They are
military generals who among them put up a cumulative 20 years ruling the
country with one of them returning as civilian president. They are bound by
groveling
military ethos of esprit de corps, united by an unswerving spirit of
Nigerianism.
They are
Generals Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo, OBJ, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, IBB and
Abdulsalami Abubakar. Together they have worked in silicon as guardian angels,
elemental greats and bowling giants in the leadership path of the nation. As
red hot cookies, they have slithered up to the levers, and once coiled around
it have been stretching and twirling around it, in excess of two decades on
end. They take the form of the “the thing around your neck,” the epic work of
Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, which defines a condition where
characters are often unable to
articulate and overcome their burdens and the ‘thing’ around their neck(s). They are the powers
behind the thrones, the musketeers in Alexander Dumas’ Les Trois Mousquetaires,
the cricket in the crevice, and the greenery in the lush garden. Last Tuesday,
they found yet another clear opportunity to come round in the far reaches of
the top hill mansion of one of them to deliberate on the health challenges of
President Muhammadu Buhari. And the seeming
yawning leadership vacuum it is breeding. Separated by layers of years in
active service and the cobwebs of seniority, they have taken refuge in reticent
senior citizenship, moulding bricks of relative statesmanship. Out of their
warts and waxed indecencies, their interventions at critical junctures of the
national enterprise have saved much, watered seeming unity and broken the
crusts and cleavages that have held the fragile hinges of Nigeria. At the Tuesday meeting, they were said to
have explored all constitutional options available to the country in the face
of the inability of President Buhari “to effectively function as President.”
President Buhari has been unable in the last few weeks to work optimally owing
to an apparent deterioration in his state of health. It was learnt that the trio agreed to
‘continue to closely watch the situation’ and ‘will speak out’ at the
appropriate time.
In time and
space, supermen abound to steer the course of their nation’s history. In 1998,
when the ship of the Nigerian state rocked in turmoil following the June 12,
1993 inconclusive presidential elections
attenuated by a most devious dictatorship by the late Gen Sani
Abacha, everything came to a head as the presumed winner of the election, Chief MKO Abiola and Abacha were dramatically
taken out. Details and circumstances of
this epic are yet to be fully unfolded. Abubakar, who inherited their
unceremonious sudden exit and returned the country to participatory democracy,
has kept a sealed lip. He hurriedly
brought out Obasanjo from prison where he was quarantined by the late Abacha
and was immediately primed to take over in nine months from Abdulsalami as
democratically elected president in the shortest democratic transition period
in the annals of the nation’s history. Like a script out of a movie, the trio
hijacked the biggest political party at the time, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP
on which platform Obasanjo coasted to victory in the 1999 presidential
elections. He was said to have been sponsored by his co- supermen, hoodwinking
the North that “he can be trusted” and using the cloak of appeasement and
compensation for June 12 annulment as a sing- song to soothe the nerves of the
South-west. It worked. Obasanjo as president neither ruffled their feathers nor
broke their nails. He anointed the late Umaru Yar’Adua as president and
Goodluck Jonathan as the vice president with the full backing of the duo. In
the thick of the maelstrom that attended Yar’Adua’s failing health and the rise
of the Aso Rock cabal, the triumvirate stood, navigated and was counted. In a
somewhat co-ordinated move, the hostage- taking cabal was routed out through
the famous “doctrine of necessity,” which empowered Jonathan to become
president. The dusts it stirred are yet to settle down. When Jonathan fell out
with Obasanjo, he fought strenuously to secure the nod of Abdulsalami and
Babangida for a second term in office. Abdulsalami stood behind him like the
biblical rock of Gibraltar while Babangida spoke from both sides of the mouth.
Flustered but resolute on his goal, an exasperated Jonathan despite the initial
bravado ate the humble pie and came calling on Obasanjo at his hill top
residence in Abeokuta. Obasanjo played the game of the fox, telling him in
words and deed that revenge is a dish best served cold. In the end, Jonathan
waved the seat bye. Like the hard- drilled ox, the body language, association
and recent comments by Obasanjo gravely indicate that he neither forgot nor
forgave him.
Sun news reported that a loose
definition of a kingmaker according to Wikipedia is ‘ a person or group that
has great influence in a royal or political succession, without being a viable
candidate’. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious, and military
means to influence succession. Originally, the term applied to the activities
of Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick. Kingmakers even in contemporary
times play god, work like a slave and command like a king. They rule by
stealth. In biblical Israel, Prophet Samuel was a smashing kingmaker who
oversaw the transition from Judges to Kings. He appointed King Saul and when he
fell from grace he appointed another king, this time, the legendary King David,
best known, among other things, for defeating the giant Goliath. In India, the
political landscape of the country would look different without Sonia Gandhi.
After her husband, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, she was asked to take
over as Prime Minister, but she refused, preferring to work from the
background. She finally joined the fray in 1997 as president of the Indian
National Congress, restoring the fortunes of her husband’s party. The 2004
election pointed to her as the next prime minister, but she demurred and
instead appointed Manmohan Singh. She is currently propping up her son, Rahul
which may see him to the seat soon. King making at its best.
Expectedly,
Nigerians have been reacting to the meeting of the three generals and the
tenuous influence they exert on the nation. While some agree it is necessary,
others disagree. The National Publicity Secretary of the pan- Yoruba socio-
political group, Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin dismissed it as “ undue influence
peddling.” He said the fate of the country and president Buhari “ is for
Nigerians to decide, and not for three men.” Odumakin expressed reservations
about their meeting, believing it must have been on other issues and not just
on the issue of Buhari’s health. The non- inclusion of other living ex- Heads
of State, according to a former member of the House of Representatives Hon Uche
Onyeagocha is an ominous sign that the trio have since “constituted themselves
into a cabal that determines the political direction of the country. Why did
they not invite Yakubu Gowon, Shehu Shagari,
Ernest Shonekan and Goodluck Jonathan?” he asked rhetorically obviously
not yet in terms with their king making pedigree. On his part, Lagos
constitutional Lawyer, legal author and human rights activist, Frank Agbedo,
said “the meeting should just be a mere congregation of like minds, a meeting
of friends to fraternize and engage in fellow felling. Anything outside that,
like attempting to go outside the constitution to change the leadership of the
country is treasonable. Fortunately, they are still holding the details of
their deliberations close to their chests. At the appropriate time, when they
speak as they promised, we shall digest the issues raised and react
accordingly” He, however, admitted that the trio have been playing crucial
roles in the nation’s political trajectory. The National Chairman of the United
Progressives Party, UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie contends that the meeting is
conspiratorial and suspicious. He argued
that Obasanjo and Abdulsalami have been constant visitors to the seat of power
than at any other time, wondering why they are up in arms with Buhari now if
not for some easily decipherable reasons.
“ It is another kind of conspiracy
that is yet to unfold. It was IBB and Abdulsalami that threw up the Obasanjo
presidency. Ever since then, they have always conspired. They conspired to
remove Jonathan from office. Any keen observer of power struggle in Nigeria
will definitely look beyond their meeting. Except for IBB on health grounds,
Obasanjo and Abdulsalami have been making frequent visits to Buhari more than
at any other time and now that Buhari’s health is bad, it is not beyond the
triumvirate to insist on visiting him,” he told Sunday Sun. He continues:
“Their meeting is suspicious. Nobody can ascribe anything altruistic or
beneficial to their meeting. If anything, it is another round of meeting to
conspire, in case there is a leadership vacuum in the country.”
As the
crisis of Buhari’s health continues, anxiety, tension build up because a teardrop on earth summons the king of
heaven.
Source: Sunnews online
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