8 Spooky Years of Olusegun Obasanjo's Fourth Republic (1)

BY AMBROSE EHIRIM

Curious viewers and readers who have been concerned on what I have been up to lately since I stopped my political commentary particularly on Igbo matters, wondering what may have happened to the ardent Igboist should hold their breath. Of course, I was almost nailed for cricizing a politically suicidal Ichie Chibuzor Onwchekwa for taking Igbos to hell. Some assumed I may have thrown in the towel on a series of grounds that the heat was becoming unbearable and it's time to quit. The point is, there is nothing else to write about on a subject matter that no longer makes sense especially on Igbo issues now that it's patently clear Igbos are a conquered people. Even the lame duck Imo State Governor, Achike Udenwa, who should be handing over any moment now admits Igbos are a finished people. Udenwa in his own words:

"Today the Igbos have no place in the leadership of this country. The Igbos have never been as low as we are today in the society called Nigeria. We are so incapacitated; we have no say. We blame others but at the same time we have not done anything to help ourselves; instead we have aided such situation where we are completely relegated to the background."

I'm kind of shocked reading Udenwa made the above statement, when he, Udenwa, for eight doggone years as governor has little or nothing to show for his stewardship to the people of Imo State. Udenwa should be blaming himself and the Igbo-related governors and commissioners for such failures not the unemployed graduates who have nothing to do with it.

Was it not the same Udenwa who at a time held teachers and civil servants salaries for months while he and his cronies including the coattails who trooped on the death traps, the so-called roads while unemployed youths roamed around like hobos? Was it not Udenwa who had been tight-lipped while bad things happened all around Igbo land, for instance, the invasion of Okigwe to "smoke" out Ralph Uwazuruike? Was it not Udenwa whose political loyalty and salesmanship denied Nd'Igbo infrastructures required to propel industries in Igboland to the forefront? No question, we've seen eight years go away just like that and Nd'Igbo have been reduced to nothing; and Udenwa has the guts to blame a crop of new Igbo leaders. Imagine!

Enter Olusegun Obasanjo, a man whose regime as military junta discharged armored tanks on students who complained of school fees hike. A man whose regime levelled Fela's Shrine and locked up every inhabitant during that fateful raid. A man who banned Chris Okolie's New Breed Magazine from circulation on the basis the magazine's journalists interviewed Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu in Ivory Coast. A man whose regime destroyed all aspect of civil liberties. A man who snatched cameras from journalists and smashed it. And, a man who by a stroke of luck survived Sani Abacha's reign of terror. Ironically, this same man would take over the affairs of state in a purported democratic fabric only to make things worse.

Now, after eight years of President Obasanjo initially thought by every observer (precisely the international community) hopefully to be the most viable and intact representative government since independence, where does our democracy stand today? No one would deny the fact that the quest for sound democracy was long overdue after years of misrule by the military juntas. A miltary junta will always be a military junta. Obasanjo flogged a peace officer in public and got away with it even when the peace officer could have punched his big belly in retaliation. He said Igbos can go to hell when questioned about his hatred of Nd'Igbo. He promised to fish out Ibrahim Babangida's hidden assets if made known that the wizard dribbling evil genius stashed away money in foreign accounts swearing "no be my papa born me" if there is evidence. He made the world know that "I dey kampe" upon all the civil disturbances and mayhem during the satanic Sharia riots from around which Igbos were the victims losing lives and properties.

On May 29, 1999, a little bit after a year Obasanjo came close to death under Abacha's iron rule, a new beginning in the nation's political dispensation began. In his vow of "no sacred cows" upon being sworn-in, Obasanjo convinced the world he was a changed man, that he had found God and a born again christian. That Nigeria would change within a short period of time, and that he would fight corruption to the last man. And that he would uphold democracy and respect the rule of law. We have seen the worst and let's take a look at some of the spooky events all these years of maladministration:

On September 01, 1999, Obasanjo and the 36 states governors scrapped the monthly envoronmental exercise as unconstitutional negating the constitutional rights of the local government councils that was not part of the said decision.

On October 6, 1999, Gbenga Olarinoye of the Vanguard Newspapers Group reported thousands of residents of Pateji and Edu Local Government areas of Kwara State were drowned, and about 300,000 displaced by River Niger, following the release of excess water from the Shiroro, Kainji and Jebba Dams by National Electric Power Authority (NEPA).

On November 1999, Obasanjo and his Defense Minister, Theophilus Danjuma summoned one Colonel Agbabiaka to invade Odi for the shooting death of some police officers in the oil rich region. Odi was totally demolished and plundered and will never be the same again.

On December 14, 2000, a petition signed and copied to the President of the Senate, Senator Pius Anyim; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Na'Abba; Governors of the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; major Nigerian Newspapers and media houses by then radicals at Nigeriaworld including my humble self in a complaint titled "The Invasion of Okigwe Township by a Combined team of the Military and Police Forces" extracted from This Day December 04, 2000 news and UNIRIN report in an operation carried out to arrests Ralph Uwazuruike for his non violent approach agitating for Biafra nationhood. Regardless, Uwazuruike was remanded in custody for a while.

On June 2001, Jilian Okenwa of This Day and Nnamdi Onyenua, editor of Glamour Trends Magazine were arrested and tortured on a publication about obasanjo over an alleged defamation of the president.

August 21, 2001: Vanguard reports a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr. Monday Ndor was fatally shot by suspected assassins at his No. 4 Elelenwo Street, Rumuomasi, Port Harcourt.

December 23, 2001: Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige was shot dead in his bedroom at his Bodija, Ibadan residence in an apparent assassination. A single bullet to the heart killed the Cicero of Esa Oke.

January 28, 2002: BBC reports "at least 100 people are now known to have drowned in a canal in the Nigerian city of Lagos while fleeing a series of huge explosions at an army mutinous dump" A number of others died when the fire ripped through the dump, setting off many bombs at the barracks. Many people, mostly children, were missing and thousands were homeless as a result of the inferno, which started the previous day.

August 03, 2002: Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun deploys about 500 policemen who stormed the premises of Enugu State House of Assembly to shoot at sight and to prevent further breakdown of law and order.

September 17, 2002: Victor Akiuwa of Vanguard reports about "120 factory workers feared dead after a massive fire swept through a rubber slippers/aluminium spoon/bottled water factory in the early hours of yesterday, at Odogunyan, in Ikorodu, Lagos State."

October 10, 2002: BBC reports "The international Court of Justice has awarded the disputed oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, rejecting Nigeria's claims." The court based its decision on a 1917 document between colonial powers Britain and Germany. The colonies have clashed several times over the peninsula and Cameroon referred the dispute to the Hague in 1994.

October 16, 2002: No fewer than seven people were gunned down in separate clashes in Ikorodu and Mile 2 areas of Lagos between the police and on one hand commercial bus drivers, and on the other motor park touts. A police post was burnt down in one of the incidents.

In Mile 2, five people lost their lives in fresh outbreak of crisis between the police and members of two rival transport unions - NURTW and RTEAN.

October 17, 2002: Daily Champion -- "Litigations Stall Oputa Report." "Government yesterday deferred consideration and implementation of the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa-led Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC). This was due to series of legal actions instituted against adoption of the report by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida and other interested parties"

November 5, 2002: Vanguard Anayo Okoli reports "the police have taken over the Onitsha provisional headquarters of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) located on the busy Onitsha-Owerri Road. The police action followed a raid on the camp weekend by the police. At least one person claimed to be a member of the group was killed. The police said it was part of a clampdown on militia groups in the country."

November 13, 2002: En environmental rights group, Environmental Rights Action Friends of the Earth (ERA) has alleged that the military invasion of Odi in Bayelsa State claimed 2,483 casualties comprising of 1,023 females and 1,460 males. In extract from report entitled "Blamket of Silence, Images of the Odi Genocide."

Part 2 next as the saga continues.