January 8, 2002
Obasanjo is a liar. He is a wily old man. He should just respect his age and tell the Nigerian people the truth about what happened. He should not try to rope me in because anyone who has had contact with me knows that I am not a wily character. Obj knows that the Nigerian people are tired of his antics and like a drowning man he is seeking someone to drown with him.
Ghali Umar Na'Abba.
There are seasons to look for reason. This season has changed much in Nigeria since the beginning of 2002. Usually between Christmas and New Year legislators go on recess to usher in a new era at their constituencies. But not this year. Not for the ones in Abuja at least. Why a top government functionary and party stalwart would describe his president with the uncharitable words above was good reason to put off the party.
To the Nigerian psyche, this introduced an absolute quagmire to begin the season with. The president we once considered to be the chief crusader for transparency was called a chief pretender. We counted on him to build the ballance between the civil populace and the army, instead he led the army to invade Tivland, Igboland, the Nigerdelta and would have invaded Yorubaland as well. We waited for him to usher in a new order but he kept faith with the old settlement tactic. We made him the custodian of moral authority but his moral decadence and insensitivity to our plight keeps betraying him.
Instead of being the guardian of human rights and free speech, he alligns with advocates of murky logic like Senator Jonathan Silas Zwingina and his boss Anyim Pius Anyim. Our warden of justice has clearly become our adversary, and his allegiance to the military antics has become too provoking.
It would have taken us an entire lifetime to realise all these but for the straw that broke the camel's back - The Electoral Act - the controversial clause 80(1) - which brought relations between the president and the Speaker of the House of Reps to a fork. Ghali-Umar Na'abba was blamed by Obasanjo for the infamous act, and was left with the following options - to bear Obasanjo's cross or face the president's wrath.
But Ghali chose the path of honour, thus bringing his jolly ride with the president to its final bus stop. Ghali is, as the president will soon realise, unlike the Clerk of the House Alhaji Salim. Salim is the type of civil-servant that Nigeria does not want. An adult who consents to doing the wrong thing, for whatever reasons, does not belong in our national political life as it is. Salim should understand that what is not worth dying for is not worth living for either. Ghali is also not like his predecessor Buhari.
Obj did not seem to realise that the change of baton at the House of Reps, ousting the past leadership which was afflicted by a chronic limitation of scope in its thinking, has ushered in a new day. Even if Ghali comes from Kano as well, there are two things that Obj should have noted; Ghali is in the mold of the Aminu Kanos and Rimis, and does not suffer fools gladly. He has a sound education accompanied by a sound mind and a sound vision for Nigeria. He displayed so much at the 40th anniversary of Nigeria where he showed his clarity of vision, saying that, "if we have to move forward, we have to reinvent government. We have to free the policy making process from the structures that exclude bright young people from government..." This is perhaps why he refered to Obasanjo's age in his radio interview.
One would wonder in retrospect why Obj decided to rope in Ghali instead of Anyim Pius Anyim, the Speaker of the senate, who so far as we know, is the culprit. But we do not have to wonder too far. Since Ghali assumed leadership of the House, the senate had had to polish its act. At a point the senate was even downgraded when compared to the House, at least in the public eye. Even today, one would not totally absolve the senate of being the "chop-chop" arm of the legislature. Well, not with its present leadership and its diabolical conduct.
Only few days earlier the Senate President had declared that the national assembly had "done its best" to fashion out what is now known to be the "doctored"electoral act. Not only that, he had gathered top editors to intimidate them with his sumo wrestler frame, raining abuses on them in a language unbecoming of a politician of his status. By the end of the day his admonishment, many concluded, could only have come out of a brain as weightless as a protozoan. His size did intimidate Alhaji Salim into acting unreasonably however, but his reasoning did not scare our editors. Now he has to eat his words and soon may even face impeachment.
From his actions, it is obvious that, to paraphrase Lincoln, Nigeria will little note nor long remember Anyim. He is the kind of person that the military uses to perpetuate its dictatorships. Some people may argue that he acted to protect his office, but so did all military appointees. Even if one wanted to protect his office there are certain actions that should be off-limits because some actions erode ones integrity, a word that is obviously missing from Anyim's dictionary.
In dealing with their transgressions, we trap the nation in moral confusion. Many people think that a severe action against the culprits will derail our nascent democracy. I doubt. At this material time the military knows that it is an outmoded option. One Speaker of the House of Reps has fallen by the wayside, two senate leaders have been impeached and the heavens did not fall, therefore the fall from grace to grass of one more or even the president himself will only strengthen our democracy rather than weaken it. I cannot think of any event in recent Nigerian history which has whipped up so much genuine public disgust.
We may not have heard the last of such, because not everyone involved has told the whole truth about what they know. This is also simply because Nigerians are used to getting away with deceit. Even if they don't get away with it, public disgust, anger and repudiation lasts only a few weeks. At the most months. But if we do not nip every unconstitutional misdemeanour in the bud now, it may be too late. Future offenders may, for want of reason, cite earlier forgiven misdemeanours as precedents and that is when our democracy will be in real danger. This is the season to draw the line.
Guides
Mr President, Dishonourable Speaker