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Achebe’s letter and govt’s hollow
ritual (1)
By Adeola Abimbola
When the letter written by the literary icon, Prof.
Chinua Achebe, to President Olusegun Obasanjo rejecting the award of Commander
of the Federal Republic (CFR) conferred on him was published, many keen
observers of the Presidency's past responses to such issues raised in that
letter were certain that the same pattern of response would be adopted in the
latest instance. Rather than address the critical and fundamental issues raised
by Prof. Achebe, the Presidency went about "educating" him on the
miracles being wrought by President Olusegun Obasanjo. As usual, the loquacious
Femi FaniKayode, the President's Special Assistant (Public Affairs), was
certain to issue the response. For one, he appears to have mastered the art of
telling lies and abusing people who dared question Baba's style of governance
than offering genuine reasons why Nigerians cannot reap the dividends of
democracy from a government they worked hard to enthrone. It appears the
President enjoys the way Mr. Fani-Kayode takes on his critics that he prefers
him to his Senior Special Assistant (Media), Mrs. Remi Oyo or the Minister of
Information and Culture, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, both of who have a more
temperate and mature way of defending Obasanjo's many gaffes. When again Mr.
Fani-Kayode was chosen to respond to Prof. Achebe's letter, one was, therefore,
not surprised that rather than address the issues which the literary icon
raised as his reason for turning down the second highest award the nation can
bestow on any of its deserving citizens, the Presidency went about whipping up
sentiments. Reading the Presidency's response to the letter, one could not help
but ask: what do these people in Aso Rock think Nigerians are? A bunch of
fools? Hear Mr. Fani-Kayode "...no matter how distinguished and
resourceful a person you are and no matter how brilliant and gifted an
individual you are, if you feel that your country does not deserve to honour
you, then we believe that you certainly do not deserve your country".
Continuing, especially as regards the Presidency's involvement in the political
crisis rocking Anambra
State, Fani-Kayode told Nigerians that "there is
absolutely no involvement of Mr. President in the crisis. He cited the presence
of indigenes of Anambra State serving in the Federal Cabinet as his
justification that the President is not taking sides in the crisis, or put
differently, is not backing a faction to the crisis. Fani-Kayode wants
Nigerians to believe that Prof. Achebe's rejection of the award from a
non-performing administration was a slap on Nigerians. Prof. Achebe may be
resident abroad, but he is certainly not out of tune with the realities of
today's Nigeria under President Obasanjo's watch. Before Prof. Achebe declined
to accept the award from President Obasanjo, many prominent Nigerians had drawn
government's attention to the deteriorating state of affairs in the polity.
They had done this hoping that in a democracy, such criticisms were meant to
put the government on its toes with the possibility of such issues being addressed.
One of such persons is former Military Administrator of Kaduna State, Colonel
Abubakar Dangiwa Umar (rtd). He wrote to the President denouncing his style of
leadership and pointing out the inherent dangers in him treating Nigerians as
if they never mattered. Again, rather than address the germane issues he raised
in his letter, the same Fani-Kayode, in his usual tirades, told him to mind his
business and that if he thinks such letters will make the President hand-over power
to his constituency, he should think again. Umar was accused of venting his
anger on the President because Baba refused to grant his request for political
patronage.
Just as the Achebe issue was raging, global graft
watch, Transparency International, ranked Nigeria as the third most corrupt
country in the world. What this ranking meant was that despite President
Obasanjo's anti-corruption crusade, the nation is still to rid itself of the
cankerworm. Nigerians no doubt know why this is so. The same government, rather
than own up to the failure of its war on corruption and the obvious fact that
it had paid lip service to the fight against graft, accused the Berlin-based
corruption watchdog of using "outdated" yardstick in arriving at its
ranking of Nigeria as the third most corrupt nation in the globe. It is
doubtful if the same government will not have celebrated it if the body had,
using the same "outdated" method, ranked Nigeria 100th most corrupt
country in the world.
Still there's something for the President and his
anti-corruption apostles to cheer about. Between 2002 and 2003, Nigeria ranked
second on the corruption index. This year we came third. May be if President
Obasanjo stops using the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related
Offences Commission (ICPC) as an instrument of witch-hunt rather than a truly
anti-graft body, the country will go down the ladder in subsequent years and
may be one day ranked 100. That is
may be. For now, whether the President and his team like it or not, corruption,
especially in the Presidency, is still very pervasive. This point was made
clear recently by the National Economic Council (NEC), which said that the
accounting system of the Federal Government was not transparent. The council
with Vice President Atiku Abubakar as its chairman comprises the 36 state
governors, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Chairman,
Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission. In supporting a request for audit
of the Federation Account and its revenue because of its murkiness, the council
said that nobody is sure how much the country generates from oil as revenue.
The council also spoke of the appointment of an Accountant General for the
Federal Government in addition to the current Accountant General of the
Federation. It insisted that the present arrangement does not favour the
federating states. For the highest economic body in the country to pass such a
verdict on the Federal Government's accounting system and records shows how bad
the situation is. This was partly why we were adjudged very corrupt.
But for now, let us return to Prof. Achebe's letter.
In rejecting the honour, the author of the Best Seller, Things Fall Apart, told
the President that "for sometime now, I have watched events in Nigeria
with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of
Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in
high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless
fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not
connivance, of the Presidency" in the crisis. He added that
"Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for
silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept
the high honour awarded me in the 2004 Honours' List". Nothing can be more
apt in describing the nation's current woes than this conclusion from the
renowned author and poet. Indeed, Nigeria has never seen it this bad. Since the
inception of the current democratic dispensation, prices of petroleum products
have been on the increase, yet prices of the crude in the international market
keep rising. Our refineries are not working despite billions of naira pumped
into the so-called Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM). Nigeria, the world sixth
largest producer of oil, imports the product. There is fuel scarcity in both
land and aviation sectors. Kerosene, which is very important for the common
man, is also scarce in the Niger Delta where crude oil is found in abundance.
Same for Kaduna, which despite the presence of a refinery, still cannot boast
of regular supply of petroleum products. Power supply is still epileptic,
notwithstanding that several billions of tax payers money have been sunk into
the power sub-sector. Many prominent Nigerians, including members of the
President's cabinet and party, had been murdered in different parts of the
country and the President's comments, actions and inactions have left many
wondering whether the killers are known but cannot be touched. More and more Nigerians
are living below the poverty line. Many manufacturing concerns are closing
shops daily. The nation's roads are nothing but death traps. The President,
rather than sit down at home to solve these problems, prefers to junket round
the world in search of the elusive investors and offer unnecessary chairmanship
of world bodies such as the African Union and the Commonwealth, etc. If one
tolerates the Presidency's claims that the economic hardships facing Nigerians
today are as a result of the on-going economic reforms, certainly no sincere
and serious-minded Nigerian would accept that the President is not partisan in
the Anambra political crisis. It is a hollow talk to say otherwise. At the
onset of the crisis in July 2003, when attempt was made to illegally remove Governor
Chris Ngige from office, the President was away to Maputo. He was thus given
the benefit of doubt that he did not know what his boys were doing back home.
To be continued tomorrow
• Abimbola ([email protected]) is an
Abuja-based public affairs commentator
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