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Third Term Taboo Came and Gone By Isa Muhammad Inuwa IT is gone! Like a passing trance or market drama, all hubbub and hullabaloo about gambit to smuggle third term tenure into Nigeria's constitution according to wishes of PDP ruling party, Obasanjo and co, proved abortive. Everything tumbled like a sack of ashes. The grand design finally nosedived and helplessly kissed the bare ground like a dead villain hit by opponent's gun shot. Majority of Nigerians against whose wish third term was about to have been installed celebrated its failure, though mostly not openly in public gathering, but in their hearts and tongues and in their peer groups and social joints. Many victims of seven years tenure of PDP who either lost their jobs as a result of un-called - for economic restructuring, many who were politically or ethnically marginalized and victimized out of employment and many others thrown out of business due to lack of electricity or poor and unfavourable market and economic climate and the likes, celebrated the fall of third term with glee and joy and abundant thanks to God the Almighty and Most Powerful, Who rescued them from that terrific saga. Of course it is the work of God through days' and nights' long prayerful moments devoted by millions of desperate and vulnerable Nigerians with the cheeks of most of them drenched with tears and others habouring heavy hearts full of emotion and grief. An adage states that "if hopes are horses, then beggars could ride". Now it has become a reality for the helpless Nigerians to ride on their hopes that turned to tangible goals. President Obasanjo himself finally acknowledged defeat of third term bid through his comments during the PDP National Executive Meeting, on Thursday May 18th, confessing he has accepted the actions of the two upper houses and would go by their verdict of rejecting the constitutional amendment. Unless a more powerful magic is applied to usurp power for the third term through other unconstitutional means, presently, all possibilities to install it or enforce it in the constitution has failed woefully. Although some staunch opposers of the move in the senate such as Sa'idu Dan-Sadau had earlier warned that, upon encountering defeat, third term mongers might resort to other alternatives, all indications are that all their strategies and calculations have eventually hit the rock. Presidents of the two chambers of National Assembly, Chief Nnamani and Alhaji Aminu Masari deserve commendations for judiciously, freely, and unbiased handling the debate on third term to its logical conclusion. Likewise many Nigerians thanked and praised the patriotic effort of majority of members of the upper chambers, who, irrespective of party lineage came all out to fight and reject the unpopular and undemocratic bid to insert alien clauses into Nigeria's constitution only to serve ulterior motive of few individuals. Although it is evident that some Assembly members were forced by turn of events in form of physical confrontations and assaults meted by the electorate on such members found to have been bought over or openly declared their support for third term. Any person or group of persons with the proclivity to indulge in actions or practices disapproved by the community in which he or they live, he or they are definitely bound to be accused for committing a taboo and would be ready to receive due punishment for such actions from the community or society members. Third term tenure in political offices now put to rest in the garbage can of history, has attained the status of a taboo due to inherent hatred and public rejection the matter has received from the teeming Nigerian populace, particularly among the masses, who also constituted the highest percentage of the country's electorate. The trend was that anybody among prominent politicians identified to have expressed open support for the third term ambition in favour of President Obasanjo regime, was definitely bound to face visitations and humiliations of his life in form of physical confrontation and assault from the people who were all out opposing the unpopular bid. In recent times, senator Bala Na-Allah of Zuru constituency of Kabbi State counts as the third on the list of Assembly men who was chased and was about to have been lynched to death by his angry town men for his alleged or deemed role in support of Obasanjo's third term dream. His only saving grace was some good Samaritans who smuggled him in their car from the hostile mob. Reports indicated that despite Bala Na-Allah had earlier on mounted a campaign of apology in form of written hand-out intensely expressing regret, remorse and atonement for his misdeed, still his written release proved futile and to no avail in containing the burning anger of his town people, mostly the youths, who anxiously awaited only to visit their wrath on the Assembly man, who they felt was not representing their true views and interest, for which they voted him into the National Assembly. Dalhatu Sarki Tafida of Zaria, Kaduna State and Umar Hambagda of Biu, Borno State, were the first and second victims of narrow escape for their abominable sin of promoting third term campaign. Senator Isa Muhammad of Niger State is now paying the price of his third term taboo through an impending resolve of constitutional call-back against him, for what appeared to them, the senator was misrepresenting their interest by joining third term campaign train at the senate. Also people of Dawakin Kudu and Warawa constituency of Kano State, recently organized a rally and informed members of the press about their resolve to call-back their man Alhaji Bako Sarai from the House of Representatives, for what they said false claim he made that he was executing their will in supporting the stigmatized third term. With this development of taboo, politicians, more so the senators and legislators were very cautious and apprehensive how they discussed over or behaved before their electorate and people in their constituencies about the third term issue. For those of them already neck-deep in support of third term, the need for them to play the Ostrich or shed crocodile tears before their people was very much inevitable. In fact, there were three principal tents of opinion among the Assemblymen as regards the third term issue; those openly in support; those boldly opposing it and those sitting on the fence with divided loyalty or lacking the gut to take side. Some observers of what the third term agenda contained pointed out that if Obasanjo were to succeed in continuity with his third term bid, the Northerners have not yet seen anything of marginalization in terms of paying prices for fuel higher than their counterparts in Southern states; unemployment, backwardness in education; displacement and domination in administrative and official posts in federal ministries and parastatals and what not. Yet there were a handful of northern politicians who backed Obasanjo in his bid to attain his third term goal, during which he is said to have planned to remain in power for good twelve more consecutive years. But for such northerners, it is just for them to satisfy their immediate greed and whimsical desire, through cheap gifts and official posts from the boss. Indeed what happened in rejection of third term move is in my view, a manifestation of political maturity and new wind of political and democratic awareness attained by Nigerian populace, who has become more conscious about their rights as legitimate citizens and bent to realize their expectations from their elected representatives. This indicates that in the near future, no any elected official would dare relax his effort or toy with people's intelligence and betray the trust, expectations and agitations of the people and go scot-0free. Now that the will of the people has finally prevailed, and all third term forces have given off, it remains for Nigerians to look inward and come up with credible candidates and elect them into offices in the forthcoming National election in 2007. This, they must do with utmost care and caution so as not to repeat past mistakes whereby trusted people turned out to be most unreliable and cheats. Likewise Nigerians must go to polls in subsequent dispensation with hearts devoid of ethnic or religious bigotry, in order to be able to come up the right and credible leaders the country needs to forge ahead in its match towards development, which is long overdue. Nigerians must also be forewarned not to give any room for tribal or religious or whatever type of clash and uprising that might offer an excuse to impose so called "state of emergency" and continue to ride rough on the peoples' neck. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. ISA MUAMMAD INUWA is a freelance journalist in Kano, Nigeria. E-mail: ismi2000ng@yahoo.com |