Third term: Nnamani, our Nnamani!

Muhammad Al-Ghazali

By now, it must be clear to all except perhaps the blind that President Olusegun Obasanjo is a man of grand delusions that borders on outright blasphemy. Nigerians would recall his allusion to divinity in explaining his decision to stand for reelection in 2003. Well, as far as the third term project goes, God finally spoke to Olusegun Obasanjo last week, but in a manner he least expected. Earlier, as tension gripped the nation, and most Nigerians waited in vain for their next meal, his agents, armed with colossal sums, crisscrossed the National Assembly in search of accomplices to subvert the constitution and the will of the people, the man had in his typically deceitful fashion, assured Nigerians that he was waiting on a whisper from God on his obscene quest for an unprecedented third term in office.

Such was the degree of his contempt for the intelligence of Nigerians that even after he was roundly humiliated in the National Assembly last week, he could still afford to mock us when he declared within the Wadata garrison of political intrigues and debauchery, that he fully supported his disgrace because democracy was the ultimate winner. And yet, if there is anything that is antithetical to the man, it is surely the nuances of democracy and all it portends.

But like I earlier hinted, it wasn’t as if the divinity trick was new to us. He deluded himself as much ahead of the infamous elections in 2003, only to emerge in his true element. The result: unsolved assassination of leading political opponents and election rigging of the type we had never seen before, the complete eclipse of the middle class from the national economic landscape, increased insecurity and the deepening of poverty and destitution compounded by darkness due to the pathetic state of the PHCN.

With such a patently Leviathan background and in poetic justice, it was only fitting that when Obasanjo finally capitulated last week, he did so only because, God spoke to him through the leadership of the people in this enterprise the world had for long mistaken for a democracy. That leader was no other than the rotund and amiable President of the Senate Ken Nnamani.

For someone who laboured endlessly to tarnish the reputation of the NASS and its leadership since his first term in office, Nnamani’s performance last Tuesday must have struck Obasanjo like a bolt of lightening. For a leader who inexplicably preferred Evan[s] Enwerem instead of Chuba Okadigbo and Salisu Buhari over Ghali Na’abba, last week’s events were a painful reminder of what our democracy sourly missed since the early days of the gutsy leadership of Okadigbo. But who is Ken Nnamani?

Until last week, very few Nigerians, in truth, knew much about this man of history. Their attitude wasn’t without good reason. Giving the total emasculation and abuse of the NASS in the past, most Nigerians, this writer inclusive, had developed a near total apathy over affairs in the National Assembly, particularly within the senate. And so it transpired that Nnamani’s assumption of office, especially after the disgrace, and eventual removal of Adolphus Wabara, went largely without fanfare. To his credit Wabara somewhat salvaged whatever remained of his self-respect by his contribution to the debates however.

Nnamani’s bio-data indicates he is an alumnus of the University of Ohio, and that he hails from Enugu state. He was born in 1948 and holds a Masters degree in Business Administration. He was anything but a business man last Tuesday. He spoke with the calmness and composure of a seasoned politician, while his calmness and elegance belied the importance of the historic occasion. He betrayed non of the ‘it is our turn’ demagoguery of many an Igbo politician, which, apart from heightening suspicions among other ethnic groups on their true intentions, further alienated the Ndigbo from the mainstream of Nigerian politics in the past. He spoke with a pan-Nigerian-ness that was not only pleasing to the ears but also, ultimately, shamed the diabolical moves of the president, and his agents, to polarize the nation. With due respect, he also exhibited a maturity that had been lacking in the upper legislative chambers in recent times.

He urged his colleagues to seize history by the scruff of the neck by ignoring primordial sentiments for the sake of the national interest. And how well did they respond! By the time the debates commenced last week, his speech appeared to have resonated among his peers who sat hypnotized in their seats. More senators rose to express their opposition to the third term plot to the extent that when the voice vote was called for, even the arrowhead of the project in the NASS Ibrahim Mantu could hardly find his voice, prompting the now famous admonition from Nnamani “Why are you staring at me? When I put the question, it was transparently clear. You did not say anything. I put the question twice.” For once, Nnamani may be guilty of naivety here however. Mantu, may be greedy, and a shortsighted politician at that, but he is not necessarily an idiot. He would not admit it under any circumstance, but deep down in him, the puffy-faced politician from Plateau state must have realized the game was up at that point.

But it wasn’t as if the third term project was defeated on a single day last week. Far from it, it started to unravel much earlier when Nnamani took the principled stand of allowing unfettered television coverage of the debates by the AIT. Tony Iredia’s NTA, with its phantom 30 million viewers, which is funded from public coffers, by comparison, was decidedly missing in action over a matter of such crucial national importance. Any doubts about the station’s partiality, and culpability, evaporated when it resurfaced for the live coverage of the less important visit of the president to Ekiti state last week, and Rivers state only last Saturday. Like the disgraced third term proponents in the NASS, one can only hope that Iredia, in spite of his primitive mindset, had the foresight of appointing a competent pension administrator ahead of 2007.

All the same, while the cameras ensued most of the lawmakers spoke in unison with our wishes, Nnamani was also resolute in the protection of the senate’s standing rules and regulations. He may be too decent to rock the boat this time, but when he finally writes his memoirs, presumably after Obasanjo and his posse of fascists have faded from the corridors of power, it would be revealed that he rejected astonishing offers to uphold his integrity and by so doing the dignity of the senate. With the benefit of hindsight, only a man with an untainted mandate or a higher sense of discipline and morality would have behaved the same way.

Let us also spare a thought for the other gladiators whose efforts ensued the third term project was a stillbirth. There was of course the irrepressible Uche Chukwumerije who led the 2007 Movement along with senators Saidu Dansadau, Udo Udoma, Gbemi Saraki, Sule Yari Gandi, Tokunboh Afikuyomi, Muktar Aruwa, Lawal Shuaibu, Daniel Saror, Yushau Mohammed Anka as well as my fellow Nigerlites Nuhu Aliyu and Idris Kuta. That is not to forget Honourables Abubakar Bawa Bwari, Usman Bugaje, Abike Dabiri, Victor Lar and Yusuf Datti.

We must also express gratitude to Generals Muhammad Buhari, Ibrahim Babangida, T. Y. Danjuma, and I. B. M. Haruna for expressing their opposition to the third term project when it mattered most, as well as Colonel Dangiwa Umar for his principled stand over the entire sordid affair. We must also praise the courage of some state Governors led by my governor Abdullahi Kure, who hosted the meeting of progressive forces in Abuja, which quickly set the tone for the final struggle, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Boni Haruna, George Akume, and Orji Uzo Kalu not to forget Ahmed Sani Yerima and Attahiru Bafarawa. Special mention also goes to Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the VP Atiku Abubakar, Muhammadu Gambo Jimeta as well as Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Bello Masari for applying the coup – de – grace on the third term project in the National Assembly. In the same vein, the media, led by the AIT, can never be forgotten for facilitating the eventual triumph of the people.

Finally, as the nation awaits the revenge of the emperor, which will surely come, if his antecedents are anything to go by, Ken Nnamani can sit back and suck in all the adulation, which he truly deserves for his heroics. He has through his singular efforts, restored the honour and dignity of the senate, and giving fresh life to our democracy. In the process, he has also raised his profile and emerged as a genuine candidate for the presidency in future. He spoke the language of democracy, which essentially, is also the language of the people. He proved in the process, that he could be trusted with power. His attitude is what had always been missing from Ndigbo politics.

Forget the likes of Ojukwu, Ikwueme or even Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, who would campaign for the presidency on one day after dining with the leader of the separatist Movement for the sovereign republic of Biafra [MASSOB] the previous night, if ever there was an acceptable candidate for presidency from the Igbo stock, it must surely be Ken Nnamani, who for now, is my early nominee for man of the year!