|
In Nigeria,
Yar’Adua Reigns, Obasanjo Rules
By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
At various formal and informal discussion points across
the country, and on listserv and discussion boards on
the cyberspace, Nigerians are not hiding their deep pain
and frustration that the obnoxious Third Term Project
which they unanimously and disdainfully rejected not too
long ago has been so smoothly and successfully imposed
on them with such brazenness and flourish that seem to
dare anyone who is not comfortable with the set-up to
find himself the shortest route to hell.
The demoralising situation as we have it today is
simple:
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua reigns in Aso Rock; Olusegun
Obasanjo rules Nigeria from Ota.
It is a classic case of post-colonial Indirect Rule. The
"Emperor and Conqueror of Modern Nigeria" is still
perfectly in-charge and has no intention of leaving any
one in doubt about that. He has merely delegated Umoru,
one of his very loyal "boys" to stand in for him at
Abuja to implement his orders with maximum accuracy. So,
while this "accredited Servant-leader" treads softly
within the hallowed ambience of Aso Rock Villa with the
title of "President" timidly attached to his flowing
agbada, full Presidential powers reside at some cozy
corner of a multi-billion naira farm in Ota, Ogun State
.
What makes the matter even more revolting is what
clearly looks like the utter helplessness of President
Yar’Adua, a 56-year-old former academic and two-term
governor, with enormous powers of State at his disposal,
before such a repugnant affront from someone who now
sees himself as some kind of "Senior President", as
somebody pointed out last Friday. This is very sad.
Now, even though Yar’Adua became president through what
has been widely described as the worst election in human
history, the only hint of consolation in that horrible,
broad-day electoral robbery was the hope that by May 29,
2007, Nigerians would be rid of the flamboyant
incompetence, and pugnacious person of Aremu Obasanjo,
the man whose entire energy in the past eight years
appeared to have been solely channelled into the
accumulation of so much unearned resources to build
himself the wealthiest dynasty this side of the sea,
while the country he was supposed to be ruling decayed
beyond what anyone would have imagined was possible.
Nigerians just wanted a breath of fresh air, an entirely
new face, but unfortunately, they have been
short-changed once again. The man they had become sick
and tired of, and thought had gone for good, is still
very much around.
It is not only Yar’Adua that appears so helpless. For
the past one week, I have read several columns on this
matter, and all I have seen are passionate appeals to
former President Obasanjo to, please, leave Yar’Adua
alone to rule Nigeria the way he deems fit. Now, this
makes no sense at all. Should we be begging an
ex-president, obsessed with a grand illusion of
boundless powers he no longer possesses, to leave the
man with the real, statutory authority and powers alone
to function? No, wait a minute! This would have been
most laughable if it was not such a serious and pathetic
matter, with far-reaching consequences to the survival
of our nation.
As the nation’s opinion moulders weep and beg Obasanjo
to, please, take his retirement in good faith and
quickly dump himself in the unedifying company of failed
leaders where he ought to feel very comfortable, and
allow Yar’Adua free hand to conduct the affairs of the
nation, what none of them appears to be asking is
whether Yar’Adua himself is even desirous and eager to
be rid of the overbearing influence of Obasanjo? Is he
really ready to take charge? Are we sure that the
"Servant-leader" is not even too grateful that
Obasanjo’s meddlesome and looming shadow are providing
perfect alibi for what is gradually appearing as his
stark visionlessness? I would certainly want to know
those great ideas of Yar’Adua’s which Obasanjo’s
meddlesomeness is preventing him from unfolding!
The truth, as we know it, is that Yar’Adua never wanted
to be president, and so, he never sat down to draw up
anything that vaguely looks like a blueprint for the
country’s redemption. When he was conscripted by
Obasanjo and imposed on both the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) and Nigerians at a time elections were
merely a couple of weeks away, he was too preoccupied
with the thought of winning elections to have any time
to concentrate and think about how he would rule
Nigeria. And so when he eventually became President
through the "Iwu-ruwuru" elections that took place last
April, one of the first statements he made was that he
had no plans of becoming a "Jack-of-all-trade"
President. A nice statement though, except that it left
a bold hint that the man who uttered it was already
feeling overwhelmed by the enormity of Nigeria ’s
problems.
Quite early, Yar’Adua began to make a singsong of the
"Energy Challenge", how he was going to confront it
headlong, overcome it, and give Nigerians an
uninterrupted power supply. This, if you would remember,
formed the high point of virtually all his usually
terse, uninspiring campaign speeches. It is more than
forty days now since he became President, and the
impression of him out there is that of a pitiably
confused leader groping his way through an impenetrably
dark alleyway. I am yet to encounter anyone with the
slightest hint of how he plans to confront the
ever-worsening "Energy Challenge."
All he did the other day, to the consternation of many
Nigerians, was to summon the same gaggle of failed
"experts" in the Ministry of Power, the same people that
ensured that Nigeria remained submerged in pitch
darkness throughout the eight dark years of Olusegun
Obasanjo’s regime, and ordered them to either come up
with a blueprint on how to solve the nation’s energy
crises immediately, or he would declare a State of
Emergency in the power sector? So, with all the talk
about tackling the "energy challenge" headlong, the
Servant-leader had no clear idea what to do? So, all
these while, his hope had been on the same dead woods
that could not achieve anything for a whole eight years?
What a shame! I am sure, that it is equally becoming
clearer to him that the Niger Delta problem which he
promised to solve in a couple of months is much more
complex than he had imagined.
No doubt, Obasanjo is clearly enjoying the show, filling
a gaping power vacuum that clearly exists. When he said
that the reason for his "reforms" in the "PiiiiDiiiiPiiii"
was to change it from a Movement to a Party, where
discipline would reign, so that his successor would not
encounter the massive indiscipline he suffered, it was
clear he was merely erecting an out-of-office power base
for himself. He handpicked his comrade-in-arms and
loyalist, Brigadier-General David Mark, and made him
Senate President and installed a certain Patricia Etteh
as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Next, he
shoved aside Tony Anenih and installed himself as the
PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman, and equally formed
and became Chairman of what he calls PDP Legislative
Agenda Committee whose business, we’re told, would be to
vet the bills to be presented by PDP Senators and House
Members. Already he is the “Life Leader” of the PDP.
In the light of the amended PDP constitution, the Party
(read Obasanjo) is supreme, and even higher than both
the president and the governors, and can dictate to
them. And to underline this fact, Obasanjo recently
summoned a meeting of the governors in Ota. That those
wishing to be ministers had to lobby at Ota instead of
Abuja is no more a secret; ditto for the fact that the
list of the ministerial nominees were delayed until it
was approved by Ota.
So, it is true that Obasanjo still rules Nigeria , but
he is doing so, because Yar’Adua thinks he should. Or
put another way, it suits Yar’Adua to still have
Obasanjo in charge, while he enjoys the perks of office
without the responsibilities that go with them. And at
the end of the day, when another four years of
devastating failure must have been successfully enacted,
Yar’Adua can conveniently come up with the theory that
he was not allowed to implement his ‘superior ideas’.
So, please, no one should insult our intelligence any
more with the old wives tales about how helpless he is
before an overbearing ex-president! Because he knows
full well that if he truly wants to halt the entire
charade, he can. Even this morning!
What, for instance, stops Yar’Adua from threatening to
resign and giving as reason his unwillingness to have
history credit him with the disastrous outcome of
another man’s decisions? It would be interesting to see
how Obasanjo would respond to this challenge. Either
way, both Obasanjo and the PDP are losers. At least,
Yar’Adua would be able to redeem his name if he is
forced to make good his threat. After all, he never
wanted to be president.
Again, he could dust up the PTDF file and set up an
Independent Commission of Enquiry to look into its
management and, in fact, the whole Oil Ministry since
1999, and follow it up with a pledge that anybody
implicated, "no matter how highly placed" would face the
full weight of the law! The heavens would not fall.
Nor should he fear impeachment by the Obasanjo foot
soldiers in the National Assembly, because the mere
thought of its implication to the contentious issue of
power shift would effectively kill the thought in the
legislatures. Even if they now impeach him and his
deputy, both Obasanjo and the PDP are still at loss.
So, that option would remain unattractive to them.
So, please, spare me all these tales about Obasanjo’s
overbearing influence on Yar’Adua, as if both the
Inspector General of Police or Chief of Army Staff
reside and take orders from Ota. Truth is: Yar’Adua is
not yet ready to take over power. He should be sincere
enough to tell himself that. When he is ready, we will
know. He is still content with merely reigning in Aso
Rock, while ‘Senior President’ Obasanjo rules Nigeria
from Ota. That’s probably what he wanted from the
beginning. What a sad situation.
Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
writes a column (SCRUPLES) in the
Independent every Wednesday /
scruples2006@yahoo.com / Thursday, July 13, 2007
* * *
* *
posted 15 July 2007 /
updated 9 February 2008 |
