Which Democracy is That?

By

Muhammad Bashir

bashirsenior@yahoo.com

"We went into the national unity government….There were strong indication that some people were agitating for mass action. This mass action includes total breakdown of law and order….They wanted to throw this country into chaos, into anarchy and consequently of course the destruction of lives and property….It was possible with the way the anarchist’s position came"---Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke,ANPP boss with the Daily Trust of 2nd October,2007.

Let me first offer a profound apology to readers who were disappointed by the failure to reach me with their reactions to my recent, belated response {pardon its seemingly outdated character} to Dr.Ahmad Abubakar Gumi over his unscholarly comments on the petitions filed and pursued by the ANPP and AC Presidential candidates, General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar respectively against the declared victory of President Umaru Musa ’Yaradua in the last April elections. Unfortunately, I was forced by unforeseen circumstances to switch my phone off for a whole week: 24-31st 0ctober, 2007.I hereby seek forgiveness with a reassurance that I am now safely back on the line.

Nevertheless, it is interesting that enough has been written so far on Dr.Gumi’s unbecoming partisanship in the Nigerian papers; and it is evidential of the falsity of his argument in that even though he is yet to withdraw {read and listen to his media interviews}, none among the people that rushed to his defend him could, consciously or unconsciously, avoid stating the fact:that Malam’s Hadith on bay’ah was, even if authentic, quoted quite out of context! In fact, not even the myopic spiritual passion that marked Danlami Babantakko’s rejoinder, which solely proved a calculated assault on the persons of Adamu Adamu and General Buhari himself, could factualise the argument. And if you take Bashir Aliyu’s thesis for close examination, it absurdly ended refuting Sheikh Gumi’s conclusion; saying, contrary to his postulations, even he who disobeys an oppressive tyrant remains a believer! But until the scholar throws in another issue, let us go to the ANPP.

The shocking—but scarcely surprising—news that broke Friday{02/11/2007} was that security men had stormed Chief Mike Ahamba’s office in Owerri on alleged intelligence reports that he were to convene an unauthorized gathering in the state capital. You see, even if Chief Ezeoke’s denial of his purported complicity in the raid is to be taken serious, students of history would face the inevitable task of reconciling it with many of his media remarks{look up the quoted interview for instance}.

Besides, what keeps disturbing people about this strange personality is the speed with which he throws morality to the dogs in his frantic search for political relevance. Worse, he spares no effort in seeking to rationalize all that the does to make a dream true. The party whose leadership he basks in has seen similar disaster—of being led by a PDP—mole before but, believe me, of completely different proportion. Chief Don Etiebet, its erstwhile chairman, was there on the same mission with his. However, if there is a lesser between two evils you can safely say Mr.Etiebet did employ a subtle technique and, at least, deployed spectacular dexterity in executing his own.

Conversely, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke does not seem to care whether or not his actions and inactions are being watched by the discerning public; and if they are, whether whatever he is doing will readily become a yardstick for the impression people would have of his personality. Probably, it is because of this obvious detachment from his surrounding world that he finds it normal to say one thing on an issue today and another one tomorrow.

When they took ANPP into the so-called unity government, he said their decision was necessary in order for the nation to move forward, peace and democracy to thrive and promised that it wouldn’t affect the party’s petition.

He took on with the nation watching him until he announced the party’s withdrawal from court as reported by the Daily Trust of September 11th, 2007.But it seemed as if the rationalization proved more dramatic than the action. His counsel, Chief Chimezie Ikeazor told the court that it was necessary because they were being called all sorts of names by their Presidential and even the Action Congress candidate. And it was taken in the "overall interest of Nigeria and particularly in the interest of peace and tranquility and in order to move the country forward".

Therefore, in Ezeoke’s morality, what you are required to do when people accuse you of any wrongdoing that you believe you didn’t do is to do that thing in order to prove your innocence!

But most importantly, all the trouble begins when he attributes his actions to democracy. If it is true that they have joined this government for the sake of peace and democratic stability, why did the decision to withdraw petition not

affect the party’s 31 gubernatorial and many other cases? Or is there no need for peace and stability to reign in all these states of the federation? Why shouldn’t they too be allowed to move forward together with the federal government? And which model of democracy is this scallywag always talking about? If it is this one-party democracy that Nigeria deserves in its post -military era, why did they even field a candidate to vie with Malam Umaru ’Yaradua for the Presidency in the first place?

In the end, General Buhari who "came to power through means that are completely alien to the constitution and calls himself Head of State" is only poised to garner more credibility from all this mischief. And, but for this uncompromised stance on due process, some of us wouldn’t have the opportunity to know the cherished values of many of these give -me--my-own politicians.

 

Muhammad Bashir

Bayero University

bashirsenior@yahoo.com