Emmanuel Ibeshi
28 November 2005
opinion
Abuja — TO say we have not gained from our six years of democracy would be denying the obvious. To say we have not made mistakes in the six years would be denying ourselves home truths. But to say we should continue like this for twelve yeas would be stretching the experiment to marginal limits.
It is not usually in my character to join issues of public discourse of this nature. But I believe it is appropriate to chip in a word of caution to all concerned in the third term bid of this administration. They are threading the path of destruction.
It is easy to shower encomiums in servile adulation of this administration now and drum the beats of extension. But these drummers forget that their drum- beats would fade after the dance. Dance steps always change with new drumbeats. And the usefulness of the drummer depends on the extent he understands the dance steps of the occasion.
The problem with drummers is that they get carried away with frenzy of their own drumbeats and do not in most cases understand the choreographed dance steps by the choreographer. No wonder the common adage, "he who pays the piper dictates the tune."
These six years of democracy in Nigeria are the longest we have experienced as a nation. The longest in multi party politics and also the longest in dashed hopes of a boisterous sustained democracy capable of bequeathing a future of hope, life and security for generations yet to be born.
These six years seem to have brought hope in the exterior with seeming democratic institutions created to check erstwhile imbalances in our rights to the Nigerian citizenship. But a more discerning look at the interior reveals a facade of democracy showcasing a puppet theatre with skillful puppeteers displaying their mastery of puppetry.
I am yet to be corrected for vehemently opposing manipulated extension of tenure. It is on record of the PDP and annals of Nigerian history that I opposed the automatic extension of tenure of the Gemade-led National Executive of the PDP, of which I was a beneficiary as National Publicity Secretary to the extent of litigation. I could have enjoyed added four-year tenure plus my normal elected two years. My disagreement was purely on principles and nothing else., With hindsight now, I doubt if any PDP Executive can equal the Gemade-led executive.
I am concerned that we don't seem to have learned any significant lessons from our past experiences with bloodbaths either through coups and counter coups or political brigandage through skilled puppeteers who always terminate our national march towards our destined position as the leader of the black race.
We have neighbours whose elongated tenures have become examples to us. Examples like Togo, Cameroun, Ghana, even far away Uganda and Zimbabwe come in handy. The intentions of a leadership to extend tenure always seem noble and motivated by a messianic disposition. But that disposition is always the trap that leads to the change in dance steps that gets the drummers confused. And when they can no longer follow the dance steps, they become the first casualties.
My advice for this administration is to ensure that democratic institutions are strengthened not weakened. The institutions should be empowered for sustainability of democracy beyond the present power brokers. The electoral process must guaranty transparency, equity and fair-play. Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Offences Commission (ICPC) must be unfettered from any arm of government. The legislature at all levels must be self-accounting and not manipulated by the Executive. The judiciary must be self accounting, bold and unbiased in dispensing justice.
Government officials at all levels must be seen to obey by example. Let us see government vehicles, military and police vehicles cue up at petrol stations especially during fuel scarcity. Let children of government officials go to local secondary schools and cult infested universities that take eight years to graduate for a four-year course.
Let this administration not confuse the common man with jargons of power generation and power distribution. Let them account for the hundreds of billions of naira that has been spent on NEPA in the six years of this administration. Let light be provided 24/7 without interruption!
This is not the time for media hype on achievements at various tiers of government but the proof that our road networks that guzzled hundreds of billions of naira during the first tenure alone are not the death traps they are! Let the people see our rail network linking Lagos to Calabar, Zamfara, Abakaliki, Lokoja, Maiduguri, Lafia, Makurdi, Yenagoa, etc.
Semantics on oil and gas with gibberish on upstream and downstream jargons should translate to explanation on why the common man should pay with his blood for the only commodity God has given him and the entire nation for free. They should explain like late General Sani Abacha did with the N2 increase in petroleum products when he created the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).
Explanations and rationalisations over debt relief have become an irritant to the Ijebu-Jesha coca farmer who cannot relate all the fuss to the ever increasing cost of pesticides for his produce. How does that translate to reduction in transport cost to the woman selling yams in Wukari or the fisherman in oyorokoto? Does this address the unemployment frustration being faced by young graduates in Gboko or Biu after leaving the universities and walking the streets for four years plus?
How does the third term drum- beat ensure that there are jobs for hundreds of thousands of graduates churned out from our universities and other tertiary institutions every year?
How does that translate to solving the brain drain being experienced as we see our medical doctors and nuclear physicists seeking menial jobs in Europe and America?
How does the third term drum- beat assure the young graduate brimming with fresh ideas at 25 wanting to serve his fatherland in political expression an opportunity when his grandfathers at 70 are still comfortably struggling with him for the same political office; offices which are shared in esoteric conclaves by political pontiffs? How???
Please tell me how these drum- beats can ensure that the Nigerian businessman travelling overseas on legitimate business with his hard earned money is not molested and embarrassed just for carrying a Nigerian passport? Tell me how these drumbeats will evoke a sense of patriotism so desperately expected from the Nigerian youth to want to lay down his life for his country?
This brings us to the current travails of Gov. D. S. P. Alamieyesiegha. The issues have left questions and utter confusion in the mind of the average travelling Nigerian about his rights and privileges abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been silent and the judiciary has been very discordant. What is the responsibility of one's home government when faced with predicaments abroad like Prof. Wole Soyinka had in South Africa? If you are not a Wole Soyinka, how do you resolve your ordeal? Do we have a strategy for immediate intervention in such issues? I am sure there could be many Nigerians rotting in foreign jails under some biased immigration officials who look for every opportunity to humiliate Nigerians because they know that their home government care little or less about them.
The questions are endless!!
If we go by the axiom that democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people, then it stands to reason that Nigerians wherever they might be should be protected.
We always like to compare our democracy to the American type democracy. But see what happened to give America its type of democracy and patriotism. The British Monarch wanted what belonged to the Americans, their money, by taxation. That was what led to the American Revolution and the American Declaration of Independence that gave the world America that we know today. However, 56 men who signed the American Declaration of Independence paid dearly!
"Five of them were captured by the British as traitors and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds and hardship from the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honour. What kind of men were they? Twenty four of them were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantations owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas Mckeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Hon. Emmanuel A. Ibeshi, former National Publicity Secretary of PDP writes from Abuja.
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