By Eze Eluchie, Esq.
Without
doubt, one of the banes of the Nigerian society which makes the federation appear
to perpetually slide backwards whilst the rest of the globe inches forward is our collective amnesia. As a people we tend to easily forget humongous failings
that transpired in the past, are ever willing to gloss over pitfalls that
retarded efforts at progress, celebrate mediocrity, punish innovation, honor
the dishonorable, and allowed some of our very worst to preside over the most
esteemed offices in the land.
This
tragedy of forgetfulness is institutionalized and made part of our national
ethos by the incredulous exclusion of History as a subject from our primary
school curricular – we have generations walking around without a slight iota of
knowledge of why we are where we are: a sure recipe to repeat wrongs of the
past.
The
vice of ahistoricism in Nigeria is not restricted to the unlettered and or
unschooled, but has permeated to those who ought to know better, to know far
better. Nigeria has under this seeming perennial cloak of ignorance allowed kakistocracy
to become our unwritten system of government. From characters notorious for ethnoreligious
bigotry, to others with lengthy track record in diverse criminal endeavors, our
worst have always snuck their ways to rule over Nigeria with expected
devastating outcomes.
When
it was first announced that an ex-dictator who was drafted in a Machiavellian manner
to become an ‘elected democratic president’, would be invited to preside, as Chairman,
over the annual congress of the Nigerian Bar Association, the professional body
of all legal practitioners in Nigeria, it was clear that the lack of
understanding and appreciation of the historical context and trajectory had crept
all the way into how even the leadership of the Bar decide who they will
accord honor at the apex convocation of Nigerian Attorneys.
When
the choice of an Obasanjo as the Chair of the NBA-AGC was being considered,
were the following antecedents of the retired Army General, some of the most heinous
crimes and attacks against democracy ever perpetuated, considered?
1.
The obliteration of and massacre of residents of the then second largest
city in Bayelsa State, Odi, and vanquishing by federal troops of Zaki Biam town in
Benue State.
2.
The establishment of and deployment of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) as a gestapo-like outfit to terrorize political opponents of
the President.
3.
The disappearance of over US$16 billion earmarked towards improving the power
sector, with virtually not an additional kilowatt added to the national grid to
show for the expenditures.
4.
The desecration of the Nigerian constitution by allowing some northern states
to adopt Islam as state religions
5.
The desperate effort at tenure-elongation to achieve a 3rd
term as President in clear violation of Constitutional provisions.
6.
The kidnap of a sitting State Governor (Anambra’s Ngige) by private citizen
with access to more Police protection, and the attempted assassination of an
opposition State Governor (Benue’s Akume).
7.
Commandeering public funds for private gain – such as the Obasanjo Library project.
8.
Introduction of large-scale bribery of National Assembly legislators and
using extra-judicial means to desecrate the office of the then Vice President of the
Federal Republic (Atiku Abubakar).
9.
The litany of gross misdeeds is near-endless.
Obasanjo’s
misdeeds were not restricted to domestic issues. Personal greed, aggrandizement
and falsely believing that he could get away at the international level with
the malfeasance Nigerians stomach led to egregious blunders which served to
blight Nigeria’s position in the comity of nations.
In
one instance of foolhardiness, after offering then Liberian President, Charles
Taylor, asylum, protection, safe passage and retirement in Nigeria. Charles Taylor never knew he was sucked-in and would be betrayed in a
life wrenching manner.
Shortly
after taking up Obasanjo's offer, Obasanjo arrested Taylor and handed the
Liberian leader to the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Taylor was prosecuted
and convicted, and now wastes away in a British prison - where he'll likely
die.
Obasanjo's
act of betrayal diminished Nigeria in the comity of nations. Till date, Nigeria,
which prior to that betrayal, was a favored arbitrator in disputes between
African countries, is now a pariah in arbitration issues, and viewed as a
contraption which cannot keep its promises.
In
retirement, Obasanjo has taken on the past time of pontificating over matters
he could have, but did not address when he was opportune as military dictator
and ‘civilian’ president, in lofty self-adulating 'Open Letters'.
…and
this is the man the leadership of the Bar opted to invite to chair a conference
themed “Stand out, Stand tall”?
NB: More on the rule of
Nigeria by Olusegun Obasanjo published in the book, “Reign of Evil” https://rhbooks.com.ng/product/reign-of-evil-may-29th-1999-may-28th-2007/
Picture: General
Obasanjo and one of his victims, Charles Taylor
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