ARE NIGERIANS BEING UNFAIR TO OBASANJO?

What a difference a few years make. A decade ago, General Olusegun Obasanjo was hailed as a respected international elder statesman with goodwill at home and abroad. His return to politics has utterly tarnished his reputation and Nigerian newspapers are flooded with daily vitriolic attacks on his leadership, personality and private life. It seems that becoming President for a second time destroyed his legacy. What went wrong?

It seems that Nigerian leadership is a poisoned chalice. Each Nigerian leader is always welcomed with tremendous goodwill, but is usually savagely attacked and their legacy denigrated after leaving office. Prime Minister Balewa is not remembered as Nigeria’s humble golden voiced first independence leader. He is the forgotten Prime Minister that presided over a corrupt regime that was violently overthrown by the army. Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi’s role as the greatest African soldier of his generation is rarely mentioned. He is simply the forgotten leader who could not do anything right. General Gowon is not the magnanimous leader who led the country through its worst crisis and kept the country together after a brutal civil war. He is just another corrupt military dictator who stayed too long. Even the once reverred General Murtala Muhammed is now criticised for desroting civil service morale with his purges, and is often recalled as a “war criminal”. General Obasanjo’s role as the first Nigerian leader to voluntarily leave office is no longer remembered. President Shagari is remembered as a lame duck President that presided over a chaotic administration and who let his Transport Minister loot the treasury. Major-General Buhari is not a principled leader who tried to fight corruption and introduce sanity and discipline into public life. He is a heavy handed human rights abuser. General Babangida is the man who presided over the most painstakingly conducted presidential election in Nigeria’s history, then voided the results. Ernest Shonekan is a footnote. General Abacha was the man who took Nigeria to the depths of hell and ruined its international standing. The second coming of Obasanjo was not a welcome relief from decades of miliary misrule, but was the “worst” ruler in Nigeria’s history. How true? Has Nigeria ever had a good leader?

Have Nigerians been so brutalised by years of misrule that they reflexively criticise any leader? Nigerians are professional complainers when it comes to their leaders. Savage attacks on the country’s rulers in a national past-time. They have not been fair to Obasanjo in this regard. On both occasions that he has ruled Nigeria, Obasanjo has left the country in better shape than he found it. After he left office in 1979, each successive government after him was worse than the one preceding it. Then he bucked the trend when he returned to power in 1999. He inherited a broken, dispirited, bitter, bankrupt and ostracised country that was wrecked by years of misrule, military coups and looting.

Yet Obasanjo is blamed for problems he did not create and which he inherited. Little attention is paid to his accomplishments such as fighting corruption and at least elevating it to a national talking point. In the days of General Abacha, the General’s son was fond of using the Central Bank of Nigeria as a personal bank account and would withdraw raw cash from it. Before Obasanjo, no Nigerian public official had ever been prosecuted and convicted of corruption. Obasanjo’s drive against corruption claimed prominent scalps such as the Inspector-General of Police, and state governors. Such measures were unprecedented. His efforts to reduce corruption also led to Nigeria’s Paris Club debt being paid off, in the process making Nigeria the first African country to pay off its Paris Club debt. These debts it should be remembered, were incurred between 1980-1999 (the exact period of time between Obasanjo leaving office after his first stint as Head of State and returning to leadership nearly 20 years later).

Obasanjo also did something which no leader before him, military or civilian was courageous enough to do. He defanged the military, by retiring politicised officers and professional coup plotters who were responsible for the military coups that constantly stunted Nigerian democracy. Before leaving office and handing over to his successor President Yar’Adua, Obasanjo sarcastically noted the manner in which he is blamed for all of Nigeria’s problems, whether or not in fact he is responsible for them:

“Many of them blame Obasanjo, and like the man in the drama, even when his wife does not have a child, Obasanjo is to blame. And, if he wants only one child and his wife has multiple births, Obasanjo will be blamed. Those who blame someone else for their own inadequacies will want to substitute Obasanjo for Yar’Adua. But it doesn’t work because it’s only when you identify your own inadequacies and correct them that we would move forward.”

Site Updates: please note that the great speeches section has been updated with the speeches of (a) Gen Sani Abacha upon taking power in November 1993, and (b) Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar after the death of MKO Abiola in 1998

Can a Military Coup Ever Succeed Again in Nigeria?

Before getting into my latest site topic, please note that several sections of the site have been updated recently. The inaugural speeches of Babangida and Abacha have been added to the speeches section, as have the broadcasts by Phillip Effiong and Gowon’s “the dawn of national reconciliation” speeches which marked the end of the civil war. In the Biafra Videos section, I have uploaded 18 separate videos from the NTA’s documentary series on the civil war which features great interiviews with the protagonists like Gowon, Ojukwu, Haruna, Joe Achuzia, Shuwa, Innih, MD Yusuf, Ben Ochei, Conrad Nwawo and David Ejoor. Now, onto my latest topic…..

Decades of military coups and misrule turned the Nigerian army into the most thoroughly politicised army in the world (as at 1998). Some elements of the army were viewed as little more than armed political parties that could threaten the existence of any civilian government. Thus when Nigeria returned to civilian democratic rule in 1999, it was feared that it would only be a matter of time before the army found an excuse to abandon the barracks for another political rescue operation. In his outgoing speech in 1993, the then Chief of Army Staff Lt-General Salihu Ibrahim revealed how deep the rot was. Describing the Nigerian army as “an army of anything goes”, Ibrahim added:

“I hold the strong view that any military organisation that intends to remain professional and relevant to its calling ,has no business meddling in the political affairs of the country…It is an open secret that some officers openly preferred political appointments to regimental appointments, no matter the relevance of such appointments to their careers…we became an army where subordinate officers would not only be contemptuous of their superiors ,but would exhibit total disregard to legitimate instructions by such superiors…We created such a situation whereby we were operating mini-armies within the larger Nigerian army.”

The fear and threat of a military coup was very real, as since 1966, the military had tolerated civilian rule for only 4 years, and busied themselves with Machiavellian coups and counter-coups. These coups have almost always been carried out by the same group of soldiers. The young NCOs and Lieutenants that blasted Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi from power in 1966 became Colonels that overthrew his successor General Gowon in 1975, and they became the Brigadiers and Major-Generals that overthrew President Shagari on the last day of 1983. One of the aides of Obasanjo’s predecessor as Head of State General Abdulsalam Abubakar was quoted by the Guardian of London in 1998 as follows:

“Cadet officers now talk openly not of having the ambition to become a battalion commander but of what they would like to do when they become governors of a state. The politicisation of the military has gone too far.”

The military was so politically powerful at 1999 that the incumbent service chiefs of the army, navy and air force (Lt-General Ishaya Bamaiyi, Vice-Admiral Jubril Ayinla and Air Marshal Nsikak Eduok respectively) initially refused to retire when the army handed over to a democratic government in May 1999. Only after weeks of national debate were they persuaded to stand down.

Within one month of the restoration of democracy in 1999, the government drew up a list of all armed forces officers that had served in military governments for 6 months or more. All such officers (numbering over 100) were compulsorily retired. The retirements swept out a number of immensely powerful and wealthy officers who could have been sources of future political discontent and coup plots. The retired political officers included Major-General Patrick Aziza (who chaired the ‘coup’ tribunal that convicted Obasanjo and Shehu Musa Yar’Adua in 1995), Air Vice Marshal Idi Musa (accused of framing up Diya and co during the 1999 coup plot), former Abacha regime members Major-Generals Bashir Magashi, Abdullahi Mukhtar and Chris Garuba (former Commandant of the National War College), the former commander of the Brigade of Guards Brigadier Yakubu Muazu, the former Military Governor of Rivers State Colonel Dauda Musa Komo (who was instrumental in events leading up to the arrest and detention of Ken Saro-Wiwa), Major General John Mark Inienger (former ECOMOG commander), Air Vice Marshal Idi Musa (former head of the Defence Intelligence Agency who was accused by some of being one of those that framed Diya, Adisa and Olanrewaju in the 1997 coup plot against Abacha) and the popular and powerful former Military Governor of Lagos Brigadier Mohammed Marwa.

The 9 year period from 1999 till the present is the longest period of time in Nigeria’s history without a military coup. It is no coincidence that a coup failed to occur in the absence of the retired political officers. So has the military permanently weaned itself of its coup plotting habit? Major Hamza al-Mustapha was charged with a coup plot (which included an alleged attempt to assasinate President Obasanjo by firing a missile at his helicopter). There were very strong rumours of a coup during the early days of the Obasanjo government too. The then Chief of Army Staff Lt-Gen Victor Malu publicly went so far as to tell troops to summarily execute any soldier who went on air to make a “my fellow countrymen….” announcement. He said they should be shot “before they put the microphone down”. The fact that Malu felt the need to issue such a strong public warning convinced many that a coup plot had been detected.

The continual retirement and redeployment of military officers has ensured that they find it difficult to build critical support networks and political bases that are required for coups. Coups have succeeded in the past because of (a) the support of the civil populace (b) the lack of pro-democracy/human rights groups (c) the indifference of the international community. The June 12 crisis radically changed the Nigerian populace’s relationship with the military and a military coup in modern Nigeria would be met with massive civil opposition and sanctions from the international community. It would take civilian misrule of cataclysmic proportions for Nigerians to tolerate military rule ever again.

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO ABACHA AND ABIOLA?

How quickly we forget. Flashback 10 years. The political situation was as follows:

• Nigeria was being ruled by a ruthless and reclusive military dictator called General Sani Abacha
• General Olusegun Obasanjo and over 50 other army officers were in jail on trumped up charges of coup plotting.
• Nigeria had become a pariah nation after being expelled from the Commonwealth for executing Ken Saro-Wiwa and other activists who were campaigning for a fairer share of Nigerian oil revenues and against the environmental damage caused to their lands by the drilling and spills of big oil companies.
• Lt-General Oladipo Diya, Major-Generals Abdulkareem Adisa and Tajudeen Olanrewaju, and several other officers were on death row awaiting execution for their role in another coup plot.
• The winner of the acclaimed June 12 1993 election Chief MKO Abiola had been in jail for 4 years, kept incommunicado from the outside world.
• General Abacha was on the verge of transforming himself from a military ruler to civilian President having strong armed all the 5 political parties (”five fingers of the same leprous hand”) into adopting him as their presidential candidate.
• Genuine democracy seemed far, far away.

Plus a lot of the “pro democracy” activists shamelessly abandoned Abiola to join Abacha (Olu Onagoruwa, Baba Gana Kingibe). Even ministers in Abacha’s regime were not safe. The Guardian Newspapers (owned by Abacha’s minister Ibru) was proscribed by a newspaper proscription Decree and shut down after it criticised the government. It was the paper’s continual criticism of Abacha’s regime that led to the near fatal assassination attempt on Ibru.

The Abacha -v- Abiola power struggle was holding the entire country hostage. Abacha’s thirst for power and Abiola’s unrealised mandate. Even if Abacha is removed, what to do about Abiola who won a credible election? Then the following cataclysmic events happened in the space of 30 days:

On June 8 1998 Abacha dies of a heart attack and is hurriedly buried without an autopsy by the time the news filters through to most Nigerians. Nigerians publicly celebrate the death of a reviled leader with wild jubilation. General Abdulsalam Abubakar quickly replaces Abacha and announces that Abiola will be released but that he had to realise that his mandate had expired. A lot of chicanery was used to get Abiola to renounce but he refused. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is sent to talk to him and explain that his “term of office” had expired since 5 years had passed since the June 12 1993 election. All to no avail. Exactly one month after the death of Abacha, Abiola suddenly dies of a heart attack on July 7 1998.

With Abacha, Abiola and the June 12 issue out of the way, General Abubakar announces a swift 10 month programme for a return to civilian democratic rule. Just 10 months after Nigeria seemed doomed to perpetual military rule under General Abacha, the military steps down and a new democratic government is elected under President Obasanjo. The speed with which Abacha’s infrastructure was dismantled just seemed too contrived. With Abacha alive and Abiola incarcerated, most people thought democracy was years away in Nigeria. Just 10 months after his death everything he did was undone: his killer squad was dismantled, coup convicts and pro democracy activists released, Nigeria back in the Commonwealth, democracy restored, and the army back in the barracks. Note that a lot of Abacha’s cronies survived in office and resurfaced in subsequent dispensations (Sarki Mukhtar - NSA, Jerry Gana etc).

Somehow exactly 30 days apart, both men die of heart attacks. Abacha is prevented from becoming a civilian ruler, from executing the condemned men like Diya, Adisa and Olanrewaju, and a recalcitrant Abiola (who refuses to renounce his mandate) also dies. Problem gone, debate over, fresh start. All rather convenient isn’t it?…. How easily we forget….

Another Excellent Series of Biafra Videos

This is another series of documentaries on Biafra.  Produced by Nigeria’s own NTA, these videos feature interviews with the key players such as Gowon, Ojukwu, Maj-Gens Mohammed Shuwa, Adeyinka Adebayo and David Ejoor, plus civilian participants like Philip Asiodu and Ahmed Joda who were key players in the abortive negotiations prior to the war.  Of great vintage is the footage of the Aburi debate in Ghana in 1967.  Amazing footage of Ojukwu chatting with Gowon, Hassan Katsina, Commodore Joseph Wey and other members of the federal delegation to Aburi.

Part 1

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ii-8KYgcdj8

Part 2

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gPEM5nHbuGM&feature=related

Part 3

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uUefCmOj9Kc&feature=related

Part 4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=s1HJQNF8OJM&feature=related

Part 5

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3GjylQpZD5o&feature=related

Part 6

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RwiriHMbtnk&feature=related

Part 7

http://youtube.com/watch?v=j4QJeKSQhaw&feature=related

Part 8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5R1GgXE0IHs

Part 9

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mq2BaRswfpg&feature=related

Part 10

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kZENtT0o1Ls&feature=related

Part 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGWxFFqRJb4

Part 12:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN8pVvqWFwg

Part 13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXJJoTz4XvQ

Part 14

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJl-8N2nLWA

Part 15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-NbovwDvmk

Part 16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjLRC4dIPlM

Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Delta, Oil and Ogonis

These videos are condensed videos from an excellent 1995 Channel 4 documentary (called “Delta Force”) on the Ogoni oil crisis.  It aired a few days after Saro-Wiwa was executed.  These videos cover the conflict over oil and natural resources between big oil companies, the Ogonis and the then ruthless military government in Nigeria. The videos also feature footage from the Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal which sentenced Saro-Wiwa to death.

Part 1

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YZhy_VaYisU

Part 2

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nNaY4xBiQp8&feature=related

June 12 Annulment Videos

I finally added the third and final part of the June 12 documentary videos. You can see them in the Nigerian history section or below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKDbvuACzV8&feature=related

Interview with Major Nzeogwu

 

Another nugget from Nigerian history.  This is the text of Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu’s famous interview with Dennis Ejindu in May 1967.  This interview took place just before the start of the civil war.  It is probably the most detailed question and answer session with Major Nzeogwu.  Enjoy….

Ejindu: I am glad to meet you, Sir. How would you feel if you knew that you are being regarded as a hero?  

Nzeogwu: Very pleased naturally. But the truth is that I am not a hero. If there was any famous Major Nzeogwu, I have never heard of him.

Ejindu: It is rumoured that you have just finished writing a book, what is it like?

Nzeogwu: Good gracious! Ninety-nine per cent of all the stories you hear in this country are false. I have not written any book because there was nothing to write about. You can only write about a finished job. It would have been a useful means of warding off boredom though, but one did not do it for the fear that the authorities might seize the papers. However I had enough time to make detailed notes on what happened, and one might use them if in future there was any need to write something.  

Ejindu: Before you went into prison, the cloud was so clear above this country that one could see very far into the future. Now that you are out, what do you see?  

Nzeogwu: A job very badly done. If I may borrow your metaphor, the atmosphere is admittedly somewhat cloudy. But I don’t think there will be rain. Indeed if you look steadily up you will find that the sun is not yet set and might still peep through. The trouble is that people generally can’t tell which is a rain cloud and which is not, and as a result they tend to be confused. As you know there is too much bitterness at present in the country, and in the past people had imagined that they could conveniently do without one another. But the bitterness will clear in the end and they will find that they are not as self-reliant as they had thought. And they will long to be together…. The .same applies to the Northerners. It may take ten or fifteen years for them to come together again but there is no doubt, as far as I can see, that they will. You see, in this world of imperfection, it is sometimes very difficult to capture the ideal. But we can, at least start with the second best.  

Ejindu: What is the second best?  

Nzeogwu: A Confederation.  

Ejindu: Before I come back to that, may 1 take you back to January, 1966. What exactly happened at Nassarawa (the premier’s residence at Kaduna) on the night of the 14th?

Nzeogwu: No, no, no; don’t ask me anything about that, I don’t want to remember it.

Ejindu: All right. A lot has been talked and written about the January coup. But how tribalistic was it really in conception and execution?  

Nzeogwu: In the North, no. In the South, yes. We were five in number, and initially we knew quite clearly what we wanted to do. We had a short list of people who were either undesirable for the future progress of the country or who by their positions at the time had to be sacrificed for peace and stability. Tribal considerations were completely out of our minds at this stage. But we had a set-back in the execution. Both of us in the North did our best. But the other three who were stationed in the South failed because of incompetence and misguided considerations in the eleventh hour. The most senior among them was in charge of a whole brigade and had all the excuse and opportunity in the world to mobilize his troops anywhere, anyhow and any time. He did it badly. In Lagos, even allowing for one or two genuine mistakes, the job was badly done. The Mid-West was never a big problem. But in the East, our major target, nothing practically was done. He and the others let us down.  

Ejindu: You must have anticipated that Gen. Ironsi would let you down in the end. Why did you surrender to him the way you did?  

Nzeogwu: I was being sensible. The last thing we desired was unnecessary waste of life. If I had stuck to my guns there would have been a civil war, and as the official head of the Army, he would have split the loyalty of my men. Again, you must remember that the British and other foreigners were standing by to help him. Our purpose was to change our country and make it a place we could be proud to call our home, not to wage war.

Ejindu: It has been said that Gen. Ironsi set out to complete your job for you. Was there anything you did not like in his administration?  

Nzeogwu: Yes, everything. First he chose the wrong advisers for the work he halfheartedly set out to do. Most of them were either mediocre or absolutely unintelligent. Secondly, he was tribalistic in the appointment of his governors. Thirdly the Decree 34 was unnecessary, even silly in fact.

Ejindu: But you wanted a unitary government?  

Nzeogwu: No. Not a unitary government as such. We wanted to see a strong centre. We wanted to cut the country to small pieces, making the centre inevitably strong. We did not want to toy with power, which was what he did.  

Ejindu: Tell me, what do you think of him as a soldier?  

Nzeogwu: I am afraid I cannot tell you that. But I will say that as a person he was very well liked and as the Supreme Commander, his orders were promptly carried out.

Ejindu: If he joined the Army as a gunner, he must have progressed as a military strategist?  

Nzeogwu: Yes, if he had, he could have done so. But he actually joined the Army as a tally-clerk and was a clerk most of the time.

Ejindu: From the present chaos, what type of Nigeria do you envisage?  

Nzeogwu: In the first place, secession will be ill-advised, indeed impossible. Even if the East fights a war of secession and wins, it still cannot secede. Personally, I don’t like secession and if this country disintegrates, I shall pack up my things and go. In the present circumstances, confederation is the best answer as a temporary measure. In time, we shall have complete unity. Give this country a confederation and, believe me, in ten or fifteen years the young men will find it intolerable, and will get together to change it. And it is obvious we shall get a confederation or something near it. Nothing will stop that.  

Ejindu: Do you think there will be any war?  

Nzeogwu: No. Nobody wants to fight. The East which is best equipped and best prepared for war, does not want to attack anybody. The North cannot fight. And Lagos cannot fight now. If they had attacked the East in August or September, they would have had a walk-over. Today, I think they will be ill-advised to try.  

Ejindu: An Englishman said to me the other day that the best thing Ojukwu can do is to take over Lagos. Do you think he can do it even if he wanted to?  

Nzeogwu: Yes, I think the East is strong enough to do it if they want to. But it will serve no useful purpose. It can only serve to destroy life and property. You see, the effective power does not lie in Lagos but in Kaduna, and if you remove Gowon somebody else will take his place. If you capture the South against the North, all you can achieve is civil war, disintegration and border clashes.

Ejindu: Finally, let me come to the controversy over your release.  Much as it has been a popular action you have been released by the east government against the wish of the federal government.  What do you say to that?

Nzeogwu: All I can say is that I am happy and grateful to be out.  We feel grateful to the Nsukka students for their persistent demand, and to the boys in the barracks for their pressure on the authorities in the east. And to the Nigerian public in general for their concern over our welfare.

Another Video Nugget from Nigerian History

Here is another video from the Nigerian history archives.  The audio is a little disappointing, but the footage has some great hiddem gems including 1960s footage of then Lt-Colonel Gowon, Major Mobalaji Johnson, Ojukwu, and even Tafawa Balewa speaking during Nigeria’s pre-independence constitutional conference in London.  There is also a clip of President Azikiwe speaking on the 1964 political crisis between he and PM Balewa.  Some snippets of Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi on the parade ground, and footage of his funeral too. Enjoy

Nigerian Corruption: Back to its Old Ways?

In a previous post, I mentioned how former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu’s removal was a carefully orchestrated attempt to hamper the fight on corruption and to protect corrupt Governors.  (see: http://maxsiollun.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/ribadus-removal-i-smell-a-rat/)Well, lo and behold, only a few weeks after Ribadu’s posting to a course at the National Institutue of Policy and Strategic Studies, the charges against former Plateau State Governor Joshua Dariye have been dropped (the same Dariye that was arrested by police in London for money laundering).   Former Delta State Governor James Ibori has been granted bail, and bail conditions have been set for former Edo State Governor Lucky Igbinedon.  Once again, anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria are being derailed.

Incidentally, here is a photo of Ribadu at his NIPSS course.

Videos on the June 12 Annulment

Without wishing to turn the site into a video fest, I think these videos on the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election are another didactic series.  Each of the three videos runs for about 10 minutes.  I’ve been having problems with some of the videos so if the video screens don’t work, click the URL link below each screen and that will take you directly to a youtube link of the video.

Part 1 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HWRMQYCRAGg&feature=related

Part 2 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=gA7Tlg9pjME&feature=related

Part 3 

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=lKDbvuACzV8