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Why Obasanjo Will Not Go By Babayola Toungo
General Sani Abacha is the most vilified Head of State in Nigeria since independence. He is called all manner of names and has been associated with everything bad that is there in the book. He is called maximum dictator, brutal, murderer, looter etc. He is accused of extra judicially killing Saro-Wiwa and other eight Ogoni ethnic champions; killing the late General Shehu Musa ‘Yar Adua; and the attempted murder of Alex Ibru, the publisher of The Guardian newspaper. He was reputed to have a killer squad within the precincts of the Aso Presidential Villa. Abacha was called a thief, a common felon and many more unprintable names. The long and short of it is that Abacha, according to his bashers, had not one redeemable feature.
There is no denying the fact that Abacha ruled Nigeria with an iron fist unlike his predecessor the wily and foxy IBB. He brooked no nonsense and never suffered fools. He dealt ruthlessly with the opposition and damned the Western nations who imposed debilitating sanctions against the country throughout his tenure. The price of Nigeria’s crude oil hovered around the $17 mark but the amount of infrastructural rehabilitation during his tenure is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. The PTF took on the most massive rehabilitation of the nations infrastructures in all sectors and the result was there for everyone to see. His rehabilitation programme provided direct and indirect employment to at least 600,000 families nationwide and for this the late General was popular among a segment of the society. Abacha was many things to many people. Almost everybody held a different and strong opinion about him. Abacha spent the last year of his tenure working desperately to transmute into a civilian President. Many jokers were strutting the political landscape shouting to the heavens that there is no alternative to Abacha; that Nigeria will disintegrate once the General relinquishes power. One warm night, the man just died. And Nigeria survived.
Obasanjo was in prison then serving a 25 year jail term for treason. He was released from gaol and given an expedited state pardon and was “rigged” on Nigerians by the then powers that be for reasons best known to them. Obasanjo thereafter began dismantling Abacha’s legacies, good or bad, indiscriminately to the chagrin of those that “invested” in him. The Abacha family, both domestic and political, came under the severest attack from government agencies. Their accounts were frozen both here and abroad and many were thrown into jail with various cases yet to be decided seven years after they were dragged to court and made media circus. Abacha’s eldest surviving son was among those thrown into jail and had to fight through the courts to be granted the limited freedom he now enjoys. Their various ill gotten wealth and investments were confiscated; most of them are still in detention.
Obasanjo and his men have looted Nigeria blind in the past seven years and the man likes pretending to be “Mr. Clean”, so for him to be exposed as an ordinary thief and a felon and not the internationally projected statesman out to wrestle corruption to its grave in Nigeria. No one ever suspected the level of thievery and financial decadence under the regime of General Abacha until after his death when the shady deals done by his cronies and allegedly by his family were uncovered.
Obasanjo has never implemented a single Appropriation Act in the last seven years as signed by the National Assembly including the various supplementary ones. This is not talking about the theft going on in the petroleum sector that nobody seems to know about. Not to talk about the selective justice or lack of it; the systematic annihilation of occupants of Odi and Zaki Biam; the gradual erosion of law and order; the continuous disobeying of orders by duly constituted courts of law; the unprecedented pauperisation of the citizens in the face of plenty. Name it – there are a thousand and one misdemeanours that any one on its own is enough to hang Obasanjo many times over.
The government’s privatisation policy is hinged on the transfer of public property to a few select group of family members and cronies. Today it is widely rumoured that Gbenga Obasanjo, the scion of the Obasanjo family is the unseen hands behind companies like Global Infrastructures, the concessionaire to Ajakouta Steel Company, Itakpe Iron Ore Mining Company and Delta Steel Company. It is also rumoured that Gbenga is a major player in the aviation sector through Virgin Nigeria Airways. This made him no different to Mohammed Abacha, who was incarcerated for about four years before being conditionally released. The Abacha kids were accused of having their hands soiled by using their fathers’ office for personal benefit. Obasanjo’s cousin stole villagers blind when he converted monies meant to compensate them for lands they lost to the Nigerian Army – lands that were hitherto farmlands and abodes to thousands of families. Obasanjo may be forced to explain the circumstances how and why a nolle prosequi was entered in Makanjoula’s case the day judgement was supposed to be delivered on the case.
The unprecedented importation of refined petroleum products and those that benefit from the exercise and the continuous inefficiency of our refineries is another subject that must give Obasanjo and his men sleepless nights. The oil sector has been made such an oily affair that only Obasanjo and may be a handful of his lieutenants may be able to answer the numerous questions that must be asked at the end of his tenure in May 2007. Because when he took over in 1999, the price of Crude in the international market was oscillating between $9 - $11 a barrel, but the commodity has been moving up since 1999 to a point where it sold for up to $61 a barrel. General Babangida is still accused of diverting $12 billion “excess” funds, 15 years after leaving office, so it will be a very good opportunity to have both Babangida and Obasanjo explain what happened to ‘unbudgeted funds which accrued from ‘unforeseen’ rise in the price of Nigeria’s major foreign exchange earner.
The level of insecurity in the country has reached dangerous proportions. The number of unresolved murder cases since 1999 has surpassed those Abacha was verbally slaughtered for. Bola Ige, Marshall Harry, Uche Ogbonnaya, Ishiaku Umar, Asari Dikibo, Sa’adatu Rimi, Sani Aminu. The list endless and none of their attackers have been arrested. The Aro Mopa, Chief Sunday Awoniyi is the latest victim. Surprisingly, all these attacks and killings are attributed to armed robbers as if armed robbery is a thing the government should be proud of. Bamaiyi and co. are today in detention seven years after they were arrested on attempted murder charges during Abacha’s government. We may have to wait till the day Obasanjo is forcefully bundled out of the Apo Villa to know who his Sergent Rogers is. We will then know from Jackson Obaseki and Funsho Kupolokun what really transpired in the oil sector.
So for us to believe that Obasanjo will go without a whimper will be wishful thinking. The most logical destination for Obasanjo will be his last abode before his election in 1999 – the prison. I don’t believe Obasanjo is such a daft person to agree to walk out from the Apo Villa straight to the prison, but walk into jail he will as long as the toga of immunity is removed from his shoulders as certainly it must be removed. These and many more reasons are what is driving Obasanjo to desperation is his puerile attempt to remain in office beyond May 29th, 2007. But GO, he must.
I never thought the day will come that I will throw a salute Boni Haruna’s way, but as Warri people say – I bow for you Oga Boni. Just read in the paper that Boni said he is ready to go to jail for his stand against third term even if it may be for personal reasons. The degree of loyalty exhibited by Boni to his political godfather – Atiku Abubakar is commendable to say the least. Keep it up, your Excellency.
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