Uncle Sege's Promise
Adey Oyenuga
September 1, 1999
By Goodluck Ebelo And Joke Hassan
Lagos - After 100 days in office, President Obasanjo shows some
commendable reflexes in governance. The President and Commander-in-Chief
of the Nigerian Armed Forces, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, is in a race
against time. And this, perhaps, explains his impatience with members
of the National Assembly.
One hundred days into a four-year presidency, truculent senators and
representatives have in a large measure sucked in the gust of wind from
the Presidency. Bills that should get machinery of government humming at
full blast are trapped within the huge edifice of the National Assembly.
Three of the bills touch on projects that would come in handy as
parameters in judging the administration at the end of its tenure- The
Appropriation Bill, the Anti-Corruption Bill and the Niger Delta Bill.
For a man who causes controversies with such ease, it is to Obasanjo's
credit that it is the National Assembly that has taken the rap and not
the Presidency.
Though, Nigeria is again back to the good books of multilateral agencies
such as the IMF and World Bank, Obasanjo is yet to intimate the nation
on what particular measures he intends to take to revamp the economy.
The Vice-President Atiku Abubakar-led 13-man panel on privatisation is
still being awaited to work out a blueprint to get the behemoths off
government dole.
Perhaps why Obasanjo's economic agenda fails to excite his compatriots
may not be unconnected with the disappointment citizens felt with the
kind of people he appointed to take charge of the finance ministry and
the Central Bank. In place of young energetic reformers, Obasanjo went
for a team of old faces like Malam Adamu Ciroma and Sir. Joseph Sanusi.
The Niger Delta, as intractable as ever, seems set to defy Obasanjo's
cure-all pill -the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Obasanjo
wants a commission established that will tackle the development needs
of the area, but the people think it is interventionist and rejects
the plan. Professor Omo Omoruyi, who has praised the Obasanjo
administration on many fronts, faults its Niger Delta agenda as
"jumping the gun."
"I think the debate about oil must be reopened, the question is
ownership not derivation," said the former director-general of the
defunct Centre for Democratic Studies (CDS). "I think oil belongs to
where it is found. Do we set up a bill to talk about how cocoa money
n Western Nigeria is being distributed?" Obasanjo is, however, not
fazed. And, so too are the implacable enemies of the bill.
The President has, though been praised elsewhere. Elected on a party
platform whose vision for transforming Nigeria is at the most charitable
of estimations vague, Obasanjo moved fast to the centre, appropriating
what he admires in the programmes of the other parties. Though, this has
sparked off a comical debate as to which party's copyright the President
may be infringing, he is all the better for it. Credit his common sense
avoiding of the fray, today Obasanjo is no more People's Democratic Party
(PDP) than he is Alliance for Democracy (AD) or All Peoples Party (APP).
This has had some effect on the way politics and policies have been
pursued these past 100 days. The PDP, on whose platform he was elected
into office, also has an overwhelming majority in the two chambers of
the National Assembly, yet cries of having been shortchanged are more
likely to come from the party than elsewhere. And, so too are fears of a
one-party state charring in a tinder field of estranged parliamentarians
and their President - the political realignments that are bound to follow
in the next four years are taking root today.
Obasanjo's anti-corruption crusade has won him more admirers than
detractors. His bill before the National Assembly may never leave there
with enough teeth to bite as criticisms continue to mount over it within
and outside the assembly. But President Obasanjo did set the tone right
and watched million of his compatriots queue behind him even before the
bog that is the National Assembly. In essence, Obasanjo panels mark an
official acceptance of Nigerians' yearning to come to terms with their
past - how we got where we are as a people. So much is expected of the
Dr. Christopher Kolade-led panel on the review of contracts, appointments
and licences, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa panel on human rights abuses, the
Brig-Gen. Oluwole Rotimi-led panel on Federal Government landed property
and the Alhaji Iguda Inuwa panel on uncompleted projects and services.
These panels, as the President rationalised, are to "unearth the truth
and reassure the general public." In inaugurating the panels, Obasanjo
has taken the first step in restoring public confidence, but so much is
hinged on what he does with the findings of the panels. As things stand,
the general sentiment is that of justice and that means identifying and
prosecuting culprits and retrieval of the stolen wealth - not the easiest
of task in a fractious polity.
And, it is largely due to the enormous goodwill accruing from the dogged
pursuit of looters that has taken Obasanjo far beyond the dart of the
marginalisation crusades. Largely from formerly over-pampered sections
of the North, elites are worried that for the first time in a long while,
government is looking beyond them for appointments.
Obasanjo's foreign policy proposals are yet to be made public. But he
could claim credit for finally finding peace in the West African sub-
region and Nigeria's role in Southern Africa is apparently on the rebound.
Obasanjo's ambassadorial list does not reveal any long thoughtout foreign
policy objectives, but as is becoming clear, the man is marrying domestic
politics to foreign policy.
At the state and local government levels, there is very little to cheer.
Apart from tumbling through the financial records (see box) of past
military administrators, state governors are weakened by empty coffers
and collapsed infrastructure.
Assessing Obasanjo's first 100 days in office, a chieftain of APP, Dr.
Ahmed Kusamotu, praised him, but added that, "he must not make probes
and commissions our agenda. He must start the programme proper now."
Also, the former governor of Anambra State in the Third Republic, Dr.
Pius Chukwuemeka Ezeife, told TEMPO on phone, that: "there were errors
but they are redeemable errors. In ministerial posting, Obasanjo gave
12 key posts to the North, seven to the West and three for the East. It
is imbalance."
The chairman of Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, is rather
appreciative of Obasanjo's efforts so far, but wants him to rework his
anti-corruption bill. "He is doing better than expected, except for his
anti-corruption bill. Meanwhile, he should use the laws that exist to
prosecute -- there is a dire need for a sovereign national conference."
Fiery Lagos lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi is rather dismissive of Obasanjo
and lists terms for peace: "trial of corrupt military rulers, an upward
review of the conditions of service of the judicial arm of government."
In the months and years to come, Obasanjo will be judged by the hopes he
has raised. And, if he solves Nigeria's intractable military problem and
manages to make his mantra of not just making food available, but
affordable, he may have reinvented modern Nigeria. If not the national
cemetery still has spaces for presidents that led Nigeria to ruin.
Additional reports by Boye Falana
Publication Date: September 9, 1999
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