It was the gathering of APC stalwarts to give us the picture of the Nigeria in their head. The tactic they chose is the ‘Insurance Tactic’ which goes this way: have you thought about dropping dead any moment, what would become of your family? We all can move, thanks to God; but has it occurred to you that those legs may not be in their right places in years to come? What would you do then? What of this house catching fire or your limousine crashing beyond repairs? Have you thought about these? And they are possibilities indeed. By the time the salesman leaves your door, your thinking switches from progress to grave or fire in the garage. Without the picture of the grave, disability and disaster, the insurance salesman is a naught. Watch the APC-ians on Nigeria, it’s about disaster, end-of-the-road, darkness, pit, hell if Jonathan remains in power beyond 2015. But he will.
Speaking at the APC national summit tagged, ‘Road map to a New Nigeria’, former Vice-President Atiku Abubaka who described the APC as a dream come true, said, ‘I am scared that if we allow Jonathan to continue beyond 2015, I bet we are going to end up with a civilian dictator…’. Obviously, Atiku spoke against evidence. When we weigh what happened in Nigeria’s political spectrum under Atiku as Vice to Obasanjo against what’s happening under Jonathan, you see clearly how a hawk tries to convert a dove to a hawk. What did Atiku’s administration do to Lagos State when they asked for increased federal allocation by reason of the state’s VAT accruals/population? They came under instant financial squeeze and the many local governments they wanted to carve out, halted. What of Alamaesiagha, the then Governor of Bayelsa state, what happened to him when he dared the powers-that-be under Atiku and crew? A palace coup was crafted against him, lawmakers left Yenagoa for Lagos to impeach him; not done, he was nearly arrested in London and somehow managed to reenter Bayelsa, disguised. What happened when many Senate Presidents of southeast extraction dared to raise a voice against meddling? Banana Peels were hauled at them, many fell, some died. Atiku remained core-part of that administration, he didn’t protest, he didn’t resign. He was civilian as he still is, practicing dictatorship in governance. Juxtapose this with a governor challenging a President and not only walking free but attempting to gather momentum against his boss. Think of protesting against the removal of police commissioner Mbu and succeeding before the nose of a sitting President, when Ngige dared to be different, what happened to him and Anambra state- to the extent that a government house was attacked and burnt under a ‘democratic’ government, think of elections being allowed to take their natural course without arm-twisting or Stella Odua being eased out in respect for public opinion, think of a governor snubbing his party’s directives, breaking off with his arm of Governor’s forum and positing it as beachhead to fight the platform that made him. From these two templates, which thumbs-up for civilian dictatorship?
Hear him: We have experienced a political party that has failed this country for 15 years. If Ghana can alternate between a ruling party and an opposition party, there is no reason why Nigeria cannot.”
But is Atiku part of the ‘we’? He was on the side, indeed at the helm of the side that shipped failure to us if that’s how he now sees his erstwhile service platform. For 15 years, he was there till just a few weeks ago when he found a new ‘rosebed’. So he knows failure by name and moves with it. Incidentally, Oby Ezekwesili was at the same gathering and inadvertently provided the answer. Hear her: politicians have not fared better than the military but democracy is still better than military regime….what was lacking in the country was lack of common destiny and common heritage….. Nigeria has failed to transform from a country to a nation even after fighting a civil war. Why is it that 100 years after amalgamation and having fought a civil war, we are yet to transform into a nation? The answer is simple: elite failure is the problem of Nigeria.” If Atiku can agree with me, it’s not the political party, it’s squarely the people that make it up especially, the elite to which he’s privileged to belong. To them, it’s suck not sacrifice. In Ghana, it’s sacrifice, so whether it’s a ruling party or the opposition, the same virtue applies. Why the opposition cannot replace the ruling party is because, it’s the same people with the same vice, changing names/platforms but not changing themselves. Then, better stay with the known.
Perhaps, Atiku will be more forthcoming with being steady.
Onyebuchi Onyegbule
