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Merry Chickens of Otta Farm By Tanimu Umar It has now been put to rest that any hope President Olusegun Obasanjo and his cohorts would have had for the extension of his tenure beyond May 29th 2007 has been extinguished. By midnight of May 28th 2007, Mr. Obasanjo must have packed his bags and baggages in readiness for an imminent return to Otta farm. Majority of Nigerians will be relieved to have him out of Aso Rock, but it seems the chickens at Otta farm will be the merriest. Obasanjo has sometimes declared his chickens in the multi-million naira farm were missing him. How happy they will be to have him back for good, despite ripe speculation that he is unlikely to be with them for long. Having lost his immunity by then, the long arm of the law would catch up with him for the plethora of financial scandals and misappropriation of funds during his eight years’ maladministration. The Senate, and by extension the whole of the National Assembly, have saved Nigeria from catastrophe when on Tuesday May 16th 2006 the Senate historically threw away the bill to amend the 1999 constitution, which would have given Obasanjo the constitutional right to buy for another term in the Presidency. That would have impoverished Nigeria, for it is evident Obasanjo lack the basic capability to properly govern the country. Economically the government has failed woefully: during Obasanjo’s tenure our currency continues to nosedive, cost of living became unbearable as an average Nigerian survives on less than one dollar per day. The nation’s earnings from crude oil increases in multiples over the years, but the government virtually removed all subsidies given to local consumption of petroleum products, thereby skyrocketing the price of the products almost beyond the common man. To add embers to the fire, the government adamantly refused to repair the refineries and resorted to importing refined products to their own benefit, and that of their cohorts who are profiting from the importations. Queues in the petrol stations persisted, despite promises by the President that by deregulating the down streams sector of the petroleum industry there will be regularization of the products. Electricity is almost non-existent, one need to go to places like Maiduguri, Kano, Port Harcourt and parts of Lagos to witness, first hand, how erratic power supply in the country is. While counties like Ghana and Algeria are celebrating years of uninterrupted power supply, our own government continues to pump billions of naira into the industry, but the money ends up in the bank accounts of those officials entrusted with revitalizing the power industry. And the darkness looms. NEPA used to be Never Expect Power Always; now that it has been privatized and bought up by top echelon government officials, Power Holdings Nigeria holds the power. If most Nigerians and the chickens at Otta farm will be exhilarating in joyous mood for the prospect of Baba Iyabo returning to the farm, some handful are aggrieved with sorrow and lamentations. The whole idea of amending the 1999 Constitution was brought up so as to give Obasanjo the chance to contest for third term in office. Sycophants and lobbyists went to work, with the infamous Nasiru Ibrahim Mantu as the propagandist-in- chief. They succeeded in setting up a National Assembly Joint Committee for the review of the Constitution headed by Mantu. The committee proposed that 118 clauses in the Constitution need to be amended, prominent among which is the provision that will ensure three four-year terms for the President and state governors. The committee went on jamboree of a national tour, where Nigerians showed their opposition to any attempt, by whatsoever means, to extend Obasanjo’s tenancy at Aso Rock beyond May 29th 2007. The National Executive committee (NEC) of the ruling PDP will be most aggrieved under the circumstances. The entire NEC were handpicked and appointed, illegally, by Obasanjo. The party has publicly, and unsurprisingly, weighed their support for tenure extension. After that historic moment at the senate on 16th, the party’s “chairman” Ahmadu “Ali Must Go” Ali told the BBC, amid hysteria, that the PDP members in the senate has not done what was required of them. He went on to insult the distinguished Senators, labelliing them “selfish”, “rogues” and “shameless”. Ahmadu Ali and the entire NEC should start thinking of vacating Wadata House, for when Obasanjo retire to Otta farm, elections, not selections, will be conducted to elect deserving officials for the party. And he (Ali) must be reprimanded or made to resign for that brazen insult. When the Senate convened to debate the proposed constitutional amendment, majority of the distinguished Senators voiced out their oppositions, amid allegations that some have received Ghana-Must-Go full of naira notes. Some of those Senators that were earlier known to be pro-third term took a reverse when the people at their constituencies revolted and descended on them. Examples can be sited from Borno and Gombe States. And then finally, Ken Nnamani, the Senate President, announced the bill has been thrown away for any further consideration. And chapter closed! Obasanjo’s imminent exit from the Presidency will provide the opportunity for Nigerians to elect a new President come 2007. Nigeria needs to have a President who have concern for the plight of the masses; a President who is humane, forgiven and straightforward. Nigeria needs a President who will boost the economy and eradicate poverty and corruption. Nigeria needs a President who will ensure that cost of living is reduced to the barest minimum; ensure that every Nigerian can afford to buy basic commodities like kerosene and food materials. Nigeria needs a President who will repair our comatose oil refineries and resuscitate the power industry so that electrical supply will be constant. Nigeria needs a President who will revatilise agriculture and education; who will not use public money for his personal and family business. Nigeria needs a President who will bring reforms with human face; who will consider the sufferings of pensioners and civil servants. Nigeria needs an unbiased and objective President. In short, Nigeria needs a President who is the complete opposite of Olusegun Obasanjo. To the mischievous third termers, Mantu, Ita-Giwa, Jibrin Aminu, Isa Mohammed, et al, you have failed to drag Nigeria into another quagmire of ineptitude and focusless leadership. Shame on you. What the Senate has done is a victory to democracy, as Obasanjo himself contended. The whole country is agog with celebrations, having now known that Obasanjo will definitely vacate Aso Rock by May 29th 2007. Mantu, and other Obasanjo Errand Boys (OEB), should be bleeding in the in heart in abject failure, but the chickens at Otta farm, which have been missing Baba Iyabo, are joyous in merriment. Their master is returning to them, even if it will be for a short while before heading to where he resurrected from in 1998. Upon all the brouhaha generated by the alleged third term, the man at the mouth of the cannon, Olusegun Obasanjo has kept mum until after the Senate has buried the matter. While addressing his PDP NEC and speaking as a broken hearted, he said despite all the “false” allegations about his third term ambition, he remain “where he is, who he is and focused”. It was evident from his countenance he wasn’t focused – he was indeed a man in distress with disappointments written all over his face. And for remaining “where he is” and “who he is”, he will, by right, remain Olusegun Obasanjo, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria before May 29th 2007, when he will definitely return to his bewildered chickens at Otta farm. U. Tanimu Umar Bolari Quarters, Gombe Gombe State.
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