example of the peculiar quixotic/pragmatic paradox of this country that this writer addressed in this space not so long ago. Those who may mean well for this country are often too lackadaisical in their approach to issues to make their impact felt. It is often those whose greed are self-evident that are able to muster the single-minded devotion and ruthless vigour to pursue their course to the desired end. (Need anybody be reminded of the amala king here?) Dangerous Mix of Greed and Apathy Recall that just two weeks ago, your correspondent wrote: "More than greed, unwillingness on the part of most Nigerians to be provoked enough into any sort of action is why the third term agenda will succeed." And earlier in the year, the point was made here that: "It may sound naïve and impractical, but a radical idealism pursued with ruthless vigour is needed to pull this country up the hill of progress." Without a pan-Nigerian coalition to pursue a far-reaching nationalist development agenda with ruthlessness, it is inevitable that this country will remain a place where a lot of things do not work because those in public office are busy sharing 'security votes' and even the funds that fall outside that dubious parameter. Look no further than Plateau State governor, Chief Joshua Dariye's recent revelations about the ecological funds of his state which he admitted to having squandered. If Chief Dariye—who should consider changing a 'c' somewhere in the foregoing moniker to a 't'—says he gave part of his state's funds to President Obasanjo's 2003 re-election campaign, should he be disbelieved because, as one of his former comrades-in-arms has said, he's now a 'suicide-bomber' who's ready to take everybody along with him? And what are the good sons and daughters of the Plateau doing about it? Neither a murmur of condemnation nor a wail of lamentation—let alone the strident demand for justice that should be the case—has been heard from that quarter. Typical, when you think of it. Nigerians, for the most part, are incredibly docile and cowardly. We are cheated in our places of work; our landlords fleece us; our leaders literally sell us out at every turn. Yet what do we do? Nothing! We fold our hands. We murmur and grumble. We pray! If a man cannot fight for justice for himself in his own place of work, how is he ever going to find the courage to fight for collective justice? You see it now? Apathy! Thieves could auction Nigeria inch by inch—and they are those that would argue that the process is already on—and her citizens would shrug and carry on as if nothing untoward has happened. Falling Heroes of Our Times Which brings up the matter of heroes—men and women who truly make a difference wherever they may find themselves. This past week was also the week to celebrate the late General Murtala Muhammed, former Head of State and by various accounts a true hero of Nigeria. While it is good and well to celebrate and honour fallen heroes, for today's men and women should have models to look up to, it is perhaps more useful in real terms to encourage heroism in these times because, inevitably, all that solemn reflection on the past is not going to fix any of today's problems. Yes, it is true the past may offer useful lessons for today but the matter of dealing with today's problems fall on the shoulders of today's people, not yesterday's. This is why the latest blunder of the hero-status-hopeful chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, is rather exasperating. Here was our man Ribadu, whom this column has praised in times past, at his most disingenuous best (or should that be 'worst'?) asking Chief Dariye to provide evidence of his loot-sharing, especially with specific reference to Ribadu's principal: "If he claimed he gave money to the presidential campaign, let him bring the evidence that he issued a cheque to anybody in that organisation." Your correspondent was dumbfounded on reading that. When, oh when, did thieves start issuing receipts to each other when they share their loot? Why is Mallam Ribadu so convinced of the incorruptibility of his principal? Has he forgotten so soon the booing he got at the recent annual Trust Dialogue when he even swore over the man's virtue? Does he not realise that statements like the one concerning Chief Dariye coming from him implies that, whether consciously or not, he is now seen as working for the actualisation of the third term agenda? These are questions for our man to ponder in his own moment of solemn reflection. 'Quiet Contemplation' Paradigm And solemn reflection brings to mind what may be regarded as the 'Quiet Contemplation' story. A few years ago, in Kaduna, your correspondent asked an old journalist why he didn't maintain a regular column. The man shook his head and said he liked peace. He said there was nothing a columnist would write that people would not say he was paid to write. If the columnist praises anyone or anything, people would say, "Ah, they've paid him." And if he condemns anyone or anything, they would still say the same. And our old journalist said he wanted a life of quiet contemplation especially as he was then already advanced in age. Unfortunately for him, our old journalist, now late, didn't appear to have had much time for his quiet contemplation. Perhaps his love of the profession or the vagaries of life, or both, saw our man still actively involved in journalism till he almost literally dropped on the job. And the lesson for this writer was: you'll be damned if you do; you'll still be damned if you don't (look at what happened to Ujudud Shariff this week), so just go ahead and satisfy your conscience. Consequently, for what it is worth, that is what this is about. Nigerians have got to do less 'quiet contemplation' and more 'hectic action'—Armand Hammer said something along these lines in the prologue to his biography which this writer read several years ago so the exact quote has gone with the wind. And with the wind is where the third term project should go. And what does that take? Hectic action, organisation and mobilisation on the part of those who do not want the travesty to succeed. That is the only way to make sure the third term cookies now stacking up crumble, as they ought to. Otherwise, Nigeria doesn't need a single prophet to predict her continued doom: That is already in our system by way of greed and apathy. |