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Nigeria At 46: The Challenges Of Leadership By Garba A. Isa
The federation of Nigeria came into existence at the beginning of the last Century following the Amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates by the British Colonialists. The nation formally became truly Independent on the 1st of January 1960. But the question is; have we become truly independent Economically, Politically, Legally and Culturally these past 46 years? Upon their arrival, the British met in the North, a well establish state; the Sokoto Caliphate with its elaborate structure and well articulated trade and commerce. The rapid disappearance of Ajaami (Hausa in Arabic script) and the replacement of the Maliki Shari'a Legal system with the so-called Penal Code, were some of the most conspicuous negative effects of colonialism on Northern Nigeria and by implication, the outlook of the current Federation. The negative impact of colonialism in Southern Nigeria is often overlooked or underestimated. This is because the British were seen as having brought religion (Christianity) to the hitherto largely Animists communities. Their (British) enslavement of the Southern people, the destruction of their positive communal value systems and the massive impoverishment of the peoples' natural endowment were mainly ignored. A former Kenyan President Mr. Jomo Kenyatta, tells the story better: "They (the colonialists) told us to close our eyes, by the time we opened, they have stolen our land and gave us the Bible". Although the British granted independence since 1st October 1960, their notion of independent Nigeria was that of a "Secular democratic nation" built within the shadows of the larger British Empire as epitomised by the so-called Common Wealth of Nations. It was therefore a wishful thought to expect a Neo-colonial Nation (Nigeria) to fully escape from the Political, Economic, Educational, Legal and Cultural indoctrination nurtured in the tradition of the colonial actors.
The First Republic: It was thus not surprising that even the Independent leaders of Nigeria such as the late President Nnamdi Azikiwe and regional premiers, Ahmadu Bello (North), Samuel Akintola and Obafemi Awolowo (West)were not themselves, well purged of "Colonial Hangovers". Admittedly, some of that first generation of Nigerian leaders was more colonially indoctrinated than others. Much as one may excuse the first generation of Nigerian leaders for elements of colonial 'hangovers' this generation of leaders has no justification to continue with the colonial political, economic and legal structures which are irrelevant to the majority of the population. We must as a matter of utmost national urgency realise the futility of transplanting the totality of alien systems. Our past political experiments failed partly due to their failure to tally with our culture and traditions, and largely because of the preponderance of decadent operators. Incidents of chair throwing, exchange of blows which characterised the first republic, graduated into gun trotting and knife brandishing during the second and the current republic respectively. The country's firs military coup, the so-called Nzeogu-led 'Revolution, of January 1966, was simply an assassination outfit. The selective murder of only northern leaders such as Prime minister Tafawa Balewa, a sincere, honest and compassionate person, the northern premier Ahmadu Bello Sardauna or Brigadier Maimalari on that fateful Friday, could not have been mere coincident. The murder of Akintola, the Western premier, was the ultimate punishment for his being too close to the Sardauna. It is a pity though that after 46 years of independence and some 36 years since the Civil war (1967-1970),a disgruntled section of the Elites is still contemplating the breakup of Nigeria. The survival of Nigeria as a strong, united and virile nation should be the major concern not its dismemberment. The "National Question" as consistently maintained by this writer for years, is not about how to breakup the country; but how to fine tune the federation to achieve a just, fair and balanced society in which no group feels alienated. General Aguinyi Ironsi an Igbo and the most senior Army officer at the time of the January 1966 coup took over power.
The Gowon Regime: Following a July counter coup in the same year, General Yakubu Gowon took over (1966-1975).Although Gowon prosecuted the civil war, created a 12-state structure and embarked on massive post-war infrastructural development of the nation such as the expansion and commissioning of Kainji Hydro Electric power plant, the regime later lost some focus. Gowon, the longest continuous serving ruler of Nigeria to date, later drifted into plan less spend spree and was eventually quoted to have once said, the country's problem was not money, but how to spend it! These economic mess, corruption and unfulfilled promise to handover power to civilians by 1976,led to the overthrow of Gowon's regime in 1979 and was replaced by the then Brigadier Murtala Muhammad.
Murtala-Obasanjo Regime: Murtala came to power with a clear vision; to wipe out corruption, fight in disciple and decadence and chart an independent course for the nation politically, legally, economically and diplomatically. No wonder, this "fine soldier and a positive temperament" was gunned down in broad day light only after some seven months as head of state on the fateful Friday February 13, 1976 in a failed coup plot led by Lt Col.Bukar Suka Dimka. Within the short spell of only 7 months Murtala created 7 more states, launched a constitutional drafting committee, set a 1979 date for return to civil rule, embarked on a massive purge of corrupt federal officials, set up a corrupt practices investigation Bureau, created a new federal capital at Abuja and on the International scene, led a successful OAU diplomatic offensive on Angola against the wishes of the then American president Gerald Ford and foreign sectary Henry Kissinger, among others. After Murtala's assassination, his then deputy, Major General Olusegun Obasanjo took over as ‘relunctant’ leader. In all fairness though Obasanjo did not stray much from the dynamic style of Murtala Muhammad. General Obasanjo honoured the 1979 civilian handover plan, the new federal capital at Abuja and continued with the liberation struggle in Southern Africa among others.
The Second Republic:
The Second Republic Civilian president Alhaji Shehu Shagari, was cool leveled in personal character which ironically probed to be his greatest undoing; he thus led a regime whose ministers somewhat went out of his control such that what was supposed to be a "watershed" regime from long period of military intervention, turned out to be corrupt-ridden, decadent and in disciplined. Party stalwarts and their supporters, helped themselves with impunity. The permissive style of Shagari and the eventual "mess" which characterised his regime no wonder made General Muhammad Buhari to attempt to punish Shagari for the crimes of the entire regime, not his personal wrongdoings; but a well learned judge, I think it was justice Muhammad Owais, dismissed the charges against Shagari on the grounds that it will tantamount to "setting standards too high even for saints". He (Buhari), may have exaggerated it, but by the time he overthrew Shagari in December 1983, the country was “on the verge of total collapse".
Buhari Regime: General Buhari launched the war Against Indiscipline (WAI) whose objectives may be honest but whose modus operandi was in some cases, excessive. Buhari's economic policies were largely Homegrown and honest such as Counter trade proposals and the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and WAI which was cited above. Buhari's self reliance policies were popular with the common man but not the well to do elites or foreign powers. His regime was thus terminated 20 months after, in 1985.
Babangida Regime: When General Ibrahim Babangida overthrew his former boss, General Buhari in 1985, many welcomed it due to the fact that several detained politicians languished in detentions, the press was gagged by decree 4 and a number of people were impatient with Buhari's harsh but necessary economic policies. Babangida played a "political soldier" dribbling people from one post to the other which eventually saw him overseeing civilian regimes at the states while he remained a military president at the Center. The economy was terribly battered under Babangida, huge oil revenue poorly managed and the political transition tinkered with several times till we landed in the June 12 1993 crisis which consumed Babangida himself. In spite of all the devilish charges against Babangida including that of promoting corruption to the level of "Government-to-government" and several ethno-religious crises and the entry into the Liberian quagmire initially to shore up his sinking friend, former president Samuel Doe, the man has recorded several noteworthy achievements during his eight "maradonic" years in power. He actualised the transfer of the presidency to Abuja in 1992,created new states and embarked on far reaching infrastructural projects such as the Third mainland bridge in Lagos, the Kano-Kaduna express way and several land mark projects in Abuja including the security-tight, Aso rock presidential Villa among others.
Shonekan's ING: Chief Ernest Shonekan's interim national government went away as casually as it was patch up by Babangida when he hastily "stepped aside" following pressure from both the pro-June 12 groups and foreign powers. General Sani Abacha a powerful member of the Babangida regime, who was ironically retained in the ING to 'protect' it, shoved aside Shonekan and took over the government, barely 3 months after its inauguration. General Abacha allegedly played a fast one on the late MKO Abiola the assumed winner of the June 1993 elections; it was allegedly said that the General promised to hand over to Abiola shortly after removing Shonekan. This did not work out and hence all that happened; and as the saying goes, the rest is now history
Abacha Regime: Abacha's era was characterised with much political tension occasioned by both domestic pressure at home and diplomatic offensive from Western countries notably America and Britain which spear headed the country's suspension from the Commonwealth. These pressures made Abacha to become more combative and hard lined in dealing with both his domestic and foreign opponents sometimes with devastating consequences such as the execution of Ken-Saro Wiwa, the Agoni rights activist and a playwright. But Abacha was also a man of ironies-in spite of the brutal nature of his regime, charges of amassing ill-gotten wealth and attempt to perpetuate himself in power (Tazarce),he somewhat managed to cut the image of a ruthless nation-builder; created new states; Zamfara, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti and Kogi, convened a National Constitutional Conference, evolved the Vision 2010 document and his most popular pet project, the Petroleum(special)Trust Fund(PTF) (from the proceeds of his marginal increase in the price of petroleum products), which was entrusted to a very popular and credible person, Retired General Muhammad Buhari, himself a former Head of state. Buhari was to disclose later that the late Abacha never for once interfered with, solicited for a favour or dictated the way he run the PTF. But one fine morning of July 8, 1998 General Abacha who only a while ago was tackling political enemies such as the late Shehu Musa Yar'Aduwa who died in detention, and jailed General Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Oladipo Diya his former deputy, on coup plotting charges, suddenly died under mysterious circumstances. This is a good lesson to our current and future crop of leaders.
Abdulsalam Regime: General Abulsalam Abubakar the most senior military officer after Abacha's death took over as the new head of state. He pursued the transition back to civil rule with a zeal and determination such that he run one of the briefest transition periods in the history of the country to the delight of pro-democracy groups in the country and the approval of former South African President Mr. Nelson Mandela and other mainly Western governments abroad. Abdulsalam's swift release of political detainees notably General Olusegun Obasanjo who was literally wasting away in Yola prison and the imminent release of detained M.K.O. Abiola also earned him further respect of the International Human rights Community. What nearly spoiled Abubakar's show, was the controversial death of Abiola while still officially under detention shortly after taking a cup of tea at a meeting in which American top diplomats including Condolessa Rice, were present.
But some of the serious undoings of General Abdulsalam Abubakar were charges of massive questionable spending under the guise of completing transition related projects such as the National Assembly complex in Abuja and bending the rules of the political process to accommodate some sacred cows. But because the catch Phrase was to handover power come what may, Abdulsalam got away with all his apparent failings amidst the democratic euphoria of the time.
The Civilian Regime 1999 to date:
The new democratic experiment eventually saw the emergence of President Olusegun Obasanjo who emerged from a condemned prisoner languishing in jail to become the leader of Nigeria for the record second time, first as military ruler (1976-1989) and in 1999 as Civilian President. If you describe President Obasanjo as the "luckiest" member of the country's ruling Elite, you are probably right. It is the more reason why he should be more than doubly thankful to God for His mercies. Truth be told, Obasanjo's greatest mistake on his second coming to power (in 1999) was to have allowed gravely vengeful characters to shape the nature and character of his administration. Also despite all his shortcomings, Abacha's VISION 2010 document and the PTF were projects worthy of retention, but which were thrown away because good as they were, emanated form "an enemy". It is instructive to note that whereas PTF's landmark achievements in roads construction, health care and mass transit for instance are still traceable seven years after its dissolution, many communities are still asking for the elusive 'Dividends' of democracy.
But the Obasanjo regime is always embarking on one reform after the other; Privatisation, Commercialisation, Banking Sector Reform, NEEDS, AGOA, Petroleum price deregulation (read increase) among other jargons. The problem with all these is their failure to improve the lives of the people in practical terms. A lot of these market-driven reforms were unilaterally introduced as they were not Homegrown or done without wide consultations and mandate of the people or their representatives in the National Assembly, which should be a feature of a democratic dispensation. President Obasanjo's regime also had to contend with charges of "marginalisation" by certain sections of the country, some genuine while some merely sentimental. But in the interest of National unity and peaceful coexistence, President Obasanjo must own the necessary moral courage to own up to the genuine failings of his tenure and demote his personal interests below that of the Federation which he laboured so much to preserve notably through our painful civil war (1967-1970).But truth be told, hidden Agenda aside, the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu is doing a good job in the fight against corruption. The unsubstantiated allegation is that Ribadu is being used to tame the political enemies of Obasanjo which is not altogether baseless, but a quick rider is, those opponents with “skeletons in their cupboards” The Hausas have a saying, Sai Bango ya tsage Kadangare ke samun Wurin shiga. The Due Process arrangement for government contracts is also another plus for Obasanjo if you remove notoriety for slowing down or even "killing" several projects or even alleged Insider dealings. The communication sector reform is working although its regulatory and consumer protection mechanisms are not working. Obasanjo,s food and drug control agency NAFDAC is a success story as well. But President Obasanjo’s failed Third Term bid greatly traumatized and shames the nation. The current volatile squabble between President Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar is one of the lethal fallouts of the failure of Third Term rather than a purely genuine fight against Corruption in which both seem to be mutually culpable. Those in Glass Houses do not throw Stones. With all due respect, to forgive and forget do not appear to be in President Obasanjo’s Vocabulary. Vice President Atiku Abubakar is now learning the hard way. The face off between the President and his Vice will require the direct intervention of God to prevent the breakdown of law and order. This dicey situation is not a good note to celebrate the country’s 46th Independence .It is tragic that the Obasanjo-Atiku feud may have reached its climax with the open war of damaging dossiers and the suspension of Atiku from the PDP by a leadership known to be subservient to Obasanjo. With even relatively Junior members of the Presidency joining the ‘war’ on both sides of the ‘divide’ this government has at least morally fallen although it may Constitutionally and Technically hang on to power till May 2007, God-willing. As the Obasanjo-Atiku crisis raged, a pertinent question is where are the nation’s elders, leaders of thought or honest peace brokers? You may not like the two players for obvious reasons, but this is a dangerous crisis of immense national proportion over which all hands must be on deck to tackle. Despite its own image crisis, the National Assembly has a crucial role in this stand up.
On the final analysis therefore, much as one may be disappointed with the performance of our nation building process in the last 46 years, we must admit that some modest gains were made nevertheless. The power sector though is still off the mark, NEPA (Never expect power always) has consumed billions of Naira without appreciable response and is now replaced by PHCN (Problem Has Changed Name). Our education is still in tatters, Rulers have turned into Ruiners and endemic corruption and squabbles over power rotation and resource control still dodge us as a nation. But as the late Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa once said, "Nigeria is big enough to accommodate our differences". Nigerians must insist on qualitative leaders not tribal war lords who capitalise on sentiment as against delicate national bridge building process. Recent unnecessary squabbles over the expansion of the horizons of Shari'a applications exposed our intolerance or inability to allow true federalism to take a firm root in the polity. On resource control, it is worth noting that while one part of the country is rich in one resource, the others are rich in others which complete the symbiotic relationship. Whatever the sentiment involved, the hard fact is the nation's natural endowments belongs to all Nigerians, their particular locations not withstanding. Finally, Nigeria, the Giant of Africa which went the extra miles to shore up other nations in times of their crises such as Tanzania, Lebanon, Zaire (now DRC),Liberia, Sierra Leone among others, must itself remain afloat through the maturity ,tolerance and accommodation by its own good people of diverse backgrounds. Lastly our political Elites squabbling over the "spoils of democracy” must ponder over this dangerous course they are treading and allow the nation a breeze of peace rather than shred it into pieces with devastating consequences for all of us.
Garba A. Isa Yekuwa Communications, Kano, Nigeria
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