Uzokwe's Searchlight


The nation is crying out but the president does not seem to be hearing them but instead is listening to the voice of a few people, whose interests do not lie in the furtherance of democracy in the nation but in enriching themselves, how can this be, one would ask?
Monday, August 4, 2003


Alfred Obiora Uzokwe
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''DIVIDE AND DOMINATE''
- OBJ'S SUBLIMINAL POLICY TOWARDS ANAMBRA AND S.E. STATES



hen the colonial masters landed in the continent of Africa, they met nucleated and close knit settlements that at first seemed impregnable and impenetrable. What held the people together were the commonalities they shared which were handed down from generation to generation. In an attempt, therefore, to break the bond between the people and penetrate the hinterland, the colonialists came up with the "divide and rule" system under which they exploited social, religious, ethnic and language differences that existed amongst the natives. They subdivided them based on those lines of differences and pitted them against one another. While the people bickered amongst themselves and even fought one another, the colonialists furtively closed in, took vantage positions and intensified their stranglehold on the natives. They took sides with groups that helped them achieve their goal of total subjugation; made them leaders against the will of the people and helped them usurp the powers of the leaders that existed in the land before they came. Many of the leaders they installed were unpopular amongst the people but that was not the concern of the colonialists who felt that the end justified the means.

Internal squabbling, exacerbated by the actions of the colonialists, weakened the natives; they were unable to galvanize themselves into cohesive units to present common fronts against the onslaught that the colonialists were visiting on them. As a result, the people found themselves in perpetual bondage and complete subservience. Sadly enough, the divide and rule method of domination could still be seen in Africa today, the only difference is that this time, it is being practiced on Africans by Africans. It is currently playing out in Liberia; Rwanda has seen the worst of it as the Hutu's were pitted against the Tutsi's while Congo is still reeling from the after effects of it.

In Nigeria, at the advent of the current democratic dispensation, the president, General Olusegun Obasanjo initiated and has now perfected a modified version of divide and rule, which this writer refers to as "divide and dominate". It has become his tacit policy towards the people of Southeastern states especially Anambra. In the interest of brevity, this treatise will be centered on how that unwritten and unspoken, but nonetheless potent policy, has been used to stunt the growth of Anambra state, advertently or inadvertently.

1999 to 2003 - First four years of Obasanjo

The saying that you cannot have two captains on a ship may be hackneyed but it is still germane in current times, particularly in Anambra state. When you have two captains on a ship, especially where it is their responsibility to determine course and destination, conflicts would develop because each would want his course to be followed. The ship will be pointed in many different directions and is bound to derail in the final analysis. In the same vein, the absence of a clear leader with a clear mandate to pilot the affairs of a nation or state, is bound to create anarchy because every one, especially those that love power, would have their different ideas of the "course and destination". Of course this would generate conflicts that would eventually derail the government. That was the fate of Anambra state during the period in question; as soon as General Obasanjo ascended office, he found a staunch ally in Chief Emeka Offor, an Anambra state indigene, whose claim to fame was his enormous wealth. The president assigned truckloads of mobile policemen that guarded the chief and they were always in his convoy whenever he traveled. A contemporary of mine once said that one could hardly distinguish between the convoy of chief Offor and that of the then governor. The chief had very strong backing from the federal government and practically enjoyed the status of a governor in the state. Effectively, the president, at his whim, created a parallel government in the state with the chief at the helm. He created a second captain in the ship of Anambra state and that provided fodder for the fire that eventually engulfed the state and inexorably led to its ruination. It did not matter to General Obasanjo that the chief was not an elected official or even a recognized political figure in Anambra state, the president gave him all the accouterments of power that could only rival those of a governor.

Anambra and other southeastern states are fast turning into leaderless states, a free for all society where anything goes. People in those states no longer seem to think about the collective progress of Ndigbo, instead, they seem to be willing to do whatever it takes...to stay in power or in the corridors.

Trouble started when the then governor of the state, Dr Mbadinuju, who incidentally had Chief Offor as his political godfather, started attempting to assert his authority as the governor and back away from the clandestine deals he may have entered into with his godfather before the elections. Of course some of the deals were akin to the one Dr. Ngige entered into with Chief Uba, which have become the bone of contention in the current imbroglio. This writer recalls vividly when chief Offor held a press conference and tabled some charges against the governor. He concluded the press conference by stating in no uncertain terms, that he was going to make the state ungovernable! The statement shocked the citizens of Anambra state who expressed outrage that an individual could make such outlandish statement and get away with it. Many cried foul and insisted that the chief did not have the right to set the state backwards because of a squabble that existed between him and the governor. It was expected, at the time, that the president would see clearly that his establishment of a second "governor" or parallel government in Anambra state was ruining the state. He was expected to withdraw the governor-like authority he arrogated to the chief so that sanity would return to the state. He did not do that; Anambra state therefore became the land that suffered while two elephants fought. During this period, teachers' salaries were owed, schools were closed for a long time, roads and other infrastructure were neglected and nothing worked in the state because when the governor was not busy siphoning money from the state treasury, he was spending time fighting off the onslaught from his arch nemesis, chief Offor. Even, members of the state legislature were divided in loyalty, some backed the chief while others supported the governor and this created problems where the overall good of the state was no longer the raison d'etre; they were all "one-upping" one another just so that accusing fingers could be pointed. The affairs of the state became secondary and the neglect that the state suffered during this period went down in the history as one of the most brutal. I know kids, in Anambra state, that quit school at that time and never returned, I know teachers that left the profession for petty trading, I know people that left the state in search of greener pastures in other states. It was that bad.

While all this was happening, the president who was supposed to be a galvanizer was tearing the state apart through his "divide and dominate" policy. Many political observers have insinuated that if the president were not enjoying the mess he was helping to foist on Anambra state, he knew what to do to rectify things. He could have withdrawn the federal backing he gave to Offor, withdrew the mobile guards he supplied him and publicly stated that Anambra state had only one governor. If he had done that, the chief would have been put back in his place in the society and some decorum would have returned to the state. This would have given the bonafide governor less excuse for his ineptitude, which had reached mammoth proportions. General Obasanjo chose not to do that because peace in the state would have given the people clearer eyes to see the destruction that the PDP was unleashing on them. From all the above, this writer feels that the president helped sow the seed of discord in the state. He exploited the weaknesses of power-hungry men and then pitted them against one another by creating rivalry. As they bickered amongst themselves and fought one another for supremacy, he penetrated the state and took control. The control he gained of the state was the reason why the PDP 'won' the state. If the people were free to make their choices; if the president's men were not stationed all over the state, doing what was necessary to win, there was no chance in hell that the PDP would have won. Senator Nzeribe even threatened to spill the beans on how the PDP "won and didn't win the state". The president simply created a rival to the governor and then took sides, albeit tacitly, with the chief, forcing the governor to come to him from time to time for settlement or reassurance.

Obasanjo's second coming, 2003-

The same scenario, as above, is repeating itself in Anambra state. Chris Uba, another presidential ally and political godfather to the governor, is dutifully following in the footsteps of the other chief, although he has taken things further. Like Chief Offor, Chris Uba is a staunch PDP supporter as well as presidential ally. He sponsored the candidacy of many PDP politicians, in Anambra state, including the governor. Dr. Ngige's sponsorship was conditioned on giving chief Uba the authority to appoint commissioners as well as sign away the state treasury. As far as this writer is concerned, Dr. Ngige was a willing participant in the shady deals but like Mbadinuju, when he tasted power, he realized what he had done by taking part in the deals and made efforts to start backing out by reneging on certain commitments. Again, just like in the case of Mbadinuju, he enraged his political godfather, who then resorted to an action tantamount to "making the state ungovernable", sound familiar yet? Chief Uba's actions are viewed as a coup attempt by men in civilian uniform and merit the same penalty that soldiers would get if they embark on government overthrow.

Since the coup attempt, Nigerians have been expecting a strong statement from the president as the custodian of the constitution; Nigerians have been waiting to hear stringent and punitive actions, from the president, against the masterminds to forestall any such attempts in the future but all he could tell Nigerians, after a very long silence, was that he was going to broker a political settlement. Chief Uba was not even intimidated when the PDP announced his expulsion. Sounding as confident as ever, he simply reminded the party of all he had done in the past to "help them win elections" and said that he had petitioned the president and was sure that the decision would be reversed in due course. Sure enough, lately, the statements coming from the PDP chairman, Audu Ogbeh, point to a vindication of chief Uba's statements. A few days ago, the National Working Committee of the PDP established a nine-member committee to run the affairs of the party in Anambra, after they dissolved the executive council. This committee was to "return normalcy" to the state. While addressing members of the committee, after its inauguration, Mr. Ogbeh said that the PDP would welcome repentant members.[Daily Trust, July 31] He was simply telling them, in secret codes, to pardon and bring back Chief Uba and his cohorts into the party if they say they are sorry. The statement credited to Audu Ogbeh shows that the party is testing the waters to see what the reactions of Nigerian would be before the PDP formally announces their pardon. The president cannot tell the nation that he is unaware of what Ogbeh is saying and doing because the man is simply playing out a script that has been rehearsed and perfected.

What boggles the mind here is that the PDP is treating a crime against a state and nation as a petty misdemeanor against a party. The nation is crying out but the president does not seem to be hearing them but instead is listening to the voice of a few people, whose interests do not lie in the furtherance of democracy in the nation but in enriching themselves, how can this be, one would ask? The answer is that Aso Rock is at it again, exploiting the political and idiosyncratic differences between the warring factions, pitting them against one another and while they fight to the finish, retaining and maintaining stranglehold on the state. With anarchy in the state, no one would be talking about development or lack thereof, instead, the warring parties would continue to go to Aso Rock for settlement of their differences while the people suffer.

Of course the scenario above is very familiar; it has once played itself out in the state under a different aegis. Currently, Dr. Ngige is calling for prosecution of the culprits while the president is calling for political settlement, which will still keep the coupists in their exalted positions to continue to fight the governor. Of course, with Ngige calling for prosecution, clearly against the will of the president, it will not take long before Aso Rock ostracizes him to the approval of the coupists. With that, the coupists will become even more brazen to go after him. He will of course expend resources and time to fight off the machinations of his enemies, who would do their level best to prove to the nation that they were right when they stated that Ngige was incompetent and untrustworthy. State government business would become second in importance to him and the state would be back where it was during the Mbadinuju era - stunted development. The president knows all this, he has been there before and all he needs to do to reverse this impending doom is to call a spade a spade, condemn the coupists, openly dissociate himself from their activities and hand over the case to prosecutors. He does not want to do that because he would loose the people that help him keep control of the state. Of course he does not want to lose control; to dominate, he must divide along lines of differences.

In the real world, in a true democracy, an independent prosecutor should now be handling this case because Obasanjo is too close to it. Why must he insist on being the one handling it? He could actually be a witness of some sought in the case since he is close to some of the participants. Insisting on handling it is equal in effect to investigating himself and that smells fishy. People say that this is a young democracy and we are still learning. I agree that Nigeria is a young democracy but we cannot learn anything by sweeping matters like this under the rug. This is a matter that affects the nation and the manner in which it is resolved will set a precedent that will last way into the future. Also, Aso Rock should realize that the people of Anambra state are now very disgusted with the way the presidency is unnecessarily interfering with the politics and administration of the state. It has become clear that he seems to always identify with people in the state, who are willing to be used as tools to set the state back. It happened during the last administration and is shaping up again during the current one. If it quacks and walks like a duck, it probably is.

Some solutions?

Anambra and other southeastern states are fast turning into leaderless states, a free for all society where anything goes. People in those states no longer seem to think about the collective progress of Ndigbo, instead, they seem to be willing to do whatever it takes, including selling their birth rights, to stay in power or in the corridors. What is happening in Anambra state is just a snippet of what is going on in other southeast states. This was not the case before the Biafra war and one wonders if that war or the fragmentation of the Igbo society, through subdivision called state creation, changed the collective psyche of the people. Whatever the case may be, it seems that what is needed in those states, for restoration of sanity, is going back to basics. For too long those states have been derelicted by the citizens and people who often do not have a stake in their progress have taken over control with attendant consequences. It is time that a respectable leader emerged to re-galvanize the citizens of those states and bring things back to some semblance of normalcy. Waiting for the PDP, under Obasanjo, to do that is pure waste of time. The new leader must step in at this critical moment and provide the leadership that the southeast states want and need very badly. The leader's record must be free of corruption and he must be a genuinely well-read man, not a man with questionable qualifications. The leader must have the ability to fearlessly articulate the position of Ndigbo, speak for them, share their grief with them, and shout aloud when external influences, without interest in the progress of Ndigbo, start to invade. If this leader does not emerge, shady characters will continue to dominate the land and shameful spectacles like the one we just witnessed will continue to play out na ala Igbo.

For the leader to succeed in this role, he must have no affiliation with any political party because as long as he is tied to a particular party, whereas Igbos are in all political parties, he would always be viewed as partisan and therefore neglected. What this writer envisages is a situation where the Igbos would entrust in the leader, the authority to help settle issues in Igboland, help shape the Igbo journey and dispense counsel to all Igbos, no matter their state of origin or political persuasion. In this position, should the type of scenario taking place in Anambra state repeat, he would have the authority to call all the warring parties, call things as he sees right and any one in Igbo land that insists on pulling the people down by their despicable actions, should answer to Ndigbo. In the past, in Igboland, the threat that someone may be ostracized was potent enough to discourage all kinds of crime, including robbery, corruption, and the likes. These are desperate times and if desperate measures are not taken in Igboland, including the threat to declare errant men persona non grata, the people will continue to drift aimlessly to oblivion. A leaderless society can never advance because it becomes a free for all where all kinds of people pose as leaders. Just because one has money, especially money acquired in very dubious ways, does not mean that the person has the wisdom to articulate the vision for a people.

It was refreshing to hear Ohaneze declare that they would meet to discuss ways of curbing the worship of money in Igboland, but because some members of Ohaneze belong to differing political parties, some Igbos will still view any resolution they reach with suspicion. If members would make the sacrifice of becoming politically neutral in all respects, quitting their respective political parties so they can serve the interest of Ndigbo, they would stand a better stead to do what they are talking about. They can make their opinions known without fear or favor towards any individuals.

HERE I STAND!