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May 31, 2007 Time is of utmost essence to both God and man. The Big Boss Above did declare in the Good Book that man's combined wisdom is utter foolishness before Him! He equally declared majestically that one thousand years here in our calendar is just a second in His Kingdom. Man since his creation from ordinary dust has been falling victim to time and its immutability. From the cradle to the grave he always tries to be smarter than time seeking vainly to manipulate time to his chagrin, peril or damnation. Closer home Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida thought 1990 would never came when he first mooted his foxy idea of handing over power to civillians after siezing same in 1985. When 1990 came knocking in Dodan Barracks he shifted the goal post to 1992 and again to 1993. In 1993 after June 12 took place producing a popular mandate given to late Bashorun Abiola he characteristically Maradonally sought to decree time out of existence in Nigeria but failed in his bid as the June 12 imbroglio swept him out of power in August. German Adolphus Hitler in his grotesque idea to rule the world for a thousand years launched the World War 11 that consumed him but not until millions of people had been killed in many countries especially the Jews. Slobodan Miloshevic of former Yugoslavia was playing God in Belgrade rebuffing every voice of reason that counselled him against his genocidal follies in power. When time came for him his mortality was laid bare but before then thousands if not millions had been despatched to the great beyond. Saddam Hussein was the unofficial King of Iraq acting like the true descendant of Nebuchadnezer. Before provoking the Gulf War by invading oil-rich Kuwait he had megalomanically declared that Americans would swim in their own blood if any attempt was made to reverse the gains of the widely-condemned Kuwaiti invasion. With his well-equipped Republican Guard in mind Saddam felt on top of the world accusing George Bush's America of committing equal 'military bullying' in Grenada, Panama and a host of other sovereign states. Before Saddam and his Iraqi people were conquered (with the 'Sadman' taken to the gallows) the best statement credited to President George Bush the father went thus: "No longer will an aggressor exploit the differences in power to foster his political ambition". Now that Olusegun Obasanjo has become an ordinary citizen, an ex-president like Ibrahim Babangida and Alhaji Shehu Shagari it is a fact of life that nothing lasts forever. It is only the Kingdom of God that is infinite and timeless! Great Kings like Herod, Nebuchadnezer, Pharoah and great Presidents like Bill Clinton, Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela had walked through lands and times and passed on in life either living with us or dead. OBJ as a former President will have to learn how to respect the laws of the land he flouted with impunity while in power. He will have to adjust to private life in Ota and Abeokuta. He will have to live with his follies in power, his betrayal of friendships and his anti-people policies and programmes. He will be looking out for many enemies! Olusegun Obasanjo was a glorified victim of absolute power which, unchecked, corrupted him absolutely. His eight years stint in power must have transformed his miserable life pre-1999; it must have changed his perceptions of life and God in His absolute Command and his perculiar Nigerian environment. An environment that suited his rural attributes. As May 29 came and swept Olusegun Obasanjo out of power President Umar Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan are now in charge even if not fully in charge. They are living and working in Aso Rock, that impregnable state house of the Giant of Africa. In Awka 'Dr' Andy Uba holds sway ditto Prof. O Osunbor in Benin City and Adebayo Alao-Akala in Ibadan. These three 'Excellencies' are special cases because of their controversial elections and antecedents. Anambra State has a supposedly new governor in the person of 'Dr' Andy Nnamdi Uba who is best remembered by the US$170.000 smuggling scam in America when he was still in Aso Rock as Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs seeing off his 'Papa' to bed and waking him up at dawn for breakfast or executive business of the day. He 'won' an election according to Maurice Wuruwuru Iwu of INEC in a state where election according to those on the ground hardly ever took place. Iwu allocated figures to Andy even much more than the entire registered voters in Anambra State including those that voted against Andy's PDP. When this omission or commission dawned on Iwu the fake professor re-adjusted the figures to reflect the 'ghost' voters that gave Uba his suposed 'mandate'. But the situation is dicey with the authentic people's governor Peter Obi 'stepping aside' till June 14th when the Supreme Court will judge whether it is right before the law for Obi to forfeit the 3 years Dr Chris Ngige and Chris Uba stole out of his 4-year mandate. In other words June 14 may witness a judicial volcano that may put an abrupt end to Uba's governorship pretense making him the shortest serving chief executive in the state since his tenure would have been shorter than that of Dame Virgy Etiaba who mounted the throne when Mike Balonwu and his fellow legislative rascals questioned democracy and thus committed democratic abomination by impeaching a good man providing quality leadership. Yet again on the other side of the coin Andy's stay in the Awka government house may still be shortlived even if the Supreme Court Justices rule against Obi which is highly unlikely. The State's Election Petition Tribunal will still have to decide if it was proper for INEC to have excluded Dr Ngige of AC and Chief Ukachukwu of ANPP from the controversial guber polls that produced Uba as governor. In Ngige's case a competent court of competent jurisdiction had ruled that Ngige's name be put on the ballot but Mr Iwuruwuru thought otherwise fearing the defeat of Andy, his godfather nominee to the post he wields arrogantly. So in all plausibility Andy may not celebrate his first 100 days in office as governor and that'll be good news for the citizens of 'Home for all' state. Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala bounced back to reckoning as de-facto governor of Oyo State after presiding over recklessly the affairs of the state for less than a year former governor Ladoja spent in political limbo after his manipulated impeachment by Adedibu law makers nay law breakers. Alao-Akala's position as first citizen of Oyo State may still be overturned in the Tribunal where those that competed against him are challenging the outcome. They are waiting patiently for the judgement day armed with recorded electoral crimes against the PDP and Adedibu rigging machine. Former Governor Rashidi Ladoja was right when he said that his former estranged deputy would not make a good governor having corruptly enriched himself and Adedibu while calling the shots from Molete to Agodi in the largest city in West Africa. Alao-Akala equates leadership with ignorant bragaddacio of an Owambe party faithful. With Yankee show of gold-plated wristwatch, bangles and chains coupled with the Congolese-style bleaching of the skin the Adedibu protége cannot be said to be the best material Oyo people should boast of and be proud of. Prof. Osunbor of Edo State must have felt happy having been rigged to power in Benin City by combined PDP forces of Tony Anenih and Olusegun Obasanjo. Mr fix it having lost the PDP's BOT Chairman to Obasanjo swore to consolidate his hold of his home state of Edo deploying every trick in the book to manufacture victory out of the ballot for Osunbor. The popular choice Adams Oshiomhole is patiently awaiting the Election Tribunal to right the electoral wrongs. In the end if justice is done then Osunbor will be shoved aside as an impostor that he is. Then Anenih will have to bite the dust of political oblivion and retirement ignominously. In anointing Umar Musa Ya'Adua to succeed him former President Obasanjo was judged by not a few as being mischievous. And self-preservation considerations were adduced as overriding any patriotic or quality choice in that singular decision of his which saw him bulldozing everybody and everything on his way. But going by Yar'Adua's coronation speech at Eagle Square on May 29 OBJ's choice of him as his successor is otherwise understood when viewed against the backdrop of Yar'Adua's positive antecedents. In going for an anointed successor Obasanjo was tactically smart enough to go for someone who not only is seen as 'politically holy' but one whose past could stand a test of any scrutiny any day. I was filled with nostalgia when I heard him pronounce these words in Abuja: "I will set a worthy personal example as your president... To that end, I offer myself a servant-leader. I will be a listener and doer, and serve with humility... The challenge is great. The goal is clear. The time is now." Of course the challenge facing us as a people is indeed great yet the goal is clear and the time to clean up the augean stable could not be any other than now. Again a leader setting a worthy personal example as the president is the tonic required to propel a great people into actions toward making whole again. Nigeria has been unfortunate never to have a servant-leader in command but those who saw themselves as demi-gods and 'God'. We have had leaders who listen less and do less and serve without humility. But experts in looting and mindless kleptocracy. So Yar'Adua with vision and will with the fear of Allah will make history for himself. To that end I see him succeeding where many before him had spectacularly failed. ------------ 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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