HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Jun. 2, 2007 Even in solitary or active retirement from politics former President Obasanjo must have been feeling terrified out of the vortex of power and its appurtenances. Relinquishing power (involuntarily) is a painful experience indeed. For an old man who rode roughshod over everybody Nigerian breaking records in uncouth undiplomatic unpresidential acts withdrawal from the scene he dominated for close to a decade may not be a joyful experience. When OBJ handed over Aso Chapel to the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan he reportedly shed tears for minutes like a darling boy who lost his loved mother. His claims thereafter after recovering from the weeping trauma that he was shedding tears for his late wife Stella (who sadly died while surgically enhancing her beauty to appeal more to Obasanjo) may not be true after all. Obasanjo was overwhelmed by the dreadful reality of losing power in few days then. The 'withdrawal syndrome' must have siezed him and in a moment of personal submission to emotions he wept! Out of power for good Obasanjo in Ota or Abeokuta or wherever must have realised the fact that Nigeria as a society is greater than any individual be he president or billionaire. He must have had ample time to ask himself critical questions about his stewardship; crucial questions about the transcience of power and its hold on those wielding it tempoararily. The Owu chief must have had some time to read some Nigerian independent newspapers and magazines heavily and uncompromisingly critical of his years in power; he must have surfed the internet and read some of our views in the Diaspora which are unsparing in condemning his dictatorship. OBJ must have come to his senses and tamed his ego having become derobed of power. During President Yar'Adua's inuaguration last tuesday one of the former presidents conspicuously absent was the evil genuis himself. IBB shunned the epoch-making event for obvious reasons. Perhaps he must have remembered June 12 and the unpopular annulment of the people's mandate; so he must have asked himself: what's the need celebrating democracy when I deliberately killed it on June 12 1993? What if the people booed me? What if I was attacked by those I attacked during my Maradonic reign? Maradona the militrician feels secure in Minna hilltop mansion where he has been hiding opulently since his 'stepping aside' over a decade ago; his attempt to step right back to power was truncated by a fellow older but equally guileful dictator who used sheer blackmail to unsettle IBB's ambition. Before and after May 29 the Governors on the wanted list of EFCC took to their heels in anticipation of the expiration of their immunities. Those that ran away unexpectedly include Plateau's Joshua Dariye, Enugu's Chimaroke Nnamani, Imo's Achike Udenwa. Among the lot the cases of 'Ebeano' Nnamani and Dariye are exceptional. Udenwa and Nnamani escaped the long arm of the law long before May 29 arrived! Nnamani simply relinquished his exalted position unceremoniously one whole month before the end of his tenure handing over Enugu State he claimed to have loved and had wanted to transform. What an ignoble end to a lecture-giving godfather-syndrome fighting governor whose oratorical prowess garnered national acclaim. Joshua Dariye is perhaps the greatest victim and beneficiary of the Republic that just gave way for yet another. Dariye has been likened to a proverbial cat with nine lives suffering humiliations and political setbacks at home and abroad. When the British immigration caught him in London with huge laundered money and arrested and arraigned him Dariye was released on bail and he bolted home out of the British reach, he jumped bail! And when Ibrahim Mantu and his forces in Plateau impeached Dariye he bounced back to reckoning when the Supreme Court handed him back his mandate. Before then he had been 'overthrown' by ex-president Obasanjo when he imposed an emergency rule in the state after the violent religious/ethnic riots that saw the near destruction of Jos and other towns. Dariye reportedly escaped the prying eyes of EFCC guys and the British police on hand in Jos to effect his arrest at the expiration of his immunity; he disguised himself as a royal father and took the unusual route across the border to another country even before May 29. Joshua Dariye is a reformed crook employing modern trends to beat those at his trail. He remains a survivalist as far as the Nigerian political chessboard is concerned. Lucky Igbinedion was booed in Benin City as he handed over power to his successor. According to this failure of a governor "Edo girls no longer queue up to go to Italy to do prostitution" He listed it as one of his achievements in power! Poor Lucky, having run Edo state aground for eight years he was idling about in government house in Benin he had to run away from angry Edo men and women who had wanted perhaps to lynch him alive in his last minutes as chief executive! With his prosperous size, unique luxuriant moustache and bodyguards in tow he managed to escape the wrath of the masses. Too bad! Even Donald Duke the wonderful Mr Tinapa was not left out of the financial scandals that hit many ex-governors. And the rumour that Orji Uzor Kalu is also on the run is a wicked one. Duke dodged the EFCC that was probing his last minute huge local councils' fund deductions. Kalu hurriedly handed over power to newly-released Theodore Orji three days ahead of May 29, something Bayo Ojo was quick to describe as illegal. Boni Haruna of Adamawa state also left the country in questionable circumstances. By appointing Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, former Minister and June 12 victorious MKO's running mate President Yar'Adua has started well. I remember when late Abiola's SDP Party chose Kingibe as running mate in the build-up to June 12 '93 presidential election the defunct African Concord magazine hit the newsstand with a headline: "King-I-Be". Kingibe is a trusted intellectual hand who will contribute immensely to the re-shaping of the new administration.The Borno-born diplomat is a man of wit and honour. Though it must be remembered that Amb. Kingibe betrayed the June 12 cause at the heat of the struggle he could be excused because he might have been told what ordinary Nigerian did not know then. He may have concluded that kicking a dead horse might not have produced any positive result. He was therefore realistic in abandoning the cause. After all June 12 in spite of the blood and tears was not achieved! There is an urgent need for President Yar'Adua to change the Ministers of Justice/Attorney General of the Federation and Information. And there's no need retaining Kayode Are as the SSS boss. Like Ehindero Are has got to give way for a new hand whose loyalty to the republican ideals will be vouched for. Bayo Ojo and Frank Nweke Jnr are failures in their various ministries under Obasanjo; they only succeeded where mischief-making and defending the indefensible were called for. While Nweke was the mordern Nigerian Dr Goebbel (whose propaganda machine sustained Hitler during the second world war) Ojo was the late Clement Akpamgbo re-incarnate in terms of mastery of undermining of justice and its apparatus. Like late Akpamgbo (which means bag of bullet in Igbo language) Ojo did his very best to give different interpretations to the laws of the land as against those held by legal titans like Gani Fawehinmi, Olisa Agbakoba and Itse Sagay. The urgent priorities for Yar'Adua include re-inventing NEPA and by so doing replacing darkness with light (even if it involves drafting in a white man as NFA always does with Super Eagles coach to make it work), strengthening the EFCC, NAFDAC and playing the politics of petrol, its price, distribution and refining with clean hands and good will. Obasanjo failed in that all-important sector because he monopolised wisdom in an industry he refused to acknowledge his naivety. As a professional farmer he should have siezed the agricultural ministry upon arrival to power but he confiscated petroleum resources where he knew the gold lies. Yar'Adua needs to critically take a look at the refineries and why they are not functioning, why PHCN guzzles billions yet supplies little or no electricity, why the Nigerian police force under Sunday Ehindero failed to tame insecurity of lives and property but succeeded in 'egunje' and 'wetin you carry'. The new president needs to ask crucial questions and demand explanations from the right quarters; where sanctions are applicable then the axe must drop without any sentiment. He ought to inquire about our deteriorating network of roads and why maintenance is detested by those whose duty it is; he should be concerned about wide claims of 'reforms' and bogus reports of achievements by his predecessor. Above all he should be wary of professional psychophants and hypocrites that litter the FCT. 'TheNews' magazine in its current edition captured how OBJ cornered billions of naira for himself while also criminally enriching his cronies in Transcorp and other corporate behemoths. In the edition with a screaming headline "The Amazing Wealth of OBJ" the Editor-in-Chief of the hard-hitting pro-democracy magazine Bayo Onanuga tore the former president to shreds in his opening story entitled "So Long General!". According to Onanuga, one of the best radical journalists of our time: "I am not sure this compulsive megalomaniac really understands the great misery and anguish households and businesses daily experience, living without power supply. I am not sure he has fathomed the huge financial resources wasted in the pursuit of alternative power sources, the air and noise pollution the generators create, and sometimes, the fatal domestic accidents incurred, all because Obasanjo failed to do his work as president. As he quits the stage, one can only pray that the darkness of his era be quickly replaced by light in a new Yar’Adua era. Bye, bye OBJ, I’m so happy you are handing our ravaged country back to us." Need one join Onanuga in chorusing Goodbye Baba?! Bye bye OBJ?! I think yes. And it's even better saying so in French language: Au revoir pour toujours! (Goodbye for ever) ------------ About the author: Sunny Chris Okenwa is a U-K contributor based in Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire. Email: soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
