THE WAY OUT: A CLARION CALL FOR COALITION FOR NIGERIA MOVEMENT
Special Press Statement
By
President Olusegun Obasanjo
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Since
we are still in the month of January, it is appropriate to wish all
Nigerians Happy 2018. I am constrained to issue this special statement
at this time considering the situation of the country. Some of you may
be asking, “What has brought about this special occasion of Obasanjo
issuing a Special Statement?” You will be right to ask such a question.
But there is a Yoruba saying that ‘when lice abound in your clothes,
your fingernails will never be dried of blood’. When I was in the
village, to make sure that lice die, you put them between two
fingernails and press hard to ensure they die and they always leave
blood stains on the fingernails. To ensure you do not have blood on
your fingernails, you have to ensure that lice are not harboured
anywhere within your vicinity.
The lice of
poor performance in government - poverty, insecurity, poor economic
management, nepotism, gross dereliction of duty, condonation of misdeed -
if not outright encouragement of it, lack of progress and hope for the
future, lack of national cohesion and poor management of internal
political dynamics and widening inequality - are very much with us
today. With such lice of general and specific poor performance and
crying poverty with us, our fingers will not be dry of ‘blood’.
Four
years ago when my PDP card was torn, I made it abundantly clear that I
quit partisan politics for aye but my concern and interest in Nigeria,
Africa and indeed in humanity would not wane. Ever since, I have
adhered strictly to that position. Since that time, I have devoted
quality time to the issue of zero hunger as contained in Goal No. 2 of
the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. We have set the target
that Nigeria with the participating States in the Zero Hunger Forum
should reach Zero Hunger goal by 2025 - five years earlier than the UN
target date. I am involved in the issue of education in some States and
generally in the issue of youth empowerment and employment. I am
involved in all these domestically and altruistically to give hope and
future to the seemingly hopeless and those in despair. I believe
strongly that God has endowed Nigeria so adequately that no Nigerian
should be either in want or in despair.
I
believe in team work and collaborative efforts. At the international
level, we have worked with other world leaders to domicile the apparatus
for monitoring and encouraging socio-economic progress in Africa in our
Presidential Library. The purpose of Africa Progress Group, which is
the new name assumed by Africa Progress Panel (APP), is to point out
where, when and what works need to be done for the progress of Africa
separately and collectively by African leaders and their development
partners. I have also gladly accepted the invitation of the UN
Secretary-General to be a member of his eighteen-member High-Level Board
of Advisers on Mediation. There are other assignments I take up in
other fora for Africa and for the international community. For Africa
to move forward, Nigeria must be one of the anchor countries, if not the
leading anchor country. It means that Nigeria must be good at home to
be good outside. No doubt, our situation in the last decade or so had
shown that we are not good enough at home; hence we are invariably
absent at the table that we should be abroad.
All
these led me to take the unusual step of going against my own political
Party, PDP, in the last general election to support the opposite side.
I saw that action as the best option for Nigeria. As it has been
revealed in the last three years or so, that decision and the subsequent
collective decision of Nigerians to vote for a change was the right
decision for the nation. For me, there was nothing personal, it was all
in the best interest of Nigeria and, indeed, in the best interest of
Africa and humanity at large. Even the horse rider then, with whom I
maintain very cordial, happy and social relationship today has come to
realise his mistakes and regretted it publicly and I admire his courage
and forthrightness in this regard. He has a role to play on the side
line for the good of Nigeria, Africa and humanity and I will see him as a
partner in playing such a role nationally and internationally, but not
as a horse rider in Nigeria again.
The
situation that made Nigerians to vote massively to get my brother
Jonathan off the horse is playing itself out again. First, I thought I
knew the point where President Buhari is weak and I spoke and wrote
about it even before Nigerians voted for him and I also did vote for him
because at that time it was a matter of “any option but Jonathan”
(aobj). But my letter to President Jonathan titled: “Before It Is Too
Late” was meant for him to act before it was too late. He ignored it
and it was too late for him and those who goaded him into ignoring the
voice of caution. I know that praise-singers and hired attackers may be
raised up against me for verbal or even physical attack but if I can
withstand undeserved imprisonment and was ready to shed my blood by
standing for Nigeria, I will consider no sacrifice too great to make for
the good of Nigeria at any time. No human leader is expected to be
personally strong or self-sufficient in all aspects of governance.
I
knew President Buhari before he became President and said that he is
weak in the knowledge and understanding of the economy but I thought
that he could make use of good Nigerians in that area that could help.
Although, I know that you cannot give what you don’t have and that
economy does not obey military order. You have to give it what it takes
in the short-, medium- and long-term. Then, it would move. I know his
weakness in understanding and playing in the foreign affairs sector and
again, there are many Nigerians that could be used in that area as well.
They have knowledge and experience that could be deployed for the good
of Nigeria. There were serious allegations of round-tripping against
some inner caucus of the Presidency which would seem to have been
condoned. I wonder if such actions do not amount to corruption and
financial crime, then what is it? Culture of condonation and turning
blind eye will cover up rather than clean up. And going to justice must
be with clean hands.
I thought President
Buhari would fight corruption and insurgency and he must be given some
credit for his achievement so far in these two areas although it is not
yet uhuru!
The herdsmen/crop farmers issue is
being wittingly or unwittingly allowed to turn sour and messy. It is no
credit to the Federal Government that the herdsmen rampage continues
with careless abandon and without finding an effective solution to it.
And it is a sad symptom of insensitivity and callousness that some
Governors, a day after 73 victims were being buried in a mass grave in
Benue State without condolence, were jubilantly endorsing President
Buhari for a second term! The timing was most unfortunate. The issue
of herdsmen/crop farmers dichotomy should not be left on the political
platform of blame game; the Federal Government must take the lead in
bringing about solution that protects life and properties of herdsmen
and crop farmers alike and for them to live amicably in the same
community.
But there are three other areas
where President Buhari has come out more glaringly than most of us
thought we knew about him. One is nepotic deployment bordering on
clannishness and inability to bring discipline to bear on errant members
of his nepotic court. This has grave consequences on performance of
his government to the detriment of the nation. It would appear that
national interest was being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic
interest. What does one make of a case like that of Maina: collusion,
condonation, ineptitude, incompetence, dereliction of responsibility or
kinship and friendship on the part of those who should have taken
visible and deterrent disciplinary action? How many similar cases are
buried, ignored or covered up and not yet in the glare of the media and
the public? The second is his poor understanding of the dynamics of
internal politics. This has led to wittingly or unwittingly making the
nation more divided and inequality has widened and become more
pronounced. It also has effect on general national security. The third
is passing the buck. For instance, blaming the Governor of the Central
Bank for devaluation of the naira by 70% or so and blaming past
governments for it, is to say the least, not accepting one’s own
responsibility. Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds on politics and
because our politics is depressing, our economy is even more depressing
today. If things were good, President Buhari would not need to come
in. He was voted to fix things that were bad and not engage in the
blame game. Our Constitution is very clear, one of the cardinal
responsibilities of the President is the management of the economy of
which the value of the naira forms an integral part. Kinship and
friendship that place responsibility for governance in the hands of the
unelected can only be deleterious to good government and to the nation.
President
Buhari’s illness called for the sympathy, understanding, prayer and
patience from every sane Nigerian. It is part of our culture. Most
Nigerians prayed for him while he was away sick in London for over
hundred days and he gave his Deputy sufficient leeway to carry on in his
absence. We all thanked God for President Buhari for coming back
reasonably hale and hearty and progressing well in his recovery. But
whatever may be the state of President Buhari’s health today, he should
neither over-push his luck nor over-tax the patience and tolerance of
Nigerians for him, no matter what his self-serving, so-called advisers,
who would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that
without him, there would be no Nigeria say. President Buhari needs a
dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time
to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest,
once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience,
influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the side line for the
good of the country. His place in history is already assured. Without
impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a
25/7 affair, not 24/7.
I only appeal to
brother Buhari to consider a deserved rest at this point in time and at
this age. I continue to wish him robust health to enjoy his retirement
from active public service. President Buhari does not necessarily need
to heed my advice. But whether or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to
move on and move forward.
I have had occasion
in the past to say that the two main political parties – APC and PDP –
were wobbling. I must reiterate that nothing has happened to convince
me otherwise. If anything, I am reinforced in my conviction. The
recent show of PDP must give grave and great concern to lovers of
Nigeria. To claim, as has been credited to the chief kingmaker of PDP,
that for procuring the Supreme Court judgement for his faction of the
Party, he must dictate the tune all the way and this is indeed fraught
with danger. If neither APC nor PDP is a worthy horse to ride to lead
Nigeria at this crucial and critical time, what then do we do? Remember
Farooq Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the Kennesaw State
University, Georgia, United States, calls it “a cruel Hobson’s choice;
it’s like a choice between six and half a dozen, between evil and evil.
Any selection or deflection would be a distinction without a
difference.” We cannot just sit down lamenting and wringing our hands
desperately and hopelessly.
I believe the
situation we are in today is akin to what and where we were in at the
beginning of this democratic dispensation in 1999. The nation was
tottering. People became hopeless and saw no bright future in the
horizon. It was all a dark cloud politically, economically and
socially. The price of oil at that time was nine dollars per barrel and
we had a debt overhang of about $35 billion. Most people were confused
with lack of direction in the country. One of the factors that saved
the situation was a near government of national unity that was put in
place to navigate us through the dark cloud. We had almost all hands on
deck. We used people at home and from the diaspora and we navigated
through the dark cloud of those days. At that time, most people were
hopelessly groping in the dark. They saw no choice, neither in the left
nor in the right, and yet we were not bereft of people at home and from
the diaspora that could come together to make Nigeria truly a land
flowing with milk and honey. Where we are is a matter of choice but we
can choose differently to make a necessary and desirable change, once
again.
Wherever I go, I hear Nigerians
complaining, murmuring in anguish and anger. But our anger should not
be like the anger of the cripple. We can collectively save ourselves
from the position we find ourselves. It will not come through
self-pity, fruitless complaint or protest but through constructive and
positive engagement and collective action for the good of our nation and
ourselves and our children and their children. We need moral
re-armament and engaging togetherness of people of like-mind and
goodwill to come solidly together to lift Nigeria up. This is no time
for trading blames or embarking on futile argument and neither should we
accept untenable excuses for non-performance. Let us accept that the
present administration has done what it can do to the limit of its
ability, aptitude and understanding. Let the administration and its
political party platform agree with the rest of us that what they have
done and what they are capable of doing is not good enough for us. They
have given as best as they have and as best as they can give. Nigeria
deserves and urgently needs better than what they have given or what we
know they are capable of giving. To ask them to give more will be
unrealistic and will only sentence Nigeria to a prison term of four
years if not destroy it beyond the possibility of an early recovery and
substantial growth. Einstein made it clear to us that doing the same
thing and expecting a different result is the height of folly. Already,
Nigerians are committing suicide for the unbearable socio-economic
situation they find themselves in. And yet Nigerians love life. We
must not continue to reinforce failure and hope that all will be well.
It is self-deceit and self-defeat and another aspect of folly.
What
has emerged from the opposition has shown no better promise from their
antecedents. As the leader of that Party for eight years as President
of Nigeria, I can categorically say there is nothing to write home about
in their new team. We have only one choice left to take us out of
Egypt to the promised land. And that is the coalition of the concerned
and the willing - ready for positive and drastic change, progress and
involvement. Change that will give hope and future to all our youth and
dignity and full participation to all our women. Our youth should be
empowered to deploy their ability to learn, innovate and work
energetically at ideas and concepts in which they can make their own
original inputs. Youth must be part of the action today and not
relegated to leadership of tomorrow
which may never come. Change that will mean enhancement of living
standard and progress for all. A situation where the elected will
accountably govern and every Nigerian will have equal opportunity not
based on kinship and friendship but based on free citizenship.
Democracy
is sustained and measured not by leaders doing extra-ordinary things,
(invariably, leaders fail to do ordinary things very well), but by
citizens rising up to do ordinary things extra-ordinarily well. Our
democracy, development and progress at this juncture require ordinary
citizens of Nigeria to do the extra-ordinary things of changing the
course and direction of our lackluster performance and development. If
leadership fails, citizens must not fail and there lies the beauty and
importance of democracy. We are challenged by the current situation; we
must neither adopt spirit of cowardice nor timidity let alone impotence
but must be sustained by courage, determination and commitment to say
and do and to persist until we achieve upliftment for Nigeria. Nothing
ventured, nothing gained and we believe that our venturing will not be
in vain. God of Nigeria has endowed this country adequately and our
non-performance cannot be blamed on God but on leadership. God, who has
given us what we need and which is potentially there, will give us
leadership enablement to actualize our potentiality.
The
development and modernization of our country and society must be
anchored and sustained on dynamic Nigerian culture, enduring values and
an enchanting Nigerian dream. We must have abiding faith in our country
and its role and place within the comity of nations. Today, Nigeria
needs all hands on deck. All hands of men and women of goodwill must be
on deck. We need all hands to move our country forward.
We
need a Coalition for Nigeria, CN. Such a Movement at this juncture
needs not be a political party but one to which all well-meaning
Nigerians can belong. That Movement must be a coalition for democracy,
good governance, social and economic well-being and progress. Coalition
to salvage and redeem our country. You can count me with such a
Movement. Last time, we asked, prayed and worked for change and God
granted our request. This time, we must ask, pray and work for change
with unity, security and progress. And God will again grant us. Of
course, nothing should stop such a Movement from satisfying conditions
for fielding candidates for elections. But if at any stage the Movement
wishes to metamorphose into candidate-sponsoring Movement for
elections, I will bow out of the Movement because I will continue to
maintain my non-partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria must have its
headquarters in Abuja.
This Coalition for
Nigeria will be a Movement that will drive Nigeria up and forward. It
must have a pride of place for all Nigerians, particularly for our youth
and our women. It is a coalition of hope for all Nigerians for speedy,
quality and equal development, security, unity, prosperity and
progress. It is a coalition to banish poverty, insecurity and despair.
Our country must not be oblivious to concomitant danger around, outside
and ahead. Coalition for Nigeria must be a Movement to break new
ground in building a united country, a socially-cohesive and moderately
prosperous society with equity, equality of opportunity, justice and a
dynamic and progressive economy that is self-reliant and takes active
part in global division of labour and international decision-making.
The
Movement must work out the path of development and the trajectory of
development in speed, quality and equality in the short- medium- and
long-term for Nigeria on the basis of sustainability, stability,
predictability, credibility, security, cooperation and prosperity with
diminishing inequality. What is called for is love, commitment and
interest in our country, not in self, friends and kinship alone but
particularly love, compassion and interest in the poor, underprivileged
and downtrodden. It is our human duty and responsibility so to do.
Failure to do this will amount to a sin against God and a crime against
humanity.
Some may ask, what does Obasanjo want
again? Obasanjo has wanted nothing other than the best for Nigeria and
Nigerians and he will continue to want nothing less. And if we have
the best, we will be contented whether where we live is described as
palaces or huts by others and we will always give thanks to God.
I,
therefore, will gladly join such a Movement when one is established as
Coalition for Nigeria, CN, taking Nigeria to the height God has created
it to be. From now on, the Nigeria eagle must continue to soar and fly
high. CN, as a Movement, will be new, green, transparent and must
remain clean and always active, selflessly so. Members must be ready to
make sacrifice for the nation and pay the price of being pioneers and
good Nigerians for our country to play the God-assigned role for itself,
for its neighbours, for its sub-region of West Africa, for its
continent and for humanity in general. For me, the strength and
sustainable success of CN will derive largely from the strong commitment
of a population that is constantly mobilized to the rallying platform
of the fact that going forward together is our best option for building a
nation that will occupy its deserved place in the global community.
May God continue to lead, guide and protect us. Amen.
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