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OBJ, Atiku laugh, Nigerians can’t
Written by Sam Adesua Tuesday, 14 December 2010
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) is, by any standard, a very big man in Nigeria. He is conscious of this special status. In fact, his eight-year tenure as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria could best be described as the era of Babaism because of his firm control of the reins of power and the gerotoncratic respect he commanded from those seeking one favour or the other throughout the period.
Obasanjo’s foray into the nation’s military establishment threw him into the limelight. Through divine arrangement, he was the one God used to practically end the nation’s 30-month fratricidal civil war and collected the instrument of surrender from the leader of the secessionists in early January 1970. This paved the way for his subsequent larger-than-life political influence outside the military barracks.
Atiku Abubakar, Obasanjo’s erstwhile second in command for almost eight years, before things fell apart for the duo, was also a popular Nigerian whose popularity became noticeable during the Obasanjo presidency. Obasanjo and Atiku were said to be very good friends until they were separated by what joined them together. All efforts by their friends to patch the cracked walls of their friendship had, hitherto, proved abortive.
Today, Atiku is having his eyes on the Aso Rock seat and Obasanjo is laughing. The reason for his laughter is a matter of conjecture for now. But Atiku is also retaliating with laughter. What is causing Atiku’s laughter should also be seen as a matter of conjecture.
Both Obasanjo and Atiku may have reasons to be laughing, but can Nigerians afford to laugh in the same way and on the same issues? There is a Yoruba proverb that says: “What makes the bush fowl to laugh is the same thing that makes the farmer to weep.” In other words, the reasons for Obasanjo and Atiku’s laughter may not be too far from the roots of Nigerians’ avoidable miseries. Let’s take a cursory look at the hypothetical reasons for their laughter.
Obasanjo: I read in the newspapers that Atiku has emerged as Northern candidate. I dey laugh ooo. This is the time Nigeria needs a consensus national leader rather than a consensus sectional leader more than ever before. Yet, some people are bent on imposing a sectional leader on the whole nation. I dey laugh because this has been the root of the nation’s backwardness in the comity of nations. I dey laugh because I am not a stranger to this man. I dey laugh because I know the kind of havoc that a sectional leader is capable of wreaking on the nation. Can Nigeria afford this now? I dey laugh ooo. I know that Aso Rock seat is meant for a financially serious, disciplined and patriotic Nigerian. Can we trace any of these virtues to this man? This calls for laughter. For eight solid years, despite the fact that people say I am stingy on the issue of finance, I was a complete failure because in the first instance, I emerged on the veiled platform of sectionalism. If this man is all the North has to flaunt, all Nigerians must join me to laugh. We must laugh off the impending social, economic and political tragedy for Nigeria.
Atiku: Me too I dey laugh ooo. In a situation where the kettle is calling the pot black, I can’t but laugh. I dey laugh because this man is yet to understand the potency of a monolithic North in the Nigerian politics. I must laugh because this man is aware of my capability of correcting all the wrongs his eight years of maladministration had imposed on the nation and hapless Nigerians. Under his unfortunate eight-year rule, power supply in the country had moved from bad to worse, reducing Nigeria to a hostile environment for business and development. I dey laugh because there could be somone who still wants this inclement situation to persist. Under Obasanjo, corruption became an all-comers affair. I dey laugh because Obasanjo knows that, as an insider during his regime, I would destroy all the sign-posts of corruption erected under his administration. Nigeria’s wealth is restricted to very few people. I dey laugh because someone is not yet interested in my planned redistribution of our national wealth.
The duo may have reasons beyond the knowledge of ordinary Nigerians to laugh now, but the hard fact is that Nigerians cannot afford to laugh. The two of them are more than comfortable in all ramifications. They don’t have to contend with the death traps that today make up the nation’s road network. They do not need to be disturbed by the epileptic power supply because they can afford every form of alternative to the services of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). So, they can afford to laugh even when hapless Nigerians are heaving heavy sigh. Amidst pervasive poverty, pervading insecurity and the seeming kingdom of darkness, hapless Nigerians may find it difficult to laugh but Atiku and his boss can afford to continue to laugh. But we should hope that one day Nigerians would have many reasons to laugh.
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