By
Chido Onumah
Two retired generals and former heads of state stirred up a hornet’s nest recently when they proffered solutions to the growing insecurity and hopelessness in the country. Coming on the heels of a war of attrition between them, there was enough reason for Nigerians to be guarded about the intervention by Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida who ruled Nigeria cumulatively for 19 years.
The
periods that these generals ruled (1976-79; 1985-93; and 1999-2007) were about
the most glorious of the nation’s history, not in terms of development or
genuine attempt to redefine the future of the country, but in terms of hope and
desire on the part of Nigerians to lift up their country and make it a global
contender. As it turned out, Obasanjo and Babangida made sure they were the
years of the locust. Obasanjo and Babangida orchestrated perhaps the greatest despoliation
of Nigeria, its wealth as well as human and material resources.
Obasanjo
and Babangida talked about the greatness of Nigeria and Nigerians, but they did
everything possible to undermine the country and its people. They had the
opportunity to write their names in gold as true statesmen, but they botched it.
Of course, on the personal level, both Obasanjo
and Babangida have received adequate response to their unwelcomed intervention
so I shall not dwell on that. I shall focus on the thrust of their
intervention.
“Nigeria’s existence not negotiable – OBJ, IBB” was how one
newspaper headlined the intercession of the retired generals the morning after.
The paper reported Obasanjo and Babangida as saying that “the worrying trend emerging from the violent
attacks, bombings and mindless killings of innocent Nigerians was creating room
for doubt about the end of the carnage, but that ‘the continued unity of this
nation is not only priceless, but non-negotiable’”.
I wonder what our rulers really mean when they say the “unity of
Nigeria is not negotiable”. If you hear this glib talk from people who actually
did something to advance the unity of Nigeria, then it is understandable. It
becomes worrisome when those who advance this proposition are those who have done
everything possible to undermine the unity of the country. In simple terms, “negotiable”
means “open to discussion; not fixed, but able to be established or changed
through discussion and compromise”. Considering the current state of the
nation, the social and political upheavals
that go to the very core of national existence, only a masochist will deny that
this is time to “negotiate” Nigeria.
A nation is usually united around a common national ethos, a set
of values and principles that are abiding. Not so in Nigeria. For the ruling
class in Nigeria, the only unifying factor is corruption, as one of their own,
Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, eloquently espoused in his speech at
Chatham House, London, in June. For majority of Nigerians, the unifying factor
is a life of grinding poverty and hopelessness. No country sustained by
corruption and the poverty and hopelessness of its citizenry can survive for too
long.
In a sense, therefore, the real threat to the unity of Nigerian has
come from those who have succeeded in dividing Nigerians through their pillage
and misuse of our patrimony. Our rulers know
that the country is not working because of massive corruption and that we can’t
sustain the current system for too long. Yet, because our elite, and in some
cases ordinary Nigerians, seem satisfied with the proceeds of corruption, they
are blind to the danger we are all entrapped in. While we are nibbling at the
seams of the nation, we willfully assume that the country will still hold
together and that things will get better. It is this same false hope that led us to the London Olympics
after just three months of preparation. As I write, the London games are about
to end without any medal hope for Nigeria. Anybody who understands Nigeria will
not be surprised that this may yet be our worst Olympics.
Regrettably,
our youth on whose shoulders the survival of this nation rests, appear to have
imbibed the worst examples of the “wasted generation” before them. That is the
real tragedy of our situation. Just last week, the African Centre for Media
& Information Literacy held a lecture to mark the 2012 International Youth
Day. It was meant as a sober occasion for our youth, the greatest resource of our nation, to reflect
on their role and contribution to national development as well the
responsibility of the government to the youth. Many of the so-called youth leaders
that came for this event arrived with much fanfare, with retinues of aides in
tow. All someone close by could mutter was: “if these people ever come
close to power, they will do worse than our current crop of rulers”.
When
I look at corruption in Nigeria, our dismal showing in London, the attitude of
our dehumanized and traumatized youth, and the war mongering going on, it all
makes sense to me. The conclusion I have arrived at is that it is necessary but
not sufficient to do critiques of sectoral deficiencies of our problems as a
nation. Nigeria has collapsed. It is imperative, therefore, that the systemic
dysfunction in Nigeria is confronted and changed to cater to all in a truly law
governed country. And the only way to do this is to “negotiate” Nigeria through
a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), not just of so-called ethnic
nationalities, but also of marginalized and pauperized people of Nigeria.
Part
of the reason corruption thrives so much in Nigeria is the structure of the
country. Political violence is rife, states and ethnic nationalities are
threatening secession, yet there are people who still insist that it is
forbidden to question the status quo. Those who are really concerned about
Nigeria and genuinely fear that the country will break up if it goes the route
of SNC, as opposed to those who mouth “the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable” should
rest assured that it won’t happen without a very bloody war or wars. It is not
exactly clear which ethnic nationality wants to embark on that futile journey. The
greater prospect now is that of anarchy (as in Somalia) or the rise of fascism
through what Edwin Madunagu describes as “a coalition of the most unlikely bed-follows’”.
What
Nigeria needs now is a radical change that will redefine the country and create
a new national ethos. It is for this reason that all those who have bled the
country and brought it to its knees should be wary, not just of social media,
but also the street anger of Nigerians.
This
street anger must fester and yield positive results if we are to achieve a
national renewal and end what a colleague has described as the hackers'
paradise called Nigeria.
Re: A
ReplyDeleteHackers’ Paradise called Nigeria
By
Anthony Ogunbor
Dear Chido,
With your article I have hope again,
hope that we still have men as Nigerians. It is as if you captured my mood few
hours before your post as I had just sent a mail to engage Ogaga as regards his
own musings hours earlier. Your last two paragraphs capture the mood. God bless
you.
Ours has never been a nation, is not
and will never be. Nigeria is an illusion. A foundation laid on mutual distrust
, fueled by self deceit and pretence by a few power and money drunk Nigerians
from all ethnic nationalities who will do anything to maintain the status quo,
perfecting the use of bribes and the divide and rule tactics to quash any
perceived organized opposition or movement. The governed have been
completely dehumanized and incapacitated.
Regardless of sectional interests,
Nigerians are generally fed up. What people need is just promptings and ways of
going about the imminent revolution or secession. Nigeria is not homogeneous
and its peoples have completely different views and approaches to life and
development. Not all countries have homogeneity of peoples but certainly not in
the category of Nigeria. I lived and grew up in the South South. I have lived
and worked in the East, West and North and outside Nigeria. The Northern
people's psyche and mentality, anywhere you find them, home or abroad, is
visibly contrasting and this one of the things at the kernel of the problem in
Nigeria which people shy away from. Until 1914, there was no Nigeria. That
amalgamation was not done with consultations. Why should the breakup be?
What forms of disobedience do we adopt?
How will the revolution, no matter how subtle begin? Where does it start from?
How will it be sustained? What media will be used? … and much more.
Furthermore, I am convinced that all
Nigerian politicians and leaders past and present who have stolen and still
continue to steal, keep and invest only about 30% of their investment in
Nigeria. The other 70% are in the Americas, Europe, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
and Egypt. If these rogues have nowhere to keep their stolen funds or invest
them abroad, I am sure they will steal less.
Perhaps Nigerians (especially those who
live abroad and are privy to the locations of these investments) can begin a
campaign to persuade all foreign governments to freeze the assets of
politicians who obviously have no other means of income except their salary or
those who have investments which they are unable to prove the legality of
source of funds used to acquire such. The West benefits more from the Nigerian
tragedy than any less critical thinking mind will ever imagine. A strong
campaign against this seeming connivance will put some pressure on all parties
to the endless rape of Nigerians.
If Abacha’s loot were only $10,000,000
kept in Swiss Bank since 1997 at 5% interest rate (which is too low to anywhere
in the world), then by 2012, the accrued interest will be $7,397,260 which is
over a billion Naira – N1,153,972,603 (if we convert at a rate N156 : $1). This
is what Nigeria losses and Switzerland gains. It is apart from the initial
“Capital” of $10,000,000 which will be available for the Swiss economy to lend
to its citizens or other economic activities.
You were right, it might be difficult
to have over 180million people of divergent interests arising from divergent
ethnic nationalities come together and chase out these leaders, but I tell you,
if the South South and South East Governors ever have the courage to have a
closed door meeting anywhere in Nigeria under any kind of name, to discuss the
way forward, Nigeria will never be the same again. Politicians will quickly
adjust their steps and the tune will be different. This I am sure of. Perhaps
this is the unlikely alliance you wrote about.
Have a great day.