Daily Independent (Lagos)
17 November 2008
editorial
In the normal course of events, it would have been perfectly in order to ignore the faux pas by one of the Senators from Ondo State, Bode Olajumoke. Unfortunately, in the face of his insistence that his bizarre postulation represents the right position, an observation is very much in order. It is important to examine whether the Senator's position is a Freudian slip or was it, (menacingly) a dangerous exercise in kite flying? Given the fragility of Nigeria's democracy there is clearly a lot to be worried about.
Delivering a lecture as part of the actives to mark the anniversary of the All-Nigeria United Nations and Youths Association (ANUNSA), University of Ibadan chapter, which was held at the University Conference Center, Senator Olajumoke emphatically stated that Nigeria was not ripe for a full blown democracy and suggested as an alternative what he termed a benevolent dictatorship since, in his opinion, "the nation's attainment of democracy is hasty". Senator Olajumoke's philosophical outlook and political position cannot be divorced from his origins within the firmament of the military incursion into the polity in Nigeria. The one time permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Defence is an archetype of what is referred to in the local bathois as a 'militician'.
We might care to recall, that the Imeri born Senator was a key player in General Sani Abacha's absurd political programme. He was a chieftain of the better forgotten United Nigeria Convention Party (UNCP), one of the five fingers of the Leprochomous hands in the opinion of the late Chief Bola Ige, which Abacha with churlish sarcasm referred to as political parties. More poignantly he was the arrowhead of the 'Imeri group an association whose purpose was to carry out, the valiant but inevitably doomed attempt to foster a new leadership on the Yorubas. That project was a spectacular failure. Which is not entirely surprising since leaderships emerge through other routes than the administrative fiat of a military dictatorship.
Olajumoke's proposals might seem laudable to the reactionary faction of the Nigerian ruling class, this being the group of usurpers ' who have held Nigeria hostage and who would prefer the country to remain in perpetual mediaval servitude. However, we do not align with this school of thought. Nigerians should not treat Olajumoke's outburst with levity but with the seriousness it deserves. Perhaps he has simply flown a kite to put the nation on notice of a possible atavism of our hated past. Consequently, we enjoin the Nigerian Senate to suspend Olajumoke forthwith from the hallowed chambers of the National assembly pending the outcome of an investigation of his thought process and the forces behind his unguarded vituperations.
We say this because an unrepentant military apologist such as Olajumoke should have no business with democratic institutions. This is about the same penalty meted out to Senator Joseph Waku by the former Senate when he was reported by a News magazine as having called the military to stage a coup d'etat against the last civilian dispensation. It is regrettable that Olajumoke should forget so soon the dictum that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. The antecedents and present magnitude of our woes clearly bear a repetition that insincerity on the part of our leaders is the bane. Our politicians have consistently shown demonstrable proof of ineptitude, corruption, intolerance and the complete lack of the finer democratic virtue ' the large-heartedness for winners to manage victory with magnanimity and losers to accept defeat with equanimity.
Whosoever are behind Olajumoke, should be left in no doubtNigerians are now wiser and know the consequences of creating an enabling environment for the emergence of "benevolent military dictatorships" which inevitably fail to redress our woeful circumstances. Yet politicians have refused to learn their lesson. They have not only presented themselves as an undisciplined lot, but have actively colluded with ambitious soldiers in the great shameless game of looting our national patrimony into private pockets and ripping off the nation in the process. This unholy collaboration also explains why repeated efforts at enthroning democratic rule in Nigeria had always ended in fiasco. The global march towards democratic and liberal ethos is so overwhelming that only a die-hard military fundamentalist will believe that Nigeria should go back to the dark days of military dictatorship.
What the Nigerian situation requires, is a national democratic agreement, an instrument that will spell out the parameters through which a democratic polity would evolve. Such an agreement will encompass the do's and dont's as well as the modus operandi, which will ensure the minimal operating standards through which a functioning democracy will evolve and be sustained.
What the country does not need is any form of dictatorship, 'benevolent' or otherwise. The track record of dictatorships of any hue in our country has been uniformly bad. Under all manner of dictatorships, Nigeria has earned three times inflation adjusted, the amount of money that was expended in prosecuting the Marshall Plan which rebuilt the European economies after the Second World War. Sadly, we have nothing concrete to show for the expenditure of this funds. If in Senator Olajumoke's view "the nation's attainment of democracy is hasty," it is because he did not fight for it. Inspite of Olajumoke's attempts to airbrush historical events, it is incontrovertible that the restoration of democracy in Nigeria was a long drawn out struggle, watered with the blood of martyrs. We owe it to the memory of those who paid the ultimate price to press on with our still evolving, imperfect democracy. Since Senator Olajumoke is clearly ill at ease with democracy, he should do us all a favour by resigning from the Senate. No one will notice his absence.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Daily Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Mr.Senator, I dont think you should be the representative of the people if you dont believe yhe country is ripe for democracy. It shows you are just a senator for your own gain and dont know or understand what it means to be a senator and peoples representative. For you to say this implies that it is people like you who are ready to bring Nigeria back 30yrs. It is a shame that you are an elected official and if you are well educated and versatile on political issues you wouldn't have made such statement in a country where democracy is trying to take root.