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Jun. 7, 2007 As President Umar Musa Yar'Adua settles down to business of governance his aged mother and his brothers and relations had gone to Ota to pay homage to his godfather/benefactor, Olusegun Obasanjo without whom Yar'Adua would not have made it to the top job. Obasanjo went about installing his 'anointed one' president to the detriment of all, everything that stood on his way was crushed or subdued using state apparatus. But that is not democracy at work; it can hardly be said to be a democratic process of choice and power belonging to the people as prescribed by our constitution. The very first force Yar'Adua has to battle if he means well is the political party on whose platform he was 'elected' as president: the PDP. The Peoples Democratic Party is anything other than 'Democratic' that's found in the middle of its nomenclature. It is a party with divergent interests and too many old-breed recycled leaders holding the destiny of a people down for too long. Those who meant well democratically had been frustrated out of the party or 'killed' politically by the former president whose penchant for dictatorial tendencies knew no bound. Today PDP which prides itself as the biggest political party in Africa is a collection of criminals and killers hiding under the party umbrella to evade justice; talk of Bode George, Tony Anenih, Ahmadu Ali, Ojo Maduekwe etc. Bereft of any new idea and ideals these men that belong to the past saw in Olusegun Obasanjo their peer, a leader who mouthed democracy but never believed in anything good coming out of it! The PDP factor in Yar'Adua's presidency could then be said to be an influential one, one he cannot afford to dismiss even though he has said he will govern by the constitution and be a Nigerian leader and not PDP's. The ability of the president to break away from the dictates of the PDP will see him making progress rapidly and his capacity to stand up to inordinate demands of the chieftains of the party (especially the BOT life chairman) will mark him out as a true Nigerian leader he claims. I say the foregoing because in the recent past experience has shown that the party structure and the hawks at its helm of affairs have proven to be sufficient barricade to progressive exploits, they are not representing any altruistic noble interests but those of themselves, mistresses, wives and cronies. The Nigerian project suffered because of this hypocritical creed. President Yar'Adua has started on a flawed note when he appointed Mr. Mike Okiro as 13th Inspector-General of Police in the stead of DIG Ogbonna Onovo. Until his appointment, the new IGP was the Deputy Inspector-General in charge of Works. Onovo held the forte for just few days before tribal anti-Igbo forces saw to it that he was relieved of that high position. The point I am making here is not averse to Okiro being a good police officer who has distinguished himself; the new police boss is far better than Sunday Ehindero who gate-crashed into that position when Tafa Balogun the pot-bellied hugely corrupt former boss fell on account of his stupendous wealth made at the expense of professionalism and good policing policy. Okiro in my view may make a good IGP if he is provided with an enabling environment to give the Nigerian police force a new orientation and image outside "egunje" and "wetin you carry" (20 naira bribery, road-block) phenomenon. If the report one read in the 'Vanguard' is true then Yar'Adua fell to the dictates of hawks who never saw anything good in any Igboman no matter how professionally competent. According to the Nigerian daily no sooner had Yar'Adua settled for Onovo than his Obasanjo-inherited security chiefs and kitchen cabinet put him under pressure to have a re-think. To the Vanguard of last weekend: "Onovo was said to have lost out in the last minute when powerful forces were said to have argued that giving such a sensitive position of the number one security organization to an Igbo man, could be dangerous". How could appointing Onovo to the police high command be 'dangerous' in today's Nigeria where everyone is calling for unity and reconciliation? Is the police force an military institution that involves in coup plotting? How does his new position after serving diligently the police force for unblemished decades be deemed 'dangerous' when those that raped the nation's constitution are celebrated and given national honours? The truth of the whole matter boils down to the fact that the spirit of Biafra is still haunting some of our primitive leaders. As Chinedu Lawrence Nwobu, a fellow author in NVS, had argued the Biafran war is still on-going. If it had ended I doubt that people should still be afraid to incorporate an Igboman into national service citing spurious national security concerns as reasons other than competence. The history of looting of our patrimony has gone on for decades without the Igboman participating. Check that out yourself. The only Igboman that has got very close to the pinnacle of power has been Dr Alex Ekwueme who incorruptibly served as Vice President under Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic. When Umaru Dikko, Akintola and Uba Ahmed were busy looting funds for themselves and becoming emergency rice merchants Ekwueme and his president were kept in the dark. From independence it has been the Yorubas and Hausa-Fulanis that have bled Nigeria financially stealing her resources without conscience. So one wonders why an Igboman who goes about serving the thieving leaders should be held in suspicion. The Babangidas, Abachas, Abdusalamis, Shonekans and Obasanjos are not Igbos for Christ's sake! These big thieves have had their time and go at the natural resources while systematically pauperizing the real owners of the wealth in the Niger Delta regions. In the present democratic dispensation in which Olusegun Obasanjo in vindictive command had made sure Ndigbo is rubbished politically it is only to be expected that his successor will do justice where injustice stands in geographical political obscenity. Obasanjo had proved times without number that he is an Igbo-hater; the "archaic idiot" (apology to Rudolf Okonkwo) is irredeemably anti-Igbo in all intents and purposes. One can only heave a sigh of relief as he takes his anti-Igbo sentiments to his Yoruba cowardly roots. If Yar'Adua is serious about transforming Nigeria then he should look out for the best materials for Ministers and Advisers. As Charles Soludo has done restructuring the banking sector as CBN Governor give Power and Steel Ministry to an Igbo man and see how that comatose sector will be turned around overnight. ------------ 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). |
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