By John DarlingtonThere
is no denying the fact that bad economic and foreign policies can
precipitate serious crises like such we experience today in Nigeria
capable of sparking off dangerous political consequences thus making
politicians demand arbitrary power to deal with emergency situations
caused by bad government policies. When times are bad many people have
no option but are often too willing to go along and support terrible
things that would be unthinkable in good times. In Nigeria, for
instance, we have had dictators in military garbs and it took us years
of dogged fighting, dingdong struggles, and battles to return the
country from military dictatorship to constitutional democracy like such
Nigerians enjoyed in the past one and half decades ago.
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| *Tinubu and Buhari |
Prior to the freedom that held sway in the past 16 years of Nigeria
's
civil democratic rule, Nigerians languished under the jackboot of the
military that saw the emergence of many pro-democracy groups, the most
vibrant of all being the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). Many of
the NADECO chieftains who stood toe-to-toe with the military had their
lives cut down by state agents calling to mind the sensational murder of
Pa Alfred Rewane and others.
Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, one of the vocal voices of the pro-democracy struggle was
left with no option but to flee Nigeria at the period under sad review
when it became clear his life was on the line. As the threat to lives
hung over our heads like the ancient sword of Damocles, this writer
climbed in on the bandwagon to this part of the Old World where he has
been to this day watching behind the scenes in open-mouthed
astonishment.
Tinubu
represented and spoke for the voiceless in the Nigerian society,
otherwise, he as one who is well-off could have decided not to confront
the military authorities who ruled Nigeria then with a caprice. He saw
the evil of the day and decided to join forces with other dissident
voices to overthrow tyranny and as luck would have it, tyranny died with
his boots on June 8, 1988!
Nigeria
began another military adventure under the leadership of Abdulsalami
Abubakar who by a twist of fate returned Nigeria to a civil democratic
rule in 1997. After a hotly contested presidential election, Obasanjo a
retired General and military Head of State emerged the winner and was
sworn in as a democratically elected civilian president who ruled the
country for eight calendar years under the platform of the Peoples'
Democratic Party (PDP).
However,
the ideals which Tinubu joined forces with other pro-democracy fighters
to fight that Nigerians enjoyed through to 2015 is fast being eroded
from Nigeria's political firmament while tyranny has staged a come-back
and rearing its ugly head on the ascending order of magnitude and this, I
dare say, cuts across every facet of our national life.
For
starters, it is not in dispute that aspiring dictators give away their
intentions by an evident desire to destroy opponents with hate concealed
in their hearts, they move on to destroy every perceived opponent and
we see this at play in President Buhari whose ways and actions reek of
disdain for a particular tribe in our geo-polity. He has demonstrated
this in so many ways during his first appearance on the Nigeria's
political scene that saw the inceration of many politicians of southern
extraction while their counterparts of northern extraction were detained
in cosy house arrest calling to mind the detention of Alex Ekweme in
Kiriki Maximum Security Prisons while President Shehu Shagari was
detained in a cosy apartment in highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos. Even when
others were released they never stayed alive healthy before going the
way of all flesh. Prof. Alli went blind in prison and died afterward
after his release.
With
Buhari's obnoxious Decree Number 4 at the period under sad review, many
people were detained without trial with trumped up charges, some of
them developed ailments while in detention which some of them later
succumbed to in the long run. Today, however, we see a similar scenario
unfolding with flagrant abuse of court order that is again attracting
the attention of the international community.
The
detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the indigenous People of Biafra
(IPOB) is a case in point. The UN and AU Chater allows for
self-determination when an ethnic nationality no longer feels
comfortable within a union or when it has become an endangered species
within a polity. As things stand, there is every pointer to that fact
that the Igbos who are the second largest ethnic group in Nigeriaare
increasingly becoming an endangered species which informed the interest
and desire for the ongoing separatist feelings and aspirations.
Buhari
has gravely erred by his refusal to heed the voice of reason and
release the illegally detained IPOB leader whose international profile
keeps rising astronomically. Nnamdi Kanu was hitherto unknown until his
arrest and detention thereby making him not only the Moses but the
Biblical Joshua of our time. The Rubicon is crossed, and there is no
turning back!
Buhari's
boundless ambition to bestride Nigerian political world like a colossus
has been demonstrated in so many ways. In the gubernatorial elections
that saw the emergence of Edo and Ondo States' Governor and
Governor-elect respectively, he played a major role to ensure his
party's victory by a stand-by electoral umpire doing his bidding. It is a
thousand wonder that in spite of the gross electoral malpractices and
injustice against other parties' flagbearers, we saw him on TV
celebrating their 'victory' when the process that saw their emergence is
highly questionable. His burning desire is to impose a one-party rule
upon the country to enable him rule Nigeria with a caprice and many of
his uninformed apologists appeared to have lost sight of the dangers
inherent in the absence of a robust opposition in place.
A
similar scenario is again unfolding in Rivers days after the
legislative rerun elections through the instrumentality of his
Transportation Minister - a surrogate for federal authority - who says
it is either his will to forcefully impose his wish on the state
prevails or there will be no Rivers State .
As
it is today, the economy is not showing any clinical sign of recovery,
far from that it has remained comatose and when you demand explanation,
you are told, it was destroyed 16 years ago but when the party that
allegedly destroyed it held sway, Nigerians were still able to feed
amidst a great deal of mirco-economic stability. But today the
ineptitude brazenly displayed by the regime in Abuja has changed the
tide.
Nigeria
has never been this polarized along ethnic and religious lines while
Buhari's predecessors were in charge. Today, some tribes or ethnic
groups have marvelously become endangered species with an unprecedented
rise in killings and extra-judicial murders by a Nazified Nigerian army
and police, calling to mind the extra-judicial killing of over 150
pro-Biafran agitators by the Nigerian army in Aba , Abia State , and
others. Armed banditry orchestrated by his kinsmen killing Nigerians in
hundreds is another serious issue to contend with.
The
courts receive superior orders from Aso Rock and any defiance is
treated as insubordination amid the quest for emergency powers that was
turned down a couple of months ago by the upper legislative chamber.
Only
yesterday, the Vice President made a U-turn and for the first time
ever, spoke the truth Nigerians ever longed to hear. He said 'No quick
fix to economic recession' but a day before Buhari lied to Nigerians
that the current recession will be over in the ensuing year. Goodness
knows how feasible is this under the existing circumstances because in
this part of the Old World where I am -which is a member of the
prestigious G-7 and the third biggest and advanced economy in the EU has
been battling their economic problem for over a decade now after
initially setting a 5-year recovery plan which, however, suffered
setbacks. They had to extend it by another 5 years. So I wonder where
the healing mechanisms are to revitalize the ailing economy - he
probably hopes to source the therapy from his mine of inexhaustible
lies.
The
reason readily adduced by Buhari is the dwindling revenue from oil
sales and disruptions by militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Be that
as it may, Nigeria has never produced less than one million barrels per
day and oil has never sold for less than $20 since he took over the
reins of power from former President Jonathan.
In
a recent video footage that went viral a few months ago, I was stunned
in no small measure by Al Mustapha's revelations that oil sold for $7
per barrel when Abacha was Nigeria 's Head of State. In a similar vein,
Prof. Charles Soludo, former Governor of Central Bank told a beleaguered
nation a few months ago in a piece published by the Nigerian Tribune
that oil sold for $30 while he was in charge of the nation's apex bank
and at that price, with Obasanjo's economic team, they were able to pay
off Nigeria's foreign debts and saved well over 60 billion dollars. Oil
has never sold for less than 20 dollars and Nigeria 's production output
has never fallen below one million in spite of the militancy. So what
is he telling Nigerians especially his apologists and the gullible ones
amongst them? Former President Olusegun Obasanjo reminded him the other
day of the dire need to assemble a good economic team irrespective of
where they come from Nigeria so also did the erudite Emir of Kano,
Muhammadu Sanusi but this advice has again fallen on deaf ears.
Buhari
readily tells everyone he is fighting corruption but does fighting
corruption means extending a death warrant to the citizenry? Advanced
nations here in this part of the Old World where I have sojourned for
over 2 decades still fight corruption to this day but that does not deny
its nationals and non-nationals alike the basic necessities of life. No
wealth has been created since he assumed power but what we have been
seeing is a massive depletion of Nigeria 's foreign reserves from over
$40bn handed him by the immediate past administration to $26bn which has
immeasurably reduced Nigeria to a beggarly existence. So where has over
$14bn disappeared to in less than 19 calendar months?
With
these problems staring Nigerians ominously in the face, no one will
ever think of voting for any of the party's candidates but we hear them
'winning' elections, a pointer to fact that the incompetent governing
party will 'lead' Nigeria beyond 2019 so long as Buhari is in charge
calling Edo and Ondo States' gubernatorial elections to mind. Defection
to the governing party has become the other of the day for fear of being
prosecuted and persecuted which is typical of totalitarian regimes. The
message to all is clear, like in Nazi Germany, it is you either do
Buhari's bidding or face persecution and this places Nigeria's nascent
democracy in a grave danger.
In
the not too distant past, I read a piece in one of the Nigerian dailies
that Tinubu should be paid off in order to make Nigeria 's seat of
power a northern presidency. I was stunned in no small measure and
events playing out today speak volumes for why his candidates were edged
out on the scheme of things and filled with a cast of neophyte actors.
I
am very sure what Nigerians pass through today - frustration, hunger,
suicides and others - is not the change Tinubu fought for when he
consented to a merger that removed the PDP from power. Other states fell
for that plan having seen the developmental strides in Lagos which they
wish to see replicated in their states but the men that would have
transformed or done the job to improve on where the former party left
Nigeria where thrown out in ministerial selection thus making Tinubu fly
like an ordinary pitch.
The
resultant effect of all that today is frustration in the land thus
making the citizenry to long for a return to PDP days when they had food
to eat aplenty. Buhari boundless ambition to dominate Nigeria 's
political scene has divided Nigeria along religious and ethnic lines. He
has long commenced Tinubu's replacement. That is why he is retaining
the services of surrogates like Fashola, Fayemi and others to wind his
way into the southwest and fondly enough these men who were hitherto
unknown think they could step into Tinubu's shoes, take political
control of the southwest and deliver the votes to Buhari in 2019. There
is no denying the fact these men and their political associates are
morally bound to fail.
Among
the cheap lies that he has often told is about Nigeria 's
counter-insurgency operations in the northeast. He did tell the whole
world that the immediate past administration did not buy any weapon.
Could Nigerians ask him who and from where he got the weapons that are
being used to prosecute the ongoing war against the insurgents? Because
you know as well as I know that no weapon has been bought since he came
to power about two years ago. Can anyone contest this? Again, this is
another lie from the fiery pit of hell!
Nigerians
have now made a swift volte face as his policies continue to fail
woefully and marvelously yet you see him still tapping from his mine of
inexhaustible lies by promising the moon. The hunger and starvation in
the land have beclouded Nigerians' sense of reasoning so much so that
they exchange their voting power for paltry sums of money. This is a
crying shame!
And
this is what they still hope to do to in 2019 because nothing will
change but more hardship and the infamous tradition of vote-buying that
has become institutionalized will return Buhari to power in 2019 while
dissenting voices will be ruthlessly crushed. This is as sure as fate
except Tinubu says 'No' in his capacity as the beautiful bride
considering his firm grip on the southwest.
Tinubu
has no option but to heed the agonizing cries of millions of Nigerians
by casting partisanship overboard, come to their rescue like he did in
the NADECO days as Nigeria has again been entangled in another web of a
despot. He has, doubtless, become the most important political figure in
the whole of southern Nigeria with the wherewithal to effect the true
change of which Nigerians urgently stand in need.
*Iyoha
John Darlington, a social activist, political analysts, political
analyst and public commentator on national and global issues wrote from
Turin , Italy .
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