Third Term Agenda

Third Term Agenda: An Unwanted Political Pregnancy

Bala Yahaya

There is no doubting the fact that today the controversial third term ambition of some (s)elected office holders particularly the President and State governors has taken the centre stage in the realm of socio-political commentary in Nigeria. The temptation for public officeholders to elongate their tenure beyond constitutional limits has always been the bane of our political progress over the years. Consequent upon this, successful political transition from one administration to another has always being a jinx which the country finds it difficult to break. This has led to several political conflicts that at some points in our history even threaten to tear the country apart and end up leaving permanent, even irremovable stains on the image of the perpetrators or what remains of it. For instance it is on record that it was the attempt by the Gowon administration to truncate the democratic transition process and elongate its tenure that led to the collapse of the administration and took to the backburner, all its achievements including its successful handling of the Nigerian civil war. Similar fate befell the Babangida administration which tried to hang onto power by manipulating the political transition process which climaxed in the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections that took the country very close to the precipice. It is also on record that it was such attempt to remain in power at all costs that became the waterloo of the late Abacha's administration.

It is however unfortunate that the current administration is not ready to learn from these historical realities and is bent on treading this dangerous, self-destructive path which breeds no good to the nation. Having savoured the glory that comes with voluntary power handover, it was expected that President Olusegun Obasanjo would seek to repeat the feat all over again and thus not only go down in history as the longest serving President of Nigeria but also the only one to have voluntarily adhered to established power transition process by handing over power as at when due on two occasions. This would have given him the priceless status of an international statesman with a demonstrated ability to respect constitutional provisions as a way of safeguarding the country's emerging democracy and rule of law and go down in history as an outstanding African leader who has successfully and consistently broken the jinx associated with power transition in his country. Unfortunately however, facts are continually emerging by the day that the President is rapidly succumbing to the tantalizing temptation of holding onto power beyond 2007. This is deducible from his body language and that of his handlers who are bent on realizing this regime elongation agenda come what may.

From feebly denying that the President has any third term ambition, the apostles of this agenda have graduated to constructing and reconstructing structures, hatching schemes and propounding all sorts of theories that will see to the success of their notorious agenda. One of such theories is that at present there is no credible alternative to Obasanjo who could carry on with the reforms started by his government. This argument is a fallacy of the highest order especially when viewed from the standpoint of Almighty God's abundant blessing of the country with highly skilled individuals (men and women) in all areas of human endeavour. It is therefore a deliberate, callous and dangerous underestimation of God's will and supremacy as well as a mockery of His essence for anyone to suggest that one man is indispensable in a country of not less than one hundred and forty million people.

It is all the more embarrassing to listen to the views of the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party on this vexed issue that is unnecessarily heating up the polity. This is because in normal climes, the PDP being the platform under which this government captured power should not only show but also insist that policy continuity is an exclusive party preserve which is greater than any one individual. It is therefore a total admission of failure on the part of the PDP leadership to so openly canvass for regime elongation in the name of policy continuity. This is so because such an allusion only goes to indicate that this government is not a PDP government but rather an Obasanjo government. For it naturally follows that if the government is indeed a PDP government, it should be implementing the PDP manifesto. And if it is truly what it claims to be, i.e. the largest political party in Africa it should have an abundance of men and women who, at the snap of its fingers, could jump into Obasanjo's shoes and carry on with the reforms. It is however unfortunate that instead of following this path of reason and dexterously groom credible and nationally acceptable candidates who will succeed the incumbent and, if that is the wish of the party, carry on with the reform agenda, the party is busy working towards tenure elongation at the expense of national stability bearing in mind the unpopularity of this agenda among Nigerians who continue to suffer untold hardship as a result of the government's jettisoning of its social responsibilities through wholesale enslavement of our economy to the whims and caprices of neo-colonialists.

Another implication of the third term political drama is that if allowed to succeed it has the latent capacity of creating an ugly precedent that will encourage sit-tightism in the long run which will be quite unbefitting of a country which calls itself the giant of Africa. A careful re-examination of the factors that led military dictatorship as a form of governance to gain ground in Nigerian politics in the past decades would reveal that it is the result of similar creation of precedent which was allowed to thrive unchallenged that actually gave succeeding coupists the impetus to continuously derail political transitions. If not for the fact that the Nigerian society rose to the challenge and made military usurpation of political power unattractive and coupled with the democratization wind blowing across the globe, we still would have been saddled with series of coups and counter-coups a phenomenon which was fast gaining ground as a permanent feature of our polity. Following from this, it is logical to conclude that the Nigerian society equally has the responsibility to check the current scheming of third termers before it snowballs into an uncontrollable national calamity. At this juncture it will be worthwhile to commend those Nigerians who stood on the side of truth, justice and fair play. I salute the courage of the larger section of the Nigerian political class who, at this critical moment of our history continue to fight tooth and nail to ensure the total failure of this ungodly agenda. And to that negligible part of the political class or more accurately, political opportunists and palace jesters who have thrown all decorum to the wind in their effort to promote this self-serving agenda let them beware that they have embarked on a mission that is destined to fail just the way others before it had ended in shame.

I also wish to particularly commend the opposition political parties under the auspices of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) for consistently standing on the side of the Nigerian people. Great kudos also goes to the ANPP Presidential candidate in the 4-19 elections for his demonstration of sound character, political maturity, moral uprightness as well as his exhibition of faith and confidence in the Nigerian legal system in spite of its many flaws. By refusing to employ lawlessness in his quest for justice, he has laid a golden example to politicians not only in Nigeria but the world as a whole that it is possible to have credible opposition without violence. Even when most members of his party including elected office holders who robustly feasted on his popularity with the common people to win elections abandoned him at the crucial stage of the struggle for righting the wrongs of 4-19, he patiently stood on the side of the Nigerian people providing credible leadership to the opposition camp. When the chips are down, his name will certainly be written in gold among those who stood against unconstitutional tenure elongation at the expense of Nigeria's emerging democracy.

Furthermore, the Nigerian press must be commended for the way it is handling the third term issue. As the fourth estate of the realm, it has indeed, earned the confidence of Nigerians by siding with them at this critical period of our national history. The stream of brilliant and analytical articles consistently puncturing the arguments of third termers and putting forward realistic alternatives to tenure elongation are very vital to putting an end to the current unwanted political pregnancy conceived by Nigeria which if not aborted will lead to the birth of an illegitimate political child.

The greatest credit will however go to the members of the National Assembly that is talking about those who stood their ground that Nigeria's unity and progress must not be compromised at the alter of insatiable political ambition of some few individuals. Yes, those legislators, who value their personal credibility, cherish their integrity and have genuine concern for their political future more than any immediate pecuniary gains that will accrue to them as a result of supporting tenure elongation. As we approach the actual debate on the floors of the assemblies and subsequent voting on the issue let the honourables beware of the implication of their action at this critical stage of the struggle. History will honourably remember those honourables who put survival of Nigeria's hard-earned democracy above any personal benefit as it will equally put to trial and subsequently convict and punish those who choose to toe the path of dishonour by confining them to the stinking dustbins of Nigeria's political history.

Lastly, it is necessary for the president and governors angling for third term through manipulated constitutional amendment process on the pretence of trying to sustain the ongoing economic reforms, to realise that any reform be it political, economic or whatever that is build around a single personality eventually comes to naught for no man lives forever. They should realise that leaving an enduring legacy entails a leader putting in place institutions and structures that will ensure that the legacy left behind by him passes from generation to generation. Today, we remember our nationalists and other political forbearers with nostalgia that is talking about the likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sir Ahmadu Bello and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe not because they ruled (or rather led) us forever but because of the enduring legacies left behind by them which stood the test of time. A word, the say, is enough for the wise!