A THIRD EYE LOOK INTO
OBASANJO’S TACTLESS
BATTLES
The Alamieyeseigha saga
seems to be enjoying an unnecessary hype in the Nigerian press
and probably engineered by the presidency, with a view to
employ it as a diversionary attraction from the real issues in
the political sphere. President Obasanjo’s recent public
utterance described the development as being shameful to us
all as Nigerians and this assertion calls for serious concern.
Well, the embattled
governor has been impeached, yet, there is still no
justification in making a minced meat of him for being a true
member of the PDP; after all, his dance of shame is just a
continuity of the show as scripted and being performed by the
OBJ-PDP administration. So why should there be so much hues
and cries over Alami? What is newsy about his impeachment and
arrest? Was anyone ever in doubt that the story would end in
this manner? In the first place, what has he done that is
unheard of? And why is his ordeal so celebrated? Is he the
first governor to jump bail? Come to think of it,
the “ Jesus of the Ijaws” was not arrested for
murder, neither was he arrested for drug pushing, but a mere
case of money laundering and the whole news media in Nigeria
is still agog with the name Alamieyeseigha.
Are Nigerians so
gullible a people to have been so carried away once again by
those who have decided to assume the agenda setting role,
other than the news media whose function it is supposed to be?
Nigerians are surely not brain-dead, so as to quickly forget
that OBJ himself is actually the author of shame and shameful
developments rubbing-off on the nation and the Nigerian
people.
Which is more
embarrassing? The cold murder of the nation’s former
Attorney-General, Chief Bola Ige and a strong suspicion of PDP
conspiracy or Alami’s alleged money laundering and bail jump?
It was still in the same Nigeria that a detained suspect in
the Bola Ige killing was the best candidate Obasanjo’s party,
the PDP could offer for the Osun North senatorial seat. PDP’s
Iyiola Omisore won his election with Atiku as the chief
campaigner and when the PDP was involved, the judicial process
to find Ige’s killer(s) became a wild goose chase. Today,
Omisore is enjoying his full life as a senator of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria and the rest is
history.
Why did OBJ deploy troops to Bayelsa? What was the threat to
national security in Bayelsa? Of course, Alami’s return to
Yenagoa did not threaten national peace in any form and
whether right or wrong; not when the Ijaws are strongly
backing one of their own. But when our hard earned democracy
was viciously threatened by the police kidnap of Governor
Ngige in Anambra, no troops were deployed to at least protect
the survival of democracy in that state. We shouldn’t also
forget that Ngige’s ordeal stemmed from his disagreement with
one of the PDP godfathers, Chris Uba. As at today, the OBJ
presidency has not been able to wash its hands clean of
complicity in that debacle; in fact, worse revelations emerged
that the PDP actually rigged the elections to install Ngige
and others. So, which is more shameful to us as Nigerians,
Alami’s escape from a self- perceived victimization or the
kidnap of a serving governor? It should be noted that OBJ did
not make strong moves to resolve that logjam in Anambra state,
not even when the governor was still screaming that his life
was in danger. Uba confessed to the whole world that he was
the chief planner and executioner of malpractices in elections
purportedly won by the PDP in Anambra. He was expelled
alongside his political son, Governor Ngige, at least as
face-saving move by the PDP. Uba has been re-admitted into the
PDP, not just as an ordinary member, but as a member of its
board of trustees while the likes of Governor Peter Odili are
clearing the path for Ngige’s return to the party, even as its
national convention just ratified his (Ngige) expulsion. If a
self-confessed election rigger is a high-ranking member of
OBJ’s ruling party, PDP, then what’s the moral justification
for the so-called anti-corruption war? Let someone explain
why the ‘ Lord’ of the land has turned a blind eye to that
direction and it never bothered him (OBJ) that one of our
unblemished Nigerians, Professor Chinua Achebe turned down the
offer of a national merit award on the conviction that the
presidency connived to rob the Anambra people of their
electoral franchise. So who is an Obasanjo to catch a thief,
if he probably masterminded the stealing of votes in Anambra
and other parts of the country in order to waste four more
years in office.
Those who accuse
OBJ of double standards and selectivity in his anti-corruption
fight are obviously on the winning side. To say the least, OBJ
approaches very tactical political issues with the shoot
before you think soja
sense and this is more shameful than Alami’s escape from
London. Why is the sudden belated move against Dariye? Why was
Dariye not booted out office or kidnapped and bundled back to
Britain? These are pertinent questions that must be answered
and time has come for Nigerians to be more critical in their
reactions to issues that may partly make or mar the future of
their fatherland.
Those who boo Alami
for being a disgrace should scold OBJ double for reducing our
hard-earned democracy to a jungle affair where the EFCC, SSS,
police and the military are brazenly being manipulated to
attack personal as well as political foes. If Alami was not an
Atiku man, his case may not have been so dramatized, but join
me in saluting a president whose daily pre-occupation is to
concentrate on attacking his ‘disloyal’ vice president, in
place of his primary responsibility of making life more
meaningful for our people.
Should the Bayelsa people also be robbed of their access to
information simply because of Alamieyeseigha? How well did the
federal government’s invasion and closure of Bayelsa radio
justify Nigeria’s existence as a democratic nation? The arrest
and detention of the station’s General Manager, Mr. Brighten
Sorgwe was another case of OBJ’s irresponsible and shameless
clampdown on the news media. In fact, the closure of Bayelsa
radio at that time was a clear case of power abuse, which also
proved that Nigeria is once again under the grip of
dictatorship.
OBJ’s onslaught on
Atiku, even to such an unimaginable level of detaining the
VP’s A-D-C for “breach of security” should attract some
very serious somber reflections from Nigerians on the pitiable
state our presidency has degenerated.
If not the third
term agenda, for whatever reason(s) that may be adduced for
OBJ’s attack on his deputy, the removal and detention of
Atiku’s A-D-C simply reflects the fact that our president may
not be busy after all. Does OBJ expect Atiku’s A-D-C to be
disloyal or partially loyal to his boss? Lieutenant Akintunde
Akinsehinwa as A-D-C died in the 1976 Dimka coup with General
Murtala Muhammed, his boss. Lt-Col UK Bello died in the Orkar
coup while fighting to save the life of IBB, his boss. But
OBJ’s former A-D-C, Lt-Col Solomon Giwa-Amu enjoyed the
master-servant bread and butter relationship by being promoted
colonel as well as a plum posting as the military attaché to
the United Nations. If not for OBJ’s chronic
bad-belle
and his penchant for engaging his
perceived enemies in
roforofo fight; our dear president
shouldn’t try to justify the removal of Atiku’s A-D-C with any
administrative cliché.
Simply put, OBJ’s
current no break, no
jam
ruthlessness would surely be his albatross as
he’s becoming very much petty and predictable. If OBJ could
audaciously breach protocol by snubbing his vice president
while presenting the 2006 budget at the national assembly,
then it’s time we start to ask ourselves, what manner of
president leads our country?
As for Atiku, he’s
stocked in between the devil and the deep sea, where does he
go from here? If he resigns, OBJ will put him in chains and of
course, at the presidency, this is very much a lost battle for
him. Except if his brothers from the north support him by
invoking the tribal and religious sentiments; he would end up
as another OBJ’s sacrificial lamb.
OBJ’s
missteps would certainly backfire sooner than later as his
onslaughts have stated to receive some rebellious backlash. In
as much as Emperor Obasanjo continues to harass and intimidate
his political enemies; the rude interruption of his budget
speech by Honourable Bashir Iris Nadabo of the ANPP is an
indication that our president is fast losing credibility and
respect. OBJ has surely ascribed to himself the status of a
ruler who is already corrupted with absolute powers, but he
should bear in mind that a tamed lion may end up consuming his
owner. Those who see Abacha in Obasanjo may not be wrong at
all, after all, he inherited the much-dreaded security strike
force and added the EFCC to it. Abacha kept mute, when the
whole world wanted a clarification on his presidential
ambition while his town criers were busy sending out the
message. Beware, Sergant Rogers is on the loose, Abacha’s
wildest security detail now works for Obasanjo under the cover
of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI). Don’t also
forget that Rogers was the sharp shooter in the gruesome
killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola and attempted murder of Mr.
Alex Ibru. The list is endless and quite appalling. Was Alhaji
Salisu Buhari not impeached for certificate forgery as the
speaker of our house of representatives? But OBJ did the best
in the eyes of his admirers by granting him presidential
pardon and compensating him with a board appointment. Did I
hear you shout Haba!
Today, unfortunately, Nigeria has marched a decade backwards
under the smokescreen of a democracy. Are you still deluded by
the assumption that the ship of our nation is on the right
course? Just tarry a little, the fog will be clear sooner than
you expect.
