Ever since I
became conscious of my existence as a citizen of Nigeria, I have always wished
that Nigeria should be revitalized in all aspects so that it would be a country
that would put grin on our faces. But so many unpleasant events idealized by
our leaders and promoted by sycophants make me to wonder if our leaders want us
to be patriots or traitors to Nigeria.
A patriot is a
person who vigorously supports their Country and is prepared to defend it
against enemies or detractors. It is also a person who loves, supports and
defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.
A traitor is a
person who betrays a friend, principle or county. It is also a person who
commits treason by betraying his or her country.
Patriotism is
devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.
A true leader is
supposed to be a patriot by defending his country against internal and external
enemies or detractors such as corruption, but when a leader promotes
corruption, he betrays his country and therefore becomes a traitor because
corruption is an enemy to democracy and development and leaders are supposed to
fight against it not to promote it.
Why are
Americans more patriotic to America than Nigerians are to Nigeria? A friend of
mine once told me in Makurdi, Benue State that America gained her independence on
July 4, 1776 while Nigeria gained her independence on October 1, 1960 so there
is no need for any comparison. But I told him that a balanced comparison can be
made on equal levels or stages of development in America’s past in relation to
Nigeria’s recent past or present state of affairs.
Thomas Jefferson
was the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was a
patriotic leader who contributed to making America a great nation today.
Jefferson’s
political philosophy was one of the pillars to America’s greatness. While he
affirmed “the best government to be that which governs least”, he was equally
convinced that “the welfare of the whole is the proper purpose of the state”. In
his book: American Education: A
historical perspective. Gutek Gerald, an American writer says that
Jefferson encouraged the need to use federal powers to advance the national
interest for the common good.
George
Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin were
among those who stood firm against corruption and encouraged Americans to be
patriots and not traitor through good leadership.
In Nigeria, the
case has always been different right from inception of Nigeria till date. Most
Nigerian leaders who should be patriotic have become traitors.
To mention a
few, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) (Retd), late General Sani Abacha,
General Olusegun Obansanjo (Retd) and Goodluck Jonathan are among those who
have taught us to be traitors by the corruption they committed with impunity.
There is no
government or leader that is not naturally corrupt, but when a leader
institutionalizes corruption, he becomes a traitor because he does little or
nothing to fight against this enemy called “corruption”.
Under Babangida
administration which began on August 27, 1985 after Buhari’s military regime
was deposed in a peaceful military coup; foreign debt rose to $30.2 billion
according to The News of 7 June 1999,
Vol.12, No. 22 P. 16. The News says
that it was this time also that Nigeria witnessed an unprecedented level of
capital flight, divestment of foreign investment from key industrial sectors,
low capacity utilization, outright closure of industrial concerns and unemployment.
The News also noted that he was alleged
to have “siphoned the $12 billion Gulf war windfall. These are a few among his
many corrupt acts.
Ernest Shonekan
was handed over power as the interim Head of State by Babangida after he
annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was to usher MKO Abiola
as civilian president. Shonekan was handed over power in August 1993. In
November 1993, Gen. Sani Abacha forced Shonekan out of office and formed his
own provisional ruling council.
During his
administration, Abacha was noted to have diverted funds meant for financing
certain projects into his account. Most prominent of these projects was the
sprawling Ajaokuta Multi-billion dollar steel project. The late dictator simply
arranged to buy back the $2.5 billion debt of the steel company. The News notes that pinching the
whopping sum from the treasury; Abacha clearly diverted it to his account
without effecting any debt buy back. From the large sum, he gave $5 million to
Alhaji Bashri Dalharta, his power and steel minister, who described it as a
“gift” for his role in facilitation the deal. Also known to have benefited from
the scam was Chief Anthong Ani, the despot’s finance minister, The News says. These are a few among his
many corrupt acts.
In his greedy
nature, Abacha had planned to change to civilian rule, after which he met his death
on June 8, 1998. Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar immediately took over the mantle of
leadership in the same month. Gen. Abubakar was also not free from corruption.
But unlike his military counterpart, Abubakar actually worked for the return to
civilian rule that finally ushered in Olusegun Obasanjo as a civilian president
elected on the 29 May 1999 in the third republic.
Although
Obasanjo established Independent Corrupt practices and Related Offences
Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), his
government was one of the worst in terms of corruption.
In 1999, the
World Bank compiled a list of Nigerian funds by depositors in four Western countries
and gave the list to President Obasanjo. But he ignored the list. The 2003
election which ushered in the second tenure of Obasanjo and some PDP governors
was another peak of corruption. It was characterized by cheating, hijacking of
ballot boxes, buying and selling of votes, rigging of results and so on.
The third term
agenda of Obasanjo started shortly three months after he had assumed office for
the second tenure in May, 2003. On August 23, 2003, The Sunday Sun published a cover story with the title: “Mandela
warns Obasanjo- Don’t Try Third Term”. The paper disclosed that Mandela had a
hint that Obasanjo was plotting for a third term after May 2007. On September
15, 2003, Insider weekly Magazine
came out with a cover title: “Third Term Presidency: Nigerians says no To
Obasanjo”. In the main story, which was captioned 2007: Obasanjo’s Secret Game, the Magazine stated: “It started as a
strong rumour. But assumed a life of its own when venerable Nelson Mandela (of
blessed memory), former President of South Africa sent a warning to his
friends, President Olusegun Obasanjo not to tread the path of infamy by
attempting to run for a third term in office . . . .” According to Insider Weekly of September 15, 2003, P.
18, source who spoke to the Magazine said, “it was the game plan of Obasanjo to
attempt an amendment of the constitution that would enable him seek a third
term in office”. He wants to be life President, if possible.
Titus Terver
Mamadu writes in his book titled: “Corruption
in the Leadership Structure of Nigerian Polity” that for the third term
plot to be effective, Obasanjo needed the endorsement of the National Assembly
and two thirds of the state assemblies. This was because the section 135(2) of
the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes it clear and definite
that subject to the provision in this section, “the President shall vacate his
office at the expiration of a period of
four years . . .” However, the corrupt mind-set Obasanjo who claimed to be
fighting corruption pumped Senators and members of House of Representatives
Billions of Naira so as to make his way through and effect the amendment of the
1999 constitution to favour his third term agenda.
The News of December 5, 2005, P. 33
reports that the Movement for the Defense of Democracy (MDD) reported on
November 23, 2005 that in pursuit of the third term ambition, Obasanjo budgeted
more than N90 billion to entice lawmakers to facilitate the third term agenda.
They gave the following details of the amount of money involved in the alleged
bribe: Each member of the 360 Representatives was offered N70 million (a total
of N25.2billion). Each of the 109 Senators was offered N140Million (a total of N15.2billion).
Every member of each state House of Assembly in the 36 states was offered
N50million.
In a survey of
the bribe, Thisday of May 5, 2006
reports that “pro-third term Senators and House of Representatives members in
the defunct joint committee of the National Assembly on 1999 constitution
review were alleged to have received $37,000 each to encourage them recommend a
review of the tenure clause in the Constitution from two to three terms of four
years each for the President. Vanguard
of April 14, 2006, P.1 also reports a similar story.
In view of the
huge amount used on bribe of Senators and members of House of Representatives,
one can see that Obasanjo was a traitor and not a patriot. These are just a few
of his many corrupt acts.
When
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (who became President in 2007) died on 5 may 2010
and Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan was sworn in on 6 May 2010 as the 14th
Head of State of Nigeria, he cited anti-corruption, power and electoral reforms
as focuses of his administration. But his administration has rather promoted
corruption than curbed it. The basic problem Jonathan has is corruption which
has neutralized his achievements and made most Nigerians to see his
Transformation Agenda as a big failure.
The
Malabu Oil deal corruption is one of the issues that has questioned Jonathan’s
anti-corruption competency. According to The
Economist of 15 June 2013, In 2011 Goodluck Jonathan’s government
facilitated the transfer of payment of $1.1Billion to a fake company set up by
a controversial former Petroleum Minister under Sani Abasha’s corrupt regime,
Dan Etete. The fake company, Malabu Oil and Gas was set up in 1998 by Etete
using a false identity so as to award himself a lucrative Oil block, OPL245,
for which he paid only $2million of the $20million legally required by the
State. At the time of Jonathan’s government helping to facilitate the transfer
of payment from shell and Eni to the fake company, Etete was already a
convicted felon of money laundering in France. The Economist further says that only $800million out of the
$1.1billon meant for Malabu Oil and Gas was even remitted by the Nigerian
government.
The
Nigerian Attorney General, Mohammed Bello Adoke, who signed the documents
involved in facilitating the payments, denied the rest was shared by public
officials.
The
transfer to convicted Felon, Etete, only came to public light when a Russian
lawyer that claimed to have helped Malabu negotiate a deal with the Jonathan’s
government sued in New York for a $66Million unpaid commission. Both Shell and
Eni as of September 2014 were under investigation for corruption by the UK and
Italian authorities for the incidence.
The
way which Jonathan handled the corruption act of the erstwhile Minister of
Aviation Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah who bought 2 BMW bullet proof cars at the
rate of N255miillion upset many Nigerians.
According
to Punch, February 27, 2013, Mr.
Abdulrasheed Maina was accused of spending up to N1billion to carry out
biometric verification for retirees, both in Nigeria and abroad. On the whole,
Maina allegedly misappropriated about N195billion, according to the Senate
Pension Probe Committee headed by Aloysius Etuk and Kabiru Gaya. This resulted
in extreme difficulties in getting money to pay thousands of pensioners their
due.
Lamido
sanusi was suspended by Jonathan and later replaced as the Central Bank
Governor for leaking information that about $20billion of petrodollars were
missing from the coffers of Nigeria. And
this act made most Nigerians to lost faith in Jonathan’s government in
effectively fighting corruption.
Premium Times
of March 24, 2014 reports that the Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke
was accused by Federal lawmakers of squandering N10billion to charter and
maintain private jet for her personal use. She was accused of spending about
N130Million Naira monthly to maintain the aircraft, solely for her personal
needs and those of her immediate family.
Samuel
Adejare, the lawmaker who raised the matter made it explicitly clear that there
was irrefutable evidence showing that the financing for the Challenger 850
aircraft was drawn from government funds.
According
to Mr. Adejare, the estimated N10billion would be “a tip of the iceberg” as
further investigation would show the minister spent far higher.
As
a result of many cases of high level of corruption in the Jonathan government,
the United States Government in 2013 indicted the President Goodluck Jonathan
led Federal Government of massive and widespread corruption.
According
to the United States Department of State, government officials and agencies
frequently engage in corrupt practices with impunity.
The
former United States’ Secretary of State, Mrs. Hillary Clinton in a public
interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, lambasted Nigerian government saying: “They
have squandered their oil wealth, they have allowed corruption to fester and
now they are losing control of parts of their territory because they wouldn’t
make hard choices”. According to her, President Goodluck Jonathan led
government is indirectly aiding corruption to worsen the nation’s many
problems.
From all the
corrupt acts of these leaders, have they taught us to be patriots or traitors?
They have taught us that corruption is right and we should not see anything
wrong with it.
How can we be
patriots when most of our leaders don’t care about us? How can we sacrifice for
Nigeria when most of our leaders are killing it? Patriotism is motivated by
good governance. It is reciprocal. And for Nigerians to be patriotic to
Nigeria, the leaders must first lead the way through exemplary leadership.
If Nigerian
leaders continue to be traitors through bad leadership, there is no way we can
be patriots. Until a patriotic leader takes over the affairs of Nigeria and lead
by example through good leadership, Nigerians will never be patriotic to
Nigeria.
The pendulum of
support that swung against Jonathan and PDP in the 2015 general elections was
projected out of patriotic spirits of Nigerians. Most Nigerians voted against
Jonathan and PDP because of the high level of corruption and negligence of the
masses.
We expect the
President-elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd) to motivate us to be
patriotic to Nigeria through good leadership once he is sworn in on May 29,
2015. If he will be a patriot, we will also become patriots. But if he will be
a traitor, we will also follow suit.
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