WEEKLY
TRUST FRIDAY,
MARCH 1, 2002
Appeal
to President Obasanjo and MPS
Wada Nas
By
the special grace of the Almighty Allah and his
mercy, President Obasanjo is today the leader of this great nation. He remains
to date the only Nigerian who has the singular distinction of ruling this
country twice. By his will, he
emerged from prison to lead the nation, a thing we never dreamt of. When Allah
says be, it becomes.
Leadership
is a burden perhaps much more than responsibility. This burden means quite a
lot; the burden to care, to listen, to assist, to forgive and to pardon. The
Almighty Allah, through General Abdulsalam Abubakar pardoned Obasanjo and
through the Nigerian people crowned him the leader of our country.
This teaches us that forgiveness is an act of faith, which we are divinely obliged to practise and believe in its injunction. It is a virtue of purity.
President
Obasanjo demonstrated its moral purity by setting up the Oputa panel with the
onerous responsibility of reconciling our aggrieved compatriots. The intention
is for us to forgive one another even as some may find it difficult to forget.
Nevertheless, faith obliges us to forgive.
The moral lesson of Oputa and its core essence, deserves to permeate the entire fabric of our society. It is in this regard that I am appealing to the president to give a considered view of the ongoing trial of General Ishaya Bamaiyi, Al-Mustapha, Mohammed Abacha, Danbaba and three others in a Lagos court by applying to them the doctrine of the philosophy of the Oputa panel which is rooted in national forgiveness and reconciliation. I believe this would more than demonstrate the sincerity of government in setting up the panel.
The gravity of their alleged offences not-withstanding, it is still within the realm of human conscience for an act of presidential forgiveness to apply to them. No offence cannot be forgiven and pardoned in the same way the Almighty forgives and pardons us.
The national popularity of the demand has been demonstrated by the pronouncements of even those who before wanted them hanged without trial. The appeal has therefore become a national endeavour in the greater interest of our country. It is my submission that this would create more dividends than diminished returns. Let Mr President therefore take solace in faith and forgive them.
May I also appeal to the president and honourable members of the House of Representatives to please reconcile their differences amicably and in a democratic manner? As we strive to nurture our nascent democracy, as we are committed to the act of reconciliation and as we are determined to stand by democracy no matter the odds, it is not in our national interest that the Presidency and the House of Representatives are constantly at logger- heads.
Let us not for whatever reasons, create room for anti-democracy elements to disrupt our determined march to the democracy haven.
As members of the civil society, these two organs of government must stand united and not allow any crack in the democratic wall which may be manipulated by some elements who do not wish our country and its democracy well.
The two organs must appreciate that a severe division in their rank may send out the wrong signal to the outside world. Since the start of this administration, bitterness has been the sour relationship between the two and we all know what the outcome has been. As our elected leaders, it does not speak good that they cannot resolve their differences amicably and without dangerous rancour. At a time when all well-meaning Nigerians are expressing deep fears over 2003, our leaders must see to it that they do not heat up the system unnecessarily in the way it is happening now.
The threat coming out from the two arms of government is not in the interest of our country. The truth is that what is happening is generating fears in the minds of the people. With reports of discomfort in all the barracks and the tense atmosphere already in place, the country would lose more by the ever-growing tension between the two branches of the government. What is going on therefore is not in the least in our national interest. Its security implications ought to be obvious to all. For whatever it is worth, it is a serious threat to the system. Men and women of goodwill, including the media, should therefore join in the call to appeal to the two branches not to do anything that would worsen the already tense atmosphere in the system. We expect the media to tow this line of reasoning and not to be unnecessarily partisan in the matter by hardening positions and attitudes.
What we desire in our country today is not bitterness, rancour and hard-line positions but understanding, friendship, reconciliation and forgiveness. These virtues should be our goal. Painfully, there is more bitterness than friendship, rancour than peace, hard-line than reconciliation, vengeance than forgiveness. These cannot solve our problems. To move the country forward, we must all learn to be statesmen, carrying the burden of leadership, playing the role of peace-makers, helping in understanding and resolving our differences, with all acting as father figures.
This burden falls more on our leaders who the Almighty has bestowed to lead us. In playing their role, nothing is too great for them to forsake or undertake in the greater interest of the country. Let it not be said of them in future that they failed to lead the country in peace. Let history not accuse them of failure to reconcile the nation and let us not say in the years ahead that we were a people incapable of reconciliation, forgiveness and understanding.
Today, our leaders are in the process of making history as they are opening a new chapter in the democratic march of our country. They are obliged by this to ensure that democracy permeates the system for- ever and ever. This is the desire of all Nigerians. As those charged with laying a new foundation for the democracy project, they have the singular obligation to nurture and call themselves to order when derailing from the path.
Democracy is about the resolution of differences on a conference table; it is about the collective will to march in strength and brotherhood and also about reconciliation, understanding and forgiveness. These virtues must be enshrined in the minds of all our democratic leaders. As operators of the system, they cannot run away from these virtues.
There should, therefore, be total reconciliation between and among our politicians and also in their relations with the people. It is in this spirit that I am calling for reconciliation and understanding between the president and the honourable members of the House of Representatives and forgiveness by the president of General Bamaiyi and six or more others. With so much bitterness in the land and outflow of anger, our leaders must do everything humanly possible to see wisdom in the acts of reconciliation, forgiveness and understanding. As our current makers of history, our leaders at various levels should lead the way towards the reconciliation of our society.
If we take into serious consideration the rapidity with which events have been occurring in our country, national reconciliation remains one of the ways to save our country from so many disasters. As I said, the act of forgiveness is an act of faith in which leaders as a rule must learn to indulge. The two branches of the government must therefore learn to forgive one another in the same manner we expect the president to have the large heart to forgive those being tried in Lagos.
I am making this appeal in good conscience, trusting that as listening leaders, our leaders would listen to its wisdom. It would serve our nation better if only we could be tolerant, forgiving and understanding.
Finally, let me appeal to all Nigerians to please learn to be peacemakers and to appreciate our differences. What we should understand is that no matter our differences, no matter how much we hate one another and no matter how much we indulge in killing one another, we will still remain a society of mixed culture none of whom could be drawn away from their abode. Even if our country breaks up today, our people would still remain to mix and interact with one another. Northerners would remain going south to sell food items as southern traders would still-be coming to the north to sell their industrial goods. Our over- dependence on one another is such that even if we break up politically, we would still remain united socially and economically.
This is why any political break-up would be rendered useless and unworthy by the socio-economic nature of our society and people. What gains, therefore, would we make from killing one another when we would remain economically and socially united even after a political break-up?
Let us therefore embark on a deliberate scheme of national reconciliation and forgiveness so that we could secure peace among our people, the majority of who abhor the violence that has been going on, in the name of whatever. Our leaders today go more for the war front than to indulge in peace initiative contrary to the legacies left us by our departed leaders. Our words have been more on the side of subtle instigation than reconciliation; our actions have been tending toward causing chaos and confusion in the society. When we speak, we pour out venom, telling lies in order to instigate, thereby polluting the system. Peace is what we want and not violence. friendship is what we desire and not hatred or enmity and reconciliation. and forgiveness is what we cherish and not bitterness and vengeance. For the good of our society, we must indulge in the good virtues of life .
Happy Sallah to the nation.