INSIGHT Satanic Voices
JDuke Ogunbor
erry John Rawlings, the former military dictator and President of Ghana will forever remain an enigma in the folklore of Ghanaian politics – though, the jury is still out on whether he was a good or bad leader. Nevertheless, in a continent blighted by sit-tight leaders, the remarkable act of voluntarily relinquishing power, especially to a candidate from the opposition party, earned him a well deserved entry into the very rare pantheon of African leaders. For that reason, whenever he weighs in on any issue, his comments and views always carry a lot of gravitas. Therefore, it should be of no surprise to most people, that I was particularly interested in what he had to say concerning the incendiary rhetoric credited to some Nigerian politicians, and champions of various ethnic based groups, in what is turning out to be a zero sum game.
Recently, while speaking at the 12th annual lecture organised by the University of Ibadan Alumni Association (UIAA), Ekiti State chapter, The former Ghanaian President, warned Nigerians to stop hate speeches, and desist from threatening each on tribal grounds; he emphasized that such development is not good for the nation. His admonition comes against the backdrop of the burgeoning agitations by nearly all ethnic groups Nigeria, and in particular, the upsetting audio recording, purportedly being spread in some parts of Nigeria by an amorphous Northern Youth group.
President Rawlings concern should not be lost on us. Nigeria by the sheer size of her population and economic clout plays a strategic role in the overall stability of the African continent; therefore, any whiff of instability will always have a debilitating effect. To illustrate the potency of this clout, I will share an anecdote by one of our own representatives in the pantheon of African statesmen, President Olusegun Obasanjo (though I harbor a negative view of his personal moral compass, a subject for another day). According to him, during a state visit to Ivory Coast, when he held sway as military head of state, all the major markets in that French speaking West African country were closed as a mark of respect, not by the host government, but by the traders who were mostly Nigerians. This incident happened in late 70s, so it is very likely that the population of Nigerians in that country must have, by current estimates, quadrupled. A fairly more recent example is when, not long ago, Late President Matthieu Kerekou of Benin Republic had to literarily go on all fours to plead with OBJ for the reopening of his country’s borders with Nigeria, after an indefinite closure had been ordered by the latter to stem the tide of cross-border smuggling.
Inasmuch as we seem to care-less about keeping the peace in our nation;
a quote in Latin by the famous Roman poet Horace, provides some justification why some of our neighbours believe it is within their rights to voice concern –loosely translated into English, it means; you too are in danger when your neighbour’s house is on fire. In any case, our neighbors have in recent times felt the adverse spill-over effects from our internal wrangling – Cameroun, Chad Niger by their sheer proximity have been dragged into the vortex of the asymmetrical warfare between Nigeria and the Boko Haram insurgents.
So at times like this, when calmer heads should prevail, the recent comments credited to Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) in response to the audio recording is most unhelpful; without a shred of evidence, he accused the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as being the authors and sponsors of the now infamous recording. As usual, when politics is thrown in the mix, the underlying import, and likely resolution of what is potentially a dangerous situation gets allmuddled up. Such rhetoric was unhelpful when just a few years ago, the former publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh accused (also without a shred of evidence) the then nascent APC as being sponsors of Boko Haram and touted them as proponents of the infamous janjaweed ideology. Metuh’s rhetoric was unhelpful then, same way Oyegun’s rhetoric is now.
If history remains the best teacher, then we as Nigerians, have every reason to be concerned. While our good neighbours, like Rawlings, can see a clearand-resent danger, and choose to speak out; our own leaders, like Oyegun are busy hurling verbal Molotov cocktails on the smoldering fire of discontent. Therefore, for the survival of our nation, it is time to not only crowd out the noise from these satanic voices, but to identify and isolate those leaders - religious, ethnic, local and national who are busy ratcheting up the flames of angst, divisiveness and hatred. We should, without ambiguity, and any hint of equivocation, tell them that Nigeria deserves better.
“Be resolute in your convictions, but never absolute in your views” –Duke Ogunbor