Professor Chinua Achebe in face-off with Obasanjo's administration

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So it was no surprise last week when the Obasanjo administration gleefully hurled the new missile "s" word at Professor Chinua Achebe in a brazen attempt at retaliating for the literary icon's much-publicized rejection of the so-called national award given to him by the administration. Perhaps seeing how Senator Isa Mohammed's slap-imbroglio had fared among Nigerians all over the world, and how it had turned overnight the once respectable senator from Niger State into a brutal scumbag, the Obasanjo administration perhaps wanted to invoke similar smear and venom on Professor Chinua Achebe for having the effrontery to publicly turn down its offer of a high national award.

It would be recalled that the world-renowned novelist from Nigeria, Chinua Achebe, rejected the award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), the Obasanjo administration had offered him in the Nigerian honors list for 2004. Achebe, the legendary author of many universally acclaimed novels, especially the inimitable Things Fall Apart that has sold more than 11 million copies in more than 50 countries till date, had been listed by the administration to receive one of its highest awards in 2004. He was to receive his nation's second highest award in Abuja, Nigeria, on December 16, 2004, among 190 other honorees.

But in an emotionally charged letter dated October 15, 2004, and sent to the Nigerian president, the literary legend declared:

I write this letter with very heavy heart. For some time now, I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay. I have watched particularly the chaos in my own state of Anambra where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the presidency…. Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence. I must register my disappointment and protest by declining to accept the high honor awarded me in the 2004 Honors list.

Achebe's letter, which was widely publicized in the Nigerian media and overseas, struck a high note of approval among many Nigerians. Human rights activist and famed Lagos lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, summarized the consensus approval of many Nigerians when he declared: "I love that man [Chinua Achebe]. I doff my hat for him. I adore him. He has confirmed that he is a true nationalist, a patriot, an outstanding Nigerian, a humanist, a kind man, a masses-oriented intellectual, and above all, a man of God, truth and equity, honor and integrity" (Vanguard, October 16).

On his part, Kolade Oshinowo, renowned artist and former deputy Rector, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, declared in support of Achebe, "I must tell you I am happy Achebe rejected the award, because somebody somewhere is telling this government you have to wake up. Achebe does not have much power, but he is using the only power he has, his fundamental human rights, to say this is not it. It's a situation where things have fallen apart" (Daily Independent, October 21)

As perhaps was expected, the overwhelmingly positive reaction to Achebe's letter did not impress the Obasanjo administration. The administration struggled all through last week to decide on how to respond to the embarrassing letter. First, as the letter became the hot topic of the media, the administration sent out its minions to deny ever receiving such a letter. Then the battle quickly shifted to denying everything the letter had claimed. In one of such instances of disingenuous denials, Femi Fani-Kayode, the Nigerian president's public affairs assistant declared: "if you look at the problems of 1999 and the gains we have made, it does not suggest that things are difficult…. We are on our way to the Promised Land and we need as much encouragement as we can get from respected Nigerians like Achebe" (Punch, October 18).

Once again, the Nigerian president through his assistant revealed how out-of-touch he seems to be. It is absolutely irresponsible for the administration to emphasize the so-called gains it has made without due acknowledgement of the real problems average Nigerians have continued to face since our nation's return to democracy. Nigerians must worry that their president and his minions believe that their sufferings today have a biblical origin. According to Fani-Kayode, Nigerian problems under the Obasanjo administration are akin to the sufferings the Israelites experienced on their way to the Promised Land. Really? This is opiate religion at its worst. Nigerians must beware of leaders who use biblical images to back up their ill-conceived adventures. Such apparently deluded leaders end up wreaking unimaginable havoc on innocent people.

However, it was Oluremi Oyo, the president's own spokeswoman who tried to make a theater of her own denial of Achebe's embarrassing letter. In her press briefing on Monday of last week, she swore, "this is about 1.30 p.m., Monday October 18, 2004, President Obasanjo has not received, as at this time, any letter from the respected Professor Achebe" (ThisDay, October 21). But after these tortured efforts at denying the serious indictments of the literary icon, the Obasanjo administration managed to release an official response late last week. And it was a great revelation to anybody who is interested in learning the reasons why Nigerian democracy appears to be permanently stunted under the presidency of Obasanjo. In the statement titled: "Our Response to Professor Chinua Achebe's Rejection of the National Award" and signed by the ever-ubiquitous Femi Fani-Kayode of the administration's public affairs, the Obasanjo administration, while continuing to deny receiving any letter from the literary icon, went ahead to respond on the ground that Professor Achebe had confirmed its content to the BBC and other international media organizations. The president's official response declares:

Our response is that his (Professor Achebe's) position as regards the state of affairs in his native land and his rejection of the great honor done to him by the Nigerian people is regrettable. It is not a slap in the face of the Nigerian government or Mr. President, but rather, it is a slap in the face of the Nigerian people…. It is also pertinent to note, as a general point, that no matter how distinguished and resourceful a person you are and no matter how brilliant and gifted an individual you are, if you feel that your country does not deserve to honor you, then we believe that you certainly do not deserve your country. This is because the greatest honor that anyone can receive is that which is bestowed upon him, not by a foreign land or foreign organizations, but by his own country. It is therefore unfortunate that up until today, some of our people are still of the view that the quest for foreign and international awards in places like Sweden and elsewhere are more important or are of more value than an award being given them by their own homeland (Vanguard, October 21, 2004; emphasis, mine).

In our view, the administration's response to Professor Achebe's letter is interesting for many other reasons besides its warped and pedestrian outlook. First, the response claims that Achebe's letter was "not a slap in the face of the Nigerian government or Mr. President but rather a slap in the face of Nigerians." One can understand what the administration is alluding to here. It is playing on the sentiment against the recent physical assault of Lady Senator Anisulowo by Senator Isa Mohammed. It is trying to insinuate that by rejecting his nomination for a national award, Professor Achebe has unleashed a physical assault on the Nigerian people that is almost comparable to the slap Senator Mohammed administered to Senator Anisulowo recently.

In other words, Professor Achebe, in the view of the Obasanjo administration, has severely hurt and embarrassed the Nigerian people. That is to say, the administration believes that the award it offered Professor Achebe was on behalf of the Nigerian people. So its argument seems to be; when Achebe rejected the award he assaulted the generality of the Nigerian people. But this seems nothing short of boloney. If there is anybody who has been severely assaulting and insulting the Nigerian people of late, it has to be the administration with its leader that refuses to accord Nigerians their democratic right of being consulted before any embarkation on radical policies that bring untold sufferings on the innocent people.

Second, the administration's response presumes that the Nigerian people positively gave the so-called national award to Professor Achebe. Again, this is another boloney from the administration. And this speaks to the fact that the Obasanjo administration is still suffering from a dictatorship hangover originating from the long years of military rule in Nigeria. The fact is there is technically no national award that can be given to anybody by the Nigerian people. Nigerians are never called upon to vote on any national award to be offered to anybody. And there are hardly any countries on the planet with such an award anyway. What many countries have are Presidential Awards, or Congressional Awards, or Institutional Awards, as the case may be.

When an award originates from the executive branch in a democracy, it should be appropriately called a Presidential Award. So also when such an award originates from the legislative branch, it is called Legislative Award, or, as is the case in America, it is called Congressional Awards. However, there seems no harm in superimposing or sandwiching the word, "national," over or in the words that designate the awards. Hence Nigeria could have a Presidential National Awards and a Legislative National Awards. In neither case is there any suggestion in our view that the generality of Nigerians regularly votes to determine who would ultimately receive such awards.

The overall implication is, when a person rejects a particular award from the government, it is an action narrowly aimed against a specific arm of government, such as the executive (presidency) or the legislative. To try to politicize and generalize such a rejection as applying to the entire nation is nothing short of a cheap shot. Applying this principle to the issue of the moment, it means that Achebe's rejection of the so-called National Award is more of a repudiation of the Obasanjo administration and its policies rather than any other thing else. To interpret it any other way is a mischief. It is immoral for the administration to try to spin and portray it as a slap in the face of Nigerians. This is an absolute distortion that is motivated by malice.

If there is any slap involved in Achebe's rejection, it was rather a slap in the face of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. But I do not believe that the literary legend meant it to be read and understood that way. He was rather lodging a formal protest against the policies and practices of the administration like many Nigerians have been doing over the past several years through different channels. Professor Achebe said as much in his letter. He stated clearly that his protest was against the policies of President Obasanjo. He declared, "I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the presidency…. Nigeria's condition today under your watch is, however, too dangerous for silence." It is clear that he is here berating the Nigerian government on behalf of Nigerians. Achebe is a classic masses' advocate. I am here and now predicting that the image of a masses' abuser, which the administration is laboring to pin on him will never stick!

The most telling of the administration's warped way of thinking things through comes alive in the string of pedestrian and logically suspect-assertions it unleashed in its response. The first of such assertions claims, "no matter how distinguished and resourceful a person you are and no matter how brilliant and gifted an individual you are, if you feel that your country does not deserve to honor you, then we believe that you certainly do not deserve your country." This segues into another gratuitous assertion: "the greatest honor that anyone can receive is that which is bestowed upon him, not by a foreign land or foreign organizations, but by his own country." Not tired of its argumentative wild goose-chasing the administration concludes: "it is therefore unfortunate that up until today, some of our people are still of the view that the quest for foreign and international awards in places like Sweden and elsewhere are more important or are of more value than an award being given them by their own homeland."

One cannot but wonder what made the administration believe that it is actually responding to the letter of Professor Achebe. The truth is the administration was actually responding to other issues not clearly intended by Achebe's letter. Professor Achebe, who provided enough information on the history of the awards he has received from the Nigerian governments, dating way back to the first anniversary of Nigeria's independence some forty three years ago, stated quite clearly why he was rejecting the present award offered to him by the Obasanjo administration. Rather than respond to his grievances concerning the issues of the present, the administration gave the false impression that the literary icon was rejecting the Nigerian presidential award in preference for foreign awards. This is boloney. The administration's minions chose to misread and misunderstand Achebe's letter for their own selfish and political ends. This says much about the severity of their intellectual handicap or mischief-making capabilities.

But what should concern many Nigerians is the ease with which the administration employs false logic to argue its case. For instance, in the administration's warped way of thinking it argues, no matter one's accomplishment and intelligence, "if you feel that your country does not deserve to honor you, then we believe that you certainly do not deserve your country." This is patently a false argument. It is not only made false by the fact that Achebe never in his letter said that Nigeria did not deserve to honor him. If anything he listed a few among the chains of honors he had graciously received from Nigeria since our nation's independence in 1960. Rather, the literary icon directed well his rejection of this one particular award from the Obasanjo administration. And he offered specific reasons for doing so. It is absolutely a mischievous reading of the letter for the administration to conclude that because Achebe declined to accept this one particular award from the administration, then he has asserted that his country does not deserve to honor him. This is a criminal absurdity the administration is peddling to try to discredit the literary icon.

Second, the claim of the administration that if one feels that his country does not deserve to honor him, it means that the one does not deserve his country is an outrageous line of reasoning. It is either that the members of the Obasanjo administration cannot think reasonably and correctly or that they are utterly mischievous. How can a right as fundamental as citizenship depend on an individual's subjective feelings towards a particular award offered by his/her nation? Such a position seems absolutely ludicrous. In our view, what the administration seems to be insinuating is; if any Nigerian refuses any award from the Obasanjo administration, it means that he/she has renounced Nigeria as his/her country. Such a line of reasoning is stupidly outrageous. The administration seems to imply that it lies in the power of the president to gift any Nigerian with the nation's citizenship or to deny it. Once again, this is a patent absurdity.

Another gratuitous and pedestrian argument offered by the administration in its response to Achebe is its claim that "the greatest honor that anyone can receive is, that which is bestowed upon him, not by a foreign land or foreign organizations, but by his own country." As any sensible person could see, this is a hollow anecdotal argument that is not worthy of any responsible government. Such a saying is a kind of folksy wisdom that was constantly dished by our grand and great fathers to their children. In days gone by, elderly people always told their children to value home honors than those received abroad. But events have long overtaken such a simplistic vision of the universe. The world is no longer seen through such a narrow ethnocentric vision of reality. This seems the reason why many people are able to travel overseas for their academic laurels. If we follow rigidly the logic of the Obasanjo administration, no Nigerian would study overseas, and in fact, none would trade or work overseas. We would all be huddled and crowded at home because whatever we could get from abroad would remain permanently inferior to what already exists at our places of origin.

But the world has changed quite a lot even though the members of the Obasanjo administration do not appear to notice that. Arguably, they still think that the earth is flat! It makes little or no difference at all these days where and how one is honored. What matters is whether one's honor helps the advancement of the human race and the improvement of the global community. The world is fast evolving into a global community. Wherever an individual's needs could best be served that is the place such a person should head to and if possible reside there in perpetuity. And wherever one is genuinely honored should count for the glory of one's native country and the joy of the world community. Anybody who is interested in amassing accolades and honors should get them anywhere he/she finds them. The nativist conception of honors and awards being advanced by the Obasanjo administration belongs to the bygone era. What matters today is what one achieved to justify any award received and what he/she could still accomplish for the sake of humanity with his/her new status and recognition.

In fact, the absurdity of the administration's claim that one's greatest honor and award has to be that offered by his/her native country comes out clear when the nation in question is a corruption-riddled and dictatorship-trending country like Nigeria. When a nation's leadership is immoral, repressive and insensitive, it becomes a questionable matter whether any sensible and self-respecting citizen should go ahead and accept any awards she offers. It seems a legitimate question for every sensible person's conscience whether one should ever accept honors from a corrupt and repressive government. This is because an award has an uncanny way of binding the receiver with the giver. In a way when one receives any gift, one becomes united with the giver. A gift, given and received, subtly proclaims that the receiver is in sync and approves of the business of the giver. This is usually the dilemma of gift giving and receiving. A gift or an award usually says far more than is seen.

Moreover, an award from a morally challenged government could easily be its shrewd way to blackmail some of the honorable citizens of the nation. There is abundant evidence in history to suggest that the most immoral governments usually tend to be the most generous to their most successful citizens. Pre-democratic African dictators usually lavished their awards and gifts on their potentially vocal citizens to try to buy their silence. Politically vulnerable leaders of the Third World nations often try to back their powerful citizens and potential rivals into a corner with abundance of gifts and awards. It is not unthinkable that the Obasanjo administration which is facing torrential criticisms from Nigerians across the world might have nominated some accomplished Nigerian citizens in its 2004 honors list to either blackmail them into identifying with the unpopular government; or, knowing that if they rejected the offer they could easily be branded unpatriotic and undeserving of their country according to the warped logic of the administration.

However, where the administration seems to have completely lost its mind in its response to Achebe's letter is its assertion: "it is therefore unfortunate that up until today, some of our people are still of the view that the quest for foreign and international awards in places like Sweden and elsewhere are more important or are of more value than an award being given them by their own homeland." This is strangely idiotic. There is absolutely nothing in Achebe's letter to suggest that he was "dissing" the Nigerian award because he had his eyes laser-focused on a foreign award from, say, Sweden, or any other country. How the administration arrived at such a conclusion is beyond anybody's imagination. This can only show that the Obasanjo administration was responding to its own imagination and not to the letter sent to it by the literary icon. And this says a lot why the administration seems to be disappointing many Nigerians. It just cannot get it!

Going by the way they have responded to Achebe's letter, it appears that neither the Nigerian president nor his horde of advisers is able to understand statements written in everyday English. How else could one explain the horrendous distortion of the content of Achebe's recent letter? One cannot but wonder the level of intellectual activity in the administration. From a simple and very clear letter sent to the administration by Professor Achebe declining her offer of a suspicious national award, President Obasanjo and his advisers manufactured horrendous grounds to accuse the literary legend of all sorts of things. He was accused of assaulting and slapping Nigerians in the face, perhaps in the exact manner Senator Isa Mohammed had slapped his female senate colleague recently.

For daring to protest the current situation in his fatherland, Professor Achebe's nationality was subtly questioned, and perhaps threatened by the administration. The administration claimed that Achebe's rejection of the award meant that he did not deserve Nigeria as his country. Acbebe was accused of preferring foreign awards to Nigerian ones, an issue that was neither raised nor implied in his letter. He was accused of valuing awards from foreign countries like Sweden over those from his own country. In fact, for daring to protest the terrible situation of Nigeria under President Obasanjo, the internationally celebrated literary legend, Professor Chinua Achebe, was accused of unpatriotic and anti-masses activities as well as ignorance of the "great progress" in Nigeria under the omniscient leadership of President Obasanjo.

I believe that the current face-off between the Obasanjo administration and Professor Chinua Achebe has provided all educated Nigerians across the world a wonderful template for dealing with the current un-listening administration in Nigeria. As Achebe rightly said, "Nigeria's condition today under your (Obasanjo's) watch is … too dangerous for silence." Any Nigerian that continues to keep silent over the prevailing situation in Nigeria may in fact be the one "slapping Nigerians in the face." Like Chinua Achebe, every literate Nigerian must find an appropriate way to register one's "disappointment and protest" over the horrendous political and economic situation of our nation.

In the end, Professor Achebe's rejection of President Obasanjo's National Award is a worthy example for all Nigerians of class to follow. Every sensible Nigerian must find an appropriate way to communicate to the Nigerian president that the 120-million strong Nigerians need true democratic leadership that arrives at a decision through consultation and consensus, and that we will not continue to reward his autocratic approach to our nascent democracy with complicit silence!