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The 2007 Elections In Nigeria: Will America And The Rest Of The World Be On The Side Of The People ? By Aonduna Tondu New York
A critical question that should preoccupy citizens as they anticipate the watershed elections scheduled for later this year is to what extent the people are prepared to go in order to defend their vote and by extension their sovereignty. This issue of protecting the sovereign will of the Nigerian people needs to be reiterated in the light of an increasingly worrisome development which has seen the dueling President Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku apparently competing with each other for the attention of soi-disant Washington power brokers. This need for external validation especially on the part of a tyrant who has shown through his words and deeds that he harbors disdain for fellow Nigerians and their legitimate aspirations has profound implications not just for the national polity but also for our relations with the outside world. By succumbing to a psychosis that is akin to a negation of the primacy of national legitimacy, Nigeria’ s key politicians invariably betray their tenuous claim to leadership and patriotism.
Besides the continued desecration of the Nigerian presidency that is implicit in the obsequious mien Mr. president adopts in his dealings with his American counterpart as well as his American ‘associates’ in general, the largely kowtowing diplomacy that puts the selfish considerations – his political self-preservation - of a garrison commander over and above the superior interests of the nation must be seen as a threat that we can only ignore at our own peril. Remarkably, we are diminished in the eyes of the world even as our diplomatic clout is badly undermined. This in itself is a potent irony for a regime that is hell bent on squandering the nation’s resources, supposedly on an international image-enhancing project. These days, when the one-man vaudevillian bazaar departs Abuja and takes its freak show to New York and other locations around the globe, its marionettes mouth an eerily familiar refrain of ‘Heart of Africa’ – an egregious propaganda construct harping on the anti-people “reforms” of the regime. Of late, the badly digested, ready-made mantra of neo-liberal salvation as espoused by Aso Rock carpetbaggers in the likes of el-Rufai and Nweke Jr. would seem to have acquired a new stridency – in fact a desperation that is being fueled by a dictator’s single-minded obsession to hang on to power, at least by proxy.
Today, this new religiosity called the president’s “reform agenda” is presented to local audiences and increasingly to foreign interests as a do-or-die matter. A key element of the reform rant is its equation with one individual – the supreme ruler of Aso Rock. “No Obasanjo, no reform”, was the gospel of the aborted third term fraud. After the ‘term-elongation’ debacle, they started singing “No PDP, no Nigeria”! This is in a sense a variant of the initial scarecrow. In their usual deception, they say their callous policies or “reforms” have made Nigerians happier. Only Yar’adua of Obasanjo’s PDP can maintain the “reforms” of his godfather, they insist. Sadly, to the applause of a few foreign courtiers in the likes of Andrew Young and his other American so-called friends of the Abuja despot! We are reminded that an Obasanjo scion has reportedly told the world that apart from Andrew Young, some characters within the current Bush administration did canvass for Obasanjo’s failed third term plot. Some of the American ‘associates’ of the tyrant are now said to be supporting the Yar’adua imposition for the 2007 presidential polls. Andrew Young, Carl Masters and the reactionary pro-regime fringe in the USA will fail once more in their anti-people adventure in Nigeria because they have demonstrated time and time again that the welfare of the Nigerian people is the least of their worries. This cast seems contented with its revelry on the Nigerian gravy train. It should come as no surprise to a great number of concerned citizens that Andrew Young and his partners in the Goodworks International (GWI) outfit are reportedly marketing - at great monetary benefit to themselves - the “Heart of Africa” boondoggle and other dubious pet projects of the kleptocratic Obasanjo autocracy. But a far greater source of disquiet for the people of our country and indeed for all our genuine friends the world over is the negative influence the activities of the dictator’s foreign allies are bound to have on the fragile Nigerian polity as has been the case with their support for the undemocratic and deeply offensive “term elongation” scam. The political distortion that is inherent in the antics of these American and other foreign ‘associates’ of the Obasanjo tyranny must be deemed as alienating to the average Nigerian, to say the least.
It goes without saying that the nature of the peregrinations of some of these alien actors in our national socio-economic spaces coupled with a depressingly over-bearing rhetoric in recent times on the part of representatives of countries such as the USA and Britain are reason enough for Nigerians to be vigilant. The type of vigilance required of citizens is such that would, amongst other things, guard against any unholy attempt to aid and abet an undemocratic imposition in the forthcoming presidential election. A situation whereby Nigeria’s key politicians tend to imagine that their political relevance or legitimacy is assured primarily through a knee-jerk subservience toward foreign entities – consequential or not – should be condemned as an assault on our sovereignty. It is also inimical to the defense of our collective aspirations. A key question thus arises: How do the Nigerian people, with the friendly support of the international community, work to safeguard democracy and the rule of law in the land?
It is trite to say that America lays claim to the leadership of the world today. Partly on account of its dwindling fortunes in much of the Middle-East , Uncle Sam has, for better or for worse escalated the level of his presence in Nigeria’s backyard, not to mention in the country per se. Yet, that presence should not be used as a corrupting influence in our national politics. Nigerians must resist any temptation of political interference – partisan or not - in our polity by alien concerns and their operatives. The Nigerian people’s interests must at all times take precedence over the tiresome excuse of defending an alien government’s national interests in far-away places. As for the rest of the international community – the U.N. and pro-democracy/human rights groups in particular – , they should endeavor to offer moral support to the necessary effort that Nigerians and their various tiers of government would come up with aimed at ensuring that the 2007 elections are conducted in a context of transparency with results reflecting the true wishes of the people. This means that rigging and any other corrupt practices prior to or after the elections must be decisively rejected. This is the only way the international community can be seen as standing with the Nigerian people as they express their sovereign will to choose their own representatives. We should demonstrate that we have learnt from the enduring lessons of the 2003 electoral fiasco. Nigerians will never accept any impositions in 2007. They will man the ramparts against any desperate move aimed at extending their suffering through the yoke of a self-serving and fraudulent reform agenda which has made Obasanjo and his cronies fatter and indecently richer at the expense of the long-suffering people of the nation. Also, citizens will consider as unacceptable any postponement of the April presidential election.
It is a truism to state that the Nigerian voter is the ultimate repository of our national sovereignty. Unfortunately, though, the populace sometimes behaves as if it is unaware of its awesome role as both giver and taker of the power that is so routinely abused by the nation’s so-called representatives. The point ought to be emphasized nevertheless that in the final analysis, the responsibility for deciding who governs us must at all times rest with the Nigerian people. That is what democracy is all about. Surely, America and all our well-wishers should understand that.
Aonduna Tondu
New York
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