By Erasmus Ikhide
 Published
December 9th, 2008
The reoccurrence of maiming, killing and roasting of
hapless Nigerians by the belligerents PDP and the extremely
untamed religious fanatics on the Jos Plateau, the capital
City of the state at a time the cyber space is done
ignominiously with a new United Nations’ UN, reports that
the Nigerian state would crumble and rolls back on the pages
of time by 2025 is far from consolatory. To wait for the
crumbling of a contraption and the non-existent nationhood
by 2015 or 2025 when there is a necessary 2011 elections
year as the ultimate determinant that will make or break the
nation is the postponement of evil of days. PDP
characteristically has vowed – ask Mr. Vincent Ogbulafor,
PDP national Chairman – to dip the nation in Imo River in
his village suburb if PDP losses any elections between now
and 60 years to come! And what happen if they loss elections
in 2011?
Karl Maier, former Africa correspondent to the Independent
had said it all in his book published in 2000 on Nigerian
nation, entitled: ‘‘This House Has Fallen’’. He averred in
the book that ‘‘the only long-term solution in Nigeria to
the crises that arise in a multi-ethnic state is for the
various parties, however many they may be, to sit down and
negotiate how they want to govern themselves and how they
want to share their resources, and to decide whether they
want to ultimately live together. Until they begin that
process of internal reconciliation, at best Nigeria will
lurch from crisis to crisis. At worst it will fall apart.’’
All the factors that induced the writing of Maier’s book –
Nigeria Civil War inclusive –are still there and have not
change to warrant profound optimisms of a re-branding an
ailing nation that has done its citizenry less proud of its
fumbling existence. The Jos carnage is the bases on which we
have to ex-ray how fairly or unfairly we have distended the
most commonly agreed fundamental principles of communal
living and democratic ethos on which modern societies are
founded.
The wanton destruction of cars, houses, palaces of worship
and the madding murdering of God’s own image and likeness is
not merely evil, but the mindlessness of a nation that is on
the wobbling clutches whose definite crash is imminent. Over
the past century, ethnocentrism, political brigandage and
rivalries and their dare consequences have been more
significant causes of the multiple wars, collapse of
empires, and rise of new powers. These were well enunciated
in the UN reports that suggested that Nigeria will be a fail
state by 2025, since all the factious indicators have
pointedly complicated and undermined whatever little
advancement we have made, if any, over the years.
Nigeria is a classical example of a nation envisioned in a
hazy and inclement circumstance and nurtured in
hopelessness. It lacks foundation and the entire substrata
would not stand the test of time, except a wholesale surgery
of the misdiagnosed system through dialog in the interests
of democracy and national rebirth are set out for its
redemption. Because rulers are hoisted and foisted on the
people, with their blood as soothe balm for their petite
cult and blood-tasting group, even a democracy, makes the
misadventure of democratic Nigeria a pipe dream.
You can’t have democracy with individual ownership of
political parties as is the case with Nigeria who dictates
the rules of the game outside the peoples’ will on how they
wanted to be governed. To me, this is not the moment to do
grief counseling with the victims of Jos carnage; the state
and the nation for the umpteenth time have been tinted
darkly with the pervasive air of tragedy that invested the
political space as a result of several mayhem and the
perpetuators are never brought to book. While the horrified
images of crisis and dead splashed across the television –
both local and international – screen lasted, Jos Jonah Jang
kept disputing the numbers of the about 500 victims who have
lost their lives; roaring shot-on-sight order on the other
hand to the army chief as if he is too daft to know that the
trouble in the state was that the peoples’ votes didn’t
count. And while the hot air of bloodletting was still
hanging heavily all over the place the breadth of reprobate
laid in his voice as reels out the shot-on-sight order.
You kept wondering time and again what the Nigerian dream
has been each time the orgy of violence are unleashed on the
poverty ridden people by the ruling class who also engage
their services to carry out the slaying of fellow citizens
for pittances. You kept wondering what the future holds for
this nation and its people over which over blood has
constantly been spilled for retention of ephemeral power by
the hegemonic felons who have vowed to see the emancipation
of Nigeria and Nigerians over their dead body?
The chief of these felons is Sam Egwu, the former governor
of the sleepy Ebonyi State who got nominated for federal
ministerial slot for his low performance index as governor
and PDP rigger-in-chief by the more discredited Mr. Yar’Adua
presidency. Egwu had had to confess to the Senate screening
him for appointment when probing questions were asked about
his uncanny quest to eliminate Anyim Pius Anyim the former
occupier of the Senate Presidency chair he bowed to be
cleared for the plumb job. He told the ‘distinguished’
Senators – three of whom are from Ebonyi State with wangled
mandate – that there was what they called the Ebonyi formula
which ensured that they won all the seats in Ebonyi State
for the PDP, a scheme he laid claim to its existence.
He told the Senators that he personally took charge of the
delivering of electoral materials in all the elections that
had been conducted so far since 1999! If Prof. Maurice Iwu’s
(In) dependent National Electoral Commission, INEC could
willfully abdicate, albeit collaboratively, its
constitutional responsibility entrenched in (sec 153 and the
Third Schedule) and gave Sam Egwu an obscene privilege to
subvert the peoples’ will could get away with it without
getting honoured with permanent residency in the maximum
prison is enough reason why Nigeria may never be healed of
her self-inflicted woes.
Sam Egwu is yet to sufficiently wriggle himself out of
allegation of financial improprieties, use of proxies to
milk the state through dubious contracts, diversion of local
government funds, foreign trips by members of his family at
the state’s expense and whimsical approval of remunerations
to himself. He is yet to distance himself from allegation of
conversion of government vehicles to personal use, payments
for un-rendered services, inflation of contract sums,
spurious bank loans and administrative recklessness. These
are the stuff with which rogue rulers are made in Nigeria
and Africa .
That cannot be said of the former Republican Illinois
Governor, George Ryan, United States, who is currently
serving out a 6-year prison sentence after being convicted
on racketeering and fraud charges; as was revealled by a
decade-long investigation which began with the sale of
driver’s licences for bribes and led to the conviction of
dozens of people who worked for Ryan when he was secretary
of state and governor.
It is save to say, at least, from the Jos genocide and many
others that our militicians in democratic garbs deliberately
erect social barriers on the parts of the youths of this
nation in order to secure for themselves an army of Cano
folders for use as thugs and fraudsters when their chances
of power retention is in strait contention. Until this
criminality is engaged frontally and punishable measures are
taken against the perpetuators, Nigeria will almost always
enmeshed itself in deeper messes that it may never be able
to emerge from in one piece.
Erasmus Ikhide is the Director of Research
and Communications, Constitutionalism
and African Democratization, CAAD.
africandemocratization@yahoo.com
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