IT is now stale news that Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro is now an “Honorable” Minister. Two weeks ago, I speculated that knowing the ruling party and its undistinguished senators, Obanikoro’s confirmation as a minister was a foregone conclusion. For, all things being equal as a former senator, in spite of the scandal which rendered nothing equal, he would only have to “bow and go.” Opposition senators may protest as they must, but David Mark’s Senate is enslaved to “tradition” and it doesn’t have to bother itself about the rationale for that tradition.
As of Thursday morning when this column had to be submitted, we did not know Obanikoro’s portfolio. But no one should be surprised if Obanikoro is given back his old portfolio in the Ministry of Defence. After all, he is needed for the President’s reelection especially in the Southwest. And whatever anyone might think about the undisguised clarity of Obanikoro’s voice in the Ekiti rigging tape, it is now clear that he was truthful when he declared to Brigadier General Momoh and other PDP chieftains, including Mr. Fayose, that President Jonathan gave him the assignment and he had to deliver.
When Obanikoro told the Brigadier General that he cannot have a promotion without him as Minister of State for Defence sitting on the Military Council, he wasn’t bragging. He assured Momoh that if he was a happy man the following day, the sky was the limit for the General. What Obanikoro accomplished in Ekiti, he will now have to achieve for Jonathan in the entire Southwest. If this makes political sense, does it make moral sense?
There are a few matters arising on this latest brazen display of impunity and arrogance by the ruling party. There is little doubt now that we are being told in clear terms that the electorates don’t really matter. What just happened was a thumbing of the nose of citizens in a “what can you do?” posture.
There is no doubt that PDP cannot win a free and fair election if it depends only on hard-core party members. It needs independent voters who are not beholding to any party. But independent voters are generally more discriminating in terms of candidate’s credentials and record of performance. They are certainly turned off by blatant moral lapses such as Ekitigate that affront the foundation of democracy. Therefore political parties must present their best to woo them and enlist their support. From some of its recent activities, there is no doubt that PDP and the President do not give a damn about voters in general and independent voters in particular. PDP just keeps reminding us of the dreadful past when NDP leaders in Western Region went about bragging that even if the electorates failed to vote for them, they would still win the 1965 election. The outcome is history.
Now to the matters arising. First, the nomination of Obanikoro as minister by Mr. President was morally obnoxious. Recall that Obanikoro lost the primary for the gubernatorial election in Lagos State. But this is not the issue. After all, one candidate must win and others must lose. The point was the characterization of Obanikoro by party leaders in Lagos. Bode George described him in uncharitable terms. So did Ogunlewe. Many of the party members would have nothing to do with him. If someone was thus flatly rejected by his state chapter, what was the moral sense of giving him a ministerial appointment? The ostensible rationale was to compensate him so the party can present a unified front at the election. So the appointment was a bribe and the President didn’t see anything wrong with this. At any rate if Obanikoro was so roundly chastised by his chapter, and leaders didn’t see any electoral value in him, what was the point of compensation or bribe? The President needs him.
Second, it was shortly after his nomination that the bombshell of the Ekiti Rigging Tape was dropped. But for the moral conscience of the young army Captain Koli who used good judgment to record the conspiratorial meeting of daredevil politicians, their wicked scheme wouldn’t see the light of day. Now we know and Mr. President knows. He could have done the needful by withdrawing his nomination pending the clearance of the nominee after adequate investigation. Doing so would have led credence to his avowed but largely only-on-paper “transformation agenda”.
But Mr. President looked the other way. Even without an investigation, Dr. Jonathan dismissed the tape as a fabrication. Then one after the other, the meeting participants confirmed their participation and authenticated their voices. Still Mr. President did not recant his unguarded dismissal of the allegation. It was quite extraordinary that even with the confession of culprits whose voices were heard clearly on the tape, Mr. President still dismissed the authenticated episode as a fabrication! Therefore he didn’t withdraw the nomination of a person as minister even with the knowledge that that person abused his power and office when he conspired with others for the manipulation of elections in Ekiti State and they were caught on tape. How sad!
Why has this not risen to the level of moral outrage for every morally conscious citizen, including members of the ruling party? Why, even with the benefit of the uncontroverted evidence, members of the ruling party didn’t see it for what it is? The generalization principle of ethics states that what is right for one person must be right for every relevantly similar person in relevantly similar circumstances. In the context of election manipulation, if it is right for the President’s party, it cannot be wrong for the opposition party. The only difference is that the President’s party has the military and the police under its control. However, if the pendulum swings, and the opposition becomes the ruling party, would the President’s party happily accept election manipulation as a matter of fact?
Third, it tells a lot about the values we hold as a people that those in high places who should serve as role models to the young people still finding their way in a hostile world are caught in a web of lies, cheating, stealing, and outright brigandage, all to get ahead. What do they teach their children? Well, we know, because a lot of the social media responses and commentaries on online news demonstrate beyond doubt that this country is in deep trouble for ages.
Some young people, many of whom are linguistically challenged are also ethically challenged. Just as elders see every action and event from the prism of politics and calculations of selfish interest, for a good number of young Nigerian citizens, politics is the be-all and end-all of life and it is driven by ethnic and/or religious affiliation. What is the hope for Nigeria as a nation? And how do Afenifere elders, Yoruba Elders Council, Yoruba Unity group, and Obas react to this? It’s good for Yorubaland to have another minister, right?
Fourth, the Senate received the nomination of Obanikoro shortly before the outing of Ekiti State Rigging scandal. Senate leaders could have decided to have their names written in platinum by sending it back to Mr. President or giving the nominee a hearing during which time the truth of his involvement would come out. This is what is done in every civilized democracy where individual senators have their eyes on history and their place in it.
Our senators must know that what happened on Wednesday March 11, 2015 is now archived in Senate history. 20, 50, 100 years from now, Nigerians, including their offspring will know the role they played in this show of shame. Senators talk about tradition as if tradition is self-justifying. It was the tradition in some parts of our country to throw twins in the bush for fear that they were evil spirits. We had a tradition of human sacrifice in many parts of the country. Were these morally justified? The tradition of not grilling former senators for confirmation even when it is public knowledge that they have fallen short of the distinction that tradition confers on them is simply morally obnoxious. If we didn’t know before, we now know.
NATION
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