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.
Elections in Nigeria can never be free and fair until we have a stable political class. So far we are still riddled with emergency politicians like Obasanjo and Buhari who come out to achieve the selfish motives of themselves and their sponsors.
A man [Obasanjo] with no political ambition came out of the prison to win the presidential primaries and subsequently the election over the likes of Ekwueme, Rimi and co. who had been warming up for the polls after fighting for democracy. The party machinery was hijacked and Obasanjo was given the ticket to appease the Yorubas. Even the Yorubas rejected him but he still won.
The north has now seen that the Yorubas have accepted him (like a father would to a rejected son turned successful) and are defending him with all they have. So they do again what they did in 1999, that is, hijack the party machinery and give Buhari the ticket but Ooops, he (sorry they) lost this time. Cant they see what happened to Afenifere? When will these our so-called elders learn that though they have almost wrecked the educational system, they have not wrecked the brains of their subjects?
The greatest agony the so called politicians are experiencing now is that instead of the "mass action" they expect from the populace, Nigerians are being entertained by the politicians' theatrics claiming they have the wishes of the people. It is a pity that PDP rigged the elections. They unfortunately are products of the same elders who Nigerians have left far behind in the aspect of political consciousness. We are wiser now. Any other government would still have made Nigeria the most corrupt country.
What I would like the losers and "winners" to know is that we are no longer fools. The Western world can't fool us either. The British robbed us of true democracy by promoting the northern elite into power and have done so since then. The mistake of the 60s brought the military. Northerners led all the military governments who intervened. That Obasanjo won in 1999 was just to enable us have a taste of the national cake they've been enjoying. Unfortunately Obasanjo did not only bite the cake but he also bit the fingers as well.
Sadly enough, like Abacha did to Abiola and co., he's not ready to let go of that cake yet. Can you imagine a group of silly people deciding for us how long we should rule? Who decides for them? Nigerians have read the lips of Buhari in the past 3 years of civil rule and we saw the contents of his heart. If they actually believe that they wanted equity in power-sharing, they should have promoted Ekwueme, an Ibo to contest for presidency on the ANPP platform. Buhari had just two motives, viz:
1.Regain northern hold on the presidency
2.Fully implement sharia so as to restore the slipping hold the northern elite has on the gullible almajiris.
Yes he's honest. He has always been honest - to the Kaduna mafia vision of ensuring that power remains in the north. Hence he intervened in 1983 to save their face when Shagari was failing.
I hope Nigerians would read between the lines that return to military rule will only make things worse. No subsequent military rule improved the lot of Nigerians. All I needed from my seemingly affluent father (as he was then) was two naira as pocket money for a school term. 1 Naira will fetch me a paint bucket of garri, 20 years later still under military rule I needed 90 times that amount to purchase the same quantity.
I was born in a house with a telephone line as standard equipment. (My father was just a graduate of a year's experience). After close to ten years of graduation, I could not afford a phone line because I could not afford the extra tips demanded, aside from the official 35,000 Naira fee. Thank god for the GSM. Who knows maybe I would have had to be a top executive before I could own a phone.
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All said and done, we need to move from military-created democracies to civilian-created ones. That the last election was fraudulent is very true. But what do you expect, free and fair elections? No way. A military government annulled the only free and fair election held in Nigeria. This was because it would be the last time they ever tasted power. Hence they always installed fraudulent democracies because they anticipate chaos and thereby come back in the name of intervention.
We will have none of that this time. No more military interventions. Who ever seeks the mandate of Nigerians must go to the soap box not the radio station.
Femi Obiomah, Lagos, Nigeria
23 Apr 2003
