By Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
[email protected]
I recently began to have this nagging feeling
that if we would once again devote some more time to thoroughly re-examine
the underlying factors that appear determined to make President Olusegun
Obasanjo leave office as a grossly overwhelmed and underachieving ruler,
whose eight whole years of encumbering the Aso Rock ground would only be
remembered for the pains, hunger and frustrations they populated in the
land, it may be possible that we would end up even pitying the Balogun of
Owu instead of continuing to suffocate him with undiluted odium as is
currently the practice in the country. Indeed, it has become absolutely
necessary for us to pause awhile and ask ourselves: considering the way
Obasanjo was hurriedly packaged and imposed on Nigerians by several
godfathers, and based on our knowledge of what usually inspire Nigerian
godfathers into such ventures, is it not possible that the man they call
Baba in Aso Rock may even not be the one calling the shots in the highest
quarters in the land, despite the tough I-am-my-own-man exterior he appears
to wear all the time? Is there no likelihood that some fiery-eyed,
dare-devil, I-don�t-care-if-Nigeria-sinks godfathers are holding him by the
collar and insisting that the country must remain sick and unattended to,
while they �recouped their investments�?
We really need to ask these questions because
it is becoming very clear that even if this country were to earn a hundred
trillion dollars from the excess oil revenue currently swelling the nation�s
accounts, absolutely nothing would change for the better in the lives of the
long suffering, hapless Nigerians. The downward trend would still continue
unchecked. Light, an essential service that is taken for granted in even
some not equally endowed nations, would still remain an occasional luxury in
Nigeria , pushing the cost of production to the skies, and returning the
attendant prohibitive costs of services and commodities to the people. Yes,
Nigerians would still be forced by the government to remain helpless vassals
to an implacable clique of oil merchants who are already nearing the
realization of what appears to be their most cherished dream, namely, to see
Nigerians purchase fuel with their very blood. And evidently, the present
government appears to have since ruled out the likelihood of building any
new refineries or making the existing ones functional, in order to keep
these unfeeling, dry-as-dust fuel importers in business. Again, Nigeria
appears to have the worst roads on earth. The poverty in Nigeria is killing
and dehumanizing. Ever so often, some �executive beggars� (both gentlemen
and ladies) have accosted me in front of my office to ask for money for just
a meal or transport! Health institutions are in shambles, so much so, that
even the least person in government these days goes abroad to treat even
malaria. Schools have decayed so much that only a negligible few among our
teeming number of graduates now get accepted for postgraduate studies in
foreign countries without having to first be subjected to additional
qualifying tests. Corruption and looting of public funds have been grossly
democratized among high and low officers of government. Lawlessness and
impunity are being promoted in the country with indecent fanfare. Nigeria
has become a classic example of how a country could look like in the absence
of any government. And the chilling fact is that no one up there appears
bothered by it all!
Now, having seen all these, and the fact that
nobody can point to any genuine intentions or plans to change the situation,
can we now confidently conclude that the Obasanjo we used to know, who was
always inundating us with lengthy lectures about democracy and good
governance, would just be content to leave office as the president who,
despite the abundant existence of opportunities and resources to turn the
country around for good, spent eight whole years pretending on the throne
and achieving practically nothing? Shall we be able to sustain the position
that the man has developed such a great disdain for the verdict of history?
Because, right now, there is virtually nothing to show for the man�s more
than five year stay in office; and there is no sign on ground to show he has
any plans of making any real difference before 2007. In fact those who refer
to the GSM revolution as an �achievement� by this government are actually
blaspheming, and more significantly insulting the government. Does it
require even the brain of a baboon to call for the bidding of GSM licenses
and rake in 1.085 billion dollars in the process? And, by the way, where is
the money realized from the deal? Assuming we could point at one significant
thing the GSM sales fund was used for, then we can at least call that an
�achievement�. So let�s just forget about.
My feeling is that there is no way any man
could really be in-charge of a country he says he is governing, and remain
in office for two full terms of four years each, but prefer to record no
achievement. At least he could solve one major problem confronting Nigeria
and that would enshrine his name in the minds of the people. Doesn�t
Obasanjo know that with the excess revenue from oil he could build new
refineries and rescue our heads from the slaughter slab of oil merchants?
Doesn�t he know that with that money, he could turn the power sector around
and in the process kick-start the economy more easily than could be done
with those so called reforms whose chief apostles do not even appear to
believe in? Why does the man seem so helpless and passive in the face of a
gradually dying Nigeria ?
Before Dr. Chris Ngige became the Governor of
Anambra State, there was a governor in that state called Dr. Chinwoke
Mbadinuju. During his era the state practically stood still. Schools could
not open for nearly a year. Nothing was working. Workers remained unpaid.
People called him names, but it was after he left office and Ngige came in
and disengaged the conduit pipes through which the godfathers had sucked
Anambra dry, that the truth came out in the open. The estranged godfathers
may be hounding Ngige today, but even if they succeed with Aso Rock�s
assistance in getting Ngige out tomorrow, Anambra people will remember him
with more pleasant memories than they would Mbadinuju who had served out his
term.
Drawing from the Anambra paradigm, is it
possible then that Obasanjo, lacking in the will and guts to successfully
challenge his own overbearing godfathers, has abandoned Nigeria for them and
resolved to look outside for fulfillment, honour and record of achievement?
If you doubt this, how come a whole President/Petroleum Minister of a
country is claiming that he does not know the price of kerosene in his own
domain? How can he be dissipating energy arguing that there is no abject
poverty in Nigeria despite the stark reality of it staring him in the face?
Is the man not talking with the absent-mindedness of someone whose attention
and interest are elsewhere? His mind would probably be at either NEPAD,
Ivory Coast , Sierra Leone or, of course, his dearly beloved Darfur . At
least, in these places, he does not have a thousand godfathers breathing
down his neck. He is instead the godfather himself!
I think that instead of joining hands with the
renegades and godfathers in Anambra to oppress and hound Ngige, Obasanjo
should borrow the Anambra Governor�s courage and call the bluff of those
godfathers that installed him in Aso Rock. And if he is unable to face the
unconscionable merchants that profiteer daily from the decayed carcasses of
Nigeria , he should at least voice out his predicament like Ngige first did.
Let him tell us clearly that he is a mere
captive of some unyielding godfathers whose determination to "recoup their
investments" has turned him into a mere pretender to the throne. Then we
will really understand the real source of our problem. We may even come to
his rescue and save him and our nation from those predators. Indeed, Nigeria
and Nigerians eagerly await this historic move.
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