FEATURE ARTICLE

advertisement

Wumione@AOL.com New York, NY, USA

THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN!

elieve it or not the countdown for Nigeria to unravel and to eventually break up has already begun. I hate to sound like an alarmist here, but someone has to be willing to play that role with the hope of saving the country, if at all possible. The 2003 Elections and the very shoddy arrangement for it by the OBJ administration is going to quicken the pace of the country's break-up, I must add. The fool-hardy refusal of OBJ to allow the national conference to take place, at the nick of time, should be seen as a blunder of alarming proportion.

The right time for the national conference is now, while we all still have some reservoir of goodwill for one another. Failure on the part of OBJ to read the hand writing on the wall, would have turned a full circle, leaving in its wake, more mutual distrust and aparthy that would finally nail the coffin of our erstwhile desire to remain a one peaceful, united and vibrant country under God. What we have witnessed from the Biafran War from 1967 to 1970, would be nothing, but a storm in a tea cup, compared to what is going to happen, if no step is taken now to arrest this national drift into chaos and hopelessness.

When Nigeria got her independence in 1960, Nigeria held so much promise to all or most of her citizenry. 42 years later, there is little or nothing to hope for from our so much publicized union as a country. The Nation has moved from one crisis to another. Very few can remember how many Constitutions we have had, and how many have been abrogated, suspended and re-crafted by military dictators claiming to be saviors of our country. The cliche “Fellow Nigerians” which ought to be a clarion call for action to empower and galvanize our country, has become the signature tune for coup plotters led by individuals from one particular zone of Nigeria. They have used those coups to intimidate the people, and to undermine impoverish, and scuttle Nigeria’s development and progress as a leader in Africa, and one of the giants to reckon with in the committee of Nations around the world.

Insecurity which was the least of our worries when we set out as a nation under the British, has now become a permanent nightmare. Political assassination, daylight robbery and looting of the treasury at both the Federal, State and Local Government levels is now common place.Tthe nation has clearly lost her sense of direction as Governors who should have been indicted and prosecuted, hold on to power, and wish to serve a second term because our Constitution says nothing can touch them until they are out of office.

If I were a corrupt Governor and I am over 70 years old in Nigeria, I would certainly wish to die in office, and leave all my loot in office to my family just like Abacha has done. Say what you like, you can expect Mohammed Abacha to, pretty soon, move to the Governor's mansion in Kano, because he has all the money he could ever need to become Governor or Head of State of Nigeria regardless of his father's record in office. Only a mad person would wish a country with that kind of profile to survive. I don't know about you. It is my view that such a country does not deserve to survive.

Nigeria has tried the Westminster Parliamentary system to no avail. We have tried military dictatorship for close to 34 or more years out of our 42 years of Independence. We are now trying the American Presidential system.We have plagiarized some portions of the Great American Constitution, starting the preamble to our own Constitution by fraudulently using the three magic words “We the People” without understanding the true meaning and import of those words coined by the great Thomas Jefferson of the United States. Jefferson, to his everlasting credit and glory, had crafted the first draft of what has now become the mother of all Constitutions in the free world, pushing the so called unwritten Constitution of Britain, based purely on convention, into a second position around the world, in terms of its originality and purity.

The 1999 Constitution, the instrument of Power in our country today, and many provisions of it, were clearly an imposition. It was crafted in secrecy and perfected in deceit and perfidy, stupidity and injustice by a dictatorial Government led by a nicompoop. Abacha’s ultimate goal and hidden agenda was perpetuating himself in office, and making sure that power remains for ever with the North at the expense of the South and the Minorities of Nigeria. He had seized power not to promote causes larger than his own selfish interest. He had viewed power as a veritable conduit pipe to limitless wealth for himself and those who had supported him. He had plundered Nigeria and had vandalized the Nation’s treasury to the tune of billions in hard currency, deposited in Bank accounts around the World, leaving our people in total penury. Much of his stolen loot had not come from the old Groundnut Pyramid-based economy of the late 50s and early 60s in Nigeria, because that had become history. He had done it by commandeering all the revenues coming from oil w hich has amounted to 95% of the total revenues of Nigeria.

The oil has been a natural endowment from God given to the Southern coastal belt of our country. Abacha had diverted this commonwealth that should have been used for the entire country into his own private pocket. He had decided to lock up in jail the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 Election, and had completely stolen the Nigerian mandate, leaving Abiola to later die in jail due, in large part, to contraptions engineered by his surviving collaborators in the Military. He had Saro Wiwa murdered in cold blood for trying to champion the cause of the Ogonis from whose land much of the oil and liquefied Gas that Nigeria depends upon, come from. The South owns the key to the economic survival of Nigeria, but the North holds the power, and is bent on using it to promote and develop the North in what some have described as day light robbery. The South could even have been richer had our Northern rulers allow Bitumen in Ondo state and other places to be exploited at the nick of time. Rather than do that, they are spending millions of Naira looking for minerals up North with little or no success. They are even suggesting that the River Niger be dredged to link up to the Atlantic ocean, regardless of the cost and the ecological devastation the plan may cause for the southern States around the Delta.

All these inequities and injustice have gone unchecked or have been largely ignored by the Federal Government even when the same Government is being led by a Southerner. The North has become so powerful that they now openly describe themselves as born to rule, and have openly admitted that ruling Nigeria is not just a privilege but a birth right, much to the displeasure of the South, who could do little to nothing about it as we speak. One of the respected voices from the North, Abdul Maliki, actually said so without mincing words. As education and civilization have permeated the North and the South, it is becoming increasingly difficult to silence the South. Biafra, an integral part of the South was silenced and taken out in 1970, only because the level of awareness of this injustice to our social fabric and psyche had not become a stark reality, like it is today. That level of awareness has drastically changed over the years as we compare how long the North has ruled us, and the dividends from that rule.

Biafra had failed in 1970, not because it was uncalled for. It had failed because it had occurred too soon, and the case for the challenge was very hard to make at the time. There was nothing like the Summit of the 17 Southern Governors at the time or the Committee of Patriots like the one we have today. Militant groups like Arewa, OPC, Egbesu and Bakassi Boys had not arrived at the scene. The East and the West are wiser today, and would react differently, if a similar situation were to arise now. The divide and rule strategy which had worked so well for the North during the Biafran War, and in other situations, had lost its steam and efficacy with time. Even though the Igbos and the Yorubas have never completely gotten over their petty jealousies and squabbles, as the two most educated major tribes of Nigeria, a consensus is now developing to a level that no interest group can stop now, no matter how much they try.

Most of our pre and post independence leaders who had fought with their blood and sweat to secure independence for our country, and therefore owed some allegiance to the geographical expression called Nigeria, are now totally off the scene, and resting in peace in their graves scattered around the country. Their surviving minions and surrogates no longer have or share the same kind of vision that charismatic and powerful leaders like Zik, Awo, Ahmadu Bello, and others like them have had for Nigeria. I don’t care what you have to say about these leaders, they were a cut above the rest in defending why Nigeria has to remain one. They had all preferred to rule Nigeria as one entity, and not just a fraction or an element of it. Awolowo had worked tirelessly to achieve that dream till he died in 1987.

Our younger leaders of today do not relish or have such illusion or day dreaming. They can now see and relate to countries like Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and much of the countries of Europe, and Canada, and have come to realized that you don’t necessarily have to be a giant nation like big for nothing Nigeria, before you can make a difference to the lives of your people. If the old Western Region under Awolowo knew half of what we know today, even without Oil or Gas or Bitumen, we would have been better served to carve out the old West as a country, rather than go on with one Nigeria. The Oduduwa Republic or Biafra would have been a lot more viable or be equally as viable as Singapore or any of the four tigers of the Pacific. Our people would have been better off, to tell you the truth.

To keep Nigeria one, if the truth must be told, is no longer a task that must be done to borrow a cliché from Dr Yakubu Gowon. As a matter of fact, Gowon’s Freudian slip in 1967 that “the basis for Nigeria unity does not exist” is much more true and relevant today than it was, when the statement was first made. Why? Because a lot of water has passed under the bridge. So much has happened to make that statement very prophetic, I might add.. What exactly has happened? Who could have believed in 1960 when the North was the very last of the three Regions to accept the notion of independence, that the same North with her educational and developmental disadvantages, was going to be the “fons et origo” of power and policy in our country once we became independent? The ready answer is nobody. Now take this, if you have never really thought about it before now. There is no question that the North has dominated, and still continue to dominate Nigeria.

Balewa started off as Prime Minister in a Parliamentary system presided over by the late Nnamdi Azikiwe as a ceremonial Governor General. Balewa lasted six years. Then came Aguiyi Ironsi who assumed leadership for less than seven months. Brigadier Ogundipe the next in rank to Ironsi who should normally have been the next in line, would not be allowed to succeed Ironsi because he was not a “born to rule” Then came Lieutenant Colonel Yakubu Gowon, no where near the rank of a Brigadier, but a blue blood, by reason of his Region of origin and religion. He had ruled for almost nine years. He was followed by Murtala Mohammed who gave Nigeria her best Government in all of our history. He had ruled for only 200 Days.

Then came Obasanjo who was picked for being a good boy of the North, to complete the term of his blue blood boss who was mercilessly assassinated by another “born to rule” Colonel Dimka. Obasanjo the great friend of the North who was more northerner than any Hausa man, I know, was allowed to rule for less than 3 years before handing over to Shehu Shagari in a carefully calibrated quid pro quo deal, that was delivered with precision and absolute loyalty, regardless of what the voters of Nigeria might have thought .

Shagari, a trusted and easy going descendant of the Great Uthman Dan Fodio himself, then took over and ruled for almost six years again or slightly less. Then came Buhari with his so-called spartan discipline and War against indiscipline. He only ruled for less than two years. Buhari was followed by Babangida the Tapa prince from Minna, who had ruled for more than eight years.

MKO Abiola a self-made Yoruba millionaire who was presumably elected President after years of military rule, was denied the privilege by his so-called bosom friend, the one and only evil genius himself, because he was never born to rule. Then came the caretaker Sonekan of UAC fame. He had lived in Aso Rock for only a few months because the born-to-rule clique had believed he was expendable, and could be easy to flush out with effortless ease.

General Abacha with General Diya in tow, had simply walked to the poor man’s oval office, demanded to know what he was doing sitting on Uthman Dan Fodio's throne, defrocked him there and then, took away his official car, and had some Sergeant drive him back to Abeokuta to start thanking God he could for ever claim to have ruled Nigeria, albeit, for a few months as a southerner. That was something to write home about.. Abacha had then stepped in for another five years with pomp and pageantry, before God or Allah had helped Nigeria to take him out as no one else could. Then came General Abdulsalam Abubakar for less than a year, before deciding to hand over to the only Yoruba man, that the North could find and trust at the material time. He was actually brought from the prison to taste the office for the second time in 20 years because the North had wanted it so. I leave you to form your own opinions and to draw your own conclusions from these facts of history told in a way to drive home the point I was making that the basis for Nigerian unity may have long passed its prime. Need I say more?

As I gather my thoughts for this article, I could not help but think of the old Soviet Union in the days of Bresnev and Constantine Korinenko and Mikhail Gorbachev and the old Yugoslavia in the days of the great Josep Tito. If the Soviet Union with her 15 Republics could unravel, if Yugoslavia could unravel, and break up before our own eyes, certainly Nigeria with much less visibility and prestige, can also unravel. It is only a question of time, if you ask me, because our union as now constituted, is fundamentally flawed, in all aspects. The cement binding us together, the 1999 Constitution is fundamentally flawed and must be abrogated, not by a flawed Senate and National Assembly that derives its power from the same Constitution as suggested by OBJ and his Northern king-makers. We are fighting corruption in low and high places, with our blood and sweat, and our Constitution is saying that outlaws who call themselves President and Vice President, Governors and their Deputies, cannot be prosecuted until they leave office, even if they have committed murder against the people they all claim to represent and govern. Help me somebody. I just don’t get the logic.

And our own President who is leading the crusade against Corruption is not seeing anything wrong with such a Constitution. I have never known Obasanjo to be fraudulent and corrupt, but his stand on this issue and the need to hold a National Sovereign Conference defies logic and common sense in my judgment. All Obasanjo is telling the corrupt Governors and officials in Nigeria including Senators and Legislators including counselors and chairmen of Local Government across the Nation, is to steal as much as they can, while they are in office. They might be compelled to return a fraction of the loot after they leave office like OBJ is asking Mohammed Abacha to do now. That is why Corruption is never going to be easy to fight in Nigeria, with this Constitution and with Obasanjo in power. That is one more reason I think Obasanjo and his Party do not deserve to be re-elected, if the election is going to be free and fair. As long as Corruption remains the bane of our society, there is little to hope for hoding on to one Nigeria . To your tents O Israel. To your tents O Nigeria. Amen

A Director of the World Bank currently visiting Nigeria, one Dr Mark D Tomlinson had delivered a report in which he had stated that 80% of revenues from oil and gas is used by Government officials across Nigeria to run the Government. This is happening in a country where the private sector is so powerless and minimal. He further advised Nigerians to try and make the Government leaner at all levels of Government including Local, State and Federal so as to free up funds to help more Nigerians. In other words our over-bloated structure at all the three levels of Government in Nigeria is consuming 80% of Nigeria’s revenues, and we say we are running a country. For this and the other reasons I have articulated in this article, I think Nigeria like the elephant ,that it is, is just going to crash under its own weight sooner than later. Those who still argue there is a lot to gain by the country remaining one, are probably day-dreaming or engaging in self delusion.

A country that is totally failing in her responsibilities to the corporate interest of the Governed does not deserve to survive. We deceive ourselves too much in everything. Have you ever seen or heard of a flying elephant? Come to Nigeria if you want to see one. The old logo of the defunct Nigerian Airways shows an elephant with wings. If you don’t see that as a metaphor for how we do things in Nigeria, you, sure, need to think again. Those who chose the flying elephant for the logo of the Nigerian Airways were thinking more of a satire for Nigeria, than promoting the interest of a vibrant Airline. Of course the flying elephant has since crashed. The Nigerian Airways as we know it, has been dead and buried just like the edifice called Nigeria may one day unravel and break up without anybody shedding tears

Now don’t get me wrong. This article may lose its balance and objectivity if I leave anybody with the impression that nothing good at all has come from the 1914 amalgamation that had created Nigeria. No, I wont say that There has been a few silver lining in the Nigeria cloud. The only time anyone is ever proud to be a Nigerian is when we win big in sports, like winning Soccer in the Olympics. I acknowledge that with pride. There has been a few exceptional Northerners, however, that have ruled our country and ruled it well. Balewa was, undoubtedly a weak prime Minister, but he did not steal our money or damage us irredeemably. General Gowon was amiable and easy to get along with, and he ruled Nigeria when our problem was not having money, but how to spend it. We simply had too much money to throw around and to embark on some worthless, but perhaps necessary ventures like promoting African culture when we should have been using that money to build ourselves solid infrastructures. He was an honest man. His “no victor no vanquished” stance on the outcome of the Biafra War was good for Nigeria, but it was more rhetoric than fact. General Gowon had also begun a trend in Nigeria that proves that you are never too old to learn, if you have the will so to do. He had gone back to school to obtain a degree and a Doctorate in Political Science after having served as Head of State of Nigeria.

The Late Joseph Garba had followed Gowon's footsteps by going to Harvard after becoming a General. I cannot count the numbers of Governors and Generals that have since gone back to School to become Lawyers and what have you. I think that was good for Nigeria, all things considered. Orji Uzor Kalu the Governor of Abia State will soon be getting his first degree, and plans to get his Master's and Ph.D from Abia University. He had become Governor before it occurred to him to go redeem his name and reputation by going back to get that degree he narrowly missed at Maiduguri. Why not, if not. Gowon had legitimized such a move for any Nigerian leader or aspirant

Murtala was a great Blessing and easily the best of our leaders to ever emerge from the North. He was an “Erediawa” in Benin language meaning that he came to make things better for all our people and our country. Shagari was a honest and decent man with limited vision on how to move Nigeria forward. He had demonstrated greatness when he awarded Awolowo, his rival for the Presidency, the greatest honor our country could bestow on any citizen. I respect that. He did not steal a kobo of Government money and never saw a need to build for himself a prototype of Aso Rock in Sokoto with stolen money. He and General gowon are still offering their services to help the current President from being impeached by a bunch of self-serving Legislators. . Buhari had given to Nigeria the War against Discipline and Operation Clean the Nation which has become one of his enduring legacies to our Country. His record at PTF had spoken volumes on his incorruptibility until we were told of the insider operations of the PTF under his command.

Babangida could have been one of our best leaders and he had shown a lot of guts when he first started. He was probably the best prepared for the office because he had participated in most of the coups ever since he got commissioned as an officer. His toothy smile will melt a rock. You could say he went into the army to plot his way to leading the country someday. He is charming and smart by half. He is still the best at feeling peoples' pain and he strongly believes in "live and let live" He was the only Northern leader to win the favor and affection of the political lion of Nigeria, the great Obafemi Awolowo "the great Divide" in Nigerian Politics. You are either for or against Awo. Babangida got Awo to say "yes" to his regime by doing certain things, and making some moves, that had impressed Awo. The last visit that Awo ever made to any human being was made to thank Babangida and to let the Nation know he had a soft spot for the Nupe genius. Babangida had stolen money and had paved the way for others to steal.

Nigeria loves IBB's uncanny ability to relate and connect to people better than any other Nigerian leader dead or alive. He had created DIFFRI (Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructures) to let the Governors have some taste of the national pie. How did I know that? Because I was the pioneer Director of DIFFRI in Ondo State under Commodore Koiyan as Chairman in the Federal. DIFFRI was Babangida's bonus to State Governors across the country to share part of the National cake. Okhai Mike Akhigbe who appointed me the Director was the only Governor that I know who did not view DIFFRI that way. That had made it harder for me to ever believe he could have stolen as much as we were made to believe he did as Lagos State Governor, and later as number two man to Abdulsalam Abubakar. Akhigbe's succesor in Ondo State, Colonel now General Ekundayo Opaleye, evidently, thought DIFFRI was a piece of pie from the Federal, and did try to use the Directorate as such.

DIFFRI was decidedly a ploy by the master dribbler to appease the boys and to make them smile all the way to the Bank at the expense of the Nation. Babangida had succeeded in creating two political parties (NRC and SDP), a major accomplishment and milestone for any Government in Nigeria. He himself had derailed that impressive record when he chose to annul the freest and fairest Election in the history of Nigeria because he had wanted eight more years at the expense of Nigeria, and the South in particular. Babangida had made himself the richest General in the history of Nigeria, probably richer than Abacha, but a lot smarter than him. He is one of the pen robbers freely walking the street today, because Obasanjo is scared of him, because he had used all of his ill-gotten gains and leverage to get OBJ to where he is today.

Nobody knows IBB better than OB. He had given the position of First Lady in our country and at the States and Local Government levels, the clout it had never enjoyed in our history. He had appointed more women into public office than any of his predecessors in office. He had rushed the movement to Abuja disregarding the 30 year phased-out plan recommended by the late Justice Aguda and the Federal Capital Commission, just to make money and to secure his economic base for ever and ever. Only Jerry Useni and Abacha had more landed properties in Abuja today than IBB. I don’t want to talk much about Abacha here because he had given Nigeria the 1999 obnoxious Constitution. He had done it a lot more. When he knew he wasn't going to be allowed to sell to himself, the famous Independence Building, our own World Trade Center in Nigeria, he had simply decided to set the building ablaze. Can you believe that?

We are yet to know how much Abacha had agreed to pay Richard Akinjide and Yadudu for their failed effort at the Hague to keep Bakassi for Nigeria. But he did one good, however. He had created Ekiti State even though he knew it was not going to be viable, but he needed a State in Yoruba land that would return his favor, and therefore support him as President for Life. Abdulsalam Abubakar had returned Nigeria to civil rule again by keeping his promise to Nigeria. That was something to write home about. For the second time in Nigeria, we had a military dictator hand over to a civilian Government. What was suspicious was the fact that the civilian was no other person than the same "Houdini" of Nigerian Politics the North could trust in the whole of Yoruba land to serve as a bridge between the old and the new Nigeria by becoming President again. OBJ has every reason to want to consider himself larger than life and cleverer than the rest of us because he had done what Naspoleon could not do becoming President two times, and being begged by some to do it one more time.

Finally, I could see we have made some progress in getting the North to change a little bit. The last time, the beloved former Governor Marwa of Lagos State, took a second wife, it was “Sowanbe” all night, out there in his village in the North with Naira flowing like water and with Sunny Omo Alade doing what he does best, breaking peoples' Back with his wonderful guitar. He, (Sunny Ade) had done the same when General Gowon was burying one of his parents in Benue Plateau. The Yoruba culture has rubbed off on our Northern brothers and sisters in ways I cannot even begin to describe here. You know "Aso Ebi" and "Sanyan" from Iseyin now feature very prominently as much as "babariga" at parties organized by Alhaji Danjumah l'Agege and many other Northerners across the country.

It's amazing how things are changing up North. It is now the vogue for more prominent Northerners to go out of their way looking for beautiful girls to marry from the South. Murtala had found his own "mata giriki" in beautiful Ajoke from Ijebu Ode. Babangida had found his own Mariam from Asaba. Vice President Atiku had found his own Titilayo or Titilope. You can take your pick. Ike Nwachukwu had an Igbo father,but a Fulani mother which is all good for Nigeria. I, for one, would have no problems, supporting Ike for President, if that would help to keep Nigeria one. If Nigeria were to be Ghana which is matrilineal, Ike Nwachukwu would have been our own Jerry Rawlings and would have been a shoo-in for the presidency in Nigeria. He could still be.

The concept of one Nigeria, definitely, has its own positive side, but on balance, there is still too much room for improvement for us to consider staying together, for ever and ever, until death do us part. My submission here, is that a very credible case can now be made for the imminent dissolution of Nigeria if nothing is done to correct the imbalance and the inequities in our poltical equation and structure that have made the North the recurring decimal in our equation as a nation. The countdown has already begun. Believe it or not. Obasanjo can slow it down, but like Josep Tito of the defunct Yugoslavia did before him. He just cannot stop it. Let's have the national conference now. Tomorrow may be too late. Is anyone doing anything about the Bangladesh formula suggested not too long ago by Professor Omo Omoruyi, as a way to bring some sanity and credibility to the 2003 Election? I want to add my voice to his and Dr Tonye David-West's admonition that Obasanjo should pay some attention to that advice in the interest of our Nation. I rest my case.