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NIGERIA : BOYCOTTING NIGERIA By Chido Onumah

After the celebrations, Nigerians, expectedly, waited anxiously to hear the government’s explanation for what went wrong. When it came, two days ago, it was a puerile response from the regime’s info-bouncer, Gerry Gana. Gana, in what clearly was a cheap rationalization, tried to explain away what amounted to non-recognition of the present regime by the absentee leaders. The Guardian newspaper, Thursday October 5, quoted Gana as saying "their absence has to do with the politics that is going on in the land. It has nothing to do with Mr. President".

Perhaps, Gana should have come out to explain this politics that irked these leaders so much that they literally turned their back on the nation. There is so much politics going on in Nigeria that it doesn’t make sense or serve any purpose to equivocate on the politics going on in the land. There is the politics of Sovereign National Conference, politics of oil, politics of Obasanjo’s presidency, politics of marginalization, politics of corruption and loot recovery. Just name the issue and you would find a political group in support or against it.

Gana’s argument that the ex-leaders’ absence had nothing to do with President Obasanjo further compounds the issue. Considering the fact they these leaders helped put Obasanjo in power, the least they could do to humor him was to attend the anniversary celebrations. But they failed to do that. So if the problem was not Obasanjo, what else could it be? The only plausible answer is that these leaders are disenchanted with Nigeria and all that it represents. I don’t blame them; many Nigerians feel that way too. I share their feeling if their non-attendance had to do with the fact there is nothing to celebrate. Who wouldn’t feel sad rehashing these 40 years of fraud and hopes betrayed?

But these are not ordinary Nigerians. These are former leaders who have had the fortune of running the country. These are people who are expected to rise above the so-called politics going on in the land. When the same people decide to boycott the country’s independence celebrations, it is a clear indication of the clouds gathering before the storm; it is a dangerous development both for the current regime and the country at large; it is simply a death wish on the country.

It is not that their presence would have mattered really. None of these men ranks among the favorite statesmen in the country. Not many Nigerians want to be reminded of the pains, deprivation and want they went through at the hands of these men. Indeed, very few Nigerians will be impressed by the face of the evil genius, Babangida, staring at them smugly on national television.

Jerry Gana, in the Guardian report, went on to say "I was told that some people who gathered somewhere in the country abused themselves and each other. There was a meeting in Kaduna where other groups gathered and said look ‘if we are going to be abused, we better stay off’". Who was going to abuse them and for what reason, Gana didn’t say.

Well, I do know that Nigerians have been abusing each other and their leaders since independence. In fact abuse, both public and private, is a national pastime. For some it is the only weapon they have against those who have mismanaged the country; for others it is just a way of life; yet for others, it is a way of showing their disenchantment with the state of the nation. So it is nothing new, really! That former leaders would boycott the country’s independence celebrations because they feared some people would abuse them says a lot about the country and what it means to these leaders.

Maybe we should look for some other excuses. Former governor, Balarabe Musa,  was forthright in his response when he told the Guardian: "We should not pretend that all is well with the country, especially with the absence of former president and heads of state from the North at the 40^th independence celebrations in Abuja…"

Regrettably, Obasanjo remains the greatest pretender. Typical of his regime, the government’s spokesman has come out to say that the president is not worried about the past leaders’ absence. When the Sharia monster reared its ugly head, the regime said it wasn’t perturbed. I wonder when Obasanjo would begin to worry about this house that is set to implode.

If those who have ruled the country over the years now decide it is time to boycott it, then there is more than enough reason to worry. In many ways, the present regime, no matter its shortcomings- and there are many -offers the last opportunity for Nigerians to decide the future of the country. Our experience so far with national unity remains a huge joke.

Of course, it is reassuring that there are Nigerians who genuinely believe that the country can emerge a strong, united and prosperous nation. But the question remains: how long can they hold on considering the antics of Babangida and company?

Perhaps an immediate national conference, sovereign too, may well be the only choice left to save this tottering edifice.

Please respond to the article at TAV Response