4th May, 2011
They have started to test his will and resolve already. I refer to those who believe that Nigeria is theirs to rule, dominate and exploit. And they succeeded in doing this for decades. When their political calculations misfire or they get soaked in some self-inflicted contradictions, they would rely on the military wing of their conservative establishment to carry out a coup. But coups are no longer fashionable and acceptable worldwide. The cabal’s new style is to call up their reserve army of street urchins, popularly known as almajiris, to seize the streets, turn everywhere upside down, kill, maim, rape, destroy and incinerate as many opponents of their sponsors as possible – including invading the palaces of revered traditional rulers. The cabal loves one thing so dearly: political power, or at worst, nominate and support a fickle-minded proxy from outside their political and ideological constituency to oversee the estate while they are on ‘sabbatical’.
The North must be in power or Nigeria would be in flames. And the rest of Nigeria has been accommodating this arrogance for so long. I will explain. When Major-General J.T.U Aguiyi-Ironsi became Nigeria’s Head of State on 16 January 1966, in the circumstance in which he did, the North, using its elements within the military which it cleverly dominated, quickly planned and killed him, so mercilessly. Ironsi was in power for only five months. When Chief MKO Abiola won the presidential elections of 12 June 1993 without the ‘approval’ of the same cabal, even where there was abundant evidence that Abiola got so many votes from their section of Nigeria, they still went ahead to deny him his victory, arrested and detained him until he was finally despatched to the great beyond. He was not their candidate; Alhaji Bashir Tofa was. The point I make is that the north loves to be in power and whoever ventures to get to that Number One seat without the approval of the type of Adamu Ciroma Committee that we saw recently, does so at his own risk. But nothing will happen to Goodluck Jonathan. A pan-Nigerian movement which Ciroma and his type failed to see and recognise has smashed that myth, for good.
It is always important to look back if we must understand what the recent post-presidential election bloody riots represent, and why the cabal’s reserve army of street urchins had to be summoned to duty on behalf of the defeated Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari, a retired army general. I disagree that the riots which claimed so many lives, including those of more than four dozen serving National Youth Service Corps members, were spontaneous. They were not. Buhari can tell that to those who are basically ignorant of the political character of the conservative North, especially when its members box themselves into a corner. We noticed it on 29 May and 29 July 1966, and it reared its ugly head again in June 1993.
Let’s tell ourselves the home truth: Buhari and his handlers had, indeed, calculated on a run-off with Jonathan. This didn’t work out and the reserve army had to be called to duty. The bloody riots that engulfed Kaduna, Bauchi, Kano, Niger, Nasarawa, etc were the clique’s response to Jonathan’s deserved victory. The fact that Jonathan won in so many northern states, as Abiola did in 1993, would not impress them. Jonathan’s support platform in the North came from an emerging, reliable, formidable and young radical elements and its intelligentsia which the dying cabal has been unable to control and colonise. Take it from me: the recent bloody riots in some parts of the North were engineered and sponsored by the same bunch of politicians who have held this country down for decades, the same political irritants who have made it possible for countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Ghana, etc, with which we started this race for development in the sixties, to overtake us – and painfully leaving us behind in many areas. How did Buhari hope to win in the South-East and South-South where he never really campaigned? If Buhari calculated to win massively in the North, what prevented Jonathan from also believing that the two regions would line up behind him? After all, Jonathan, although from the South-South, was originally from Eastern Nigeria of which the South-East was a component part?
It was good that Jonathan had to come out to warn that ‘enough is enough’. With the security situation well taken care of, I think the President should begin immediately to put down the names of those who will make his cabinet; qualitative men and women who will help him run the affairs of this country in the next four years. Jonathan needs to be reminded that he must be thorough about it, because Nigerians are tired of having the same old names and old faces as ministers. What many Nigerians expect from Mr. President is that the recycling of certain politicians and technocrats is becoming both irritating and unproductive and needs to be halted. We need new servant leaders with new ideas and fresh dreams for Nigeria – qualified citizens who would assist the President execute his many promises to Nigerians.
And there are so many good, qualified, patriotic and cool-headed Nigerians who are willing to serve but would, ordinarily, not hustle for it; eminently qualified Nigerians scattered across this country who can serve with devotion, dedication, honesty and patriotism.
But there are parameters with which the new Jonathan administration would be judged at the appropriate time. I refer to rapid improvements in electricity supply to homes and offices and in infrastructure, job creation, education, health and agriculture. Is un-interrupted electricity supply unachievable in Nigeria? How did these smaller but more efficiently run countries like Ghana and Malaysia achieve theirs? Can’t we borrow or study how they did it? Two, our infrastructural facilities need to be rehabilitated and new ones constructed. Our federal roads are bad – in their worst shape in many decades. It is taking almost eleven years for Ore/Benin road to be fixed since it collapsed. A second Onitsha bridge would make it possible for those travelling as far as Calabar, Port Harcourt, Makurdi, Uyo, Owerri, Enugu, etc. to reach their destinations without having to sleep on the road. The creation of new jobs for our teeming unemployed graduates will gladden hearts and become one promise fulfilled.
A completely commercialised and privatised electricity company that would release Nigerians from the bondage of our incorrigible Power Holding Company would certainly create so many jobs. We witnessed it soon after the telecom sector was liberated from NITEL’s monopoly. On education, it is a known fact that any country that does not take this sector seriously is doomed to underdevelopment and dependency. The health sector is one area that Jonathan may have to act fast too. A situation where our leaders have to continuously seek better medical treatment outside our shores is becoming a national embarrassment. Something should be done to equip and modernise our healthcare delivery. And lastly, our farmers have been clamouring for direct assistance and intervention from the federal government through the Bank of Agriculture. They say that they are tired of being short-changed by middlemen, and those who claim to be farmers but have no farms. The challenges are huge and the expectations are high – too high it becomes uncomfortable to imagine failure or poor performance. But the general assumption is that Jonathan would do well because he cannot afford to fail, has no baggage and has no enemy to fight.
•Kanayo Esinulo wrote this article for TheNEWS magazine.