What is National Interest

What is National Interest?

Kabiru Inuwa Tsakuwa

In defending the former administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo against impeachments by the Ghali Na Abba led federal house of Assembly, one of the former head of states, stated that their action was purely based on national interest. They acted to safe guard the fragile unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigeria and are bound by a great sense of duty, patriotism and selflessness to ensure the survival of our country as one indissoluble and indestructible entity.

While I acknowledged their great sense of duty, selflessness, patriotism and sacrifices as typified by their admirable way of lives, this profound statement forced me to look for the meaning of national interest from every available source with a view to getting its literal meaning. But to my utter consternations, the meanings I got totally negated the manner upon which the government of Obj conducted itself. I therefore regarded their doggedness in principle as faithfully done; having consoled my self with the fact that may be our leader’s privilege position in the society, age, wisdom, experience and advantage to know the complexities and intricacies of our great country had afforded them the opportunity to know other hidden definitions of national interest that is opaque to the perceptions of our senses!

It may be recall that in 2003 or there about, the then house of assembly attempted to get rid of the demented ex-prisoner, having conclusively established many impeachable offences against him, but on several occasion, the former leaders lobbied vehemently against it. Some of us that belonged to the hoi-polloi class, failed to rationalise their actions against the backdrop of monumental sleaze, and heart wrenching revelation of scandals. We deeply contemplated about the likely fate of our beloved country, had the unconstitutional and obnoxious power elongation attempt succeeded. We thought about the ugliest consequences in the event of Obasanjo transmuting himself into a life president, most especially the human catastrophe through mass migrations of Nigerians to other African countries and the resultant destabilisation of the African continent. We imagined ourselves and our families among several other displaced Nigerian as refuges; scampering for safety in neighbouring Niger Republic or Chad Republic and fighting for the available food rations!

What sort of national interest is it that: Oxford Dictionary of Current English; Oxford dictionary of advance English; Numerous search Engines; Wikkipedia, can not defined to be in tandem or closer in meanings with the definitions solely understood and adopted by some of our national leaders? What manner of National interest is it to defend a despot who almost succeeded in actualising the theory or was it hypothesis by the so-called American think tank about Nigeria turning into a fail state? How can they justified their protections against impeachment on somebody as psychologically unbalance as Aremu-Okikiola, having thoroughly held the over one hundred and forty million (140,000,000) people to ransom?

But for the death of third term through the efforts of some conscientious Nigerians, the real reasons for our continue pauperisation and squalor would have remain a mystery despite abundant human and natural resources. The on-going proves and outright cancellations of many dubious sales of our collective patrimony being carried out by the new administration wouldn’t have even been contemplated. Democracy as practice in other climes would have remained a mere wishful thinking; in its place, a culture of impunity, graft, insecurity, insensitivity, mediocrity and other negative tendencies would have been the norm. And so many shady deals that would have perpetually enslaved us to the whims and caprices of some bandit few would have been swept under the carpet till eternity. Where are the justifications therefore, for the actions of our former leaders in defending the indefensible under such circumstances?

The various definitions of national interest according to dictionaries can be summarised as: any action that gives advantage to the state. Therefore which of the various actions or inactions of OBJ. from 1999 to 2007 can clearly be said to be purely for national interest? Is it the ceasing of bakkasi to Cameroon; pauperisations of the masses; expensive purchase of darkness at a record 17 billion dollars; de-industrialisation of Nigeria; massive retrenchments; dubious privatisations; non implementations of budgets; plane-crashes; insecurities; demolitions; pervasive unemployment; educational collapse; import waivers; removal of fertiliser subsidy; high-handedness; nepotism; divide and rule along ethnic and religious lines; unusual subservience to the west; oil import racketeering and numerous other atrocities that are well within public purviews? What is this national interest for goodness sake if I may ask?

It is worth stating with due respect and utmost humility that, our former leaders have erred by defending a government that clearly and deliberately compounded Nigeria’s social-economic crises through deliberate adoptions of various inhuman capitalist policies which led to our present predicaments. The consequence of their stance had made many families unable to afford three square meals per day and with the new global food crises brewing and hovering around the world, no body can predict clearly how the ugly situation will turns out to be.

And today, having exhausted all our capacities for manoeuvres of our meagre take home packages, we have now reverted painfully to the time tested university survival formulas: 1.1.0a., 1.0.1b., 0.1.1c., and 0.0.1d. as the worst case scenario, just to survive the excruciating poverty. Where is the national interest then, in defending a government that has failed woefully to guarantee the basic necessities and qualitative life, security, shelter, good health, employment and balance diet for her teeming citizenry? I did not see any rationality behind the defence given to a government that has succeeded in turning our lives upside down, even if carried out in good faith?

It amount to playing with our intelligence to cites national interest as the sole motives for protecting an administrations clearly on a mission to destroying the basic rudiments of our national cohesion; a government that rendered asunder all the efforts of our Nation’s founding fathers in having a solid, virile, prosperous and egalitarian society; a government that has no iota of self respect, dignity and patriotism. There must be undisclosed reasons therefore, for the unusual protections accorded the must irresponsible government in the history of Nigeria by some of the former leaders, and that reasons has so far remained buried in the inner recesses of their psyche. Thank you.