However, going by some reports, I think President Buhari did well by warning his aides not to join issues with Obasanjo on the letter. But he should go beyond that. The points raised should be sincerely and patriotically addressed. For now let us forget whether Obasanjo is having an ulterior political motive in writing the letter. We must focus on the contents of the letter rather than the writer. Very few Nigerians would dare summon the courage to do what Obasanjo did. Let even the sycophants and the quislings bring out the issues in the letter that are untrue. Is it the issue of glaring nepotism in a multi-ethnic nation that is not dangerously true? Is it the issue of the rampaging and reckless Fulani murderers who appear to be enjoying tacit immunity that is false? Why does the nation’s economy continue to wobble? Why is the price of fuel repulsive and the commodity still difficult to get even at the official repulsive price? The present government should not toe the dangerous and careless path of the past regimes under Obasanjo and Shagari when the voice of reason by the sage was ignored to the inevitable peril of the nation. Most power wielders are always oblivious of the fact that power is a fleeting phenomenon. They usually forget that one day, whether they like it or not, they will be out of power, hence, they always block their ears to every voice of reason. Many of them are always victims of the sweet voices of selfish sycophants and ethnic jingoists with which they surround themselves.However, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo are definitely not in the same category in terms of intelligence and political sagacity. Both had played prominent roles in Nigeria’s national politics. No matter what anyone thinks about any of them, their names will feature prominently in the nation’s political history. The similarity between the two leaders however ended in the two of them being from the Yoruba nation of Ogun State. In fact, while Awo gladly identified with his Yoruba root, Obasanjo would hesitate to touch any issue relating to the race even with a long spoon because he is an “international man”.
Obasanjo could be regarded as the luckiest Nigerian leader that ever lived. Unlike Awo, Obasanjo had the rare privilege of ruling Nigeria for 12 years as military leader and as a civilian president. The pertinent question on the lips of most of his critics is: what positive impacts did Obasanjo make on the social, political and economic development of the country for the 12 years he was in the saddle as the chief pilot of the nation’s political ship? If for 12 years of Obasanjo’s leadership, there were no visible impacts of his on the socio-economic and political development of the nation, what moral right has he to correct anyone on things he could not do when he was in power? This is the area many of his critics are apt to disqualify him on moral ground. But as I said earlier, let us forget the messenger and focus attention on the message in the interest of the nation.
The bitter truth is that, if Chief Awolowo had had just 10 per cent of Obasanjo’s opportunity, Nigeria would have been transformed from a third world country to modern nation capable of rubbing shoulders with any country in the world. It would not have happened under Awo for power supply projects in the country to gulp trillions of Naira and the nation would still continue to grope in darkness. Just four years of government under Awo, importation of fuel would be a thing of the past apart from stable electricity supply. During the Nigerian civil war Awo proved this. He was saddled with the management of the nation’s economy and he managed it in such a way that Nigeria did not need to borrow one kobo to successfully prosecute the war. Nigeria is sinking daily now under foreign and local debts even without fighting any war. Now, let us look at Obasanjo’s solution. He proffered the emergence of what he saw as a third force on the nation’s political landscape as a solution to the problems he emphasized. Whatever the composition of this third force will be, according to Obasanjo, it is to displace both the ruling APC and the dethroned PDP from position of political influence. Obasanjo may not be too far from the truth in his assessment of the two political parties, but is his third force the alternative or solution? The answer is an emphatic no! His proposition is still part of political leaders beating about the bush in their fruitless search for a lasting solution to the myriads of problems buffeting the nation.
The bitter truth remains that the genuine and lasting solution lies in the restructuring of the polity. This is talking of the genuine and sincere restructuring rather than the escapist approach of the APC committee led by El-Rufai in its proposition which some see as fraudulent. The present structure has never worked. It will never work. Let us check all multi-ethnic nations of the world and learn from their structure and experience. The status-quo defenders of the present pseudo-federation are insincere because they are enjoying some exclusive benefits from the awkward political arrangement or structure imposed on the nation by the military regimes whose men and officers were trained in, and used to command structure. This is antithetical to a genuine problem solving in a multi-ethnic nation. The status-quo defenders want to continue to enjoy free petro-Naira as manner from heaven without labour. Most of the states in Nigeria today can be referred to as glorified local governments, which mainly have to depend on mere handout from the centre government before they can pay salaries not to talk of meaningful developmental projects. This is why the present pseudo-federation is often referred to as “feeding bottle federation”. So, whether Obasanjo’s third force or any other force or political arrangement, it would always end as an exercise in futility as long as the present awkward structure remains. It has never worked anywhere and it would never work here. In a genuine federation, each federating units should depend mainly on revenues it could generate for its developmental projects and progress of the unit in all ramifications without expecting any handout from anywhere. That was the situation under the 1954 constitution and the nation witnessed astronomical development in all areas then.
With it, Sir Ahmadu Bello as the premier of Northern Region was able to lead the North to have cotton and groundnut pyramids from which the region could meet its developmental needs. Awolowo was able to execute many projects in the Western Region that were classified as first of their kind in the whole of Africa with money generated from cocoa and other farm products without relying on any money doled out from anywhere. The same thing applied in the Eastern Region under Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe. The region could boast of huge revenues from palm products apart from coal with which to execute laudable projects without any handout from the centre. They all worked for the money they were spending then. What the status-quo defenders target today is the free petro-Naira. They are not ready to work like the early leaders for what they are spending. Until the polity is restructured, no efforts made will ever yield the desired result. The nation’s experience so far has proved that what the British colonialists formed and called Nigeria in 1914 was a mere association of incompatibles. This is why the highly revered and undisputable leader of the North in the First Republic, Sir Ahmadu Bello described it as “the mistake of 1914”.The solution proffered by Obasanjo in his letter shows that despite trying to play Awo, he lacks Awo’s intellectual capacity and genuine patriotism of the sage. If it were to be Awo, he would know and emphasize the fact that it is not possible to build a strong and formidable structure on a faulty foundation. The foundation of Nigeria as a polity is quintessentially faulty. No efforts to build a strong, peaceful and enduring edifice on such foundation can ever succeed until the structure is corrected.
- Adesua is a former MD/Editor-in-Chief of ANN Plc
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