This article is not meant to hold brief or
a rejoinder for Prof Wole Soyinka – I am most confident he, and others, can do
this for himself more effectively than me; rather it is to seek to protect
Nigerians from the insult and onslaught of the spectre of brazen and barefaced
arrogance, insensitivity and deception that our society is having to contend
with on a daily basis.
When I first read Sadiq Abacha’s response,
or rather, reaction to what he perceived as an insult from the esteemed
Professor Wole Soyinka’s comment about his (Sadiq’s) father, the late General
Sani Abacha, my first reaction is to say “How dare you? Who are you to write
against WS?” But on second thoughts and
a few mulling, I had to admit that Sadiq wrote very well, even if the content
bordered on the ludicrous and the typically arrogant. And of course, I do not
believe that just because Wole Soyinka is a revered and world-renowned master
of letters, no ordinary person should stand up to him. No! Why not? Wole
Soyinka is a mortal like Sadiq, and he has no monopoly of wisdom, intelligence
or letters. But like a friend said to me, it is better and more civilised he
wrote than sending hired killers and kidnappers against his protagonist.
But our country is a society where nobody
speaks or accepts the Truth; least of all those who have benefited from the corrupt
and illegal system. It is a society where corruption, depravity, greed,
self-centredness and deceitful acts and actions by anybody in power are
celebrated by the very people suffering under the yoke of mismanagement of
resources and abuse of power.
Most of our rulers (and the followers),
probably due to some warped and debased genetic aberration do not seem to have
any sense, understanding and appreciation of the difference between Right and
Wrong; between Good and Evil.
Such people cannot have a conscience. And
this is why, even excusing filial loyalty, Sadiq Abacha cannot see, understand
and admit that his father, Sani Abacha, is generally, not only within the
shores of Nigeria, but also internationally, considered the most despicable and
corrupt despot in Nigeria’s history.
But in a way, don’t blame Sadiq too much,
or at all. First, he sees others of his
father’s malevolent ilk and company, however less notorious in atrocity and
depravity, walking and swaggering on the streets of the nation with unconcealed
arrogance, looted wealth and lack of remorse, being worshiped by the same
people they have wrought havoc of poverty and underdevelopment on, and whose
counsel on national issues are still being sought by those who still hold them,
albeit dubiously, in high esteem; the
system being rotten and lacking in morals and integrity. His words reflect the
insensitivity of this breed of people.
Secondly, I don’t expect him to denounce
his father who assembled treasures and probably, limitless wealth for him and
his siblings, that is why I appreciate and deign to him, “filial
loyalty”. The side of your father you see at home is usually totally
different from the side others see from outside, so goes the saying. You can
pardon the young man, after all, if he doesn’t defend his own father, who will?
But he could at least have kept quiet. And if he sees any slander in what is
being said about his father, then he could go to court and sue for defamation
of character. Unfortunately, by his letter, he has inadvertently, and with a delusion
of grandeur, awoken very bitter memories and hatred in the minds of many of his
countrymen and women, especially those who suffered or lost greatly under his
despotic father.
The sad truth is that Sani Abacha, Sadiq’s
dad was not just a heartless dictator; he was also notoriously known to be a
thief all over the world. Whereas the Jonathan government seem to ache from
regressive forgetfulness, Nigerians and indeed the entire world still remember Abacha’s
reign of terror, slaughter, treasury looting, political intolerance, suppression
of free press, and vicious elimination of opposition figures.
On the issue of Professor Wole Soyinka
criticising every government, somebody, a friend actually, came up and asked me
why, if Wole Soyinka know so much that he can criticise every time, why didn’t
the eminent Nobel Laureate contest to be the President, or at least any other
political office. I shook my head. Look
at world history, and in particular previous detestable communist countries and
despotic rulers; how many government critics have ever been subsequently either
elected or appointed into positions in government? If that has happened, how
many of such sincere critics get out of government with their integrity intact?
Does it mean that when you criticise a government, you want to take over from
them and correct the wrongs? No, Sir. You criticise because you want governments
and people to change, and not because you want to taste or be in power. And those you criticise will seldom let you
come near power anyway, even if you try it democratically. What happened to that
most famous of Nigerian government critic, Gani Fawehinmi’s National Conscience
Party? Did Nigerians even vote for him or members of his party? In the
presidential election of that year, 2003, the NCP candidate, Gani Fawehinmi,
came a very distant fifth, polling 161,333 votes or 0.41% of the popular vote.
Sometimes it’s not really the fault of the
people siding with evil; it’s more the fault of the people who choose to celebrate
it and the society that chooses to keep mute about it. Governor Amaechi of
Rivers State once said that until the people started stoning them (the
governors and other rulers, himself included), they will not stop stealing. Stealing in this context, in my own view, doesn’t
mean robbery or pilfering in the true sense of the word, it entails every
aspect of corruption, mismanagement, ineffectiveness, and bad governance. That
Sadiq Abacha is talking back or writing back in support of his father’s award
isn’t much his ignorance, but the foolishness and bad sense of timing and judgement
on the part of the government bestowing the award on his father; and who despite the gloom that permeates our
country over the mass murder of our children in Yobe; the unremitting killings in the states of
Adamawa and Borno; the massive scandals of missing billions and so on, still
deemed it fit to enact a show of shame and heedlessness in the name of the
Centenary celebrations. If this
government had not chosen to insult our feelings to ‘honour’ the late tyrant,
there would have been no need for any of these letters, or has anyone of us
heard of any Sadiq Abacha’s or any Abacha’s voice in recent years? Sometimes I wonder if Nigeria will ever see a
good day again; if we will ever live in good times again, where and when truth
and decency will prevail over evil and the debauchery we see every day and
openly.
I have been engaged on Facebook and other
social media with some of my countrymen and women who were praising the
president for suspending the governor of CBN. It was appalling to have the
exchange because it shows how much our society has become one that choose to
embrace all sorts of evil over good. Ours has become a society where corruption
is celebrated heroically and the real heroism is side-lined. This is a depraved
society where thieves come home to a rousing welcome, instead of being shamed
and chased out of town; a society where thieves donate millions in tithes to
the church and the pastor and the congregation look away from his transgression
but look up to the thief for favours and advice.
So this is what one can expect from
children of today’s corrupt public officers, civil servant and others who I
label as “Owners of Nigeria”. I remember
watching footage of Abacha’s wife’s interview in the media proclaiming her deceased
husband’s innocence. She’s a beneficiary
of the nation’s looted wealth. So now we know what to expect of the children
and/or relatives of our other rulers, military or civilian, and others of the
late great Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s “VIP – Vagabonds In Power” classification in
future i.e. to defend their father’s record in much the same way.
It is no wonder then that the children and
family of our rulers over the decades, whose sole assertion to fame (or rather,
notoriety) is that of expert and
adept treasury looting, election
rigging, coup d’états, genocide,
mismanagement, ineptness and bad
governance, can now and often come out and insult our collective intelligence
on a daily basis. But, you see; it is not fully their fault, it is partly our
fault.
Our greedy, selfish, conscienceless and
corrupt rulers know it, and they know we know it and you know they know it too.
Let the Truth be said always.
