Nigeria: 'We Cannot Afford a Return to Military Rule'

28 April 2003
allAfrica.com
opinion

The commentary below is one of hundreds of contributions to "Nigeria, What Next?", allAfrica.com's debate on the best way forward for Africa's most populous nation after April '03's contested election.

The result of the just-concluded elections in Nigeria epitomizes what is intrinsically wrong with my beloved country: institutionalized corruption, official greed, avarice, win-at-all-costs and damn everything and everybody else.

In a healthy and civilized society, Mr. Obasanjo should not have run in 1999, talk less of standing for re-election and getting re-elected in 2003. As military head-of-state in 1979, he did not have the guts to bring the general election that ushered Mr. Shagari to power to a conclusive and just end.

He was sprung from jail in 1999 to hijack a political outfit that he had no hand in forming and was propelled into office by the vast finances of his retired but connected army colleagues who saw him as a safe choice. Indeed he was, for them. A living testimony is Mr. Babangida who is sitting pretty today and no legal authority has been able to get him to answer to charges levelled against him. Nigeria is no better today than it was when Mr. Obasanjo took over in 1999 for the second time.

So, what has made him so popular and endearing all of a sudden in places like Abia, Enugu and all the other places he had no business winning?

If he calls himself a born-again Christian, I will challenge him to do the righteous thing and dissociate himself from the outcome of the April 19 elections and order fresh elections. What happened on April 12 and 19 has demonstrated more than ever before that Nigeria at 42 years old as a sovereign nation is yet to learn how to do things right.

I am not an alarmist but those who ignore history are bound to pay the price for walking into avoidable mistakes. Shagari turned a blind eye in 1983 when electoral robbery comparable to Obasanjo 2003 was committed and in came Buhari and Idiagbon.

Nigeria survived the bleak years that followed. We cannot afford a recurrence.

Bright Ukandu, USA

24 Apr 2003

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