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Atiku: Striking A Chord With Democrats By Ayo Makinde
In the fight between right and wrong, justice and injustice, or democracy and despotism, we cannot afford to remain neutral. As Franz Fanon brilliantly argued, we cannot sit on the fence in such struggle because, according to him, “you are either a coward or a traitor.” And as Winston Churchill also warned, “those who stay in the middle of the road eventually get run over.” Never in recent Nigerian memory has democracy been so threatened and throttled under a so-called civilian democratic administration or a “reformed” and re-structured PDP as we have today. And with the third term agenda sticking out like a sore thumb, despite pathetic denials by the President and his sycophantic minders, the controversy has swept away whatever credibility Gen. Obasanjo ever had in the eyes of others, including his international admirers.
Given the level of desperation with which the President is subtly pursuing his obsession to rule for life, it is becoming increasingly evident that General Obasanjo wouldn’t bother if the country goes down with him rather than humbly abandoning this overwhelmingly unpopular political project. In the state of desperation, dictators are impervious to reason and unmoved by any human scruple. With his path to sound judgement blinkered by a maddening ambition for perpetual power, the fate of the country may not seem to matter to Gen. Obasanjo. In fact, it is reminiscent of the same scenario we had experienced under Gen. Abacha’s ill-fated self-succession agenda, which had ridiculed Nigeria and damaged her international image.
The shameless campaign by Chief Tony Anenih, Col. Ahmadu Ali and President Obasanjo himself to impose tenure extension reminds one of the powerful warning by Robert Browning who said, “old men are dangerous because they no longer care what happens to the world.” If these men truly cared about the fate of Nigeria, they could not have pressed ahead with the third term madness, despite patriotic opposition from respected clergymen, elder statesmen, distinguished intellectuals and retired Generals, including Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo.
With virtually all political office holders blackmailed or intimidated into supporting an agenda which is conflict with their inner convictions, the promoters of tenure extension felt emboldened by our seeming timidity or apathy and press ahead with their resolve to bastardize our constitution with the sole purpose of gratifying President Obasanjo’s burning ambition to rule for life. In fact, there have been growing worries that the political class is spineless and merely interested in opportunism rather than the long-term interest of their people. But is it possible to intimidate all the people, all the times, even where there is an agenda, which challenges the rights of other Nigerians to legitimately aspire to hold any elective office, including the Presidency?
However, the resolute decision of Vice President Atiku Abubakar to ally himself with the aspirations of Nigerians for a genuine democratic order that guarantees a level playing field and encourages due process has given the opponents of the obnoxious third term agenda a shot in the arm. Since the promoters of the unpopular third term agenda are largely a discredited amalgam of bootlickers and opportunists, their weapon of blackmail is becoming blunter by the day. At a time there was anxiety about the crumbling spirit of the opposition, the Vice President’s historic decision to join the fray on the side of the people against despotic forces is a clear demonstration that he is not a coward. His loyalty to the President and sacrifices for his success, despite ingratitude and humiliation, was once mistaken for weakness, irresolution, cowardice or acquiescence.
His recent resolve to participate in a meeting of anti-third term lawmakers and leading democratic voices across the country has tremendously raised the spirit of those struggling to save our democracy from the lion’s mouth of brazen dictatorship clothed in the cloak of democracy. Already, Atiku’s resolve to pick up the gauntlet of pro-third term forces has ruffled feathers in the Presidency and the self-imposed leaders of the PDP hierarchy, who instantly accused the Vice President of anti-party activity. The Adamawa State faction of the non-elected PDP leadership, led by Mr. Paul Wampana, had threatened to discipline Atiku for offences which did not breach our constitution. If opposing the third term agenda is an offence or anti-party activity, then majority of the National Assembly members of the PDP must either be expelled from the party or recalled, as they overwhelmingly hate tenure extension.
But for the sake of getting a clearer picture of what Atiku had said at the anti-third meeting of lawmakers, let us revisit the issue once again. In his trenchantly-worded speech, the Vice President recalled his interview with ThisDay newspaper in which he hinted at a hidden third term agenda. In fact, the President even accused Atiku of disloyalty for letting the cat out of the bag. The Vice President also recalled his prescient warning that the PDP was being hijacked for an agenda. Again, Atiku Abubakar lamented the fact that countries such as Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania, Niger Republic and Mali are stealing the spotlight from Nigeria in terms of genuine and credible democratic order.
Would any Nigerian with sincerity deny the truth of these remarks? Isn’t the conquest of the PDP through undemocratic methods under the cover of “reforming” it a disguised attempt to impose a third term agenda as we are witnessing today? Why should key committed party members, including some founding fathers, be de-registered along with their supporters, if there was no obvious agenda to clear the coast for tenure extension for incumbent President Obasanjo? Was there any transparency or due process in the manner elective positions in the PDP leadership were filled after the de-registration of certain members? Didn’t a court declare that election by affirmation as introduced by Col. Ali and his band of self-imposed leaders is “alien” to the PDP and Nigerian constitutions? Were the so-called zonal public hearings a reflection of the views of majority of Nigerians?
All these shameful events happened under the watchful eyes of Nigerians. Was Atiku therefore, wrong to highlight these aberrations in our democracy? Isn’t the pattern of election in the new “reformed” PDP not a travesty of democracy? If indeed, there is no third term agenda, why must the new PDP leadership bend every democratic rule of fair contest? Again, is the recent boycott of courts by lawyers nationwide to protest the arrogant disregard for court orders, including the Supreme Court, not another evidence of Nigeria’s drift into despotism?
Therefore, should Atiku Abubakar be accused of anti-party activity for not supporting the brutal suppression of our democracy? Is the third term agenda consistent with a genuine democratic practice of open competition which the PDP should be proud of as arguably the largest political party in Africa? If our democracy is on normal course, why should Western nations continue to complain about political intolerance and repression under President Obasanjo’s leadership?
For urging Nigerians to stand up to restore the credibility of our democracy, which seems mortally threatened by the third term agenda, Vice President Abubakar has struck a chord with majority of Nigerians. One of the fundamental issues raised by Atiku in that speech is the implication of the third term agenda for the ambitions of the younger generation to aspire for the Presidency of Nigeria. With the imposition a third term agenda, the Vice President fears, that in ten to fifteen years time, the Presidency of Nigeria might elude many competent Nigerian young men and women who may wish to aspire for the presidency in the future. According to Atiku Abubakar, unless democratic forces remain steadfast and courageous, we run the risk of finding our democracy devoured by the monster of dictatorship. The consequences of opposing dictatorship are normally unpalatable and unless members of the opposition prepare themselves psychologically for the battle ahead, the nation may find democracy overthrown by those who wear the masks of democracy.
Freedom of choice, the supremacy of popular sovereignty and the promotion of open competition is the lifeblood of democracy. Sadly, these vital ingredients of democracy have been destroyed under the cover of “reforming” the PDP by the President’s hatchet men now imposed on the party. Opposing the third term agenda is a historic mission for which genuine democrats must stand up and be counted. Surely, the Vice President has wowed those who thought he is irresolute and timid at challenging moments like today. In fact, it seems obvious that Atiku Abubakar is well aware of more harassment ahead, but he must take a stand either to die on his feet or live on his knees in the titanic struggle to restore the sovereignty of the people.
The struggle for freedom carries a price and it seems the Vice President is finally resolved to help democratic forces recover their confidence and voices in the face of threats from the murderers of democracy who can stick at nothing to impose themselves on fellow citizens. When mobs were unleashed on him at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, it was all part of the game plan to break Atiku’s spirit and turn him into a jelly.
It is clear, however, that the Vice President has nailed his colours to the mast in his resolve to join the genuine democratic movement to resist the undemocratic and unpopular third term agenda. As one of his aides had noted, the Lagos mob incident made the Vice President more amused than angry. The democratic struggle for freedom from the shackles of despotism demands sacrifices. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, one of the America’s leading founding fathers, “those that want freedom without inconvenience in the process of fighting for it, is like someone who wants rainfall but does not want thunder and lightning.” Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other forces fighting to resist the unpopular third term agenda must draw some inspiration from the words of wisdom of Mr. Lincoln.
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