19th November, 2013
By Tayo Ogunbiyi
It is no longer news that our leaders usually act in manners that suggest that they have little or no regard for their fellow compatriots. We have been through so much indignation as a people. Many times, our psyche have been bruised and our emotions wounded. We once had a minister in charge of communication, who told us that telephones are not meant for the common men. If you think this is shocking, wait for this. On June 12, 1993, Nigerians defied all odds to elect a President of their choice. But in a flagrant display of the highest form of impunity, the result of the election was unilaterally annulled by a section of the Nigerian military. Ironically, some of those who made the decision to annul the result of the election, today parade themselves as democrats.
We have been through so much as a people that impunity means nothing to us again. In-fact, we now rationalize it. But, how much of disdain should elected leaders display towards their own people? In Nigeria, the roads leading to a busy business district, where thousands earn a living, could be blocked just because a First Lady is in town. In Nigeria, but for very few cases, budget presentation by the various tiers of government has continued to be a mere ritual that largely does not translate into expected public good. We have seen money voted for the improvement of public infrastructure diverted into private channels. In most cases, when the culprits are caught, they often get away with it. We have witnessed how public infrastructure, put in place with tax payers money, rot away with little or no concern from those who should care. We have seen real naked use of power in the land. A former leader once told us that he was not only government but that he was in power. Similarly, we were once told by a ‘respected’ Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, that the President of our country could rule from any part of the world he chooses to. In line with the established tradition of impunity in government, a convicted former governor, who was jailed for monumental corruption, was recently granted state pardon while petty thieves are still languishing in jail.
The sad reality of our country is that impunity has become part and parcel of us. However, as terrible as the kind of impunity being experienced in the country is, we are presently witnessing something, perhaps, more dreadful than impunity. Take the back stage impunity! Welcome on board ethnicity! We have now moved a step further, in our journey to self-destruct as a country, as we seem to be according ethnicity a prime place in our daily conduct. The other day, a serving governor in one of the South-South states said that it is wrong for anyone from “our zone to oppose the President.” The implication of this statement is that irrespective of whether the President is doing the right thing or not, he should be protected by his ‘people.’ Pray, who really are the President’s people? The thousands of people who voted for him across the country? Or his kinsmen from the Niger-Delta? In a similar fashion, while the Princess of the aviation sector was in the news recently, her kinsmen put up a strong show in her defence. As far as they are concerned, their daughter must be defended, rightly or wrongly. The dangerous thing about this ugly trend is that even hitherto respected opinion moulders and public commentators are catching the ethnic bug.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian masses, as usual, remain the canon-fodders in this new wave of ethnic resurgence. It is rather depressing that it is the same masses, whose interests are being trampled upon by some of our leaders, through several acts of impunity, that are being used in this shameless ethnic crusade. Unfortunately, as a result of the degree of poverty currently entrenched in the land, the masses would always be vulnerable to the myopic and selfish ethnic agenda of our leaders. What has become of the northern part of Nigeria despite the over 30 years that its political and military elite have been in power in the country? Now, the Northern political elite are clamouring for power shift and their masses are clapping. But, in reality, whose interest would a power shift serve? Your guess is as good as mine.
The Yoruba have, equally, had their fair share of hold on power. It is true that the Egba Emperor occupied the Aso Rock for eight years. But what is yet to be ascertained is to what extent majority of his kinsmen from the south-west actually benefitted from his hold on power. The Lagos-Abeokuta road, Lagos–Ibadan expressway, Oshodi-Apapa expressway, Ibadan-Oyo road, to mention but a few of such public infrastructure in the south-west, could not benefit from the ‘Midas’ touch of the emperor while he was in power. So, what is this noise about ‘it is our turn’ all about, if being in power would not serve the interests of majority of the people?
The truth of the matter is that until we learn to be truly Nigerian at heart, we might not get to the Promised Land. It is bad enough that, because of our docility as a people, we have allowed our leaders to get away with so much impunity. But it is just too absurd that we now fall prey to their ridiculous ploy of ethnicity. If, at this time in our national life, we still resort to ethnic card, without doubt, all our talks on national unity and patriotism are mere hypocrisy and deception. They amount to just paying lip service to national unity. Funny enough, some of our ‘patriotic’ leaders, especially those in the forefront of the ongoing national dialogue campaign, have been telling us that the unity of the country is not negotiable. Who is fooling who? Which unity are we talking about when what we preach everyday is ethnicity, the very tendency that destroy us?
It is such deception and hypocrisy that have turned our nation into a laughing stock in the comity of nations. The tragedy, however, is that the masses have continued to allow themselves to be used as co-travellers in this evil game of duplicity and deceit. If we are to believe the prediction that the country might exist as one indivisible units in some years to come, this is the precise time to rise up and put an end to every divisive tendency in the country.
•Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.