Zik Gbemre
When the Federal Government of Nigeria first unveiled activities for the Nigeria Centenary celebrations and stated that no fewer than 28 World leaders have indicated their intention to attend the celebrations, the first question that came to our mind was what exactly are we celebrating? How far have we faired as a developing nation politically and economically in 100 years, particularly since the colonial masters left? The array of activities that was lined up by the Federal Government, and the publicity hype, are they really necessary in the name of marking Nigeria’s 100 years celebration of existing as a nation? Agreed that attaining a 100 years as a nation still united, despite going through a civil war and years of military dictatorship, is something worth marking as remarkable. But considering the current situation in the country, one would have expected some level of sober reflection and adjustment to change for the better by our leaders rather than painting a picture that ‘all is well’; when indeed all is not well.
The Federal Government’s argument that the Centenary celebrations are designed around the key concepts of unity, indivisibility, virility, progress and promise of the Nigerian federation, and that the birth of Nigeria as it is today is worth celebrating more than other unique days that are part of the country’s past, like Independence Day (October 1) and Democracy Day (May 29), are quite understandable. But the question is, with the increasing level of insecurity in recent weeks that has led to the death of 59 innocent Nigerian students, and the obvious economic hardship faced daily by Nigerians, the so called centenary celebrations with all the hype that went with it is rather unnecessary. As a matter of fact, we were expecting that some of the scheduled events to mark the centenary celebration would have been cancelled when news reported the death of many Nigerian students by the Boko Haram sect.
Funny enough, we are not the only ones that are looking at this centenary jamboree from this angle. Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, recently described Nigeria as a country drifting towards “a dangerous waterfall.” Amaechi declared that the celebration of Nigeria’s centenary was unnecessary because of the killings of students and other innocent Nigerians by members of the Boko Haram sect. The governor, who spoke while addressing members of the state House of Assembly on the state of the nation, queried the rationale behind such celebration when Nigerians were living in fear of hired assassins and armed robbers. Amaechi observed that Abuja residents, who were supposed to be the chief hosts at the centenary celebration, were at various petrol stations struggling to buy fuel. He criticized the Federal Government for giving Nigerians a false impression about the country’s economy and added that the citizens could feel the tremor of Nigeria’s wobbling economy. Amaechi pointed out that Nigerians appeared to have lost the appetite to celebrate anything, even as he queried the legacy that would be left behind for the next generation.
In his words, Amaechi said: “What do our people feel and see when they get out of their houses in the morning? Sadly as leaders, we must admit the truth, which stares us in the face. It is the fact that our country is drifting perceptibly into a dangerous waterfall. Even in Abuja, most Nigerians who ordinarily would have been the chief celebrants (chief hosts) went about their daily chores while the others struggled at petrol stations trying to fill their tanks almost completely oblivious of the trappings of what should have been a grand announcement of our coming of age. Gradually but noticeably, Nigerians appear to have lost the appetite to celebrate anything. Embedded in our newfound affinity for low key celebration and an infinite state of sober reflection is the true state of the nation. Can we really celebrate when our children are beingslaughtered while at school? Can we really celebrate when our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters are being slaughtered like chickens? Can we really celebrate when our fellow citizens live in constant and growing fearof kidnappers, hired assassins and armed robbers? Can we really celebrate when those constitutionally empowered to protect us turn their fury on us? In these questions lies the state of the nation. Where is the country headed? Where will the country be in another 100 years? What legacy are we leaving behind for our children? Explaining that no economic revolution could be achieved on candle lights or power generating sets, Amaechi said the current economic system of the country was breeding inequality.”
These are no doubt “hard truths” staring this administration in the face which they ought to have put into consideration and soft-paddled in their somewhat elaborate celebration of Nigeria’s centenary. Also, Legal luminary, Professor Ben Nwabueze, who spoke at the public presentation of his autobiography in Lagos, said the centenary celebration being planned by the federal government was unnecessary as there was no dividend of amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914. In his words: “Those born after 1960 may not know much about colonial culture. Do you know what colonialism did to us in this country? I used my book to describe this in greater detail. We are still living in colonial mentality till today. What we are passing through today as a nation is what I can describe as conflict of culture. Colonial culture is trying to wipe out everything about traditional culture. We should be concerned about how to transform this country. We have 389 ethnic groups in Nigeria. How do we coalesce them equally? he asked. What is the significance of amalgamation to us? He challenged the citizenry to join the struggle to create a new Nigeria that is devoid of corruption, saying, “It is a struggle for all of us. Nobody from outside can help us.”
Like we said earlier, when the Federal Government mooted the idea of celebrating the centenary of the country, many people received the idea with skepticism. But President Goodluck Jonathan and members of his government forged ahead with plans for the event and, indeed, managed to pull it off last week. But everything about the said centenary celebration appeared as if even ‘nature’ was not comfortable with it. The main event, an international conference on “Human Security, Peace and Development: The Agenda for Africa in the 21st Century,” attracted no fewer than 28 heads of state and governments, including President Francois Hollande of France. But his arrival heralded the oddities that spiced the celebration of the January 1, 1914 amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates. All heads of state who were listed to give special addresses had spoken at the conference inside the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja, when the master of ceremony announced that it was the turn of Hollande to speak but he was on his way from France. He managed to arrive before the end of the conference to give his address.
As the conference was going on, three jet fighters belonging to the Nigerian Air Force repeatedly flew over the venue in echelon. This was a stunt meant to give military zest to the occasion, but it only left some onlookers with their hearts in their mouths. The jets flew dangerously close to one another at times, seeming to veer from their intended courses and almost ramming into one another. That was not all. Their attempt to create the Nigerian colours of green-white-green with tail smokes did not quite come off. Here, all three jets started well as they emitted what was presented as the Nigerian colours even though what could clearly be seen tailing the aircraft were lemon-white-lemonsmokes. But the jet in the middle soon ran out of smoke and the two at the flanks continued to billow out lemon smoke in a way that obviously got some people who were watching from the ground confused. There were people like us who felt the air show was unnecessary, given the fact that the services of the aircraft were more required in the North East at a period when there was a resurgence of Boko Haram activities. Cynics say there are not many serviceable jet fighters in the Nigerian arsenal, therefore, to divert three at a time terrorists appeared to be overrunning villages was a bad idea.
President Jonathan exploited the opportunity of the conference to articulate the country’s idea of ending terrorist activities on the African continent, especially the need for contiguous countries to work together; to see an attack on one as an attack on all and take action. President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia injected religion into the discussion on the war against terror. He told Muslim fundamentalists that they could not justify the killing of another with Islam. His forthrightness on the issue attracted a sustained standing ovation from the audience. The Deputy President of Kenya, William Ruto, was another speaker, with whom the audience fell in love. The articulate politician, who stood in for President Uhuru Kenyatta, came out ‘smoking’, accusing Western governments of trying to impose their will on African countries. Nigeria and Uganda are currently locked in battle with the West over the legislations againstsame-sex marriage by both countries. Ruto was of the view that the West must not be allowed to dictate to Africa what laws it can make for the wellbeing of its peoples. The ovation that followed was deafening. He spoke from his heart, having been a direct victim of imperialist biased policies against Africans. Ruto was the first serving government official to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague charged with orchestrating violence in the 2007 Kenyan presidential election. In its 11 years of existence, the court has only prosecuted Africans. Therefore, it does not take rocket science to figure out while most people in the hall, including Jonathan, empathised with him.
Then came the so-called grand finale of the year-long centenary celebration, which culminated in an award/dinner night in Abuja that was a grandiloquent celebration of mediocrity as far as we are concerned. Some months back, a Dutch journalist and writer, Femke Van Zeiji, who has done some works in West Africa and Nigeria had noted in a remarkable article that mediocrity was fast overtaking graft in Nigeria. A national tabloid culled the controversial article that was hailed by many readers, which we equally wrote a rejoinder on. The point here is that we do not have any other word to describe the whole Centenary narrative of a grand finale, other than a “cerebration of mediocrity”, as reiterated by public affairs writer, Martins Oloja. Like we said, we were expecting the Federal Government to have cancelled the said centenary celebration when news came in about the massacre of our poor students in the North-East. But since they forged ahead with the celebration, one would have expected some level of credibility, grandeur and excellence with the whole event.
As noted by Oloja, as Nigerians, we had expected to see in the centenary grand finale some historical documents and documentaries on Nigeria in the last 100 years. Was it material poverty or poverty of the mind and ideas that deprived the Centenary Committee from doing and publishing something grand, something historic and historical, and something remarkable about Nigeria for the young and old, local and foreign observers to see? What has been the highpoint of the year-long celebration? Is the award night the highpoint? Award dominated by all former Heads of State? What is the significance of the award to Chief Ernest Shonekan whose Interim National Concoction (Government) was declared illegal by a court? What is the worth of the award to the late General Sani Abacha when the Federal Government is still recovering some disputed loot in Swiss Banks from his family? Why were there so many obvious and avoidable omissions? Why was the entire civil service omitted from the list of nominees? Those who are familiar with the public service parlance know that “public service” is not a synonym for “civil service” in any material particular. Was the media adequately represented by the late Herbert Macauley, Ernest Sisei Ikoli and Babatunde Jose alone in the last 100 years in Nigeria?
Of all the Awards given to the past military Heads of State to mark the country’s centenary, none can be regarded as the most distasteful and a salt upon injury than the recognition and award given to the late Gen. Sani Abacha. We find it appalling and rather unfortunate that someone like the late Gen. Abacha, who shed the blood of pro-democracy Nigerians/activists, looted the Nigerian economy beyond recovery and did all manner of inconceivable evil and ant-democratic activities/policies just to remain in power ‘forever’, was recognized and given such an high-honour award by the Jonathan administration. What message is the Jonathan administration giving to Nigerians and the international community by including the late tyrant, Gen. Abacha, as among those to receive award in Nigeria’s centenary celebration? Why include such a corrupt military dictator among those to be awarded? It obviously shows that the President Jonathan administration is promoting corruption in Nigeria.
Perhaps, this gives credence and justifies the statement recently made by The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Waziri Tambuwal when he said the anti-corruption agencies read the body language of the president and prosecute cases selectively. Otherwise, cases like the $6.8Billion fuel subsidy probe result, the Security and Exchange Commission probe, the unaccounted/unremitted funds by the NNPC, the clandestine and shady oil bloc deals in the Petroleum Sector and the bullet-proof car purchase scandal and others should have been prosecuted by the executive arm of government with their agencies. It is really sad to note that in all of this, all that the present administration has been known to do is to set up committees to either probe or look into them, but at the end of the day, nothing concrete comes out of such exercises. In fact, all that the Presidency could respond to the statements made by the Speaker, through President Jonathan’s Special Adviser, Dr, Rueben Abati, was that “the Jonathan administration is not going to fight corruption on the basis of mere speculations.” In other words, what the present administration is telling Nigerians is that everything we have heard and observe about the fuel subsidy scam, the pension scam etc, are ‘mere speculations’ as far as this administration is concerned. Abati also said that “the Presidency will not condone any act of proven corruption”. We are then forced to ask, what happened to all the high profile corrupt cases where compelling evidences were provided, like the video and tape recorded proofs provided on the $620,000 bribery allegation against Hon. Farouk Lawal and Otedola? Has all that been swept under the carpet? God help us in this nation.
The truth is that, the award by the Jonathan administration to late Gen. Abacha is rather sad. Many of us will not live to see the next 100 years, hence marking Nigeria’s centenary event by giving such high-honour awards to some persons that have contributed to Nigeria’s present socio-economic and political predicament, is a miscarriage of leadership pioneering. To make matters worse and to explain the level of sanity exhibited by the said award, late Gen. Abacha was awarded under the category of: OUTSTANDING PROMOTERS OF UNITY, PATRIOTISM AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. During the time of Gen. Abacha in government, what level of Unity, Patriotism and National Development did he project and promote? Is this administration blind or oblivious of history? We still recall vividly when Abacha suddenly died on June 8th 1998, the whole nation erupted in jubilation as though Nigeria had won the FIFA World Cup. Abacha was set to remove his uniform and impose himself as president for life just before he died. He would have turned Nigeria into another Togo, Gabon and Syria, where sons inherited the presidency from their fathers. Nigerians would have lived under the servitude of the Abacha family till goodness knows when.
Under the said award category: “Outstanding Promoters of Unity, Patriotism and National Development”, all nine names except the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua, were retired military generals, all nine names were also former presidents or Heads of State except Lt. Gen. TY Danjuma. These were people who plotted coups against our democracy, committed war crimes during the civil war, promoted sectional domination, misruled Nigeria to destitution, institutionalized corruption and looted our economy. These were people who destroyed the basis of our national unity now being branded as “promoters” of patriotism and national development simply because they found themselves at the helm of the nation’s affairs. In fact, this list is the history written by counter-coupists of July 1966 who promoted pogroms in Northern Nigeria, committed genocides during the civil war and went on to seize the oil resources of the former Eastern Region and Niger Delta. They can afford to thump their chests and declare themselves ”patriots”, even though in their forty one years of misrule they sowed poverty, disease, destitution, corruption, violent crimes, religious conflicts and ethnic hatred. They left behind a nation that lacked basic things like power, refineries, good roads, functional hospitals, viable educational system and what have you.
No wonder the families of the late human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), distanced themselves from the list, saying it was Babangida; one of the “promoters of patriotism and national development” who exposed their patriarch to the dangers that led to his eventual demise. The Ransom-Kuti’s demanded an apology first for the killing of their grandmother, Mrs. Funmilayo by Obasanjo’s “Unknown soldiers” ordered by Danjuma to burn Fela’s “Kalakuta Republic”. Both Fela and mum made the 100 names, and so did Obasanjo and Danjuma. What an irony! Professor Wole Soyinka is not a stranger to rejection of awards from the Nigerian governing establishment. He has done so twice in the past. But this time, he considered being lumped into the same list with the late General Sani Abacha as a “national insult” he was not willing to partake of. He calls Abacha a “murderer and thief of no redeeming quality”.
In a rage, two of Abacha’s children went on the social media and hurled insults back at Soyinka, and mounted a spirited defense of their father. While Sadiq Abacha told Soyinka that his days as the pioneer Chairman of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) was not exactly spotless as it witnessed the “misuse” of funds, Gumsu said she was withdrawing her respect for the Nobel Laureate. Sadiq and his sister coming in stout defense of their demised father is understandable. What else should they do? It was for their sake that Abacha stashed away those billions. Ironically, as they badmouthed Soyinka, the United States government announced it was confiscating yet another $458 million Abacha loot. A US Justice Department source, who disclosed that the funds were stashed in bank accounts in Britain, France and (New Jersey), described Abacha as “one of the most notorious kleptocrats in memory, who embezzled billions from the Nigerian people while millions lived in poverty”. That is the kind of person the Jonathan administration considers fit to be given such a high-honour award on Nigeria 100 years of existing as a nation. The said award to Abacha shows that the Federal Government of Nigeria has lost focus and direction. If President Jonathan claims he is a worshiper of God yet gave such an award to Abacha, it shows that he is either pretending or something is seriously wrong somewhere.
Even though President Jonathan had offered reasons for honouring the recipients who happened to include all past Nigerian leaders for their contributions, particularly to the preservation of the nation’s unity, the fact is that the inclusion of Abacha looked particularly preposterous. It would be hard to think that given the widespread misgivings about Abacha, he could have been left out of the honours. The funny thing about all of this is that the Abacha family is insulated from the shame of their father’s place in Nigeria’s history because General Abacha is unfortunately still regarded as a hero in many parts of Arewa North. In fact, even some southerners sometimes remember some of the good things the dictator did while alive. Though he hanged Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, the people of erstwhile backwater areas like Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Gombe and Zamfara States are still grateful to the man for giving them their own states to enable them develop their homelands with federal allocation. Abacha is also remembered for creating the six geopolitical zones, which are now seen as potentially more viable federating units than the 36-state structure. Abacha aficionados point to the exploits of the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) which, even though it was used to enrich northern technocrats and unfairly site a large proportion of its projects in the North under General Muhammadu Buhari, its Executive Chairman, remains much talked about almost twenty years after.
Whether some of these Abacha gestures were by design or default, like we stated earlier, the fact remains that when he suddenly died on June 8th 1998, the whole nation erupted in jubilation as though Nigeria had won the FIFA World Cup. And the reason for such jubilation over the death of another is based on the fact that Nigerians were “set free” and relieved off the dictating clutches of the late tyrant.
To be honest, we think it was a good idea to mark one hundred years of Nigeria’s experience as a country. But we do not think it was a great idea naming those 100 “outstanding Nigerians”, since the country is not yet outstanding except, in most cases, for the negative reasons. Why would such a list have a place for Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, whose preaching promoted hatred between Muslims and Christians in the North, while keeping away Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the proven most above-board public officer who ever occupied the Vice Presidency as well the greatest promoter of transition to the current democracy we are practicing today between 1996 and 1998? And how many are more outstanding in Nigeria’s history than Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, ex-Biafra leader and the only non-president of Nigeria to be given a national burial by the Nigerian army?
We had expected the Centenary Celebration Secretariat to have commissioned some experts, historians, political scientists and others to document for us some newsworthy stories often ignored, or never explored in the last 100 years. What is more, why was Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike ignored among historians and pioneers when he was the one who reportedly formed the Historical Society of Nigeria in 1955? Professor Dike was the first Nigerian Principal of the University College of Ibadan. He was the pioneer Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan. He was said to have established the National Archives in 1952 and served as its first Departmental Head as Director. The Society had a colloquium on the Centenary in Abuja. Why didn’t the Centenary Committee commission the Society to do a grand documentation of Nigeria at 100? Even when the Rivers State organized its own Centenary tagged Port Harcourt @ 100 in November, 2013, there was a grand ceremony and it was properly documented in a grander style in a book edited by famous scholars, Professor E.J Alagoa & Judy Nwanodi. The book is entitled, Port Harcourt at 100: Past, Present and Future. Foreword to the book is written by no less a person than a famous History scholar, Patrick Dele Cole, PhD. It is a world-class scholarly document. Why didn’t the presidency borrow a leaf from this worthy effort?
Lest we forget, how could they have honoured Niger Deltans without remembering the significance of Adaka Boro and Ken Saro Wiwa? In this connection, why would the Committee recommend an honour to Gen. Sani Abacha without remembering Henry Townsend and Samuel Ajayi Crowther? What really happened to the simple cognitive power of recall at the Committee? Who else was more pioneering than pioneers such as role models that shaped history before 1914? Even if Townsend who set up the first newspaper in Nigeria in 1859 and Crowther, an Anglican priest who translated the English Bible into Yoruba were irrelevant to the centenary points at issue, what about the pioneer civil servants within the 1914-2014 construct? Why was there no proper civil servant honoured? Why was the name generally associated with the civil service from the Western region, Chief Simeon Adebo omitted? Civil service literature has been constant with the review of journals and books on the evolution of the Nigerianization of the service. And Phillipson-Adebo Commission of 1953 was a testimony that even a serving permanent secretary, Dr Tunji Olaopa cited to justify claims that Simeon Adebo should have been honoured in this context. Olaopa’s article on the centenary of the civil service was published in this newspaper before the grand finale, yet no one read it to correct some anomalies! Curiously, the civil service was not represented in any groups. If there had been research works for the centenary, there would have been discovery of the lacuna that will haunt the organisers for life. They recognized only public servants, no civil servant was honoured. What a rush! Again, why were the armed forces not recognized as the most potent instrument of the Unity that we are celebrating? Is it not a fact that Abuja, the centre of unity was conceived by a military junta, built by a military junta, consolidated and legalized by a military regime? Why didn’t the Committee recognize the gallantry of the armed forces in Nigeria since 1914?
We recall that there have not been many quotable quotes in recent years in Nigeria but no one could have forgotten the often quoted one by General Muhammadu Buhari:
“This generation of Nigerians and indeed future generations have no other country than Nigeria. We shall remain here and salvage it together.”
We wonder why no speaker or MC during the said award/dinner night recalled this General’s word on marble when the point at issue at the award night was Nigeria’s Unity. But how could they, when everyone now seems to be pitching tents in various political party camps in preparation for 2015. They would rather not give credit to anyone who is not in the camp of the ruling government. Whatever the case may be, our political leaders should remember that what they do in the past and present will judge how their future will be and what they will be remembered for.
