• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Premium Times Opinion
Monday, January 25, 2021
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Home Columns

Nigeria, history and the clear and present danger, By Chido Onumah

by Akin Oyewobi
February 27, 2015
3 min read
1

These are perturbing times. On the eve of what promises to be Nigeria’s fiercest election, one that has set the country on edge, it is important that we sound alarm bells.

Even though we have seen it all before – whether we are talking about the 1964/65 elections (postponed for several weeks due to disagreements over the voters’ list) that precipitated the first military coup in January 1966 and the civil war the year after or the June 12, 1993 debacle and the Interim National Government (ING) contraption that followed – Nigeria today is in uncharted waters. We haven’t had an election this close with war raging in a part of the country.

The angst that followed the postponement, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of the presidential election scheduled for this weekend is therefore understandable. The speech by Prof. Attahiru Jega, Chairman of INEC, announcing the postponement has been debated widely by Nigerians. Clearly, there are many questions begging for answers. But if we focus on Jega, his pronouncements and the “politics” surrounding the postponement, we miss the forest for the trees. And here, I am not addressing the party faithfuls who can’t see the big picture even if it is as large as the 400-metre monolith called Aso Rock.

Even though I have strong reservations about elections holding on the new dates announced by INEC, I am inclined to give Prof. Jega and INEC the benefit of the doubt. I sincerely hope all eligible Nigerians get the opportunity to collect their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) and that the war on terror would have been won appreciably in the next six weeks to justify the postponement.

So, while we continue to prepare for the elections, patriots and active civil society – or what is left of it – should necessarily begin to interrogate why every election (and census, I must add) in Nigeria is a referendum on the continued existence of the country and why elections have literally become wars that the military would have to “supervise”.

It is for this reason that we must do a deep and sincere reflection on the current situation. If we do, we will, undoubtedly, arrive at the conclusion that more than anything else, we need a genuine national conversation about whether this country is sustainable the way it exists today.

President Jonathan was elected president in 2011 in a bloody election (postponed from January to April) that witnessed the death of hundreds of Nigerians, including patriotic youth who were serving their fatherland. He became president by default the year before following the death of his principal, Umaru Yar’Adua, who came to power in 2007 in one of the most farcical elections the country has witnessed.

President Yar’Adua, alongside then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, was anointed by his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo, who was handpicked by the military, on the eve of their “departure” in 1999, to return the country to “civilian” rule. It was the same Obasanjo, as an army general in 1979, who ushered in the country’s 2nd Republic which was led by President Shehu Shagari who was overthrown in 1983 by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari – who is currently running for president – in a coup that saw the country go through four military regimes in 16 years, the annulment by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, of the June 12, 1993 election won by Moshood Abiola – who was murdered by the military regime of Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar while in detention – and ultimately, the return of a retired general as president in 1999.

Clearly, our democracy so-called is nothing but “Army Arrangement”, apologies to Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Then again, the question is, can we really blame our military? Looking at our history, is it out of place to say, as someone has noted, that Nigeria was rigged to fail?

Nigeria’s rapacious ruling class is salivating about the prospects of retaining power or coming to power. They have a right, going by our current constitution, to do so. What the ruling class – those in power now, those who have been in power and those who are seeking power, whether civilian or military – don’t have the right to do is to imperil the mass of our people.

Of course, I don’t expect the protagonists in this tragicomedy that Nigeria has become to appreciate much less work to mitigate the clear and present danger. How then do we as a people break this vicious circle? It’s simple. Let genuine patriots, humanists, active civil society, if there is still anything so-called, stop worrying about which section of the ruling class will lose or benefit from the actions, inaction, greed and idiocy of Nigeria’s power blocs or what, for example, the current postponement has done or would do to our image in the comity of nations.

We have to forge a nation before we can compete or meet the standards set by the “international community”. The current crisis will fester and it is hard to predict the outcome. There is no other option but to confront this dilemma frontally.

conumah@hotmail.com; follow me on Twitter @conumah

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Related

Previous Post

Home Yams, Diaspora Goats, By Pius Adesanmi

Next Post

The African Scientist in a Fast-Changing World, By Olusegun Obasanjo

Related Posts

Akinwunmi Adesina: Africa’s Spotless Son, By Wole Olaoye
Opinion

Democratisation of Insecurity, By Wole Olaoye

January 24, 2021
Jega, You Saved Nigeria from Another Coup, By Simon Imobo-Tswam
Opinion

Restructuring In Nigeria: Why? How? When?, By Attahiru M. Jega

January 24, 2021
Nigeria: A Country of Zero Consequence For Misdeed, By Umar Yakubu
Opinion

Time To Have More Gumis In Society: When Action Speaks Louder Than Words, By Umar Yakubu

January 24, 2021
Rethinking Heroism and the Nigerian Civil Service, By Festus Adedayo
Columns

Sunday Igboho and the Spirit of Ogbori Elemoso, By Festus Adedayo

January 24, 2021
Why Lai Mohammed Must Be Fired Immediately, By Femi Aribisala
Article of Faith

Free Will Does Not Exist (2), By Femi Aribisala

January 24, 2021
Trump and the Limits of A ‘Failed Experiment!’, By Femi Mimiko
Opinion

Trump and the Limits of A ‘Failed Experiment!’, By Femi Mimiko

January 24, 2021
Next Post
The African Scientist in a Fast-Changing World, By Olusegun Obasanjo

The African Scientist in a Fast-Changing World, By Olusegun Obasanjo

Fayose and The 2015 Elections, By Joe Igbokwe

The Struggle for the Soul of Nigeria as Corruption fights back, By Joe Igbokwe

Editorial

  • EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

    EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

  • EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

    EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

  • EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

    EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

  • EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

    EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

  • EDITORIAL: President Buhari Must Release Sowore Now!

    EDITORIAL: President Buhari Must Release Sowore Now!

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526,505 other subscribers

Most Popular

  • Sunday Igboho and the Spirit of Ogbori Elemoso, By Festus Adedayo
    Sunday Igboho and the Spirit of Ogbori Elemoso, By Festus Adedayo
  • Restructuring In Nigeria: Why? How? When?, By Attahiru M. Jega
    Restructuring In Nigeria: Why? How? When?, By Attahiru M. Jega
  • Of Toyin Falola, African Scholars and the Western Academy, By Mohammed Dahiru Aminu
    Of Toyin Falola, African Scholars and the Western Academy, By Mohammed Dahiru Aminu
  • Trump and the Limits of A ‘Failed Experiment!’, By Femi Mimiko
    Trump and the Limits of A ‘Failed Experiment!’, By Femi Mimiko
  • Time To Have More Gumis In Society: When Action Speaks Louder Than Words, By Umar Yakubu
    Time To Have More Gumis In Society: When Action Speaks Louder Than Words, By Umar Yakubu
  • Free Will Does Not Exist (2), By Femi Aribisala
    Free Will Does Not Exist (2), By Femi Aribisala
  • Democratisation of Insecurity, By Wole Olaoye
    Democratisation of Insecurity, By Wole Olaoye

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.