Nigeria: Thank You, ObasanjoBy Saad S. Khan
The developing world is full of heroes and
villains. In the absence of proper functioning institutions in place,
the people pin their hopes to individuals to deliver; hence hero
worship. The ups and downs in national history are also explained in
terms of the “goodness” or “badness” of the person at the helm at a
given time. Hence, unlike in the West, extreme passions, of love or of
hate, or even of both, are evoked when a discussion on the role or
contribution of a political leader gets discussed. Hardly anyone in
Pakistan would dispute that Jinnah was a hero, and hardly anyone in Iraq
may contest that Saddam was a villain. But rarely is the situation so
straight and simple. Mostly, the leaders of the countries that were
formerly characterized as the third world, have themselves switched
positions in the public perceptions and expectations. President
Olusegun Obasanjo has the dubious, though not rare, distinction of being
a hero and a villain, for the nation he led three times as President,
including his stint of military rule, not the least for faults and
follies of his own.
He first became President in 1976 in the
chaos following the assassination of his boss, and former military
dictator, Brig. Gen. Murtala Mohamamad, in an abortive coup attempt.
Obasanjo ruled the country for three years and tried faithfully to
install a genuine American-style two-party Presidential democracy.
Elections were held and a civilian Shehu Shagari took office in 1979,
only to be toppled by another military coup four years down the road.
Obasanjo won plaudits not only in his country but across the world for
being the first military ruler of a major African country to have
voluntarily relinquished office for an elected civilian government. He
renounced politics and retired to his native state on his agriculture
farm. His number two during military rule was a guy called Gen. Shehu
Musa Yar’adua who was the brain behind the idea of restoration of
democracy.
The country experienced a long spell of
military rule from the toppling of Shagari till Obasanjo came to the
rescue and restored democracy a decade and a half later. Coup leader
against Shagari was General Buhari, but he was replaced 20 months later
by a palace coup from General Ibrahim Babangida. The new ruler
imprisoned his boss for another 40 months. Then, came the rascal Sani
Abacha, who was probably in run to be in the Guinness Book of World
Records for corruption, ruthlessness and misrule.
During the sixteen years of military
misrule (1983-98), the country experimented with every stupid thing on
earth; civil servants were made to “frog jump” publicly as a humiliating
punishment for being late in office; Buses’ passengers were whipped by
unruly police to make queues; all parties were banned and two parties
(curiously named Democratic and Republican) were made from above, to
“thrust” American-style democracy in the country in a single day. Once,
“corrupt politicians” were barred to contest election through the novel
way of banning “every politician” to contest the elections. When the
elections lost legitimacy, everybody was re-allowed to jump into the
fray. Once under the promise of return to democracy, presidential
elections were also held which were won by Chief Masood Abiola; but to
him power was never transferred. Abiola died in prison, while his wife
got murdered outside it by state agents.
Meanwhile, the three dictators took turns
to court the dame “Political Islam”. The country jumped in and out of
the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a crude measure of a
country’s self-identification with wider Muslim world; hired and fired
Islamists to important positions; and “tried and untried” Shariah
laws in a country where less than 40% people are Christians. All
occurred upon the whims of the rulers and their brain waves leading them
to orientation or disorientation towards political Islam.
The sudden death of Sani Abacha in 1998
brought a breeze of fresh air into Nigerian politics. Hundreds of
leading personalities in the country, locked by Abacha for actual or
presumed political threat, were released. Not coincidentally, Obasanjo
was one of them who had been incarcerated three years back, in 1995, for
an alleged conspiracy to topple Abacha. Well, Abacha was so unpopular,
at that time, that presumably the only citizen decidedly not
“conspiring” to get rid of Abacha, must have been Abacha himself. But
the axe fell on leading politicians alone. Another pro democracy
politician who was sent to death, but punishment commuted to 25 years in
jail, was the former Vice President Shehu Ya’adua.
Obasanjo reentered politics and a tide of
popular support brought him, Presidential palace in 1999 for a four year
term, to which he was reelected in 2003, for his second, and
constitutionally the last, elected term. Yar’adua had meanwhile died in
prison in 1997 and had not lived to see his cherished dream to see a
democratic Nigeria. Obasanjo soon became a champion of democracy in his
country and abroad. Declaring that “age of military coups is over in
Africa”, his troops were ready to take on anywhere in the region, be
that Sierra Leone or Liberia, to bully military coup leaders or
potential coup attempters to respect civilian authority.
What he did not mention, however, was that
era of “civilian coups” had not ended and this is what he tried. First,
he picked a fig leaf from the trick books of all African dictators in
attempting to undo the constitutional bar on the president to get
elected more than twice. When the Vice President Atiku Abu Bakar stood
in his way, he expelled him from his party. When the Senate blocked his
way, he tried to bully the Senators to support him or be tried for
corruption charges. To give his independent Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) a semblance of legitimacy and credibility, the
Governors were also probed. The dirty linen came in public as “only” 31
of the 36 state Governors are now under inquiry for corruption by the
EFCC. Once the Presidential immunity goes, Obasanjo may find himself
find himself in the EFCC flak.
Now when the Nigerian parliament has
thrown his ambitions to be “President-in-perpetuity” into air, he is now
trying to influence the Presidential elections to get his nominee
catapulted into the President House. Obasnjo never forgets that the
prefix H.E. in Nigeria, before the name of the President, does not stand
for “His Excellency” but for “His Eternity” or “His Eccentricity”. Alas,
whatever democratic credentials Obasanjo had achieved in years for
himself and his country, have been destroyed brick by brick by none
other than himself.
In fairness to Obasanjo, however, one must
emphasize that his choice of successor, even if driven by personal
motivations, is not unfair. The friend he has chosen to be his ruling
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate is none other than Amaru
Yar’adua, the relatively less-known present Governor of Northern state
of Katsina and the younger brother of his former deputy, Gen Shehu
Yar’adua. The younger Yar’adua is one of the five Governors who are
untainted by corruption investigations. He is financially prudent and
all in favour of “capitalism”, in stark contrast to the socialist
leanings of his deceased elder brother. Yar’adua’s running mate is a
Southerner named Goodluck Jonathan. Late Yar’adua elder, had he been
alive, might have been upset at the undemocratic ways, Obasanjo is
trying to support his younger brother.
Obasanjo’s own Vice President was expelled
from PDP, ostensibly for attending a convention of the opposition Action
Congress (AC), but basically for opposing Obasanjo’s attempt to tinker
with the constitution to his own advantage. Little wonder, Atiku Abu
Bakar is now the presidential candidate from Action Congress. Bakar’s
stand against Obasanjo, even if for his own personal benefit, is his
only major plus. He has a lot of wealth to plausibly account for; part
of it remains unexplained, part ill-explained, and part poorly
explained. His rationalization of fabulous wealth, i.e. “right
investments at the right time” is too good to be true, at least, in the
Nigerian context. Add to it, his personal life style and his having four
wives; none of which would make him a befitting person to ascend the
presidency.
Both the living former military rulers, Mohammad Buhari and Ibrahim Babangida have now re-discovered their love for democracy, and following the footsteps of Obasanjo, have jumped into the fray. Buhari has won nomination from his All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) while Babangida has been snubbed by every major party. Buhari is now the only competitor left in the field as just four days before elections, Atiku Abu Bakar has been disqualified on “corruption charges”. It tastes too bad as the timing smacks of political motivation behind this move. Obasanjo hates Bakar and even when he has swallowed the snub of “no further term” from the Senate, he is not willing to let his estranged Vice President ascent to the office he occupies. Bakar goes to the Supreme Court but his supporters have given their judgment in the streets by violently and vehemently protesting. Forty people have died so far. A partying credit to Obasanjo!
Presidential contest is due on 20th April
and all three leading contenders are Northerners and Muslim. Obasanjo
was an Evangelist Christian and a Southerner. The role of religion may
not be the major concern of the new president. The greatest challenge
that lies ahead for the winner will be good governance, something on
which Obasanjo had let them down. Even after eight years of civilian
rule after 16 years of military despotism, the Nigerians have already
started asking whether Democracy is worth defending. What a shame! In
the interest of sustainable and credible democracy, the Nigerians will
do well in not to allowing a former dictator to be elected. For the time
being, Yar’adua seems the best bet. May God Save Nigeria!. The
views/comments of valued readers are always welcome at
Saad.S.Khan1@gmail.com.
The Writer is an Oxford-published Cambridge-educated widely-read analyst on politics of the Muslim world.
Saad S. Khan Director, GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology, Topi, Distt Swabi, NWFP
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