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BUHARI, YAR’ADUA AND THE REST OF US By Francis Ebi Porbeni/Woodbury, MN USA
At a recent press conference, Prof. Wole Soyinka made critical assessment of the two leading presidential aspirants – Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) (ANPP) and Alhaji Musa Umar Yar Adua (PDP). In his characteristic manner the Nobel laureate was very blunt in his appraisal of the two candidates, vis-à-vis the national condition. With Buhari, he reminded the nation of his iron-fisted dictatorial reign while in power; he catalogued the many human-right violations and double-standards in the application of rules and laws, when Buhari was the Head of State. In the case of Yar Adua, his coronation as the PDP presidential aspirant by the Obasanjo cabal, Prof. Soyinka warned was a kiss of death on the candidate. This kiss of death was an alert to the nation of the potential continuation of the current Obasanjo nightmare the nation is experiencing.
Not unexpected the forthright Prof’s commentary has generated lots of heated responses especially from the Buhari’s camp. One the many apologies being peddled by the Buhari camp is that the erstwhile dictatorial military ruler is a changed man; that over the course of time he has come to accept and appreciate the ethos and values of democratic governance. It is necessary to remind the nation that similar sentiments were once expressed to solicit support for the candidacy of another dictator named Olusegun Obasanjo during his campaign in the 1999 presidential election. However, it is pertinent to note that one subtle but very salient commentary on Buhari that is being missed is the fact that Buhari is an embodiment of a culture of impunity that has become deeply ingrained in the psyche of the Nigerian ruling elites. A manifestation by which these elites see their interaction with those they are supposed to serve as one of master-servant relationship. They further show total contempt for the rest of us. To the extent that this negation of leadership must be excised from the body politics of the nation, Prof. Soyinka’s timely warning must be heeded.
A most recent example of Gen. Buhari’s contempt for the rest of us was his refusal to appear before the Justice Oputa’s Human-Rights Violation Commission to defend the human-rights record during his reign. A critical question now before the nation is: can we afford to elect a person who refused to appear before a duly constituted body to defend his stewardship of the nation? Given his contempt of the Oputa panel, should Buhari get a second chance at national stewardship? Assuming Buhari wins the next election, what moral justification would he have to interrogate the stewardship of the Obasanjo reign given its many atrocities and illegalities?
The most unfortunate situation given the naked realities of the current Nigerian condition is that the nation is confronted with two very unpleasant choices in the presidential election. This anemic situation can be traced to the misrule of Obasanjo. We have been saddled unfortunately with a president whose humongous arrogance can only be matched by his gargantuan ignorance of what it takes to enable democratic governance in a diverse polity like Nigeria. It must be noted that Gen. Obasanjo’s reign has done a lot more harm to the structures that would have strengthened democratic institutions and values, especially the rule of law. His actions have encouraged the growth of political godfatherism and gangsterism, thereby constraining genuine stewards to come forward to serve. It is rather ironic that after 8 years of civilian rulership, the choices for Nigerians still remains ever more limited. For Buhari’s candidature to be embraced, he must submit to a critical interrogation of his last stewardship of the nation.
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