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FIRST ESSAY: WHY AN IGBO WOULD NOT BE PRESIDENT IN 2003
The Igbos as an ethnic group in Nigeria have the right to agitate for an Igbo president. Despite their population, they have not been able to have their own son as the number one person in the country because of those who take power by violence. This led to the country being ruled by Northern dictators for many years. Insatiable as the North would be, we have Abubakar Rimi and Muhammadu Buhari still fighting to rule the country in 2003.
From statistics, the Igbos seem to be very unfairly treated in the entity called Nigeria since independence. The “unsuccessful” Biafra Republic they declared added to their anguish as a people. Till recently, an Igbo man never progressed to the rank of a Major General in the Nigerian army not to talk of them holding key political offices. You are wrong if you think the Igbos are the only people unfairly treated in Nigeria. The people of Niger-Delta who contribute more than 70% of the wealth of the country have also been enslaved in the country. Despite the environmental degradation caused due to oil drilling, the reward they have received from Nigeria is their being denied key political positions, their people being killed as in the Odi massacre and the hanging of the Ogoni 9, their being ripped off of what they are being entitled constitutionally, etc.
Towards the advent of this democratic experiment that ushered in President Olusegun Obasanjo as the president of Nigeria, the Igbos had presented one of their own sons, said to be very credible for this number one seat. This is no other person than Alex Ekwueme. Destiny was not by his side when those who claimed to be his own friends became his foes, and his own brothers turned against him at the National Peoples Democratic Party primaries held at Jos in 1999. If Ekwueme was to forget his birthday or the day he became the Vice President of Nigeria, he will never forget the Jos party primaries. In the face of some naira notes, the Igbo delegates who had gone to Jos to vote for Ekwueme voted en masse for President Olusegun Obasanjo.
I wouldn’t believe there is one single Igbo presidential aspirant ready to become the Nigerian president in 2003. I don’t want to sound pessimistic for I have never in my life been associated with pessimism. Winning an election in a complex and dynamic entity like Nigeria is quite a task. Laying structures for the presidency is not something done overnight. The Igbos have continued to clamour for an Igbo president in Newspaper pages without laying down solid foundations towards realizing this dream. Between 1999 and July 2002, no Igbo candidate had formally declared his intention to contest for the Presidency nor making any serious moves towards seeking for the office. While Abubakar Rimi a Northern presidential candidate had jingles already in most of the television and radio stations, Igbo people were busy agitating that an Igbo man must rule in 2003. Ekwueme who remains one of the most credible and qualified candidates the Igbos have for this number one position remained silent and just reluctantly declared his interest a couple of days ago. How can he get the party’s ticket only after declaring his interest a couple of weeks to the party primaries?
Like 1999 elections, every Igbo man now wants to become the president. We find new Igbo candidates declaring their interest for the presidential seat. To the time of writing this article, we have Chuba Okadigbo, Alex Ekwueme, Ike Nwachukwu, and Rochas Okorocha interested in this seat. Many are on their way to declaring their interests. With about four candidates for the presidency, the Igbo votes would be split among them and simple political mathematics tells us that it has not been easy winning an election when votes from a particular region are being spitted. This is in contrast with the Yoruba Peoples Democratic Party that is returning President Olusegun unopposed from the region. Like the developments between Jim Nwobodo and Ekwueme at Jos 1999 primaries, let the Igbos not be surprised if the same happens during the party presidential primaries in 2003.
The choice of an Igbo President seems not to be a consensus among the Igbo people. Just as many Igbos are calling for an Igbo president, many Igbos are also calling on President Obasanjo’s reelection. Last week, the Igbo red cap chiefs paid a courtesy call to President Obasanjo where they promised him they will do all within their power and drop the last sweat to give Igbo votes to him. The Igbo top candidates for the office might consider these chiefs as being irrelevant and just being political, but when the day of reckoning comes, they shall understand how relevant their contributions are politically. Igbo candidates shouldn’t forget that they have to buy their own Igbo votes unlike the Yorubas who would be willing to vote for Obasanjo even if he gave them nothing. I need not tell Igbo candidates that their brothers can turn to their foes in the face of money.
From recent statements being made by Ekwueme, he sounded being pushed to the Presidential race by some Northern Aristocrats. I wish him well. It is often said, when you are eating and dinning with the devil, you’ve got to hold a long spoon. I hope his spoon is long enough to dine and wine with Northerners. What assures him that these people who disappointed him during the 1999 convention will no longer disappoint him in 2003. The devil is always the devil but keeps transforming himself into different forms in order to look nice. Thus it is always said, there are no permanent friends and foes in politics, it is a matter of self-interest.
Inasmuch as the factors above militate against an Igbo president in 2003 the truth is that the main threat to an Igbo president in 2003 is that of suspicion. Other regions of Nigeria seem to be suspicious of the Igbo hidden agenda if an Igbo becomes the President. Nigeria is too tribal already to have a tribal President. What we seem to see in the Igbos agitation for Presidency, is an Igbo man who would elevate the Igbo race to the status of Kings and enslave the rest of Nigerians. It is because of this that Nigerians would still prefer to vote for President Obasanjo the “devil” they know than an Igbo president, the “angel” they do not know.
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SECOND ESSAY: DONALD DUKE: AN EXAMPLE OF A BAD GOVERNOR
In 1999, Governor Donald Duke was controversially elected as the Governor of Cross River State, a state that has the reputation of the first capital of Nigeria and ranked as the most beautiful and neat state in Nigeria. Donald Duke, the youngest Governor in Nigeria is just 40years old and Cross Riverians were glad to have a young man who was able to change their destiny.
If Cross Riverians ever thought Donald Duke would be an excellent governor on the way to change their destiny, they were gravely wrong. As a state rich in natural resources and with good climatic conditions for crop production, Cross Riverians wanted a governor who would restore the agricultural sector of the state that in the early years of the state contributed enormously to the financial growth of the state. The people of Cross River wanted to hear this message and Donald Duke gave it to them. Three years after being the governor of the state, the people are still waiting to derive the dividends of the acclaimed agricultural project. The whole projected started on a dubious foundation when the Governor was publicly accused of awarding a contract of N200million for a topographical map of the State to one of his relatives. As much as this allegation was not proved false, the governor claimed the necessity of the map was to boost the agricultural project. With the map, he claimed, he would know what crops to grow where. If the map was anything successful, oil castor seeds were distributed in Ohong Village in Obudu for planting based on that map and the yield was poorer than any crop ever planted by the poor people who have no such map to guide them in their crop production. The same holds true for some other crops distributed throughout the State. This is just testifies to the fact that no proper work was done in producing this map but was only an avenue for the government to siphon money from the state coffers.
The government went into the planting of pineapples with the hope of producing juice drinks for export. Every right thinking mind would have set up the production plant even before planting the pineapples and oranges or the two would have been going on hand in hand knowing that it does not take long before the pineapples would begin to yield. Some pineapples and cashews were planted without any arrangement made for a producing plant. Suffice me to state that the people of Boki in the state have enough pineapples and the people of Obudu have enough oranges to have kicked off whatever production plant he was to build. He claims to have put in a lot of money to this agricultural project but the state has not realized even a kobo from this project. Agriculture is one of the most succeeding sectors in the world, one wonders what happens to that of Cross River State after all those heavy investments.
December is at hand and the Christmas project has started. The government is creating a Christmas village. Every year, he invests millions of naira into this project of decorating Calabar town for Christmas. A government that cannot pay her pensioners shouldn’t make such frivolous expenses. Without shame the governor is saying he cannot pay his pensioners because of the shortfall of the revenue accruing to the state from the Federal Government. Yet the Governor has a retinue of aides who have been paid even to the current minute, perhaps even in advance. The greatest shame a government should have is when they cannot pay their pensioners, these old people who suffered to work for this country. These people are just dependent on that meager sum received every month. Not paying pensioners is like saying there is no money to pay for Social Security benefits in the United States. Any government that dares that would regret being in power.
The major problem of the Duke’s administration apart from the brazen corruption is the problem of vision. The administration after three years does not know what the needs of Cross Riverians are. It lacks the foresight and vision needed for a dynamic state like Cross River. A government that invests on Christmas shows, beauty pageants and cannot pay salaries is a government without a vision. What in God’s name is a bad government? Are you still looking for an example of a bad government?
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THIRD ESSAY: THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE IMPEACHMENT OF MR. PRESIDENT
Forty two years after the independence of Nigeria, Nigeria has not fared much better than it was before the sixties. Nigeria received its independence in a platter of gold and one would have expected that by now, Nigeria would be ranked among the developed nations of the world and not crawling with other African countries. The joy of our people fighting for independence, the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, and Ladipo Solanke was to bring about a glorious Nigeria, A Nigeria that would grow to its maximum height. Our founding Fathers felt the British cannot do it better than we would, because it is ours, Nigeria is our business.
Very often, people blame the civil war for the problems Nigeria is facing today but I remember that long after the civil war, life was still better in Nigeria than it is now. Was it not then that a one time president of Nigeria said, "The problem with Nigeria is not how to get money but how to spend it"? The oil boom era? Have we forgotten so soon that many years after the civil war the dollar could still change at N1? They were no queues at the U. S. Embassy in Nigeria. What killed Nigeria then? You know the answer. Despite the corruption that was associated with the civilian government headed by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, it was still a better government than any military government Nigeria had ever had or would have. Perhaps you know the answer now; Nigeria’s stunted growth is traced to General Buhari, General Babangida and General Abacha. These three men marred our growth as a country during their despotic reigns.
Our people are a people without consciences. General Abacha was reincarnating into a civilian president when God told him ‘enough is enough’, he is dust already. General Buhari and General Babangida are shamelessly parading themselves in the Nigerian polity clamoring to seat again in the number one seat, a seat they once defiled. The impeachment of Mr. President has been strongly linked to these Generals who see Mr. President as a threat in 2003 polls. We have no proof for this but it is true. Truths are not limited to proofs but only aid in knowing the truth. It is so unfortunate that most of the politicians that played in the 1999 elections are military apologists solidly rooted in the philosophy of their grandfather "The Evil Genius."
I now ask where was Ghali Umar Naaba when Wole Soyinka was on exile, Yaradua was imprisoned and he eventually died there, when Mr. President was in prison, when Abiola was detained, etc. Where were Chibudom Nwuche and all the other members of the lower and upper house rooting for impeachment of Mr. President for constitution breaches? Where were there? These great and valiant men fought the war of democracy; they were victimized but never grew weary. Today the war has been won and military loyalists and apologists want to tell Nigerians they are fighting a war to defending the constitution. A war is fought when there is trouble and not when there is peace. There is Peace with Mr. President.
I don’t want to sound as if I am campaigning for Mr. President’s 2003 re-election for I lack the credentials to do that because I am neither a politician, nor do I come from his region or have benefited or knows a person who has personally benefited from him. I just want to state the obvious that there is no constitutional breaches committed by Mr. President that warrant his impeachment. The consequences of the impeachment of Mr. President are more than what the country can bear at this time of democratic experimentation. Nigeria is not a country like Malabor republic or Namibia you can remove the president and think nothing happens. The entity Nigeria is a time bomb waiting to explode, a very volatile country. The fear of our unity is greater than the fear of terrorism. There is mutual distrust among the ethnic divides and each is crying marginalization.
Obasanjo for now is our sign of unity as a country. Why? A very good question. His presence appease the hearts of the West who are still mourning the aborted June 12 and the death of their son (M. K. O. Abiola) in prison, the Easterners have reasons to rejoice because never before were there ever well represented in government as in this dispensation and it gives them hope that they one day shall produce a President, the South – South have the highest number of political appointments in this dispensation and they have started ripping some oil dividends through the 13% derivation fund and the Niger-Delta Development Commission, the North have their son as the Vice President and ordinarily needed take a break from governance after ruling for more than 25years, the Middle belt have started rising again in the military, the Christians are happy to have a Christian as the President of the country after being subjected to Muslim rulers for more than 20years and even the military is appeased because Mr. President is a former soldier and they are more comfortable with him.
Despite the communal clashes, the economic problems, the civil unrest, Nigerians have cause to rejoice today because there is hope. With all gratitude to Mr. President for the launching of a program "I See Hope." It does not matter if the members of the National Assembly boycotted it, for our hope as a country does not lie in them. Mr. President is in a learning process and many a Nigerian would be convinced he would do better if given an opportunity for the second term. He has to solidly lay democratic structures for 2007. Before May 29, 1999, Nigeria was only comparable to a fleshless bone. The entity called Nigeria existed but there was nothing in it. Today, many Nigerians have cause to smile: increased wages, GSM services, improved electricity, to mention but a few.
I see hope in our great country. I believe in Nigeria and she must survive. Let us thread cautiously as we try to satisfy our insatiable thirst for power. By virtue of our unity as a country, our individual wills are subjected to the will of the country. Where there is hope there is life and it is better to light one candle than to cause the darkness.
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