TACIT APPROVAL

When General Olusegun Obasanjo’s ‘letter bomb’ to President Goodluck Jonathan became public property, there became a need to sieve through the mindset of the Nigerian people.  In no time, two schools of thought had emerged: those urging us to hark to the message, even if the messenger is/was, himself, of questionable character. The other is that nothing credible can come out of the mouth of the former president. In any case, there are two facts that cannot be denied by both arguments.

It is a positive development that Nigerians are interested in that letter in the first place. That the public desired, downloaded and digested “Before it is too late” has its own merits. And, of course, it takes some guts to address such a revealing script to the President of an African country. Ultimately, the letter indicted more people than the present occupant of Aso Rock; it indicted the addresser and those he copied as much as it does the addressee. This is fact Number One. Secondly, the contents of that letter have failed to elicit from us, the reaction that is required for our leaders to take us seriously. 

It is letter-writing season and a serving minister, a state governor, the CBN governor and this one by Obasanjo have posted airmails. All were addressed to President Jonathan alleging varying degrees of corruption, fraud, mismanagement, favoritism and other forms of short practices and come from people in the know. The inner caucus. They cannot be waved aside. As a result, one wonders why we the people are not up in arms and demanding an enquiry. No heads are rolling; it is almost as a passing breeze. Yet, we are the turf upon which this tsunami is waging its destruction; we are the ones who are getting battered.  How come we act like it is not a big deal and have almost come to expect this extremely bad behavior. We are not at all surprised but curiously seem to just accept that this is our situation, our leaders will act irresponsibly in their best interests even at our peril?

Entrusting our collective destiny to personae whose interests over the last 53 years are less than altruistic have, in the past, not done us any good. These are the same players. They haven’t changed. Over 80 per cent of our 53 years of nationhood was spent under the leadership of people like Obasanjo and those he copied in his letter. It most certainly cannot be said that those years did not contribute to the bedlam we are being warned against today. Since 1999, an exclusive clique has handpicked all Nigerian presidents and governors, and they are friends, relatives or stooges of those who ruled us before.  I do not know which is more pathetic: that we the masses have never truly elected our leaders or the fact that we are not bothered by it. The latter is the only reason why a ruling party would regard a situation with dire and direct consequences on the people as a “family affair”. Admitting and reiterating that we did not put them in power is the biggest indictment on us. 

 I am convinced that, three years after the Arab Spring was triggered in Tunisia, worse atrocities have been perpetrated here.  Why don’t/ wont we act, were we a conscious people, we wouldn’t need any personal letter to debate our destiny. In fact, the addresser and addressee would not have the luxury of exchanging phony letters had Nigerians spelt out their own terms of engagement in clear and unambiguous manner. In a democracy, a leader is not answerable to a dissatisfied individual or group of people; a leader is only answerable to the people.  This is why it is called democracy.

There is no doubt that our leaders are guilty and should be criticized, but we do nothing. Silence is not sitting on the fence or not taking action; silence is an endorsement. We have, by keeping silent, approved the excesses of our leaders, which they revel in. They do nothing wrong because we do not show pain, accept the punishment and hail them for it.

Nelson Mandela may his soul rest in peace, said:  “You know I am not very happy with Nigeria. I have made that very clear on many occasions. Yes, Nigeria stood by us more than any nation, but you let yourselves down, and Africa and the black race very badly.  Your leaders have no respect for their people. They believe that their personal interests are the interests of the people. They take people’s resources and turn it into personal wealth. There is a level of poverty in Nigeria that should be unacceptable. I cannot understand why Nigerians are not more angry than they are.”  I rest my case.  

MADIBA

“Man’s life, as required by his nature, is not the life of a mindless brute, of looting thing or a mooching mystic, but the life of a thinking being – not life by means of force or fraud, but life by means of achievement – not survival at any price, since there’s only one price that pays for man’s survival: reason.”  – Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.  

  

Today, in his native land of Qunu, Eastern Cape, South Africa, the remains of one of the greatest men to ever set foot on earth will be laid to rest beneath it.  The good news is that only Dr Nelson Mandela’s body – the one subjected to untold hardship by the apartheid regime – will be buried. His spirit and legacy, like all great men, transcend mortality. Mandela personified the life of a thinking being, who, throughout his pursuit of equity and justice, never despaired and never allowed himself, his mind to stray from the purpose for which he had taken responsibility.   

We over here in Africa cannot but feel joyous and proud of him, because the most downtrodden, maligned and defamed race in the world has produced the brightest shinning light amongst leaders, of whom there have not been so many. The irony of the ‘Dark Continent’ exploited and conquered, only to produce a light so bright that it shines truly beyond our comprehension and will attract eminent personalities – past, present and future – to our shores.

It is a given that Mandela brought hope, courage, resilience, doggedness, redemption and inspiration to black and white South Africans and many men and women all around the world.  He was a trueborn, natural leader who did not use his people to shield himself, but led by being first in the firing line.

His example should give the rest of us the ability to hope, dream, actualize and, most importantly, see beyond immediate gratification. Not many could have thought of forgiveness as a socio-economic tool. Had Mandela resorted to retaliation and oppression, South Africa would have lost the opportunity that makes it the Rainbow Nation of today.  This is what set him apart from other nationalist African leaders.  Mandela’s incarceration for over a quarter of a century was destined to be, as it afforded him the time to read, to ponder and to acquire further knowledge and rediscovery, which traits we so desperately seek in Africa.    

We have heard moving speeches and eulogies over the past week, especially by African leaders who fall so short in serving the needs of their peoples. In his home country, the ANC-led government is fast losing the confidence of the people as corruption, force and fraud threaten to trivialize the struggle. In other parts of Africa, internal conflicts, corruption, poverty, ignorance and a lack of infrastructure make the masses doubt the benefits of self-rule.  This way, we voluntarily invite the imperialists to put on yet more shackles on our progress whilst parasites are rained on us to feed off our blood.

Our current leaders must appreciate that Mandela’s life and death will be in vain if they are not guided by his exemplary leadership qualities, spirit, humility, passion and selflessness. We must make of our continent, a colorful rainbow of ideas and camaraderie, where every citizen is empowered and given the opportunity to shine. Mandela and his cohorts who are not forgotten stood for what was right, and were prepared to die for their convictions. Such is the spirit required to leapfrog our societies from the obscurity that threatens to eat us away.

South Africans would not have objected to a Mandela second term in office. He probably would have run uncontested a la Africa but he chose to serve for a single term only, during which he championed reconciliation, truth and healing across board then relinquished power. The man understood that power is not the purpose of freedom and even more importantly that a leader needs to surround himself with people more competent than he is in the various duties of governance, such that he is left with nothing to do other than explore new areas for development. There was a succession plan even before he went to prison. These are the reasons that he is already greater in death than he was as president.

He galvanized the world regardless of religious and political orientation. Who would have thought that the president of the US would shake hands with a Cuban leader? Mandela is already smiling in his coffin. Even more so that his captors, those who stood by and watched and those who tried to do something should all celebrate together a convicted terrorist so royally. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. I hope that we Africans can learn something from this.   

POWER DRUNK

Statement 1: “If you are a widow do you want more people to be widowed? You are a widow, go and die!”

Statement 2: “... But when I said ‘go and die,’ that one was said in a fit of anger. And I am really sorry.”

A governor, when ordering the seizure of some goods belonging to a resident of the state, who was allegedly a street trader, made the first statement. The same governor, while hosting the same victim at the Government House, made the second. The difference between these two statements is one person’s awareness and bravery, among the scores who chose to look on whilst a leader was inflicting emotional and monetary pain on one of his subjects. Had the initial statement not made it to the social media, the injustice would have gone on unchecked as it does every day of our lives here in Nigeria.  It definitely wouldn't have been the subject of public debate.    

There can be no doubt that our leaders are all bullies who turn our mandates against us once in power. According to the online reference book Wikipedia, “Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively to impose domination over others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behavior used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets…Bullying ranges from simple one-on-one bullying to more complex bullying in which the bully may have one or more ‘lieutenants’ who may seem to be willing to assist the primary bully in his or her bullying activities.”

If we replace the word “bullying” with “our leaders” in the above definition, the meaning is not lost. It doesn’t matter what political party or region they come from, they all share the same trait, the same DNA of being emperors who rule but do not govern. Our individual and collective rights are daily undermined, while the laws of the land are subverted at the will and whim of those who should be their custodians. Before our eyes, the ongoing crisis between the government and ASUU has degenerated into the display of brute power. It is nothing short of institutional bullying for the government to order striking lecturers back to work or be sacked for insisting on a validly endorsed memorandum of understanding to prevent the blatant and arrogant denial and non-implementation which necessitated the strike in the first place.

The government is being exposed. They are being shown in a very poor light. This strike has been wonderful as it has shown that members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities are ready to sacrifice themselves, even as the minister who should be saddled with improvements in a failing sector believes that the answer to the problems is to sack his very constituents who are standing up for what he will ultimately get glory for. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with the staff union and not allow the Doyin Okupes of the land to confuse us. Our universities are in a poor decrepit state and this is the time to make a stand and insist on the corrections and improvements.

The Government should appreciate that they are no longer trusted. They have made too many empty promises and whatever they say now, we do not believe. Their words are too cheap and they continually move the goal posts. At present, our universities are grossly understaffed and underfunded, isn’t it then comical to want to sack ASUU members as they devise fictitious conspiracy theories?     

In this age of people-power (as is the case presently in Ukraine, Thailand and Egypt) we should demand accountability and insist that those who fall short be stripped of the leadership robes we bestowed on them. Or maybe we should borrow from PDP chairman Bamanga Tukur’s definition of a leader as a necessary virus. Viruses are tiny organisms that may lead to mild to severe illnesses in humans, animals and plants. This may include flu or a cold to something more life threatening. This is why we need to protect ourselves from them. Thank you ASUU, we stand with you.