The Bashing President
By
Paul Mamza
To command high respect, a leader, be him democratic or military, must show reciprocating respect for the feelings and aspirations of the people he governs. Even when the led misbehaves, a tactical leader earns credence by a diplomatic dislodgement of the acts of misbehaviour through rational persuasive benevolence. That is why, most leaders talk, act and react only when necessary, because their words are always taken as words of wisdom. They are also very mindful of the weight of whatever they decide to offer to the populace as a way of speech. These cherished attributes is the secret for a resolution to national crisis of nationhood that engendered the leaders with superiority to minimize casualties and reduce frictions during hard times. While nations experience consummate adversities, the leaders are suppose to separate preliminary skirmishes from genuine contemporary issues without necessarily flexing muscles.
That is not to say, a leader should not be decisive and firm in handling issues bordering fundamental provisions of the constitution in the most principled of the terms. It is a good measure of integrity that earns reputation in an effective quarantine and confinement in undisputable credentials for good governance. Since democracy derives its succour from good governance, the encouragement of the ethics is a welcomed development. However, the current contemporary political situation in Nigeria neither provided a zeal to offer the balance of complex permutations nor tendered a panacea to control the frustrations emergent from decadence of moral authority.
The curse on the nation is a man-made innovation obtainable from fundamental disequilibrium by anti-democratic forces pretending to have a democratic mind. One needs not to consult a political psychologist to assess the level of a moral amnesia that is inflicted on the populace due to insurmountable anguish coined by leaders on the society they have contributed much in abusing it over the years is nothing short of being abuse-able. The present state of hopelessness of the nation is not doubt due to the inadequacies of its leaderships- the current leadership inclusive if not responsible for the chunk of the matter at stake. In this light, the President's continuous bashing of individuals or groups as responsible for his shortcomings is uncalled-for.
The Honourable House of Representative members were once called 'small-boys' as a derogatory denunciation to silence them into succumbing to the script of government, the bashing of Professor Sam Aluko personal opinion on the state of the nation as coming from a 'Senile person', the disparaging generalization of the academic staff of universities as group of irresponsible people whose services to the nation is disingenuous, the ascription of the state of insecurity of the nation to 'tribal' groups vis-à-vis Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Afenifere and Ohaneze-Ndigbo are amongst the prominent utterances by the President that can earn him an award for an unguarded bashing which I see as diversionary.
The President himself admitted during a BBC chat that with an equivalent of a policeman manning a million Nigerians the security of the nation can hardly be taken care of, thereby admitting the failure of government to effect an efficient police force. The police force strike-action which is the first in the political history of the nation speaks volume of the state of neglect of this important security apparatus. If I were in the President's shoes instead of blaming individuals or groups for failures in "my government" which cannot be controlled, I will resign my appointment. This singular act will make him a hero for appreciating a human inadequacy. We wouldn't have voted for Mr. President if we knew he will abuse us over any opposing view about his government be it constructive or destructive. This is because our desperation then, was to break away from autocracy to democracy whose components encourage accommodation of divergent views. The question that requires an answer is if the leadership live up to societal expectations, will any one have the muscle to challenge it dispassionately? The answer is absolutely no. The present state of quietude may not be unconnected to the level of confusion the nation find itself in and aberration can only corrected if leaders seek deliverance from their condescension of its confused minds. T
he nation is a condominium giving equal opportunism to all Nigerians as stakeholders to contribute in the proper running of its affairs and hence, no leader can claim monopoly of wisdom in the design of its future topographies while seeking quest for channeling a democratic cause. The political offensive similar to the one the President has started mounting on discerning voices is setting a permanent reproach in our democratic order to the inability of the nation to rise above the very conditions of its possibilities. Putting blames against individuals or groups for one's self-destruction has been a cultured tradition during the current democracy. The interview, one Fani-Kayode granted. The News of 25 February, 2002, can be viewed to maligned a particular region-the North. The interview is full of threats, intimidation and blackmail with a background note- reminder on the happenings in the ravaged Lebanon. Fani-Kayode said that "What happened (at Idi-Araba) had everything to do with ethnicity and a bit of religion. The only riddle there was the Northern Muslims were killing Southern Muslims and they were killing not just the Yorubas but everybody that cannot speak the Hausa language. It was that bad. Until we know the truth, we admit the truth, we disseminate the truth, these problems cannot be stopped. All these have very grave consequences for the sustenance of democracy in this country".
Without categorically admitting, and disseminating the truth, Fani-Kayode said "I strongly believe that for those behind all these, the government should question three senior retired Muslim officers from the North and the Arewa Consultative Forum", as if the accusation is not enough without threat, Fani-Kayode continued "Let me sound a note of warning here, the patience of the Yoruba people is being tested. The day that these things go too far, Yoruba will rise up in a way that these people will never knew they were capable of. Let me remind them that during the civil war, the 3rd Marine commando, the battalion that won the fight at Ore and took the surrender of the Biafrans was 98 percent Yoruba soldiers. If they pushed the Yorubas to the wall, there won't be one Hausaman left standing in Lagos". Denouncing preaching violence after saying all the inciting statements, Fani-Kayode concluded by saying "I think those that are destabilizing the nation and insisting the North must have power back at all costs should remember Lebanon". With these illustrations one can predict the level of hatred the political elite especially in the South- west wants to instill in the minds of the local populace.
These actions and reactions are enabling a paradoxical contradictions in the scheme of politics in Nigeria, because it rejected the person (the President) during the last election polls, only to pretend to jealousy protect his government after the election and to compound matters for the President; assuming the role of ethnic war commandos in their new political crusade. It is this newly adopted position by the President's kinsmen coupled with the failures of his government to meet-up with the feelings and aspirations of the citizenry that will deny the President's mandate in 2003.