Gambitzero
The French are right afterall. They insisted long ago: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The English translated that to the more things change, the more they stay the same. That popular epigram has been attributed to Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, the nineteenth century French journalist, novelist and critic who was noted for his bitter wit. For instance, when challenged by campaigners against capital punishment, Alphonse Karr invited the gentlemen who do the murders [to] take the first step. While calling murderers gentlemen was a reflection of his sardonic humour, suggesting that putting an end to homicide rested with these gentlemen was a most mordant definition of social agency.
Beyond Karr, however, we must come to the Nigerian same without bitterness, as difficult as that often is. As the columnist of yore once put it, Nigeria exists to annoy. Yet, we must refuse bitterness, which often predisposes people towards inappropriate, non-strategic reaction to social crises. Even while using the Karr-ian framework to invite those who ask us to show greater patriotism to take the first step by showing the smallest evidence of any form of civilized, collective commitment, we must reflect on failed promises with a view to snatching our destiny from the diseased hands of those who have imposed themselves on us.
Let us return to the French then, if only to use their thoughtful conclusion to reconcile ourselves with the reality that confronts us as we note, not celebrate, a decade of what we call democracy. If Nigeria were a 38-39 year old (wo)man between 1998 and 1999, (s)he would probably have had to go into hiding from the consolidated shame in which the country was immersed. When General Sani Abacha suddenly perished, while singing Indian waka – as low-quality rumour has it “not a few who truly loved their country proclaimed that it was an instance in which God directly intervened to save Nigeria. Only a few were not so enthusiastic. The latter stated in different ways that if this was how a country could be saved, then no country should wish for salvation.
When the same members of the ruling elite ganged up to impose General Olusegun Obasanjo on Nigeria, the cynics concluded that the French epigram was upon Nigeria. When Obasanjo returned to power in 1999, as they say, Nigeria started with nothing; by the end of his miserable rule, the country had kept most of it!
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Twelve months ago, announced the civilian despot in his uninspiring inaugural, a decade ago, no one could have predicted the series of stunning events that made it possible for democratic elections to be held Thereafter, you the good people of Nigeria elected me, a man who had walked through the valley of the shadow of death. At the end of his rule, some would say that perhaps if Obasanjo had been left in that valley, he would not have taken the country back to that same valley. But those who released the man who was wrongly convicted “Obasanjo – from jail but left the one who was wrongly detained “Abiola, in jail knew why they did so. The latter’s election had threatened to make things that changed not to remain the same.
Continued Obasanjo: Our infrastructures – NEPA, NITEL, Roads, Railways, Education, Housing – and other Social Services were allowed to decay and collapse. Our country has thus been through one of its darkest periods. All these have brought the nation to a situation of chaos and near despair. One decade after, except in the area of telecommunications – revitalized by the granting of licenses to the private sector – the decay has grown worse.
He knew the problems, but Obasanjo was, historically, some would insist, personally – not endowed with the capacity for the solutions. Said the man: Fellow Nigerians, the entire Nigerian scene is very bleak indeed. So bleak people ask me where do we begin? I know what great things you expect of me at this New Dawn. As I have said many times in my extensive travels in the country, I am not a miracle worker. It will be foolish to underrate the task ahead. Alone, I can do little. For the most account, he acted alone and kept his promise to do little. No, he was worse than that. He replaced do little with do nothing.
A decade after we said goodbye to the military because of what the institution symbolized in public governance over twenty-eight years of our history, we have come to realize that the more things change, the more they remain the same. The same elements that the democratic forces fought against under the military are the one who have inherited the success of the struggle. Former military governors who ought to be in jail, retired police men who ought to have been policed, discredited retired soldiers, hirelings of the military pretending to be politicians, and a coterie or assortment of nation-wreckers replaced the (active) military. People who vowed never to allow free democratic choice in Nigeria are the ones who are now in charge of democracy. Little wonder, some would conclude, that politics has become so heavily militarized that what answers to the name of election in Nigeria today is, for the most account, a form of coup d’ état.
Some would consider the appalling reality of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and cry that they would be glad of another republic. While it is difficult to preach hope in the time of hopelessness, throwing up our hands will not solve the problems. Our national adversaries have armed themselves in readiness for 2011. What those who truly love Nigeria and would wish for less of the same must do is to arm themselves too, but differently. It is possible to re-write Nigeria’s history of infamy
