By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir, Talban Bauchi
Our collective selective amnesia makes it possible for characters from the yesteryears of leadership to pontificate and assume dispositions of nobility and morality—appearing to distance themselves from the uncharitable, undemocratic, and immoral acts they committed while in power. Had they possessed moral standing or uprightness, they would have acted differently. Today, they gesture wildly, trying to rewrite history—changing their wolf’s clothing for sheep’s clothing—in a bold and shameless bid for leadership values, aiming to become moral compasses for the masses. Embarrassingly, once out of power, our leaders cannot remain on the sidelines like the rest of us. Instead, they continue to angle for power or relevance, issuing commentary to satisfy their conceited minds while hoping to curry public favor.
Not too long ago, “Ghana Must Go” was just a harmless travel bag. Under OBJ’s tenure, it became a veritable tool for ferrying illicit funds, meant for sinister purposes. Don’t you remember how these bags were on display in the Assembly—used for bribery? Don’t you recall it was during OBJ’s tenure that constituency projects were initiated in the Assembly? For what purpose, if not to pocket the legislature to do his bidding? Today, we are burdened with countless uncompleted constituency projects across the country, with Tracka and other transparency agencies struggling to assess and track them. It’s one whistleblower after another, as more uncompleted projects are exposed.
Have you also forgotten how OBJ installed and removed several Senate Presidents at will—at least four during his presidency? Enwerem, Nnamani, Wabara, Anyim, and others all held the position, courtesy of OBJ’s gimmicks and antics, all to ensure he didn’t work with an independent legislature.
How many state of emergency declarations were made by OBJ, each with the appointment of military administrators? How many state assemblies impeached their governors with as few as three or five legislators—a hugely undemocratic act? In fact, didn’t we have a sitting governor, Chris Ngige of Anambra, confess that he was abducted in an attempt to remove him from office and install an OBJ ally? Wasn’t Governor Fayose of Ekiti sacked by OBJ? What business did a president have interfering in the running of state governments or the legislature at both federal and state levels?
OBJ ruled under a democratic dispensation, but he moved like a despot. He never truly shed his military uniform or mien. He was a man of force—brute force. His party was not immune to his dictatorial tendencies. Party chairmen were followed to their dinner tables and pressured into resigning—by the President himself! This is without mentioning brutal events like the leveling of Odi. Let’s not forget that a sitting president, OBJ, launched his library project and compelled governors to contribute. Then came the almighty Third Term Agenda—to pave the way for OBJ, who had already served as military head of state and civilian president for eight years, to continue in power indefinitely. Clearly, anyone who thought it would just be a single additional term was not wearing their thinking cap. OBJ would’ve done a Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo, a Mugabe of Zimbabwe, or a Paul Biya of Cameroon on us. And with his good health, we might have endured his despotic rule from 1999 to date. He would’ve pulled all the strings and forced his way, however he pleased. We dodged a bullet there. Phew! Democracy was actually and truly in danger!
I’ve not forgotten how 16 members of the Governors’ Forum defeated 19 to install a chairman sympathetic to President Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan endorsed this arithmetic. He too tried to perpetuate himself in power—serving out Yar’Adua’s term, then his own full term, and seeking another, which would have granted him a total of 11 years in office! He also declared states of emergency during his tenure. He obstructed the smooth running of the legislature. Who can forget senators and House of Reps members scaling the National Assembly fence to gain access, as they were locked out by security forces? If I were a legislator, I doubt I could’ve made it over that fence!
Are we turning a blind eye to the destruction of the Edo State Assembly complex by Governor Obaseki, and the denial of legislative rights and entitlements to 14 assembly members? When opposition parties—especially OBJ and Goodluck’s PDP—speak of undemocratic acts, you wonder where they were when all these things happened. Didn’t they consider those acts undemocratic?
OBJ now says democracy is in danger in Africa—though he was clearly referring to Nigeria and merely trying to be clever. The Rivers State crisis is their main headache now. But you can’t take Flagyl for a headache—especially someone else’s. The uniqueness of the Rivers debacle is that the governor and the Assembly members were directly responsible for the growing insecurity in the state. Pipelines were being blown up. The gains Nigeria made in oil production and revenue were at risk—eroded overnight due to a power tussle. The communities were safe, the capital was safe—but miscreants were already targeting critical oil infrastructure.
This is a terrible time to play games. Nigeria cannot afford such expensive political gambling, especially in an era of austerity. We are just trying to bounce back, and some agberos were ready to plunge us deeper into darkness. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, was well within his constitutional powers and backed by the National Assembly. Rivers is too economically vital for a responsible government to allow militants to toy with it again. It would end in tears.
So when OBJ declares that democracy is in danger, perhaps he really means democrazy—the kind he, his protégés, and party affiliates once shoved down our throats during the PDP years.
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