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Before Atiku Abubakar Is Crucified, May We Ponder A Little! By Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
In a political clime like ours where much premium is placed on half truths and near lies constantly peddled by unscrupulous politicians, colourless lobbyists, charlatans, political prostitutes and influence peddlers, it becomes expedient to sometimes clear the air on issues this group at times raises before they assume the wrong standing. It is based on the above that one has to ensure that people do not go to sleep with the wrong information especially as it concerns the actions of the Action Congress Presidential candidate in the flawed April, 2007 polls, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and his petitions at the Elections Tribunal. Some have said that the Oligarchy has pressurized him to drop the case while others are noising that an understanding has been reached for him to discontinue the case as if he went to court to scurry negotiation ability which is very far from the truth and the net effect of the rumours can be very destructive for the image of a man who have demonstrated resilience in the pursuit of justice if such an erroneous insinuation is not corrected on time.
To some school of thought, Atiku Abubakar’s hard stance on not withdrawing his petition against the emergence of his brother and a fellow Northerner as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not minding if the election was flawed or not is said to be that he is canvassing for a bargaining power to negotiate with the Presidency into erasing his alleged gazetted indictment by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. This stand from all available record does not hold waters as the idea behind this malevolent motive by General Obasanjo have been overtaken by event as the court has not only quashed this so called indictment, but Atiku Abubakar was allowed to contest the last Presidential Election. Proponents of this school of thought are the same people trying to portray Atiku Abubakar as being disrespectful to our traditional Rulers and elder Statesmen forgetting that being a one time Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria he is well versed in protocol and respect for these revered institutions. This school are those behind the erroneous media presentation associating Atiku with being disrespectful to some eminent traditional leaders that include our revered Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111, Alhaji Ado Bayero, the Emir of Kano, the Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe and, Sir Muhammed Sanusi among some concerned elder statesmen alleged to have being rebuffed when they visited Atiku in Dubai, United Arab Emirate to put pressure on him to withdraw his case at the Presidential Election Tribunal. This cannot be but pure blackmail and calculated attempt to dress Atiku in a borrowed toga as arrogant and disrespectful to traditional institution and elder statesmen in the country which runs contrary to the fact that, Atiku Abubakar not only respects traditional institution but rightly belong to that revered institution being the most capped or rather the highest living Nigerian traditional titles holder in the country today. For avoidance of doubt, the former Vice President apart from being the Turaki Adamawa one of the highest titles in the Adamawa province is the Ochendo Ndi Igbo of Adamawa and Taraba States; Saraduna Ganye; Zege Mule ‘U’ Tiv; Mayedoro of Lagos; Shetima Biu, Zantalma of Borno; nyioha Ndigbo of Enugu, Suka of Ogoniland, Ezi Enyi of Anambra, Nwanne Di Na Mba of Imo State and over thirty other titles that need not be mentioned because of lack of space. For some people therefore to try to portray such a traditionally inclined person as being disrespectful to highly respected traditional rulers is a blackmail which runs contrary to any sound reasoning.
The second school of thought holds that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s inordinate ambition is to become President of Nigeria at all cost and nothing else. Those that hold this view either do not know who Atiku Abubakar is or what his principles and political thoughts are or are just doing everything to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Though there is nothing wrong for any person to desire to rule his country constitutionally, the fact is that Atiku Abubakar has never taken the issue of becoming Nigerian’s President as a do or die affair. He has demonstrated, based on the unpleasant circumstances placed before him by General Olusgun Obasanjo and his undemocratic cronies that he is a true democrat who is desirous to protect and respect the rule of law and the constitution of our country at all times. It is a common understanding that Atiku detest abuse of the human rights of Nigerians in any form by elements holding sway as leaders of Nigeria within 1999 to 2007. These he has demonstrated even at the risk of his life. It is this school that is also sowing seeds of discord among key followers of this great democrat particularly among Chief Tomi Ikimi and His Excellency Senator Tinubu but thank God that the evil machination and faulty strategy of this school has been dully exposed. It is on that note that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu need to be commended for his timely rebuttal of the evil machination of enemies of democracy in Nigeria over the erroneous insinuation that he has threatened to decamp from AC if Atiku fails to withdraw his case from the tribunal. For this timely rebuttal, Tinubu has won more followers to his side and the side of true democrats in the country. This has proved that the said phantom conflict between him and Atiku was only in the polluted minds of evil minded politicians that would have preferred and celebrate such a conflict between these two lights of democracy in Nigeria in order to achieve their wicked desire of keeping Nigeria in perpetual undemocratic control. With the failure of their evil ploys and diversionary tactics aimed at detracting true democrats from the historic role of salvaging the country from the shackles of the undemocratic forces in the country; they can now go and bury their heads in shame.
The third school of thought states that Alh. Atiku Abubakar having served as the Vice President of Nigeria should be contented and forget the idea of becoming the President of Nigeria. The proponents of this school of thought though entitle to their opinion forgot so easily that if not for Atiku, General Obasanjo and his cohorts would have conquered the country with their evil third term plot and succeeded in becoming the Emperor of Nigeria he so much desires or plunge the country into a disastrous civil war that would have consumed us all. It is also truism that without the various legal battles instituted and won by Atiku the country’s democracy would have been in limbo by now. Thanks to Prof Maurice Iwu the shameless INEC Chairman for accepting the fact that it is the third term agenda of General Obasanjo that made the last election to be a failure. If I am to accept the views of the school of thought that holds that the third term plot of General Obasnjo would have plunged this country into a calamitous civil war, it then means that Atiku Abubakar by killing the evil intention of General Obasnjo and his little minded cronies over the hilarious third term agenda saved this country from a bloody civil war!
Having stated all these facts, Nigerians and the world at large can now easily read between the lines of all the follies, the maneuvers and untoward pressure on a man whose only desire and plots is to use this case to strengthen the country’s democratic norms and culture. If he succumbs to any pressure and withdraw his case before the Tribunal that will be most unfortunate, regrettable; and would have negated all the principles he ever stood for thereby legitimizing the electoral fraud, day light robbery, subversion of the people’s mandate and undermining democratic process in the country. Most sadly, such an act will be rendering all that he went through in the hands of undemocratic elements in the country fruitless and therefore a lesson in masochism.
In conclusion, Atiku is in no way trying to endanger or truncate the democracy he risked his life to give to Nigerians by sustaining his petition before the Tribunal but is only desirous of not only to enrich our legal tenets but our democratic norms. Today the people of Kogi are celebrating the victory of the law, light over lawlessness, anarchy and darkness which INEC and its promoters stands for, forgotten that without Atiku such celebration would have being a study in illusion. For avoidance of doubt, Atiku Abubakar has nothing whatsoever against President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as an individual or against him being Nigeria’s President, he is only proving an already overstated fact of Mr. President, the European Union and the entire world that the general election organized by General Obasanjo and his kangaroo INEC was not only flawed but the worst in the record of any democratic set-up in any country. For a regime which stands on rule of law, not pursuing the nullification of fraudulent practices like the rigging of the elections will only mean paying lip service to the generally accepted global principles of justice, fairness and equity on which pedestal democracy thrives.
For avoidance of doubt, President Yar’Adua being a true democrat does not in any way hold any grudge against Atiku for being in the Tribunal with him as he still respectfully regards him not only as his elder brother but the true head of PDM being the only organization that unifies all true democrats and progressives in the country. For President Yar’Adua to have accepted that the election was flawed and strive to improve on rule of law in the country that was bastardized by Obasanjo and his cohorts shows that he believes in the course Atiku Abubakar is fighting for a greater and better Nigeria so let political jobbers, political careerists, the economic mercenaries, the social miscreants, Vampires, charlatans, usurpers, pretenders, the intellectual sophists and sycophants that are looking for what to eat leave the symbol of our modern day democracy, the principled Atiku and his unassuming younger brother Yar’Adua alone.
The sacrosanct fact is no matter our political divides is that Atiku apart from standing as the most humiliated, vilified, victimized political Leader in the history of Nigeria is also the greatest Political Leader alive whose contributions towards modern evolution of our democracy will be hardly equaled by any political Leader alive. With his contributions particularly from saving this country from the civil war the third term proponents had plotted for the country and for enriching both our legal tenets and political horizon in such a way no Nigerian either living or dead have done, the fact stands that Atiku having achieved all these and for liberating the country from the shackles of what Obasnjo stands for can now being ranked alongside with the founding fathers of Nigeria - the greats of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahamadu Bello and of course Chief Tony E. Enahoro. Let us therefore, as a country that has been stagnant in growth all these years particularly the last eight years due to bad, sadistic, vicious, greedy, inept and corrupt leadership, acknowledge and hail the vision and plans of the saviour of democracy in our country instead of failing into the plots of enemies of democracy to dress him in a borrowed toga in order to crucify him. God help our country!
Eze Chukwuemeka Eze Is a Media Consultant based in Port Harcourt.
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