AS we move towards 2007, discussions are beginning to coalesce around the wrong issues, again. All that we get to read in the media are about those who had declared interest in the race and the zones to which the presidency should be reserved. Personalities dominate discussions. This is the same error that led the country to the situation it finds itself today.
It is not as if discussing personalities is totally out of order. No, if the right questions about the personalities are asked, there is nothing wrong about personalities. We need to know where anyone who wants to rule the country is coming from. What role did such a person play at the most critical points in the nation’s history?
Those who chose to be part of the problem rather than the solution have no business insulting our collective psyche by seeking the highest office in the land. Anyone who chose to sit on the fence when the struggle to free the land was being waged has no right to signify interest in the presidency after others had taken all the risk.
But, even beyond the roles played by individuals in the liberation struggle, it is time we focused on politics of issues.
What are the views of those showing interest in the presidency on reviving the economy? Are they in support of the IMF/World Bank programmed recovery plans? Are they likely to hand over the economy to the so-called market forces when that means that foreign capital might as well take over the weak companies? Or do they have an original plan that would make Nigeria benefit from the global market while at the same time support the domestic companies? How do they intend to tackle the scourge of poverty? What plans have they to reposition the national educational and health systems? Beyond distribution of fertilisers, what have they to offer to boost the nation’s quest for food security?
These are pertinent questions that candidates must answer. We don’t have to wait until there is little time to evaluate these issues before asking the relevant questions. One area that is usually neglected is political reforms. The worst critics of the Obasanjo regime may criticise the administration for posing and addressing the wrong economic questions, but they cannot accuse the government of failing to come up with an economic recovery programme.
They have something for us to discuss. But, on the all-important economic sector, the administration is yet to come up with any form of agenda. It has merely been dancing round half digested ideas and dodging hard tackles from the vibrant pro-democracy groups. Since 2000, it has promised a wholesale review of the constitution as if the legal framework is the main problem.
After millions of naira, if not dollars had been sunk into the project in four years, nothing has come out of the move. The regime is mortally opposed to any form of confab that would involve Nigerians in discussing the way forward. The government has no answer to electoral reforms which is central to mobilising the citizenry to support democracy and thus building a bulwark against dictatorship.
I have completely lost hope in the possibility of the Obasanjo regime leading Nigeria out of the woods. Politically, the building blocks are not well arranged. As such, nothing can come out of the other moves. We must begin to think beyond Obasanjo. Anyone who understands the way the political system works would realise that the elite is in the process of arranging someone who would continue with the do-nothing approach to governance.
The only way to achieve this is by diverting attention from the critical issues. Rather, they want us to continue with such questions as whether retired military men should be allowed to contest and whether the rift between the President and the Vice-President is over. Who has the support of the president is seen as the critical factor. Deliberately, they pose the wrong questions, sell the agenda to the media and get the people to focus on such issues.
Basically, there are two major issues to settle now. The most important is political reforms. What shape should it take and what should be the scope. Secondly, the economy is in a parlous state.
Those in power appear to have lost steam. They come up with issues that have failed in other lands and try to foist them on us. What are those being touted now likely to do if invested with power? What are they likely to do differently and what are they likely to retain?
After these might have been settled, other issues like generational power shift might be looked into. Dealers posing as leaders should not be allowed to get away with their petty schemes.
Limits of party control
IN recent times, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has been trying to over- regulate the system. On every issue that relates to governance at the state level, the PDP sought to dictate just how the governors should handle the issues. Just last week, in Anambra State where the governor has been embroiled in dispute with powerful forces suspected to have the backing of Abuja, the ruling party directed Governor Chris Ngige to halt elaborate plans to mark the first anniversary of his abduction.
These are clear signs that the long period of military rule has robbed the country of a political culture. Institutions and individual office holders do not realise the extent of their powers. Political parties are there to aggregate values within the system and provide choice to the electorate.
The PDP, in this instance, might have some responsibility for guiding office holders, including governors and even the President but the duty of the party ends at ensuring that its manifesto sold to the people is faithfully being implemented. However, in a situation where there is no manifesto and the electorate did not have to vote to bring in the leaders, the party has to divert its attention to day-to-day administration of the state. What’s the business of the party in what day is marked? It’s a good thing that Governor Ngige shunned the party’s directive in this respect. The PDP might be an octopus, but it must be told that even octopuses have their limits.
Osun’s slippery political terrain
THE news from the state of the living spring is quite disturbing. Prior to July 5 when the story of the alleged fraud was broken, Chief Bisi Akande was seen by all like a saint. He wasted no time in pointing out how he saved billions of naira on the new state secretariat and other projects. From the way he spoke and acted, Chief Akande was regarded as Nigeria’s Mr Prudent and Mr Clean.
But, since the story broke, a pall of doubt has been created in the minds of the public, especially in Osun where the electronic media has been put to devastating effect. The former governor has been called names over an alleged inflation of contract by N126 million.
It would be recalled that the current governor came into office with a heavy baggage over what he did, did not do or was perceived to have done in Lagos State when he was military administrator. The general perception was that at best, under him, the rate of development would slow down. As I once pointed out in this column, this negative perception must have propelled the governor to work hard if only to prove his critics wrong. But, even then, he could not escape being compared to former Governor Akande.
Alliance for Democracy, the party to which Akande belongs and heads, has come out in his support. Adopting the Akande line, the party has alleged that their leader was merely being politically persecuted. On the other hand, the PDP and Oyinlola argue that they were only acting in protection of public interest.
Just before the call by “well meaning” prominent Nigerians, including the Nigerian Bar Association President, Chief Wole Olanipekun is heeded, I hasten to say the matter must not be swept under the carpet. The public deserves to know all that happened in respect of the Bola Ige House. As things stand today, it would be foolish to support either of the parties with the partial disclosures.
There are certainly many unanswered questions and possibilities. Is it true that huge amounts were signed off by the former governor a few days before the expiration of his tenancy of the Osogbo Government House? Why? What exactly did Lanre Oladeji tell the police? Was he hired to nail Akande? And, what has the police investigation unravelled? Really, is it a case of someone being afraid of Akande’s shadows or is the former governor a mere pretender?
These are questions which must be answered. Good enough, neither the AD nor Chief Akande is opposed to the due process. Rather, what they have called for is that an independent arbiter be brought in. They have asked the state governor to refer the matter to the institution of state saddled with the task of solving riddles like this. Fair enough. If Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola is sure of his facts as he swore he is, he should call in Justice Akanbi and his men immediately.
If indeed Chief Akande is innocent of the charges, he is entitled to all the protection he could get from the law and, if he is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he must be stopped in his tracks. The interest of the public is paramount. All the talk about heading for one magistrate court in one corner of Osogbo must stop now and thorough investigation allowed.
