Obasanjo: I came, I saw and I destroyed
By Abdu I. Kofarmata
- kmatagigi@yahoo.com - January 19, 2007
In one of the magazine programmes of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA Tuesday Live in 1999, the founding fathers of the then PDP were hosted by the presenter of the programme Mr. Cyril Stober to celebrate the 100 days of democracy and the PDP victory. Among the founding fathers hosted were Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Rimi, Chief Sunday Awoniyi and Chief Solomon D. Lar.
The panel was so intimidating politically and intellectually. One of the callers on the programme asked the PDP fathers what they were celebrating actually. As expected, the political big wigs started punching from all angles.
Dr. Ekwueme confidently answered the caller; “we are celebrating the end of fuel scarcity and the vanishing of long queues in our petroleum filing stations.”
Abubakar Rimi on his part said that “we are celebrating freedom and democracy.”
Questions after questions and answers after answers, the programme ended with confirmation of their campaign promises.
Chief Solomon Lar in his closing remarks, promised Nigerians a democratic, sincere and people-riented PDP government.
The president himself was not left out of these empty promises. In 1998 the PDP presidential aspirant and current president, promised the nation to run a reconciliatory, transparent and people-oriented government.
He further promised to end all developmental problems with assurance of fixing the NEPA in only six months. Obasanjo and PDP promised the nation a stop in the perennial fuel scarcity as well as rehabilitation of all our damaged refineries and roads.
The PDP presidential aspirant then made the fight against corruption as the focal point of his administration if voted into power.
Little did these PDP founding fathers knew that they were only creating a monster in the form of PDP and installing “a-one-kind-government ever in the history of Nigerian state.”
Almost eight years now after the PDP and Obasanjo’s declarations, the nation is not close to finding solution to those problems; sadly those problems have rather compounded.
What the nation is now witnessing are bad economic policies with their negative effect on the populace.
Eight years under Obasanjo and PDP led administration; nothing, absolutely nothing seems to be going on smoothly or successfully.
Corruption has since assumed new definition under PDP; corruption as an improper behavior performed only by members of the political opposition. The Kwankwasos, Mantus, Andy Ubas, Olabode Georges of this country and their likes, do not seem to matter to the EFCC, so far they continue to remain loyal and in PDP.
The common man on the other hand has been sandwiched between heartless government officials and greedy businessmen. The promise to end the perennial power outrage turns into something else.
After spending excess of N56 billion without light even in Aso rock, the president told the nation of his determination to generate 10,000 megawatts as if that was his earlier promise. With this huge expenditure without corresponding result, the president still wants the nation to believe his fight to restore electricity supply.
Nobody in the power sector is arrested or asked about the whereabout of the money appropriated to the ministry or parastatals in charge of electricity.
Obasanjo and PDP met the nation under acute and severe fuel scarcity, with all the refineries grounded, with less than four months to complete his eight years, tenure, none of the refineries is repaired and/or working and as this writer is compiling this piece, four liters of petrol is sold at N1000 in many parts of the country. The president and his party are leaving us with our problems.
What a pity? The only achievement of the president in this lucrative oil sector can be seen in the area of being a petroleum minister for seven and a half years and the disposal of government holdings in the major oil companies to some people, specific I should say.
Nigerians were forced to pay for higher petroleum product prices shamelessly under the guise of product availability, whereas I strongly believe that the ultimate aim is to help some dubious businessmen and PDP donors to recoup their investment in the PDP.
As for the democracy and the rule of law as promised by PDP and Obasanjo, it has since turned into dictatorship. There is no way democracy can flourish without credible election, PDP as a party is synonymous with rigging.
People with party affiliation were said to have been appointed resident electoral commissioners and chairmen.
National Assembly members were allegedly bribed to change their leadership; people defeated in elections were forced as leaders in the National Assembly. The presidency flagrantly disregards court orders and breaches the constitution at will.
No formidable opposition in the polity as the ruling party is ready to pay any price to scuttle other political parties. This singular act of the PDP and Obasanjo destroys the politics of principles and ideals giving way to money bag politics.
State machineries such as the Police, SSS, ICPC and EFCC were allegedly used to harass, perceived political opponents of the president. Constitution and court orders are neglected and only used when they support government’s decisions.
Elected governors were forcibly removed from their offices in a coup- like manner without due process for selfish interest.
Things became worst after 419 elections in 2003, some heartless elite (Yan’boko) who ordinarily could hardly win a simple councillorship election in their wards were appointed into the executive council as members. These people were neither PDP members nor were they politicians.
They brought with them harsh economic policies in the form of reforms which worsened the economic and socially life of our people. The so called Harvard and Oxford trained professionals were able to attain such educational level, courtesy of the free education as provided by our past leaders.
Majority of them are from very poor background and were brought up in difficulty and sorry conditions, alas today they destroy people’s houses and other properties in the name of Abuja master plan.
They supervise the sacking and retrenchment of civil servants and misplaced our national priorities in the name of reform.
The free and qualitative education promised by PDP and Obasanjo in 1998 is also not left out of the so-called reform.
People with little or no knowledge of education and its administration were appointed as ministers and chief executive officers of the education ministry and parastatals.
This led to the current situation of closure, merger and dropping of many institutions and certificates acquisition.
The structure of our educational sector which requires adequate funding to make it more functional, has been polarized and destroyed all in the name of reform.
Technical and teacher education which compliment the university education is now cancelled.
The complimentary role is now eroded which would surely affect the national manpower requirement of the nation and invariably affects the overall national development.
Conclusively, Obasanjo has come, he saw and has left without solving any of our problems. What a pity.