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Persevere, Mr. President
Salisu Na’inna dambatta
Leadership,
even if only of the tiniest or the most basic of human organisations, much less
of running complex countries like Nigeria, Iraq or India, always looks glamorous
from afar, but the invariable truth is that the crown is heavy, the throne is at
best uncomfortable and, full of thorns, at worst. Sometimes the throne is the
sarcophagus of the leader, both literally and metaphorically, that is, on which
life is lost or hard-earned reputation tarnished. The cases of Alhaji Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa who was assassinated on the throne and the current status of
former President Bertrande Aristide of Haiti illustrate this fact of life. It is
largely a thankless job.
The embattled president of the Performing
Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), Mr. Charles Oputa, or Charly Boy
(to use his trade name) aptly described the complexity and the inevitable
uneasiness in leadership when he was asked to comment on the appropriateness or
otherwise of the imposition of a state of emergency in turbulent Plateau State
by the Federal Government. His reply to the Sunday Sun
reporter who asked him the question was: "But being the president of PMAN has
made me to realize that to whom much is given, much is expected and uneasy
lies the head that wears the crown. The fact that one has to do with lots of
intrigues and politicking is incredible."
Mr. Optua elaborated in his response
(Sunday Sun, May 23, 2004, page 6) thus,
"I can tell you that my experience as the president of the
PMAN has made me to realise how difficult it is to rule, how much more of a
country like Nigeria."
Many citizens, just like Mr. Oputa, are of
the view that leadership is difficult any day, especially in Nigeria, where
delicate balances, as former President Ibrahim Babangida put it, must be struck
and maintained.
Managing the affairs of an estimated,
120,000,000 Nigerians, who are subdivided into at least 450 tribes and a dozen
religious groups, located in different eco-zones, with their ways of life
coloured by an assortment of experience, attitude and values, has never been,
and is unlikely to be, uncomplicated for any leader in this country.
Given the composition of this country and
the contending interests therein and, the endless differing perspectives
interplaying daily, our leaders would have enough routine issues and burden to
manage. With an additional load of violent conflicts that have ethno-religious
dimensions, the leader is certainly in need of extra prayer and a divine gift of
wisdom to navigate the situation safely. Hard decisions had to be made to limit
the conflict, restore law and order and ensure at least minimum security for all
citizens. President Olusegun Obasanjo is on the hot seat and he had to make a
decision, which could hardly be palatable to all the people at the same time,
and he did.
It is because of that decision, which is
normal by any refined principle that the President came under an orchestrated
and unceasing criticism; some of it based on ignorance, most of it sheer
mischief or simply a presidential bashing to gain cheap popularity, or is it
notoriety?
My previous postulation in "Obasanjo In
The World" (Sunday Champion, September 9, 2001, page 13), during the
heat over the President’s foreign trips that "It is probably only in Nigeria
that a President is criticized for implementing the constitution of his country"
is as valid today as it was 30 months ago.
In the current context, President Olusegun
Obasanjo is once more being criticized so severely simply because, in my view,
he implemented some provisions of the constitution to ensure our internal
security.
If he did not act given the circumstance,
as he should, he would most likely be branded as inept and naive, but for rising
to the occasion promptly as a responsive and responsible leader, and in a
measured and perfectly legal way, our brand of opinion moulders want us to
believe that he is a dictator, or at least, regard what he did as dictatorial.
Many Nigerians rejected and see this posture as unfair and against the public
good, as failure to take appropriate action at the right time by the President
could breed anarchy.
Anarchy in any part of Nigeria is
undesirable.
Indeed, the fear of descending into
anarchy was alluded to in my article, "Pains and Burden of leadership,"
which focused on the past numerous conflicts in Nasarawa Benue, Plateau
and Taraba states published on page 11 of the National Interest, December
6, 2001, thus: "Some observers of Nigerian politics correctly believed that, the
frequent clashes among Nigerians, for real or imagined reasons, are gradually
pushing the country towards unwanted state of anarchy from which there would be
no gain for any religious, political or ethnic group. Nigerian leadership is
duty-bound to save the people and Nigeria from this potential catastrophe". This
observation was true then and it remains correct today.
The same article continued "In order to
take Nigeria away from the danger of falling into a tragic situation similar to
the negative consequence attached, it is now imperative for authorities to start
treating groups and individuals who specialize in incitement through their
utterances and actions with the seriousness they deserve."
Based on the loud but rapidly ebbing media
outcry against the robust measures the President took to end the recent threat
to national security, it could be reasonably suspected that a segment of the
Nigerian elite or political class is engaged in highlighting, exploiting and
gaining from the undeniable differences amongst the people, instead of giving
them true and beneficial leadership.
The President alluded to this, at least
regarding Plateau State, in his watershed broadcast on Tuesday, May 18, 2004
when he asserted, "Political errors have been magnified and politicized by
opportunistic politicians that often put personal interest above those of the
people and the state.’
It has been said that for many
‘politicians’ and so-called power brokers in society, to be architects or actual
implementers of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts is the only way to
gain relevance and some perceived political clout in their localities, and by
extension, in the whole country. In the May 18 broadcast, the President
characterized one of them "as an instigator and a threat to peace". Another
politician has just been reported to have said that there would be no peace
unless a ‘Middle Belt’ is created, in a constitutional era where no government
arm or organ is empowered to meet such a demand. This implies that President
Obasanjo’s government would continue to be the target of premeditated and
wasteful violent political agitation for unattainable objectives. This is sad
and painful for a President that received the documents to end a devastation
civil war that was largely caused by an agitation similar to the one being
championed by the politician in question.
It is widely believed that such
politicians, who in most cases failed to deliver their constituencies during
elections, purposely create conflicts to conceal their misdeeds from the people
whose interests they purport to advance or protect, or cover up their lack of
base at home from the prying eyes of their political party mates and competitors
in the larger polity.
In tackling them and their harmful
activities, there would be some resistance, but Mr President needs to persevere
on his principled cause to rescue the Federal Republic of Nigeria from their
scheming, their manipulation of our diversity and their sinful wish to plunge
the nation into an undesirable "mutual genocide."
•Dambatta is the Assistant Director
(Information) in the Presidency.
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