Today we have every cause to believe that Nigeria abounds in former
leaders whose stars have set in our political firmament as a result of
progressive brain degeneration. It is not in dispute that they failed at
every turn during their tenure to perpetuate themselves in power. Our
democracy though only about 15 years old has groomed reformers and our
honourable men in the legislative assemblies have proved to the rest of
the world that such political gimmick can not work in Africa’s biggest
democracy thus such men who think they are larger than life General
Olusegun Obasanjo’s whims and caprices, for instance, was resisted at the
time and he had no option but to relinquish his hold on power.
We had similar cases in the not too distant past before the return to
civil democratic rule in 1999. At this period under review, Nigeria under
the self-styled evil genius General Ibrahim Babangida employed every
antic to continue in power long after he promised to return power to an
elected civilian government but he could not stand the heat after the
historic annulment of the fairest and freest election ever held in
Nigeria’s political history. We were all living witnesses to the outrage
that swept across the country particularly in the south. As luck would
have it he had to unavoidably step aside and handed over the reigns of
power to an Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan whose
tenure was short-lived. The ING was sacked by the then defence minister
General Sani Abacha the dark-goggled dictator who ruled Nigeria until he
died with his boots on.
Although that late military ruler ruled over Nigeria with an iron hand he
goes down in history as one leader under whose regime Nigeria achieved
peace and great macroeconomic stability. That is not to say he had not his
own failures. He did try to continue in office driven by a consuming
ambition to transform himself into a civilian president fortunately or
unfortunately this did not see the light of the day. Be that as it may,
African leaders’ sit-tight syndrome is destroying the continent with
political gladiators like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Paul Biya Of
Cameroon, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Francois Bozize of Central African
Republic, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and a host of others.
Tremendously worrisome is former President Olusegun Obasanjo who wants to
return or be in the corridors of power when it is very obvious that his
regime was nothing but one vast empire of corruption.
There is a proverb among the Esan people of Nigeria that says ”an elder
who is well-respected begins to lose it drastically as he further puts on
airs” and this, of course, occurs when senile dementia sets in. This is
exactly what is happening to today that has been causing the present
administration under president Jonathan agonising distraction amid the
jihadist insurgency ravaging the northeastern flank of the country. Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo – a sentimental irrelevance is increasingly
making himself an object of ridicule by being uncompromisingly
antagonistic to traditional morality being exhibited by President Jonathan
and everyone has begun to notice it. It is high time he refrained from
this if he is ever to be taken seriously again as an elder statesman.
The former President has made a lot of provocative statements lately which
have further heated up the polity to warrant his arrest, detention and
prosecution. Obasanjo, during his book launch in London last week,
severely attacked President Jonathan over election postponement and
alleged that the latter is ‘engaged in a do-or-die politics’, an
allegation he could never substantiate knowing full well the circumstances
that necessitated it. The former Nigerian leader was also quoted as saying
that President Jonathan is ”inviting a military coup” Alas, I wonder why
some peoples’ memory could be so short. Has he forgotten in a flash this
was one of the reasons he was arrested and gaoled by the late dictator
General Sani Abacha and released by a twist of fate shortly before he was
to be executed? We should not feign ignorance of what was to happen at the
time and had Sani Abacha succeeded in eliminating him, I am doubly sure
Heavens would not have fallen and the same ‘crime’ he probably committed
then is still being re-enacted thereby giving birth to reasons to repeat
what happened to him in the dark days of the above-named.
Let us make a brief comparative analysis of the two administrations. Under
President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigerian service infrastructures like
highways suffered a woeful neglect and the billions of naira earmarked for
roads construction, rehabilitation and maintenance could not be accounted
for. The east-west corridor running from Benin to Shagamu was a death
trap, in fact, the road was so bad that motoring on that highway could
force a pregnant woman to involuntary abortion. But Jonathan’s
administration has so changed things for the better that driving on that
road today is such a pleasant experience.
In the area of power distribution, President Olusegun Obasanjo we were
told spent a whopping $16bn which did not yield any fruitful dividend but
Jonathan’s administration corrected all that and this has brought about
improved power supply in Nigeria. Nigeria under the former used to be a
net importer of food whose consequent high import bill had the effect of
depleting our foreign reserves but today following the elimination of
middlemen in the sale and distribution of fertilizers Nigeria has been
transformed into an agro-based economy with many countries across the
world choosing to tap from President Jonathan wizardry and experience in
the transformation he has brought to the agricultural sector that would
doubtless turn Nigeria to a frontline food exporting nation in the coming
years.
The railway sector which had become moribund under his predecessors was
resuscitated and today over five million passengers are being ferried
across the country with new rail tracks being laid to connect all parts of
the country. Was Obasanjo able to do this while in power? Hence on what
basis are his frequent diatribes against a man who is well-intentioned
and bent on repositioning Nigeria on the path of socio-economic
development?
The problem with the ruling People’s Democratic Party today in Nigeria was
caused byJonathan’s predecessors who did nothing to provide service
infrastructures and others to develop the country. That is why a good
number of people are clamouring for a change, but the change they need
from the men on the side of the table is being done conscientiously by the
indefatigable President Jonathan under whose regime Nigeria rose to become
Africa’s largest economy and the third fastest growing economy in the
world. It is not in dispute that education is the best legacy you can give
to your child and in line with this philosophy President Jonathan has
built over 12 tertiary institutions particularly in the northern part of
the country and a good number of alma ji rin schools to take care of the
educational needs of the socially deprived children in the core Muslim
north – these were children that were written off as street urchins and
sometimes used for money rituals by their taskmasters in the north. Were
these children not there when Obasanjo was the President of Nigeria? I ask
yet again on what basis would he not let President Jonathan be? Why is he
causing him so much distraction when he himself ran a failed government, a
government that brought no development, a government that earned Nigeria
nothing. Lucky Igbinedion’s abysmal failure cost the ruling party Edo
State under him and I applaud Jonathan’s firm resolve to part ways with
him and focus on regenerating Nigeria from the prodigal years of the old
PDP misrule.
Today I am sure everyone is aware that the trouble makers in the ruling
PDP who have sunk the ship of state and defected to the opposition are
worse than villains among whom are Abubakar Atiku and a host of others.
How many universities did Obasanjo and Atiku build for Nigerians while
they were in power? But today they are proud owners of universities
located in their respective states of origin. However, I stand firm in my
conviction that the new PDP is made up of civilized people whose
intentions are to regenerate Nigeria and this, in fact, has started
yielding tangible results calling to mind Jonathan’s remarkable
achievements which are no more news to one and all. Obasanjo and his cabal
have become holy terrors and it is high time they are told to let the
sleeping dogs lie.
Iyoha John Darlington, aka Lington Donovan, a social activist, political
analyst and public commentator on national and global issues writes from
Turin, Italy.
Email: jamestmichael2003@yahoo.com