Don't toy with Nigeria's destiny -Col. Umar writes Senators, Reps
Aderemi Ojikutu
PUNCH NEWSPAPERS on the political travail of the opposition spokesmen
on the current imbroglio over 3rd term...
Amidst the raging public resentment against third term for President
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former governor of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar
Umar (rtd) has warned that the National Assembly holds the ace to save
the nation from an imminent catastrophe.
In a letter he sent to the legislature on the ongoing debate on
constitutional amendments, a copy of which was obtained by Sunday
Punch, Umar admonished them against mortgaging the peace and corporate
existence of the country for a pot of porridge.
The Secretary General of the organisation, Mr. Bukah Zarma told our
correspondent on Saturday that copies of the letter were dropped in the
pigeon holes of the lawmakers on Friday.
Umar said they should learn from history by not re-enacting the kind of
avoidable human tragedies witnessed in some war-ravaged African
countries such as Somalia, Liberia, Congo, among others.
He alleged that those lawmakers backing a third term for Obasanjo,
"are doing so because they have been paid with money from our
Federation Account."
Accordingly, he warned, "Imposing the current rulers for a third term
on Nigerians will be a wanton provocation, an invitation to conflict
and chaos. Nigerians reject tenure extension for anyone and shall
resist any attempt to impose it with everything they have. They have
already indicated this clearly through the public hearings and other
channels.
"As their representatives, we trust and are confident that you will
do only that as will prove you truly respect their views. If you
refuse, neglect or fail to do so, you, more than anyone else, will bear
full responsibility for the consequent crisis and carnage that would
engulf not only Nigeria but much of Africa."
His warning came on the heels of a similar advice by the Nobel
Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka in Enugu on Wednesday, that the current
move to manipulate the constitution was capable of creating the kind of
conflict that had claimed thousands of lives in Sudan.
The debate on third term has drastically polarised the senators,
leading to near fisticuffs among them during sessions.
A similar scene was recorded in the House of Representatives when the
report of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on the Review of
the 1999 Constitution was brought to the House.
Umar, who is the Chairman of the Movement for Unity and Progress [MUP],
warned the lawmakers not to endorse the bill on the third term and
constitution amendment in the interest of the nation and survival of
democracy.
"Without question, the bill before you, believe it or not, is a
litmus test of your integrity and that of our parliament. And depending
on how you handle it, it may well mark the happy end of the beginning
for our democracy or the beginning of its tragic end.
"Obviously, should you surrender your authority and rubberstamp the
president's dictate, in return for whatever personal gains that might
have been given or promised, this may be the last time he will bother
himself seeking your approval or make promises to you or to anyone else
before altering any inconvenient provisions of our constitution.
"Should you, on the other hand, consider the matter on its lack of
merit and throw it out, President Obasanjo and future presidents will
learn to conduct themselves in conformity with our laws and refrain
from re-writing the laws to conform with their wishes."
He said that they would be held responsible for any untoward
circumstances Nigeria might find itself if they compromised the popular
resent for the third term agenda.
The former governor cautioned the legislators to handle the
controversial amendment bill with extreme caution, warning that any
attempt to endorse it might truncate democracy in Nigeria.
In the letter, titled "Urgent memo to members of our National
Assembly," Umar raised two fundamental issues, which he argued, could
threaten the continued corporate existence of the country, as the
debate on the bill progressed in the National Assembly. "These are
the two options before us-one should lead to peace, order and good
governance; the other will, as surely, place us in the same pot in
which Somalia, Liberia, Congo etc, have been stewing these several
decades."
He urged the lawmakers not to be deceived by the ingenuity of the
arguments of the promoters of third term and tenure extension for the
president and state governors.
"No one could fail to notice that the proposal for the constitution
review before you has been carefully crafted to look patriotic. This
should come as no surprise, for, what good is the bait if it cannot
hide the hook?
"Listening to the president's men lately, you will almost certainly
come away believing that it is patriotism that's driving them and
that are straining on behalf of us all. Ever more loudly, we are being
told that the desire to amend the constitution is all about removing
the immunity clause behind which some state governors are said to hide
while looting treasuries; of guaranteeing financial autonomy for local
governments; of allowing independent candidates to stand for elections;
of fairer revenue sharing etc. They deny that tenure extension (their
euphemism for a life term) for President Obasanjo is the real prize of
the entire exercise."
Accusing both the promoters and benefactors of the alleged third term
project of cowardice, Umar noted that Nigerians have continued to fault
Obasanjo and his supporters' inability to be categorical on the issue
of third term and tenure extension.
"How come those sponsoring the third term scheme have refused to come
clean, show integrity or conduct their campaign in an open, civil,
responsible and transparent manner? Why does the president, who we all
know to be the locomotive engine driving the third term train, think it
beneath his dignity to come and address our parliament? If, as is
apparent, he wants to be obliged with a tenure extension, is it
unreasonable to ask him to write out a proper proposal giving some
coherent arguments?"
The MUP chairman stressed that Obasanjo should have told the National
Assembly how he had run the country during his two terms in office and
why he needed an extra term, stating that "it is a cause for concern
that an official of government who seeks to be allowed an extension of
time within which to complete a task is both unwilling and unable to
provide sincere and coherent account of the work being done or how he
plans to use the extra time if granted.
"In the absence of these, how could anyone attach honest intentions
to the rush to allow the president more years in power? It only goes to
show that the third term plot is but only what the name says it is: a
plot - a devilish scheme, an ill-wind, a destabilizer, an idea
conceived in the boardroom of one of Nigeria's breweries. Its goals
are selfish, its procedure dubious."
He added, "Members of the syndicate that is pressing for the
overthrow of the constitution have one thing in common; they have
appropriated to themselves that which belongs to all of us and are
scheming to run away with it. State governors that support third term
are doing so to escape sanctions after years of kleptocracy and
misrule. Having defrauded the people, they seek to take shelter behind
third term and escape justice. They also hope to succeed the president
should he drop and die suddenly, and join the league of Africa's
rulers for life."
When contacted on Saturday, the Chairman Senate Committee on
Information, Senator Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), said he was not aware of
the letter let alone its content. He noted that Nigerians should allow
the legislators to finish their deliberation.
He argued that those who are supporting the third term are doing so on
principle, likewise those who oppose it.
"And just like the belief that those who are against it are doing so
on principle, why don't people have the same impression about those
who are in support? Couldn't it be they are doing it because it is
politically exigent for those they represent? When does it become an
offence to hold a view for or against? Those who are supporting the
third term are doing it for political reasons and those who are against
are also doing it for political purpose. No one is in support of
against for moral reasons. We should not turn all Nigerians into one
shade of opinion," Egba said.
Contacted by Sunday Punch on the letter on Saturday, the Minister of
Information and National Orientation, Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr), said that
though the document was addressed to the National Assembly, he took
exceptions to what he regarded as "unguarded statement" by Umar
against Obasanjo.
"I have read the letter and my view is that since the letter was
written to the National Assembly it is for them (NA) to respond, but I
took note of the largely unguarded statements made against the
president.
"Although, people are free to make comments since we are in
democracy, but I feel that in the interest of the country and our
people, it is inappropriate to instigate angst and violence and
disrepect to constituted authority. It is rather unstatemanly."
source: http://www.punchng.com/main/article01 SUNDAY PUNCH, May 07,
2006