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Iyiola Omisore, deputy governor of Osun State of Nigeria, was
quoted in an interview with Tempo magazine shortly after Nigeria's
Attorney General, Bola Ige, was attacked by irate mob in Ile-Ife that
the assault on Ige was "a slap on the wrist for a grave offence."
This statement was made approximately two weeks before intruders
ended Ige's life with a single bullet to the chest during another
attack on December 23 inside his bedroom in Ibadan.
The controversial deputy governor reportedly further said:
"Bola Ige is a traitor in Afenifere. He has abused and embarrassed
leaders of Afenifere, so, it is nemesis that is catching up with him.
He is the 'Akintola' of our time. What Akintola did to Awolowo is
what Bola Ige is doing to Adesanya and the Yoruba people."
If accurate, these aggressive statements leave little doubt that Ige was not in the good books of many of his fellow Yoruba leaders, especially within Afenifere. Of particular note is the indication that many in leadership in his AD Party felt betrayed by his center-stage role in the PDP government of General Obasanjo. Of late, Obasanjo is believed to be using Ige for his questionable, self-perpetuation maneuvers among the Omo Yoruba similar to how he has been using the likes of the Abuja-based Igbos like the Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, Transport Minister Ojo Maduekwe, businessman Emeka Offor and some others in Ala-Igbo.
The difference is that the Yoruba are not forgiving when they feel betrayed by one of theirs. That is how people like the popular former Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande, became sidelined for fraternizing with and serving as a Minister in the late military dictator Sani Abacha's government. I do believe that if Ala-Igbo imposed prohibitive sanctions on some notorious and treacherous Igbo leaders for their various acts of betrayal, ranging from open sell-out during the 1999 Presidential elections to becoming agents of Obasanjo's pathological and oppressive anti-Igbo hang-over, most things would have been different.
The real concern for Nigerians in the wake of the criminal murder of Attorney-General Ige should be whether this might be deja vu for the Yoruba southwest and for all of Nigeria. Historically, most of Nigeria's national crises have started internally among the Yoruba. While not the only group with internal political squabbles, the Yoruba have a way of spreading their internal discord to inflame the rest of the Nigeria.
Besides, much as the Yoruba claim and gullible others tend to believe, that they are more advanced and sophisticated politically than Nigeria's other ethnic nationalities, characteristically they lack the discipline and temperament necessary to manage political differences.
In his book, The Nigerian Revolution and the Biafran War, General Alexander Madiebo, Commander of the Biafran Army (1967-1970), describes in some detail a phase that started with the 1959 national elections. In what he characterizes as "political struggle and the consequent drifting apart of the various peoples of Nigeria" the General writes of sporadic physical violence erupting from time to time between the various peoples of Nigeria which climaxed in a political rift between Sardauna of Sokoto and Chief Awolowo and threatened the very existence of the nation. He reports that in 1962 Premier Chief Akintola of the Western Region was expelled from the Action Group for alleged anti-party activities beneficial to Sardauna's Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), and Chief Adegbenro was put in his place. When the new House of Assembly met to begin business on May 29, 1962, members of the new opposition Nigerian National Democratic Party (NNDP) rose to "a weird dance on the floor of the House", seized and broke the Mace on a missed aim at the Speaker, Prince Adedoyin. The Region was embroiled in the mayhem. A State of emergency was imposed and Federal Health Minister, Dr. Majekodunmi appointed Sole Administrator under guard of the 3rd Battalion.
Election confusion and crisis in the West during 1965 also provided impetus to the Five Majors who struck in Nigeria's first military coup d'etat on January 15, 1966 and, thereby altered the course of Nigeria's history.
Before that, the 1964 national elections were also seriously troubled as a result of allegations of fraud and manipulation. The ceremonial President (at the time), Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, refused to acknowledged the claims of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa's Northern People's Congress (NPC) to a majority in the parliament. The crisis dragged for several days and the future of the nation hung in the balance. That was until Zik compromised and invited Sir Abubakar to form a government. The Action Group remained vehemently opposed to Zik's compromise and rejected all overtures for alliance with the NPC or participate in a national government of all the parties. The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), for its part, took the bait and joined Abubakar's government while the Action Group remained in opposition in the federal House.
On the heels of that crisis, the 1965 bloody Western Regional elections were contested between the United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA), an alliance of the Zik-led NCNC and Alhaji Adegbenro-led AG (Awo was still in prison for treason), on the one hand, and the Nigeria National Alliance (NNA) of the Sardauna-led NPC and the Akintola-led NNDP. The resulting crisis led to riots and numerous killings that destabilized the entire country.
Thus and invariably, the West has been the sparking point for Nigeria's political crises, including the situation that was the immediate cause of the first military Coup d'etat. The question that should be on every Nigerian mind is: Are we headed back to square one?
The danger of this happening is very real. Beyond everything else, the inaction of President Obasanjo in the face of various ethnic and religious strife, which challenge the constitution and threaten corporate existence of Nigeria is a major reason for concern. Recently, Obasanjo was quoted as characterizing some of these conflicts in the Middle Belt area as people expressing themselves.
In times like these a country needs a leader that is properly rooted in principled direction and personal discipline. However, one cannot help but wonder about the type of leader that looks at a crisis that is costing hundreds of the lives of his citizens and destroying property as mere expression! A president, who, because of his failure in discharging his duties, allowed Sharia to become the nemesis it has become for Nigeria! A President who has turned a deaf ear and blind eye to the only outlet from Nigeria's quagmire, a national dialogue! A President who seems either unaware or indifferent to the duties and responsibilities of his office and only wakes up at the instance any Igbo speaks out against margnalization or his usurpation of legislative powers to doctor passed legislation and add provisions that were not discussed.
Indications are that Obasanjo has mobilized troops to Ibadan in the wake of the Bola Ige tragedy. If true, this is perhaps the singular responsible action this writer can attribute to this President. Yet there can be no denying that an insecure situation where the No. 1 Chief law enforcement of Nigeria can be plucked out in this manner underscores the truth already known to many Nigerians and their admirers, that General Obasanjo is a serious failure even in this, his second tour at the helm of Nigeria's affairs.
Besides being a national tragedy and unnecessary waste of human
life, the killing of Nigeria's Number One law enforcement officer
does portend worse days ahead. That is if history is any indicator in
a country that is already on the brink.
Okorie, an
attorney, is a member of the editorial board of USAfrica The
Newspaper.
Murder
of Nigeria's
Attorney-General Bola Ige is another
danger signal
for its nascent
democracy.
By Chido Nwangwu
'We've
killed
Uncle
Bola.'
By Jonathan Elendu
RELIGION
Africa,
the message of
Christmas
and beyond. By Charles
Achodo, in South Africa
Last Christmas, we were
counting our money; this
Christmas
we are counting our
blessings.
By Rev. Fyne Nsofor
Christmas
and the Scrooge. By Chika Unigwe
Luring Muslims
into wanton violence and wars in the name of
Jihad
is against Islam.
By Ahmad T. Momoh
Problems with Ahmad Momoh's loose use of the
concept
of Jihad. By 'Osunna Kanu Okoro
HERITAGE
'Kwanzaa's relevance to be
measured in daily efforts of people of African
descent.'
Are
we Igbos
or "Ibos"?
TRANSITION
Senegal's Leopold Sedar Senghor,
dead at 95
USAfrica
VIEWPOINT
September
11 terror and
the ghost of things to come.... By Chido Nwangwu
AFRICAN LEADERS CONDEMN ATTACKS ON WTC TOWERS, PENTAGON BY
TERRORISTS.
In the aftermath of the terror hits which took
down World Trade Center in New York, destroyed parts of the
Pentagon in Washington DC., and left thousands decimated and
charred, African leaders have been expressing their
condemnation of the attacks. Among them, Kenya's President
Daniel arap Moi condemned it as "this heinous and evil
apparently co-ordinated act of terrorism." In 1998, the
bombing of the U.S embassy in his country's capital,
Nairobi, left more than 200 dead. On his part, Tanzania
Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete said "we feel and understand
what the Americans must be experiencing."
Islamic
Youth Organization in Zamfara in northern Nigeria has a
different view as their leader told BBC's Ibrahim Dosara the
attacks offer U.S some payback for its actions in the Middle
East.
The
World Igbo Congress (WIC), based in the U.S., has informed
USAfricaonline.com that the it considers the attacks on the
U.S. as "sadistic and devious." Its newly-elected chairman,
Dr. Kalu Kalu Diogu, said during the USAfricaonline.com
exclusive interview, "there is no justification for such
wanton decimation of innocent lives. It is simply wrong and
unacceptable."
USAfricaonline.com
and NigeriaCentral.com
can also confirm that a
handful of Nigerians and Africans do business and work at
the World Trade Center. But no deaths and major injuries
involving any continental African have been announced. Send
such information to newsroom@USAfricaonline.com
U.S. UNDER
ALERT AS NATION BEGINS TO MOURN, BUSH SAYS COUNTRY IS
UNSHAKEN.
President
Bush says America remains unshaken by what he called
"acts of war." Pentagon which lost hundreds of its members
and the certain death of the passengers in the hijacked
plane has also announced that military jets will fly the
skies over New York and Washington for the next several
days.
LITERATURE
As Chinua
Achebe
turned 70, the world's
intellectuals, leaders pay tribute to the master
story-teller and lucid essayist.
MUSIC
The sultry and smoking voice of Nigerian-born
international singer Sade Adu, simply known as Sade,
is already rocking the world, again, with her latest album
DEMOCRACY'S
WARRIOR
Out of
Africa.
…The
cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but
his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua
Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on
his crusade against public corruption and press
censorship
in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By
John Suval.
Will
Arinze be the
FIRST
BLACK AFRICAN POPE?
INSIGHT
Slavery
report in modern Africa more complicated than the
media tells. By Jonathan Elendu
Church bombed in Sudan:
How 3 American missionaries miraculously escaped
death.
USAfricaonline.com Special and Exclusive report by Elise
Glading
Biafra@USAfricaonline.com
Calling
ex-Biafran
soldiers
traitors is
nonsensical, as it is inflammatory and unpatriotic. By Dr.
Chuba Okadigbo
Obasanjo obsession with
Biafra
versus facts of
history.
By Prof. Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe
in Dakar, Senegal.
Odumegwu Emeka
OJUKWU:
"It was simply a choice between Biafra and
enslavement."
Biafra-Nigeria war
and history to get fresh, critical look from a
survivor
'Biafra:
History Without Mercy' - a preliminary note
Biafra: From Boys to Men.
By Dr. M.O. Ene
Send
your views (no attachments) on the history and contemporary
debates about Biafra to Biafra@USAfricaonline.com
Why Bush should focus on dangers facing Nigeria's return to
democracy and Obasanjo's
slippery slide
AFRICA
AND THE U.S. ELECTIONS
Beyond U.S.
electoral shenanigans, rewards and dynamics of a democratic
republic hold
lessons
for
African politics.
STEALS AND
DEALS: How
Marc Rich made billions from Nigeria's
Oil.
Through an
elaborate network of carrots and sticks and a willing army
of Nigeria's soldiers and some civilians, controversial
global dealer and billionaire Marc Rich, literally and
practically, made deals and steals; yes, laughed his way to
the banks from crude oil contracts, unpaid millions in oil
royalties and false declarations of quantities of crude
lifted and exported from Nigeria for almost 25 years. Worse,
he lifted Nigeria's oil and shipped same to then embargoed
apartheid regime in South Africa. Our Special News
Investigation report by Chido Nwangwu examines the
Marc
Rich shenanigans in Nigeria
and beyond.
DIPLOMACY
and ECONOMICS
Bush-Kabila-Powell meeting in Washington D.C.
offer Congo
good signal for renewing U.S-Africa
relations. Democratic Republic of
Congo's leader Joseph Kabila, a shy 31-year-old soldier,
became one of the very first world leaders to meet with U.S.
president George W. Bush, and Secretary of State Colin
Powell, on Thursday January 31, 2001. In this
USAfricaonline.com special report, we offer insight on the
issues in the Congo, its implications for the United States,
the Bush international relations team and Mandela's
challenge for all to work on a structure of peace to
stabilize
the region.
The Congo
too valuable for Bush, U.S. to ignore. By Chido Nwangwu
(published in the Houston Chronicle, January 31,
2001).
Black
History Giants and Quotes:
"Our struggle
is a struggle of the African people. It is a struggle for
the right to live.
I
have dedicated my life to this struggle. I have fought
against white domination and I have fought against black
domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and
free society in which all persons live together in harmony
and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I
hope to live and to see realised. But, my lord if it needs
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die"Nelson
Mandela making his last moving speech in court before he was
sentenced by the racist apartheid regime in South Africa to
life imprisonment in 1964. He later became president in May
1994.
INSIGHT
Africa's
Looming Tragedy:
an appeal for preventive action in
Nigeria
Is Obasanjo
ordained
by God to rule
Nigeria?
Prof. Sola Adeyeye raises the issue and
provides some thought-provoking answers.
Commission should
ask Obasanjo, Danjuma some questions,
too. By Ambrose
Ehirim
Abacha's
henchman
al-Mustapha
sings briefly about
"Abubakar-Diya Coup" plot, the killing of Abiola, NADECO and
other issues
Major al-Mustapha's Bombshell: M.K.O Abiola was murdered
by "powers
that
be"
HUMAN
RIGHTS
Why South Africa's Basson
is known as 'Dr.
Death'
Nigeria's police,
soldiers
vandalize Okigwe town
in futile search for MASSOB leader
Okigwe killings: A possible prelude to a
pogrom?
By Dr. M. O. Ene