In order that the Reader may tune in into my thought process for easier communication, I feel obliged to provide definitions for the operative words of “BLINKERS” and particularly “FEUDALISM” in the above title. ‘BLINKERS” here are face gears;, the type airline travellers who want to sleep through their journeys put on. Here they are invisible and imaginary face gears worn by un-interested on-lookers who with their eyes wide open, their ears and mouth unhindered, buy “peace of mind” by seeing nothing, hearing nothing and saying nothing in spite of the tumult daily surrounding them.
In order that the Reader may tune in into my thought process for easier communication, I feel obliged to provide definitions for the operative words of “BLINKERS” and particularly “FEUDALISM” in the above title. ‘BLINKERS” here are face gears;, the type airline travellers who want to sleep through their journeys put on. Here they are invisible and imaginary face gears worn by un-interested on-lookers who with their eyes wide open, their ears and mouth unhindered, buy “peace of mind” by seeing nothing, hearing nothing and saying nothing in spite of the tumult daily surrounding them.
“FEUDALISM”, for our purposes here, at least, is an achaic system of government under which the normal rules of social contract does not exist between the government and the governed; the lives and fate of the governed being at the disposal of the government to do with as it pleases.
On Sunday October, 13, 2002, the House of Representatives published a long list of charges of un-constitutional acts against President Obasanjo on Page 24 of THISDAY. Concerned that the oversight functions of the National Assembly was subsumed under the PDP power machine to the detriment of the Nation, on Sunday the 27th October, 2002, with Rasheed Gbadamosi chairing the occasion, I had occasion to deliver the KEYNOTE ADDRESS at the Opening Ceremony of Glover Memorial Hall’s Fiesta and Book Fair. Whilst displaying some visible angst that, based upon the idle excuse that Na’abba had a hidden agenda, President Obasanjo had been spared impeachment for his myriad infractions of the Constitution of the land, I made a plea that Obasanjo be impeached. Professor Nwabueze’s Patriot, ably aided by him, had earlier insisted that President Obasanjo should be spared for fear that his impeachment might overheat the polity. That for me capped the common belief, long before then held, that the man may be an erudite lawyer of distinction and a defender of the oppressed but could not raise a match stick against his conservative self.
The same Professor Nwabueze, particularly to my surprise, relying upon exactly the same listed infractions, subsequently, after President Obasanjo left office, published books titled: “HOW PRESIDENT OBASANJO SUBVERTED THE RULE OF LAW AND DEMOCRACY“ and “HOW PRESIDENT OBSANJO SUBVERTED NIGERIA’S FEDERAL SYSTEM”.
Not so long ago, for different reasons though, I was as shocked as the Retired General that the same Professor Nwabueze engaged with at the Institute of International Affairs, of all places, arguing that a bloody revolution was required in Nigeria. A stunned General Danjuma, literally pleading with the Professor and inexplicably recalling how he made $1bn from a petroleum deal, disagreed vehemently with the Professor. Roll on the time machine and the same Professor Nwabueze is now, almost daily, an attendee, tear gas putrifications notwithstanding, at protests for justice, good governance and fairness. Surely there is more than meets the eye than philosophising that “times are a’changing”. Suffice it to say that in a Nigeria in which the strictures of a masterly crafted feudalistic Instrument of Slavery enthrones Unitarism nomenclatured Federal Constitution and in which deliberate falsehood asserting that it was made and given “by the people of Nigeria”, is embraced, it is only a matter of time for BLINKERS to come a’tumbling even in high places, because, sooner than later, the incidence of what those wearing BLINKERS do not see will not discriminate between the informed and the ignorant and between the rich and the poor.
For eight years from 1999 to 2007 when Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/367/07 was filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the legitimacy of the 1999 Constitution and seeking its orderly replacement by a negotiated alternative and up till now; the 1999 Constitution provided cover for successive unconscionable administrations to practise Unitarism in the name of Federalism, to legalise the corruption ingrained in its pages and to subject Nigerians to feudalistic slavery. In all that time, legal practitioners, high and low enlisted in the “see nothing, hear nothing and say nothing club” until their cup ran over during the PDP/Yar’adua administration when, thanks to the whims of one of their peers, a magical Attorney General, the wind of “enough is enough” gushed through the corridors of power into Aso Rock permanently refusing its windows to shut until Nigerians’ umbrage are assuaged.
In all of that, from Abachan times, NADECO was relentless in their self-assigned functions of “democracy watch” and insistence on a return to true Federalism and even warned against the holding of Elections in 2011 without the convocation of a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE at which to agree the rules and methodology of co-existence in Nigeria. Warnings unheeded, the Elections came, preceded by the agents of Feudalism openly exhibiting their fangs, insisting they are the only princes that can succeed to the throne of rulership; incensing their followership in readiness for any “mishap” that might result from any undeterred contestant going for their reserved prize. Then a Commoner dared to win and Hell broke lose. The advent of Boko Haram brought with it and unleashed more visions of the inside of Hell upon Nigerians no one knowing whether it was in response to earlier promptings or in defence of Islam?
The Sect insist they act in the name and defence of Islam. They state their grouse thus: Their political leaders, in their social and other behaviour, have deserted the strict tenets of Islam. Their abhorence for Western Education is directly related to their political leaders’ unacceptable social and other behaviour since these leaders, without exception, have not only been exposed to Western Education, but they even send their sons abroad to the best non Islamic Schools in the West. In spite of their local political leaders being the rulers of Nigeria for so long, they have left the North undeveloped and in abject poverty. For the foregoing reasons, they want non Muslims out of their territories and want strict adherence to the tenets of Sharia and would continue to bomb maim and kill until their demands are met.
Northern Leaders disagree that Boko Haram kill in the name of Islam, claiming that Islam is a Religion of Peace. But Boko Haram are not the inventors of the rules they operate. For me, there is no better description of a pugillist than by the punches he throws. Since it is known that the Quran does not totally forbid “killing”’ (See Page 340, Volume II AL HADIS) where a verse in the Quran is reported as warning Muslims even in a Jihad “not to be excessive in killing, such as the killing of women, children and the old” and in view of the fact that the grouse of Boko Haram is that their leaders, who by the way adopted Sharia Law since 2002, are not behaving strictly according to its tenets and can therefore equate their fight to a Jihad because it is a fight in the course of protecting Islam, it is too late in the day for Northern Leaders to claim that the killing is not in accordance with the Islamic fate. If all Boko Haram has indulged in is extremism, since extremism is no more than the unpalatable extension or practice of a generally accepted principle, the relevant principle here being the acceptance of Sharia, their leaders, as the harbingers of Sharia Law, should bear the brunt of their legislation. The only vexing irony here is that the killings are not directed solely against the leaders who, contrary to the 1999 Constitution from which they have benefited so much. In fact, after the fun fare with which Sharia Law was introduced in 2002, Northern leaders should be saddled with the responsibility and duty of disarming Boko Haram.
In any case, the debate is hardly one in which even Muslims in other parts of the country, let alone non Muslims of other parts of the country, can be expected to participate, especially since “thou shall not kill, an otherwise fundamental Christian injunction etched into the Ten Commandments, is the practice of Christians, Agnostics and Muslims alike in other parts of the country.
This is the background against which the BLINKERS of the mighty. the high and the low alike tumbled to the extent that every corner of the Country, except of course the agents of Feudalism; (for their stands later) are finally at one that a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE is necessary to work out the rules and modalities for co-existence. That is what culminated in the recent SUMMIT, led by the same Professor Nwabueze, the conservative. Now hear the agents of Feudalism.
Under the Title: “TIME FOR THE SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE” Back Page THE NATION ....Mohammed Haroun derisively and jestively accepted a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE as solution to the ailments of Nigeria. I must start by saying that it was not easy to reach the conclusion that that was what Mohammed did. This is because Mohammed’s piece presented me with a compendium of confusion, contributed to, first, by my conviction that his piece may have been bedevilled by the printer’s devil and, second, that it took both inconsistency and irrelevancy in its stride.
I am the first to admit that some of us may, perhaps, be too lacking in depth to follow the sequence, relevance and or intendment of his next salvo: “However, whoever or whatever is the source of Boko Haram, postponing the much touted SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE as a solution is beginning to look to me at least, more and more untenable”.
One needs to ask: What is looking more and more untenable? Is it the postponement of the SNC or the SNC as a solution? To give the clause some efficacy, I had to conclude that the printer’s devil was responsible for the word “postponing” coming after “Boko Haram” and that either “proposing”, “presenting” or “postulating” was the word intended. Mere conjecture, I agree, but the discourse cannot be allowed to die upon the instructor’s misfortune. That conjecture, nevertheless, led me to think that I would be on the same page with Mohammed if it made me believe that he meant that: “proposing, presenting or postulating SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONEENCE as a solution is beginning to look to me (him) at least, more and more untenable.” On the other hand, if we stick to his “postponing”, we may also decide that I am correct in my assumption that in view of all that he said about the SNC he cynically accepted it by insisting that we go ahead with the SNC here and now, so that, as he argued and will be seen later, we can quickly see the waste of time that it is. In which case, it would be the postponement that was becoming untenable and it would still be correct to say his acceptance was cynical.
Nor did I know what to make of his: “Personally, I think that it is a, and certainly, not the solution to the country’s crisis of unity and the integrity its advocates say it is.” However, again, not to scuttle the discourse, I reached for: “Personally, I (him) think that it is not the solution to the country’s crisis of unity and the integrity its advocates say it is.”
Then, Mohammed, after lamenting the North’s loss of Agricultural Development because of reliance upon Oil, postulated that: “Not only is the SNC likely to be a waste of everybody’s time because its membership is not likely to be qualitatively different from those that now make and execute public policy” and concluded that an SNC: “even possess the distinct danger of leading to the break-up of this country” adding that: “Nigerians and indeed Africans and the black race will rue the day the country breaks up ... for the simple reason that each and every component of this country needs Nigeria more than Nigeria needs it.”
Thereafter, Mohammed went on a frolic to say: “This in turn is for the historical reason that the strength of every society, country or civilisation lies in its number and diversity. That is why America is today’s sole super power and why China has become the world’s second economic power in less than a generation. It is also why Russia as the central pillar of the old huge Soviet Union has shrunk into a middling power.”
What exactly does all that mean? Before we search for an answer, let us juxtapose each and every reason Mohammed gave, so we can have an at-a-glance panoramic view of why Mohammed is against a Sovereign National Conference. First, because it is not the solution to the country’s crisis of unity. Second, because it is likely to be a waste of everybody’s time. Third, because its membership is not likely to be qualitatively different from those that now make policy. Fourth, because it possesses the distinct danger of leading to the break-up of this country”. Fifth, because Nigerians and indeed Africans and the black race will rue the day the country breaks up, Sixth, because each and every component of this country needs Nigeria more than Nigeria needs it.”
The first truth of the matter is that Mohammed and his ilk, are scared of the break-up of Nigeria which they believe is the only possible outcome of a Sovereign National Conference. No one would deny them the right to harbour such a fear nor pretend that such possibility does not exist but they necessarily complicate the issue by playing the Ostritch, pretending that they are the only ones who are interested in keeping Nigeria together and that the inequities that it represents must continue in order to assuage their fear.
The second truth of the matter is that whereas Mohammed and his ilk are the product of the same strictures that makes it routine to accommodate the excesses of Boko Haram, every other Nigerian Citizen must be subjected to such strictures without seeking a way out. My School of Thought acknowledges the right of the Boko Haramites to insist that non core Northerners (same thing as non Sharia adherents) should leave their territories, because it is their fundamental right to self determination to say whom they want or do not want to live with. Why others who in view of the goings on are under the same principle entitled to say “we no more want to live with this and want to self determine ourselves out of it” but are only still saying they want a negotiation of the terms of cohabitation, are not entitled to such rights, beats my imagination.
Whilst resisting the temptation to honour ridicle by adding the facts of America’s status as sole super power; China’s emergence as the world’s second economic power and the lament that Russia has shrunk into a middling power, as Mohammed’s seventh, eighth and nineth reasons why Nigeria should not have a Sovereign National Conference, I cannot refrain from my duty to point out that there is not a single argument in Mohammed’s piece that is aimed at discrediting the reasons advanced by the proponents of a Sovereign National Conference. In effect, all Mohammed is doing, is taking advantage of his privileged position as a Columnist who has access to the minds of his readers, nay the readers of THE NATION and by extension any Nigerian citizen who may commune with those readers, to manufacture a number of seeming but meaningless profoundities in justification of a baseless a priori, the product of his own particular mind set. Boko Haram have come out to hold their leaders responsible for the ailments afficting the Sharia territories, why has Mohammed chosen to play the Ostritch rather than give vent to his belief that he does not expect victims of the injustices meted out by the 1999 Constitution and Boko Haram to want to continue in cohabitaion of the same country?
However, let it be known that Mohammed has my sympathy and is entitled to a redraft of the case he made, thus: “Since due to our ill-advised reliance upon Oil, we had ignored to our detriment the Agriculture we were good at and could have survived upon and because we will be so hard put if the owners of the Oil (even though we have denied them the ownership for so long) leave us taking their Oil with them, we cannot allow a Sovereign National Conference which will afford them an opportunity to break up Nigeria. They should remain and continue to play second fiddle to us whilst we continue to survive on their Oil to their detriment; after all their reward lies in Nigeria becoming big and strong with a view to becoming a World Power.”
Enter: Is’hag Modibbo Kawu, Page 17, VANGUARD Thursday February 9, 2012. Palpably armed with a sword and all the insignia of “Defender of the Feudal Master”, he wrote with the same derision, jest and cynicism as if he was on a quest to win Journalism’s “Cheekiest” or “Rudest Writer’s Prize”. Whilst at it, he jested away his ignorance of the internationally acknowledged rights of “tribes and ethnics” inscripted upon United Nations Declarations and his ignorance of the inhabitants of Edo State who are the subjects of the Oba of Benin; thus debasing Journalism on the pages of one of the best Newspapers in the land, for which some of us, gerontocrats of NADECO, had in our more glorious days, perhaps, laboured. He stopped at nothing to indulge his preoccupation with everything else, in fact, anything, including ridicling the Late Chief Anthony Enahoro, rather than discuss the reason why a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE should hold. His only accommodation for any of the reasons advanced by the proponents is the one that insisted that the Founding Fathers agreed to “True Federalism” in the 1950 Constitutional Conference; but that was because he had the ‘fantastic” retort that “they conveniently forgot that the Constitutional Conference was attended by Political forces, not tribes”. So, away with “tribes and ehnics”. So PDP, ACN and all the other Nigerian political parties out there, here is your call to glory; be prepared to harken the Master’s clarion call: the Sovereign National Conference awaits your participation.
Next was to frown upon the dare of Slaves bothering about Boko Haram, let alone include it as a reason for seeking discussions of the basis of co-existence under the same country space. HENRY OKAH has only been accused of throwing bombs in Abuja on Independence Day; before he is even proved guilty of the crime, it is his potion to be incacerated in a South African jail. Boko Haram has bombed Police Headquarters, the United Nations Building, Churches galore, killed as many as they choose every so often and has the right to demand Sharia as a way of life; to decide who should and who should not live with them in their chosen space. But, of course, as part of the Master Race, they are to be negotiated with because they do it all in the name of God; because they are the only children of God. But not so HENRY OKAH or anyboody else from the Lower Niger. Bravo Is’haq Modibbo Kawu! We have no rights to ask to discuss how we live with others, let alone to choose whom we want to live with; let alone how we live; let alone a right to life; with the worthless lives we have, we must sit around and wait for Boko Haram to decide when to kill us and still have no choice in whether or not we live with them. Is’haq, we have heard the growl of disapproval from the owners of our lives and determiners of our fate; since Boko Haram is part of the Masters’ caprice, we will make amends accordingly and quickly too. We do not only bow, we also tremble, grovel at your feet and, oh, how we quake.
All said and done, especially since the “tribes and ethnics” have no right to demand let alone participate in a Sovereign National Conference, it was enough to anchor his case upon Simon Kolawole’s question: would the Sovereign National Conference be based upon “states, councils, wards, ethnic groups or dialects”; why not, after all, what other issue is the Sovereign National Conference about other than those who will participate in it?
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