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Euripides, a Greek playwright of old once said: “Whom the gods would destroy (I prefer the word ‘kill’) they first make mad.” The closest analogy to this line of thinking in the African context is the one made famous by late Ola Rotimi in his epic “The gods are not to blame.” In that work Ola said: “it is only a stubborn fly that follows the corpse to the grave.” This two adages best describe the posture of the man Matthew Aremu Okikiola Olusegun Obasanjo for whom the trappings of power and intoxication with the wine of authority causes him to sway to the drumbeats of sycophants and opportunists. To these people he represents a meal ticket, egunje, chwa chwa, business-as-usual, immunity from EFCC and above all, a passport to the eternal looting of public funds.
This man Obasanjo; soldier, farmer, politician, coup plotter, prisoner, statesman and three-time president of Nigeria can best be described as a legend in his own right. Very few, if any, in the whole wide world can lay claim to be as blessed as Uncle Sege. A career soldier, this army officer will have the honor of not only bringing an end to our only civil war (so far) but go on to provide much needed leadership to a nation whose stability laid threatened b the aftermath of the assassination of General Murtala Muhammad, the then Head of State back in the day.
Sir Winston Churchill once remarked “never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” Indeed Nigeria and Nigerians owe so much to General Obasanjo just as the reverse is also the case. At very turbulent chapters in Nigeria’s history, Obasanjo –in all honesty to the man- has always been on hand to provide direction, order and leadership to a distressed nation; first during the Murtala Muhammad assassination and then as a compromise candidate after the death of the ambitious General Abacha. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo may not be the best president Nigeria has ever had but he is undeniably the most blessed President in naija.
And how should such blessings be spent? What should be the portion of a man so highly favored by the Almighty? Should it be as of the great Nelson Mandela, prisoner of conscience and man of the people who showed wisdom by serving out a single term and retiring from public view with honor and dignity intact or should old Okikiola Aremu join the ranks of sit-tight rulers who have done nothing but run Africa aground with their stale and expired ideas? Although he has not informed the nation of any divine revelation from God anointing him as the only man to keep ruling Nigeria, everything points to Obasanjo preparing the ground for his fourth coming. The clamor for the amendment of the constitution to allow a third term sticks out as a sore thumb of this man’s intentions. Other symptoms of this malady include, the rebellion of the Vice President, the bullying and arm twisting of Assembly members and lately, the ‘decree’ handed down to PDP party members to back the 3rd term move by the over-ambitious Obasanjo.
In these United States, politics is so developed that two things are certain: The presidency comes up for recontesting every four years and the incumbent has a maximum of two consecutive terms to execute whatever bright ideas he may have to lead the nation. After these eight years, God-anointed or not, he must give way to someone else to lead the country. Why is this concept so difficult for Africa’s leaders to grasp? Why does democracy sound so beautiful to the ears but so difficult to practice? The precedence about to be established by this president is a dangerous one that will not only sabotage naija’s fledgling democracy –setting it back countless years- but will provide a perfect alibi for those who would not hesitate to consider a military option.
If there is anything a Nigerian leader is incapable of, it is taking a bow when the ovation is loudest. In search of an encore, they always end up getting booed off the stage and into the arms of eternal shame. Zik, Awo, Ojukwu, Gowon, Shagari, Babangida, Abacha and now Obasanjo were all men who have compromised their high and honored calling to become friends of power. Consequently, they were all rubbished and their contributions to the making of this great Nigeria are rubbished to the ash heaps of history.
As sycophants and liars continue to drum and the king continues to dance naked, the whole nation waits with bated breath to see what plans the gods may have for them whom they have already made mad.
FRANCIS KIZITO OBEYA.
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