In a village in Northwest France a great building began to shape up in A.D 1144. Spirited leadership set the tone. With that as catalyst, enthusiasm for the project soon spread country-wide as voluntary workers streamed to site and plunged themselves into work. Together, as one huge team, the people constructed one of the world’s leading works of architectural marvel, the very beautiful and magnificent cathedral at Chartres. Visionary and exemplary leadership dreamt that up and the people were immersed in duty.
But then, havoc struck the Chartres project fifty years later. Fire simply ran it down! But because the people were not wanting in visionary and exemplary leadership and because they saw this project as theirs, having been heartily involved in its construction, it was no problem getting them back to rebuild their well-cherished structure from scratch. Today, “tourists throng to marvel at what was splendidly fashioned to the glory of God”, a writer once wrote.
You wish that is representative of the Nigeria story! Many countries have replicated the Chartres story in governance. The Asian Tigers are a case in point. Because leaders indeed rose up in those places the people, the citizenry, did not only identify with exemplary leadership, key in into different national goals and projects, obey each signpost on the national development path but brought towering patriotism with it. The answer: Results, startling results! There is no other way to signposting national success. Nigeria has all it takes to go the way of startling results. But not with bad leaders like Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubarkar in the saddle, men who are anything but visionary and exemplary!
People-minded, spirited and exemplary leadership is what we need. Without that no project can command absorbing engagement or involvement by the people and truly give enthralling result; how much more a project to govern society, and that a country like Nigeria; and by Atiku Abubarkar of all persons! Atiku’s pedigree or immediate past that is already common knowledge is nothing but nauseating:
Obasanjo and Atiku ruined the most prosperous years of our nationhood. They knew NOTHING about governance but MUCH about misgovernance. They squandered what a man like Obafemi Awolowo would have used to put Nigeria ahead of the Asian tigers and Brazil. But after eight years Atiku, his boss and their myrmidons may now be ten times richer than the governors of Brazil and the Asian tigers. It is only in Nigeria men fly in the wings of governance, with our commonwealth, into the clan of the Carlos Slims, Bill Gates and Warren Buffetts. Unlike the great stories that replicate in Asia, what the pair of Obasanjo and Atiku left behind is one totally devious vision called Vision 202020. That is what they left behind.
But that was not until they caused myriad disasters: They occassioned untold deaths by gross impoverishment of the people even though an appropriate portion of what was our common treasury between 1999 and 2007 was enough for the Awos to feed West Africa. They caused untold deaths by air, water and roads due to poor state of our transport system, a sector that would have been a continental marvel if Awo was to use another fitting portion of our treasury those eight years to handle it. They caused countless deaths because of a comatose health sector, a sector that ought by now to be receiving heads of states from other climes as patients if Awo had what these two people had.
They maimed many from the womb, killed our children and their mothers for very poor health facilities even when God gave to Nigeria at that point in time what could prevent all that. They caused deaths here and there. Leaders my foot!
Nor bi only that O! They made illiterates of our children through very poor educational standard despite the fact that what came their way those eight years could make West Africa come here for serious and qualitative education. Street boys, area boys; urchins, imps; street beggars, prostitutes; militants, kidnappers; armed robbers, assassins; graduate ‘okada’ riders and what have you multiplied under Obasanjo and Atiku: When God provided us with resources that could help us formulate and execute informed policies that could transform and make those class of people live meaningful, rewarding and enviable lives.
Meanwhile, this number two citizen was shuttling abroad at will for vacation, holidaying in hotels and or personal mansions all over there and sightseeing tourist centres of marvel put there by leaders (like Atiku; well, he says he is a leader) when he and Obasanjo had what they could use to bring world leaders here for that very purpose. Rather, they created slums, environmental disasters everywhere especially in the Niger Delta, the region making the money making men to plunge themselves into politics today, making them want to be in government, remain in government or return to government; and shamelessly saying they will make good things happen. Shame!
You can go on and on talking about the incomparable rubbish that was government under the regime that Atiku starred as number two. Truly, the havoc the duo of Obasanjo and Atiku orchestrated those eight years will be our pain for a very, very long time to come. It is pain posterity will share, and which they would’ve wished they never inherited. O how posterity will feel when they know that their forebears (Obasanjo and Atiku that is) could have ushered them into a nation great and sweet with the resources God gave them. Sadly, our leaders do not think posterity, and they do not think God! Think these, and governance takes a different shape for the good of mankind!
If Nigeria must become a country of marvel – like the countries our leaders go to get medication for pimples and toothaches, send their children to school, send our monies to in drove – then it does not need failures like Atiku Abubarkar. Atiku speaks of ‘experience’ as he dares shamelessly to aspire to the presidency and the Ciromas are also daring shamelessly to railroad him (Atiku) at us again. We have just enumerated some of Atiku’s experience above. It is experience in inexperience, failure and gross failure. But he wants to dissociate himself from Obasanjo now. Haba! He suddenly does not know what joint ticket means again. He now would want us to see only one side of the coin.
Was Atiku not desperate to stay on with OBJ to ruin Nigeria? Did he ever think of resigning? Did he ever resign? Did he not continue to draw entitlements for ruining us? Where was integrity? Where was patriotism? Will Awolowo do that? Or, does Atiku think we don’t have viable history we still remember? Even when OBJ MADE THINGS HARD for him at the tail end of their treacherous and duplicitous outing and so ordinarily made it easy for him to go he held to his seat, no, his salary plus.
When did Atiku actually rise, not in questionable earnest, against Obasanjo. No time. When he did it was very selfishly: It was when OBJ selfish ‘vision’ of third term collided with Atiku’s ‘vision’ to run for the presidency. At that point did Atiku rise against OBJ because of me? Was it because of the talakawas? Was it because of Nigeria’s industries and businesses that he and OBJ ran aground with a mind now to bring them back on stream? Was it for labour? Did Atiku go to war against OBJ because of uninterrupted power supply or because of our health sector which couldn’t even take care of Atiku’s minor leg ache? Why did Atiku go to war? Was it not for him to become President with James Onanefe Ibori as vice president? That failed. How lucky Nigerians must be!
Having failed there, he whistled up some of his pawns in the PDP including the Ben Obis and shuttled to Action Congress (as it then was). From there he threw tirades upon tirades at Obasanjo and PDP. At this point if everyone were to be Atiku PDP would not have
ONE SINGLE VOTE. That was how bad, ugly and terrible PDP was going by Atiku’s own scoreboard. And then he suddenly felt he cannot realise his uninformed desperate aspiration in the AC. And he whistled up the Obis again and shuttled back to the PDP even without any reform in this party that he has told us of. While you were waiting for Atiku to tell you that his presence alone at PDP (which granted him waivers anyway) has automatically transformed the party and that all Nigerians now have reason to vote for the ‘greatest party in the world’, he spoke dangerously; real dangerously. Under him and Obasanjo any presidential aspirant that insinuated treason would have been behind bars almost immediately only coming out to answer some questions intermittently. Atiku did more than insinuating. He prepared minds!
He is still a free man today. This is because governance has up itself a bit from the shame of those eight years when he and Obasanjo rudely and cruelly stamped themselves on us. But it must be said again and again that this desperation of Atiku is not for our good.
Good does not convey itself the way Atiku does. When the desperation started with Obasanjo not many were alarmed. Some of us were, and wrote. But when it continued building, many got the real point. Today, it has reached a crescendo. And almost every Nigerian have now all agreed that Atiku has completed one chain of desperation too foolish and silly. We do hope the military will never buy in into his rubbish. We do hope that our democracy will not be scuttled again by the likes of Atikus, as IBB his present bosom friend did years back. Not that I believe in M.K.O Abiola anyway.
Why this desperation! It is all about further impoverishing us and sending us to the economy we knew in 1914 (year of amalgamation), having, with Obasanjo, sent us to 1956 (the year self-governance commenced in Western and Eastern regions). Atiku has NOTHING TO OFFER BUT SORROW, TEARS AND BLOOD. That was what we got from 1999-2007. He has not asked for forgiveness yet. He has not promised NEVER TO TAKE US THROUGH THAT PATH AGAIN. He is promising that in the future he will build castles in the air without telling us the actual or real castles he pulled down and shattered to pieces behind. He is promising El Dorado tomorrow without mentioning the nightmares he gave us yesterday. Atiku is talking of building a Nigeria of your dream without a word about the Nigeria we saw with our naked eyes but bulldozed by his joint ticket with Obasanjo. A commentator once observed and wondered that Atiku has never spoken about fighting corruption if he becomes president. Food for thought!
Even when Atiku was drawing monthly from our common treasury as Vice President and getting all the respect and honour that go with that office, he never raised a finger in support of Nuhu Ribadu’s effort then at salvaging something at the least. He was not known to be enthralled with Ribadu’s good effort. Ibori wasn’t too. And that Ribadu had to face the battle of his life is already common knowledge. It is gladdening that he survived it all. Ribadu stands in contradistinction to Atiku.
Now, therefore, as the screening committee of the PDP presidential candidates meet to do their work in matter of days and as the delegates of that party converge to elect their candidate for 2011 two or so days after that it is expected that reason and wisdom must not be wanting on their part, otherwise PDP cannot withstand the bandwagon effect: failure of other candidates of the party at lower levels, the decampments, sundering apart of its structures and membership and a dwindling to insignificance in our polity. Take that as a hint of great price!
We really want to see an electoral combat between Ribadu of Action Congress of Nigeria and Jonathan of People’s Democratic Party. We see the vision to fix Nigeria in Ribadu. We see the sincerity to fix Nigeria in Jonathan. Atiku has neither. Atiku lacks the informed drive of Ribadu just as he is bereft of the purposefulness of Jonathan. We really have not discovered any glowing leadership attribute in Atiku. Rather, we see a very questionable integrity; we see profligacy, intolerance, dangerous desperation, military postures and blithering comments, divide and rule and sectional, nay, cliquish consensus candidacy, and the list runs ad infinitum. A stream of negatives!
The resounding or resonating thing in the country today is: Enough of gross misrule! All believe that Atiku belong with Obasanjo. They are inseparable ridiculous Siamese twins in political Nigeria. Together, they made worst things happen. And a vote for Atiku is a vote for Obasanjo and approval of the wasted eight most prosperous years of our national life. No! We are now looking for men with hearts and know-how to engage in a salvaging work for the benefit of the living and posterity. Not that Jonathan or Ribadu come close to Awolowo, but they are the best among all that have stepped forward so far. Atiku is distantly in the rear of them all.
