It wasn’t more than an hour, before my family came face-to-face with the ‘revolutionaries’. Their grouse was that the electoral body had cheated the UPN and declared the governorship of Ondo State for Akin Omoboriowo, an NPN man. And for that, every ‘big man’ had to be burnt alive. The mob arrived the front of our house, chanting a Yoruba song ‘K’olomo kilo f’omo re o, oni a’ro!’, meaning in English ‘Let parents warn their children, today will be dire!’. They looked at my father’s ‘twin duplex’, and reckoned it had to belong to an NPN man. We then all assembled at my father’s bedroom window. He told them he had never been a politician. Someone in the crowd then said we should just keep shouting ‘Up Awo!, Up Awo!’, which we kept shouting, for the sake of our dear lives, for another 30 minutes, before we were spared.
By the end of that day in 1983, dozens of Akure’s big men had been roasted to death. Chiefs Agbayewa, Fagbamigbe, Professor Ola, Lawrence Agunbiade and many more whom I cannot recall because I was a young lad then. But I still recall vividly, the incidences of that day and even the local woman who led the mob to our house, with charms on her body. She looked dazed as if on drugs. It was a day of fear and death, a day of madness, an evil day indeed…
Events in the North of Nigeria have reminded me of that day. And even as the elections went on, I recall recounting this event on Facebook, to a friend based in the USA, who is a staunch supporter of President Jonathan. He had sought to paint General Buhari as a tyrant who seized government illegally in 1983.
So, I had to let him know the situation in my area, before Buhari’s 1983 intervention. But my friend had said I should be proud that me and my family were made to shout ‘Up Awo!’, because according to him, Awolowo was a great man. I took exception to his view, for no matter how great anyone is, people should not be put through so much trauma, or roasted alive, on their behalf.
It was Confucius who said that if he ever ruled the world, the first thing he will embark upon, is a definition of terms. He said that in recognition of the fact that one man’s food is another man’s poison, one man’s revolutionary is another man’s murderer, one man’s hero, another man’s villain. If my USA-based friend supported those who lynched people on behalf of Awolowo in 1983, I doubt very much if he is supporting the boys rioting up north today, burning the houses of many a PDP big man. Perhaps my friend’s family were UPN then, but PDP today.
Buhari’s 1983 intervention, to me, was right on time and important because the politicians had gone mad. I also recall that we had a huge problem with ‘HOARDING’ of essential commodities like milk, sugar and rice in those days, and on our street, a huge warehouse was discovered where some capitalist had kept huge amounts of these goods, at the expense of the poor people. Buhari ended all that and Nigeria returned to normal. Until IBB struck!
Many youths in the north are rioting against what they deem a travesty of justice in the recently concluded elections. But one must condemn the violence no matter what, as Buhari has done. The fact is though, that if only Nigerians were true to themselves, they would have seen this coming. Constantly, we are being called to a higher reasoning, to see beyond our noses and be truly broad-minded, to adequately analyse and comprehend the consequences of our actions and inactions, but every time, we Nigerians, especially those who lay claim to being intellectuals, fall flat on our faces. We live lives full of compromises and contradictions. We support people burning human beings for Awo, we condemn demonstrators for Buhari. We stay glued to our TV, supporting Libyan rebels carrying ammunitions against their country, we hail the Arab ‘revolution’, but in our own homestead, we just want ‘peace’, even though we want progress also.
While stating that there is a price to pay for greatness and progress, and that we all be open-minded to see the consequences of our actions and inactions, I believe there are constructive ways out of the Nigerian quagmire. I think Buhari’s party does have seriously, obvious grievances against the past elections, but those cannot be resolved in an atmosphere of violence. I do not believe those results are real too. I do not believe he could have been defeated by a margin of 10million people in this country. The leadership of the CPC should seize the moral high-ground and articulate their positions without being dismissive of a constructive approach. The PDP thus far, just wants Buhari and co, to shut up so that they can get on with their usual business. But that is wishful thinking.
In the coming days, the greatest challenge is for President Jonathan. By now, he should know that his presidency has brought upon this country, great tribulations. For how long will those tribulations continue? Is the whole thing worth it? Personally, my reading of the president’s body language is of someone who doesn’t want trouble. In fact, I see someone who would rather someone else carries the burden. But I am sure he has promoters behind him, prodding him on, while his presidency becomes one fighting fires left, right and centre. It is surely not a good legacy.
Is Jonathan ever going to be able to endear those Buhari supporters to himself and his government? Or are we all going to be living as cat and mouse for the next four years? Will we lurch from one trouble to another? What happens after the four years? Is it going to be battle royale as the East and North are locked in another bitter war (if GEJ decides to leave), or will we have mismanaged our internal relations so badly, that just according to the USA’s prediction, and right on time, we would be splitting up into many units in 2015? Are we building a foundation for discourse, and are we being fair to all sides concerned now, so that when we need it most (in 2015), we shall be able to forge a way ahead? For now, I don’t feel good about events here and what the future holds for Nigeria. The gubernatorial elections could prove to be an even greater battle for Nigeria. A lot of the lies will be exposed then, as Nigerians seek to carry out their frustrations against non-performing governors, and as those governors seek to ride on the illusion of PDP’s popularity. Meanwhile, the USA has commended us for an election that may make their predictions of a Nigeria’s breakup come true.
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