|
Nigeria: Must The Collision Occur? By Abdullah Musa
Whether we like it or not, we are forced to be obsessed with politics. People are looking at the dark political horizon not really sure of what the clouds portend. The normal expectation from clouds is the rain which may come with gusts of wind. We demand and crave for peace. This must be so because all our earthly endeavors are meant to bear fruits. Some are lucky to accept the reality of another life. This belief serves to assure the believer that the shortcomings of this life would be ameliorated in the next. In the absence of this belief it makes sense to want to play safe. People would want to live as long as possible. Yet even without this belief in future life, some may be able to sacrifice their lives either for the sake of their country or some other cause they ‘believe’ in. Is it the preponderance of number, the lack of focus, or sheer naivety that makes the greatest number of men and women to be preoccupied with their quest for daily bread? There is no harm, in real fact in Islam it is an act of faith for one to go out seeking legal ways to earn livelihood. Even at the advent of the Islamic struggle, the companions of the noble Prophet (upon who is peace) had time to go to the markets and tend their animal flock. The difference between them and possibly us is that we may be so married to our daily routine that we do not have time to struggle for a cause where such struggle becomes inevitable. Some may yet within us feel they have their own type of cause which may be at infancy, and their tenacity in upholding it makes them to be seen as freaks within the society. The building block: causes by their very nature are not self driven. They must have a leader. The cause of Islam, and in fact all other revealed religions before it were led by Prophets. There no choice involved in Prophet Hood. A prophet was the elect of the Creator. He was kind of prepared with the understanding of the true nature of the cause so that his faith could inspire. Save for that he was left with all human faculties, to feel pain, to fear, to grieve, and in utmost trial to be human. Thereafter, believers in the messages so established came to renew the religion from time to time, convincing the followers that whatever the changes in time, it is still feasible to be faithful to the injunctions of the Lord, Most High. As it is the Will of the Lord to test the faith of the believers, the societies since then had never lacked ample supply of either oppressors or crass unbelievers. They seek to snuff out so to speak, the light of the Lord, but the same quality of faith sees the believers through. Oppression has changed face and form. This being the case, it behooves the new Reformers to articulate the vision and the problems needed to be confronted effectively. There is a world of difference between a Prophet and a Reformer. A Prophet like that of Islam was guided all through by' instalmental' revelation, the roadmap so to speak. With it there was no possibility of error. What the Lord wants was what He revealed, and the Prophet followed to the letter. The Reformer on the other hand may err on the reading of his circumstance, for in so far he is not infallible; he may err and be subject to whims, arrogance or obstinacy. Tenacity to the wrong path may or may not lead to success. Success would be read for instance in capturing power, if that is the objective, or change in the behavior or form of worship by men. Reformers must be men of character. This would stand in their good stead for people to believe in them and to make all the necessary sacrifice for the attainment of the said objective. Many a so called Reformer may end up being a tyrant or even a lunatic. In this instance ‘believers’ may perish or suffer immense physical and mental harm. We are not concerned here with the manner and ways reforms are made to succeed. What we are after is to lay the platform to mount in order to attempt an analysis of the position of political conflicts in Nigeria. I am sure many readers are aware of the fact that President Obasanjo considers himself a reformer, some even say a Messiah. That being the case, with such a mind set, he may be tempted or inclined to see opponents as Reformers see theirs. How would you convince someone who believes that he is a Messiah to believe that he is not? Unfortunately the dreaded tool to use is usually the battle field. In Islam as we all know, the believers were exiled from their homes and were even pursued into exile and the battles commenced. The faith of the believers saw them through and in the end the system of worship they fought for triumphed over that of their antagonists. What we do not want, what we want to escape from if possible, is a conflict between those who want Chief Obasanjo out, and those whoa want him to stay. Under normal circumstance, Chief Obasanjo may not necessarily be in the firing line for according to the current constitution, his maximum of two terms would be over in May 2007.From the activities going on, pe3ople are left in no doubt that the constitutional amendment being proposed is made to ensure a third term for him. There are so many factors responsible for the vehement rejection of this proposal. Chief amongst them is the perception that president Obasanjo had not been fair and just to all in the discharge of the responsibilities attached to the office of Nigeria’s President. There is no basis for the opponents to believe that whatever number of terms he spends he is going to be a different person from what he is now, for after his perceived disastrous first term, he did not change gear in the second and ‘last’ term. Another strong factor is that of both geography and tribe. Chief Obasanjo as we all know is from the South West of Nigeria, and the strongest opponents are Hausa- Fulani from Northern Nigeria. The battle line: one question which I know is impossible for me to find an answer is this: is Chief Obasanjo a free agent? This is very important because those who are fighting him should know who their enemy is. If a man sends after you a pack of dogs, whoa are under his command, your enemy is not the pack of dogs but the owner. Chief Obasanjo seems to show that his reforms have Messianic color. They are sacred. They cannot be amended, talk less of abrogating them. Most importantly, he so much believes in them such that when ha says he is willing to die for Nigeria, I believe he means dying to uphold his position to continue leading along his chosen path. It is fro here that the battle line is drawn. Others are asking from where is the Scripture that ordained chief Obasanjo as President for life? This assertion is significant in two ways: one it is only God that dictates to humanity and the dictate is disobeyed to the peril of those who persist in doing so. The other being that once the third term settles down, then so many other terms must of necessity be allowed in. If the Chief were a free agent, then one is assured that you either convince him to see reason or let him feel the wrath of the disenfranchised. My belief is that he is not a free agent, he is acting out a script written from God knows where, and he seems to bask in the assurance that a much superior power is behind him and nothing can go wrong. And unless he is a kind of Reverend Jones, of Jonestown massacre, who took the flock down to the road of disaster I believe President Obasanjo wants to live more years with his children and grand children benefiting from his endeavors. The Hausa people have a proverb which can be translated thus: if the blind man asks someone to join in the game of throwing stones to one another, it seems he has stepped on a piece of stone. I am unnerved by the seeming disdain that the President shows to either his opponents’ determination to thwart him or the absence of acknowledged morality of his endeavor. It pays greatly sometimes not to under estimate your enemy. If the President is the enemy most Nigerians want to see the back of, it is in their interest not underestimate his arsenals and the troops at his beckon. These troops might not necessarily be Nigerian troops, and troops here may also include civilians. Who fears what? We wouldn’t know whether the President is motivated by fear of the consequences of leaving office because he knows the skeletons that he has strewn around would be uncovered. On the part of the opposition, the fears had been partly enumerated. On the part of opposition there is factor which is not usually amenable to dialogue on: that is racial pride. The Northerners’ pride had been badly bruised in the Obasanjo tenure such that they are itching to pay back. Is it what the Chief fears? Since there is no apparent communication between the two parties, each is running its own agenda or countering the agenda of the one in the offensive, in this case chief Obasanjo. Peace Brokers: this is not the only time Nigeria had been in political crisis. There had been numerous others, the most tragic being the one that led to civil war. In lesser skirmishes, elders and traditional rulers are called upon to mediate to douse the embers of hate and conflict. Today from my limited understanding, we are heading towards the same direction. I am not convinced that the South West does not subscribe to the third term agenda, the lone ranger status of Chief Ahamad Bola Tinubu not withstanding. If such is the case, the resort to the military as the assured last option may not be that secure. The opponents of the President may want to be assured that in the event of breakdown of law and order, the military may have to step in, restore order, plan a return to civil rule, and we all are familiar with the path followed so many times. So why do we have to wait for all these to happen before we save the country? Are we really sure the outcome would be as it had always been? Truly speaking, the masses may not lose from the absence of democracy, but would lose tremendously from anarchy. Today Somali had been without central government for more than a decade, Afghanistan exists in Kabul only, Iraq is being bombed and shattered etc. And yet being faced with our current scenario we sit back believing the outcome is predetermined in our favor. It may be possible the power brokers are comfortable with their computation that no harm would come to Nigeria. But where is the communication between them and us? Besides governments taking positions either for or against, what do we hear from those who have the capacity to aid resolution? Of recent the German ambassador was quoted as advising us not to divide Nigeria. This shows that our seeming optimism is not shared by others. Why then cant we arrange a dialogue between the contending parties? The President and his team on the one hand and those who want to take over from him on the other. We note that up to now we have not brought into the equation the boiling cauldron called Niger Delta, and the Igbos clamor for the Presidency. They must wait or so we are telling them. People believe and rightly so that a just and well focused leader would solve most of the problems bedeviling us. But it is the process of getting that leader that seems to elude us. The Yoruba preferred Chief Obasanjo to General Buhari in 2003 for obvious reasons. Now that the tables seem to be spinning out of control, they may be split over what to do: to follow the North (which they have never done) or follow Chief Obasanjo without the moral platform as obtained over the June 12 saga? If there are any voices of sanity lets hear them now. It is not we are for the third term or we are against. It is that how are we to get out of the present political logjam? The simple answer of the Chief to bow out seems not to be available. We do not want it to be fought for. The opposition feels the moral superiority of its position. We agree. To the Muslims within them we remind them of the position the Prophet found himself in: inspite of the moral superiority of his position he consented to the treaty of Hudaybiyyah. Ko that one no concern us?
Special Assistant to Kano State Governor On Societal Reorientation
|