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Let us begin with the disclosure that what you are reading isn’t the work that would have graced this space today. One had already concluded a revelation on what the coming general elections, especially the presidential race, would look like before the change of mind inspired by the Monday, April 20 incident, in which protesting retired police personnel somehow found their way, unhindered, into the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Nigeria’s seat of power.
Carrying the protest into the vicinity was not only wrong and misguided, it was the height of security recklessness and a highly provocative act by those who embarked on it. The protesters didn’t just go to the precinct of the national seat of power, they almost tried to go through the cordons to meet the President of the Federal Republic, face to face in his office. It was audacity taken to a terrible level.
Nobody should get anyone wrong. The meat of great democracy is the direct participation of the entire citizens in the way they are governed. Dissent and protests that usually would follow disenchantment and disagreements are normal and very legal but the manner of execution can sometimes become not only matters of great concern but indeed issues of crime deserving of punishment. The right to demonstrate and organize protests aren’t absolute, the right is abridged where the rights of the other citizens begin. It is legal to protest but it becomes criminal when a protester goes out of order and begins to block the road or bring harm to other cities. This behaviour would be incompatible with the right to go into the streets to protest.
When protesters begin to act in ways that state security and stability begin to be affected then there’s trouble. Those retired police officers on parade on the said date definitely overstepped their bounds. Taking directly into Aso Rock and forcing themselves to gain entry beyond what ought to be, apart from trying to diminish the occupant of the Office the President, it was a clear attempt to incite a change of government by other means. It was a veiled “civilian coup.”
All anyone needs to do is sit calmly in your study room and try to imagine what would have become the national mood if the security personnel guarding the Presidential Villa had chosen to deploy brute force to push back officers trained in arms management and usage. How would security personnel across the country feel? What would be the attitude of members of the Nigeria Police Force? Given the national scenario including the frequency of kidnappings and abductions across the country, wouldn’t the shooting of ex-police officers dramatically alter the configuration already plaguing the country?
It was not necessary to take the protest into the inner recesses of the seat of power. For emphasis, it is a very disrespectful effort if that was an effort and not deliberate to execute evil using a noble cause. If this writer was the President I wouldn’t tolerate what the retired police officers did or any group. It shouldn’t be tolerated. We expect right thinking citizens to rise and condemn the trend before some misguided ones in our midst, and there are many, begin to see a precedent in that most despicable outing.
A trend is emerging which should attract the attention of all those who wish our country well and desire to see development take place in the right order and perspective. Whenever we have a President of southern extraction the country turns very volatile, restraint is thrown overboard with so many social activists with selective advocacy emerging, especially from the North. The style and strategy of advocacy becomes something of big concern. The sense of entitlement is such that people wonder if what we have is a federating union. Oftentimes we begin to hear such sentences as “we have the votes, you either act in accordance or”, “This is not acceptable to the north.” Such sentiments and posturing do not help us to build a cohesive nation-state. There can hardly be development where there’s no buy-in and sense of bonding among the citizens, especially in a deeply plural setting like ours.
These days we speak of “empirical evidence” as made popular by Rufai Oseni of Arise Television. It was under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo we began to hear a cabal of mainly politicians from the north limiting the term of a president by force to one term of four years as against a renewable four years bringing total tenure to eight years as provided for in the country’s grand law, the Constitution.
Rather than assist Obasanjo do well and prepare him to face the people to say if he did well in the first term, he was subjected to a barrage of unfair tackles, arm twisting, innuendos, negative stereotypes and humiliating taunts. Even those who couldn’t match his station in life and deep, penetrating contributions to national development rose up to talk down on him. Former Governor Aliyu Babanginda was in the forefront of this group. It was so terrible Obasanjo’s deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abukakar, led what can also pass as “mutiny” against the number one citizen of the country. Of course the mutineers in possession of great wealth found it easy to recruit strong allies from the South including the incumbent president who provided a platform for the frontal engagement.
President Umaru YarAdua came, he took ill for such a long time, a tribal cabal came into the picture and succeeded in turning white black. They didn’t see the need to vilify a leader who took off for medical attention without alerting the country or seeing the need to properly hand over the reins of government to his deputy. The worst was allowing proxy leadership and insisting that what was clearly wrong was right. There was a need for radical activism but the country saw none. Rather, a reign of oligarchy was unleashed on the country and forcefully made to be accepted. It took a few individuals who ran off line to restore the country back to the lane of sanity by involve by the “Doctrine of Necessity” whatever that means.
President Goodluck Jonathan got into office in very humiliating circumstances having been reduced to nothing by members of a sectional cabal, who didn’t care that the constitution envisaged he stood in whenever the president couldn’t function properly. In the office he got the most terrible end of the stick. He was stereotyped, called “drunken sailor” and all kinds of effigies were made and displayed.
He was so assailed by very powerful forces to the point people in the north threw stones at his convoy during a visit to Bauchi State. His northern officials pretended to be there while they had gone their ways, leaving Jonathan’s flanks open and easy to penetrate.
During a crucial national convention of his party in Abuja watched by the world, entrenched political players from the north led others to leave the venue in the most dramatic fashion. The picture was very traumatizing to anyone with conscience. President Jonathan was harassed out of office. It doesn’t matter the sugarcoating that has gone on over the development, it was disgraceful and humiliating for him and his people.
President Bola Tinubu and former president, Muhammadu Buhari were of the same party. President Tinubu succeeded Buhari keeps telling us he met a very terrible economic condition which is true but the question is: “On what strength did Buhari and the party win second tenure. Why didn’t we see activism and national good governance advocacy reach the peak? Why didn’t those who control politics in the country see the need to create new political parties to challenge a most terrible situation and win power with a view to bringing about change?
This is not to support President Tinubu because he too may be reeking under the weight of karma having joined forces with these retrogressive forces in the past. However, is President Tinubu more terrible Buhari who the same forces treated with kid gloves or even deep love?
Have we stopped to ponder why activities of so-called bandits and terrorists were very low when Buhari was going for reelection than when Jonathan and now Tinubu is about facing a reelection?
Why isn’t the activism we see heightened this period not to include full declaration of war against the bandits and the terrorists? Atiku Abukakar walked out on president Jonathan in a terrible act to say the least and the reason was “it was the turn of the North.” Now it is the turn of the South and he has created a political party for himself. Why are we not hearing voices of emergency activists rising higher and telling him “no, this is not right”. Why are they being led to behave as if heaven is about to collapse under the headship of President Tinubu? Why?
Is Nigeria in trouble? The answer is yes. Is the situation beyond redemption? Again the answer is no. What then is required? There is a need for a complete turn around. We must choose to go back to the drawing board. Let us sit in clear conscience and ask ourselves the critical questions, what do we want to do with the country given to us by God? When we answer that question, we will create the pathways and build our political parties along the line. In this case, it won’t matter which party wins power because the task would have been very clear to all, it would then be only a matter of style and knowledge.
