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I will be lying if I say that it is a pleasure for me to be here today to join in your organization's celebration of our nation's 40th anniversary of independence. The truth is that every anniversary of Nigerian independence gives me great sorrow in recalling a sad tale of missed opportunities. Forty years ago, I was a participant in a ceremony that marked the beginning of Nigeria's sovereignty as a nation-state. As a member of the Boys Scouts at St. Stephen's Anglican School, Ora, Igbomina, in the then Western Region, I was one of four youngsters who hoisted the Nigerian flag, for the first time, on a tall bamboo pole in front of the Ora Town Hall on October 1, 1960. Weeks before that historic day, we had been taught that beginning from October 1, we would no longer sing K'Olorun doba si (i.e., God, save the Queen). Rather, we had a new three-stanza anthem whose lyrics we had learned in English and Yoruba. With eyes fixed on the newly hoisted flag, it was with youthful gusto and patriotic zeal that we proudly sang:
Nigeria, a ki o (Nigeria, we hail thee)
In 1960, Independence Day held great promise for us all. As the second stanza of our then national anthem proclaimed, we had hoped that "our flag shall be a symbol that truth and justice reign." Unfortunately, a tiny minority among us hijacked our nation's promissory note. This cabal of military locusts and parasitic politicians turned the promise into a nightmare for the rest of us. The prosperity we envisioned forty years ago has evaporated like mist. The bright stars that lit the Nigerian firmament in 1960 remain eclipsed by the hideous umbra of profligate banditry as Nigeria engages in Forbacky dances. You may wonder what sort of dance Forbacky is. Forbacky, my first contribution to the lexicon of the English language is a combination and contraction of two antithetical words- "forward" and "backward." When a person dances forward and backward, expending lots of energy but ending at the exact spot from where he started, that is Forbacky dance! It is a dance with plenty of motions but little or no direction- a perfect depiction of the tragedy of movement without progress. You might also have asked yourself: "How could a dance foretell the destiny of a nation?" The answer is simple. A dance is rarely an involuntary neuromuscular activity. Rather, it is the physical and deliberate display of emotion in response to some pleasure. Because dancing is a voluntary, cerebral activity, a man can be defined in part, by the occasions that induce him to dance. Likewise, the direction of a society can be assessed by the occasions that induce its leaders to act, or in this context, to dance. Thus, the inspiration for the title of my talk today is Nigeria's man of the hour- His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo. According to newspaper reports, our President has been in a dancing mood in recent times. Not too long ago, President Obasanjo and the Honorable Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, former Senate President, danced with each other's spouse at the opening of the official residence of the Senate President. I imagined that the four of them danced forward and backwards, gyrating their bellies, while sycophantic lyrics boomed in flattery of these political juggernauts whom the late Dr. Kingsley Mbadiwe would have called "men of timber and caliber." In attendance at this dim-witted cornucopia of prodigality in which the scarce resources of a poor nation were being imprudently wasted were the usual bevy of parasitic courtiers, expert bootlickers and professional yes-men and women- all exhibiting their teeth in the semi-drunken guffaws of privilege run amuck! Not too long after that, according to newspaper reports, our President went into the Chapel at the Presidential Villa, formerly known as Aso Rock and again danced to the cheers of his friends and staff. This time, the dance was prompted by the removal from office of the very man whose wife he danced with a few days earlier! What then can we learn from the Forbacky dances of our President? Plenty! When the leaders of our Executive and Legislative arms of government created a dance jamboree to "open" a house, they were hardheartedly flaunting obscene luxury in a desert of grueling want. For over eleven years now, I have lived in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For many of these years, one of our neighbors was Rick Santorum, a young man who was elected to the United States Senate six years ago. Some of Santorum's supporters were disappointed when a few years ago, Rick sold his house and moved his family to Virginia. Questioned on the rationale for not maintaining his residence in Mount Lebanon, Santorum explained that he was not rich enough to afford two houses. In order to buy a house in Virginia or anywhere near Washington D.C., he had to sell his house in Mount Lebanon. If only Santorum had been elected into the Senate of Nigeria rather than that of the United States of America. In Nigeria, the Senate would have appropriated enormous sums of money to build residences for Santorum, his colleagues and their staff. In addition, senators would have awarded themselves obscene fringe benefits such as 800 percent of their annual salary as furniture allowance! And in doing that, they would have been following in the footsteps of our self-proclaimed anti-corruption President who gave each member of his Cabinet over 3 million naira as furniture allowance! But of course, Santorum lives in a country where power means service not jobbery; privilege denotes responsibility rather than graft. We may recall that in Santorum's country, Senator Dole served as Senate President while he and his wife, Elizabeth Dole, a member of President Reagan's Cabinet, lived in a two-bedroom flat in the Watergate Apartment complex in Washington D.C. Incidentally, Santorum and Dole are citizens of the richest nation in human history. In Nigeria, monkeys work and baboons chop! And so our President danced even as our treasury hemorrhaged because our Senators wasted little time in metamorphosing into "Stealators." By proxy, the Ministers had meanwhile been corrupted into "Sinisters". But as we say back home, "No be them fault!" If Nigerian Senators and cabinet members are entitled to over 500 percent of their annual salary as furniture allowance, so should all Nigerians working in the public service. Why have the Nigerian workers been so slow in demanding similar prorated fringe benefits? If billionaire Theophilus Danjuma, multimillionaire Tony Anenih and successful lawyer Bola Ige needed 500 percent of their salary as furniture allowance, could a very easy case not be made for every worker in the Public Service? Benefits good for the geese should be equally good for the ganders; if it was okay for ministers and senators to enjoy "good" allowances, it should be okay for the workers to do the same. Why, therefore, are Nigerian workers so reticent in the face of the daylight roguery pervading contemporary Nigeria? Does anyone doubt that the "Stealators" and "Sinisters" who now have a field day pillaging the Nigerian treasury will continue to do so? In any case, our ancestors put it quite well: "He who refuses to slap a buffoon would never have another face to slap." Without question, many Nigerian politicians perceive and treat the Nigerian masses as mere buffoons to be cheated and slapped. The worst tragedy of the on-going plunder of the Nigerian treasury is not that professional kleptocrats are still parading the corridors of power in our nation. Our worst tragedy is the cadaverous unconcern of the Nigerian citizenry in the wake of massive corruption and wanton abuses of office. Not too long ago, the murderous ruthlessness of Sani Abacha was the excuse that some offered for the widespread banal inaction and reprehensible apathy that impeded a people's revolt against the accursed regime of a proven despot and his cohort of Satanic accomplices. Is that excuse still tenable? When any arrangement, whether military or civilian, denigrates the lives of a people to a fragment of hell, should they not wake up, organize and revolt against it? On May 29, 1999, Nigeria commenced another appointment with destiny. Destiny, of course, is never a port of history immutably preordained by the gods. Rather, it is the ultimate harvest of the unremittingly linked cascade of human thoughts, beliefs, words, actions, habits and character. Hence, we can easily peep into the future and glimpse at the destiny of Nigeria. Nations, like individuals, must sleep on whatever bed they have laid. We had hoped that under the leadership of President Obasanjo, Nigeria would promptly begin to lay a new bed- one that will be free of blood-sucking bedbugs and pestiferous lice masquerading as leaders and statesmen. Yes, Nigeria danced forward on May 29, 1999 when after years of pernicious military dictatorships, Chief Obasanjo was inaugurated as civilian President. But before we could say Kenule Saro-wiwa, Nigeria had danced backwards when Obasanjo recycled into the corridor of power the very despicable cast of characters- expert kleptocrats, professional sycophants, reprobate autocrats, pestiferous parasites and internal colonialists cum predatory marauders who steadfastly aided Babangida and Abacha in the ruination of our motherland. Forbacky dances! Having inhaled the chloroform of complacency with its anesthetizing effect, many of us revel in the malaise of misplaced optimism. In sad reality, the prognosis for Nigeria is very, very, bad. Nothing portends Nigeria's precarious destiny better than the forbacky dances of the last 16 months. Three years ago, Nigerian prodemocracy groups and activists flooded the Commonwealth Conference in Edinburg Scotland in a determined effort to derail the Satanic ambition of Sani Abacha. Also present at that conference were the errand boys of Sani Abacha. One of them, Chief Tony Anenih, constantly spewed threats at those who dared to challenge the wishes of his master. Today, he is not only a senior member of Obasanjo's cabinet, he is among Obasanjo's closest confidants! Any wonder then, that Obasanjo's government remains saddled by endless avoidable blunders! Forbacky dance! Nigeria danced forward when Obasanjo asserted that his highest loyalty would be to the Nigerian people. But before we could say Alfred Rewane, Nigeria was dancing backwards as it became clear that Obasanjo is still a hostage of the retired generals and their civilian surrogates who sponsored his candidacy. The repulsive appointment of the very people that systematically ruined our educational system as the Chancellors of our premier Universities spoke volumes. Those who remember that Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Obasanjo's Minister of Education, had been Babangida's lackey at MAMSER should not have been surprised at all. Indeed, the surprise should be that Babangida's wife (alias Mamangida) was excluded from the list of Chancellors! Who knows, our Minister of Education might soon rectify this omission. We have to await his expression of Nigeria's gratitude to Her Excellency, Mamangida, for her contributions to Nigerian womanhood through her "Better Life for Women" charades. Whatever reward is good for the boss might be just as good for the boss's wife. But let us leave the ridiculous for the sublime. Nigeria danced forward when President Obasanjo announced his crusade against corruption as part of the rebirth of our nation. Jesus spoke of the difficulty of a camel passing through the needle's eye. Of course, Jesus was not a Nigerian! Otherwise, He would have known that in Nigeria, an elephant, even if it carries a hippopotamus on its back, will easily pass through the needle's eye! No wonder, before we could say Kudirat Abiola, Nigeria was already dancing backwards because Obasanjo's vision of rebirth allows for giant camels of corruption to easily pass through the needle's eye of justice! Take the clear-cut case of Buhari, former Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. The Office of the President asserted that the Buhari scandal was a matter solely for the legislative arm of government to investigate. It is difficult to find a graver dereliction of duty in the guise of maintaining the separation of the responsibilities of the different arms of government. The truth is that whereas the Legislature and Judiciary, respectively, make and interpret the law, it is the Executive that is charged with the enforcement of laws and constitutional provisions. Does the Police Force, an arm of the Executive, have a higher duty than the investigation of alleged violations of the law? Likewise, does the Ministry of Justice have a higher calling than ensuring the faithful prosecution of those who break the law? Yes, Nigeria danced backwards when our President reneged so soon on his much-publicized promise that there shall be no sacred cows in his war against corruption. The Buhari scandal was an acid test for the seriousness of Nigerians and our Federal Government to create a nation free of the autolysis of corruption and the putrefaction of inaction which, for so long, had debilitated our nation. Alas! A golden opportunity to sanitize our polity and set lofty standards for our country's political leadership was frittered via subterranean compromises by the Obasanjo Government. No wonder, the apostles of impudent criminality recently attempted to resurrect Buhari as Speaker of the Federal House. Even for Nigeria, it was an embarrassingly crude step in the forbacky dance of political decadence! Nigeria danced forward when President Obasanjo promised to give high priority to the sinfully neglected Delta region of Nigeria and its untold environmental degradations. But before we could say Moshood Abiola, Nigeria was dancing backwards as our military inflicted Odi with carnage and genocide. Today, the Delta region of Nigeria remains a curse on Nigeria. If there is God, and I very fervently believe that there is God, Nigeria will neither prosper nor know peace until the injustices done to the Niger Delta are redressed. It is easy to list, ad infinitum, the egregious lapses - what I call forbacky dances - of the Obasanjo government. Without question, we have witnessed in the last sixteen months a perennial catalogue of grave errors of commission and egregious blunders of omission by the Obasanjo government. However, egregious as these lapses are, they are not Nigeria's greatest problems. Rather, if we, Nigerians, want to know our greatest problems, all we need to do is stare at a mirror. As William Shakespeare wrote, "the fault, dear Brutus is not in our stars but in ourselves, that we are underlings." We take humiliations in a masterly manner from year to year. Inexpedient as it may be, we carry our lives in crushing reticence and in the supreme contentment of waiting. Perennially, we waddle in the cesspool of half-truth and outright falsehood about how to terminate our pathology of paralysis. Because these fallacies and falsehoods have crippled us for far too long, I must debunk five of them although my doing so comes with the risk of being misunderstood. It is a risk I soberly but gladly now take.
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