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 Daily
Independent Online.
* Tuesday, June 22, 2004.
Obasanjo; you can't stop the glorious dawn
By Raji Lateef Dare
There is no doubt that
democracy in Nigeria is suffering its worst bashing under the growing
despotic tendencies of President Olusegun Obasanjo following his
inability and refusal to learn the most rudimentary principles of
democracy.
Events of the last few weeks call to
question how much democratic ideals he can list in his credentials
despite his many trips at the expense of the pauperised Nigerians to all
the western countries that he has visited since he came to power. I am
alarmed at the frequency at which General Obasanjo, who glorified how he
emerged the Head of State
against his will and President from the rows of death, can cast
aspersions on the integrity of the very basis of our present democratic culture
by his continued assault on the constitution.
I am afraid for democracy in
the light of the unpretentious attack on the person of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed
Tinubu as was demonstrated at Iyin Ekiti when the governor in the company
of the duo of former governors of Ogun and Ekiti State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba
and Otunba Niyi Adebayo joined the Commissioner for Youths, Sports and
Social Development in Lagos State, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, to bury his
mother. The trio were detained
for hours and I agree not on the orders of Fayose because he does
not appear to have the necessary intellectual capacity and comportment to
comprehend and execute such a plan but for allowing himself to be talked
into one of the most barbaric conduct least expected from the office of a
governor only portrayed him as unfit to be the governor of any state and
definitely not Ekiti State, the Fountain of Knowledge. If a serving
governor can be treated with such contempt what hope for democracy in
Nigeria?
I am more alarmed at the
frequency with which General Obasanjo has continued to undermine the
democratically elected government of Lagos State which enjoys the maximum
support of its citizens and is not suffering from the type of visionless
governance and policy summersault daily witnessed at the centre. Since
General Obasanjo's second term emergence, he has not relented in his too
glaring attempt to destroy the government of Lagos State. It is on record
that he made similar attempts in his first tenure when he allowed
personal interests to override great ideas capable of adding values to
the lives of the people. It was such anti-people policies that caused him
to stall the electricity projects that would have brought a lot of
stabilisation to the electricity industry in Nigeria. It was such
unpopular postures that caused him not to appreciate that the 21st
century governance is about ideas and since these are in short supply at
the Federal level, any wonder he is hell-bent to kill the Bar Beach
transformation plan, aimed at turning liability to asset. His
preoccupation on this project has been limited to sand-filling, which
translates to unjustifiably throwing billions of naira into the ocean. At
the last count, N12b has been dumped in the ocean.
Of recent, he has let loose
his Minister of Works, after failing to introduce a dubious concept named
'shadow cabinet' to form a parallel government in Lagos State. The
Ministry of Works now issues directives to the Lagos State Government at
will because General Olusegun Obasanjo has decided to dishonour
constitutional procedures. This is not limited to Lagos alone as it is
now accepted norm for appointed ministers to disparage governors based on
unsubstantiated proofs.
I am even more alarmed when
it hit the news wave that the President in a military fashion has issued
directives that statutory allocations to local governments be withheld to
states that conducted elections into new local government areas. I doubt
if General Obasanjo reflected well on this issue before embarking on such
a dangerous escapade all in the name of playing politics. I doubt the
quality of legal advice he gets from Mr. Akinolu Olujinmi. General
Obasanjo should have realised that thousands of Nigerian citizens are
dependent on this allocation. But has he ever cared? He has demonstrated
over time through his policies and personal actions that the lives of the
people mean little or nothing to him. This was amply demonstrated on
January 27, 2002 when the bomb explosions at Ikeja Military Cantonment
caused a big stampede across Lagos and led to the death of close to two
thousands great citizens, children inclusive. The statement he made then
was that he was never supposed to be there.
If I have been alarmed at the
nurturing of an imperial presidency, I am thoroughly ashamed at the
unconcerned posture the legislature has taken over these various issues.
In fact, the silence of the National Assembly on all these fundamental
issues listed above is an indication that the polity is not only
seriously sick, it exposes the National Assembly as a partisan
institution, who can not be trusted to act in the interest of the nation.
There is nothing in the statute book that precludes the National Assembly
from taking official positions on issues as these but so far, the members
have merely been engrossed in their pecuniary interest to the disadvantage
of millions of Nigerians whose rights, privileges and welfare are being
rudely trampled upon by a reckless executive that has no regard for the
rule of law and has lost focus. No President I know of would withhold
statutory allocations due to any state based on the constitutional issue
of local government creation knowing full well that the welfare of the
people is the essence of being in office. At the worst , he could go to
the court for judicial interpretation. There is no doubt, that this action
is wicked, cruel, callous and deserve the attention and reproach of the
National Assembly which should put aside their lust for pecuniary gain
for once and concentrate on treating issues of national importance with
the dispatch it deserves. Not less than five million lives are on the
line at a conservative
assessment. No President should be allowed to spread poverty and
disease on such a large scale because, pure and simple, this is what
awaits the beneficiaries of the funds except urgent actions are taken.
And one may ask, what would
General Obasanjo lose if he does not withhold these statutory allocations
and go to court to seek judicial interpretation of the constitution as it
affects the relevant sections he disagrees with?
It is obvious, he does not
lose anything as far as government’s daily activities are concerned, but
probably he has lost a fortune in politics. His direct attack on the
person of Asiwaju Tinubu, the undermining of the government and his
brutal treatment of Lagosians who voted for his re-election boils down to
few facts which include his fear for the growing profile of Asiwaju Bola
Ahmed Tinubu in the South-West politics. Obasanjo’s antecedents never
support any emergent power outside his person. The case of General
Olutoye (rtd) and his widely published statements about the late Chief
M.K.O. Abiola readily come to mind here. Despite his pretentious
nationalist toga, it was reported that he derides any submission that
places any other name above his own, including that of the late sage and
revered leader of modern
Yoruba politics, Chief Obafemi Awolowo . In the two instances referred
above, General Obasanjo disparaged the two personalities so that they
will lose credibility, but history has since shown how unkind he has been
to them. In fact, the interview Chief Bisi Akande granted a news magazine
questioning the qualification of Obasanjo to receive obeisance of any
type from any Yoruba man when he leaves office in 2007 was reported to
have irked him to no end and he has vowed to deal with him and his
associates until they accord him a position of honour. This is what
informed him to sponsor a parallel convention when he realised that Chief
Akande had been tipped to emerge as the national chairman of the Alliance
for Democracy. Could this
still be the same method of holding down Asiwaju Tinubu?
Obasanjo has found a match
and in all modesty a superiority in Asiwaju Tinubu whose campaign in the
Southwest has sent jitters down General Obasanjo's spine. There is no
doubt that this is what prompted him to draft soldiers to detain him at
Iyin Ekiti. There is nothing to suggest that when next he visits anywhere
in the Southwest or elsewhere in Nigeria, he would not be subjected to
worse treatment. Tinubu has engaged this polity positively more than
anybody since 1999 and nobody can deny this. I make bold to say that any
Nigerian who shares the misguided view that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu insults
the President should be honourable enough to show us in black and white
where it was written. My governor, Asiwaju Tinubu, will never descend to
the level of the Bode Georges, but one thing you can always give him
credit for is that he will never shy away from giving robust criticisms
to any issue that is of national importance. General Obasanjo cannot stop
the glorious dawn that is about to break. The people are tired of his
deceit and history is not on his side.
The hope of thousands of
Lagosians who set the stage and approved the creation of additional local
governments in Lagos State and are being persecuted and held by the
jugular by the insensitive action of this administration rests in the
Supreme Court and I have absolute faith that this institution will once
again rise up to its responsibilities with all the courage it needs
despite the recent humiliation General Obasanjo tried to subject it to.
The Interpol were drafted to investigate the Chief Justice of the
Federation based on bribery allegation, but yet nobody has done anything
about the indictment of the Presidency by the only available Audit Report
by Victor Aze. The state of emergency declared in Plateau State, is it a
test case of what to come? The ever
patient Nigerian citizens are waiting.
• Dare is the Lagos State
secretary of the Alliance for Democracy
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