Judgement day

Those That Fell

One of the more striking images and lessons of the year that has just ended can be traced to the circumstances and fortunes of a number of persons who had hitherto occupied the high quarters of life and society but who suddenly found themselves on the other side of fate, most unexpectedly, and in the face of which they were, and have been completely helpless. As a new year begins, it might be useful to reflect on their stories, the morality as it were, which reminds us of the ineffectuality of all human strivings. Nothing is certain in life except uncertainty itself. A man may be high up today, tomorrow he may find himself in the company of knaves. Knowing this to be true, it seems most strange that men in positions of authority and privilege tend to carry on with the attitudes of gods in the firmament.
Nigerians in particular love power and position. Give a man a position with an important title and then some power, he would exploit the position to the limits. It is perhaps the hubris that all men suffer: this illusion of importance, this assumption of God-like proportions. When persons fall from grace, they remind each and every one of us of the need to be humble. Man after all is not the most supreme of all beings as he is wont to think. He is in reality, no better than the gnat, an item of existence, a plaything of fate, surrounded by danger and happenstances, capable of disgrace, death and despair. His life is as cheap as that of lower animals. It is in this duality, this ambiguous polarity, that the very essence of life resides.
The entire purpose of our being therefore is this continual struggle between the two opposites, our management of ontology and teleology, as we search for meaning in an eternal, universal pattern that is at the root of humanism. But let no man blame fate, for every man is the architect of his or her own fortunes. And so Shakespeare advises in King Lear (1606) that "this is the excellent foppery of the world, that,/ when we are sick in fortune - often the surfeit of our own behaviour, - we make guilty of our own disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars;/ as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards,/ liars, and adulterers by an/ enforced obedience of planetary influence."
This passage would seem to describe the experiences individually and collectively in the year that has ended of former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, former South African Vice President Jacob Zuma, Nigeria's former Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara, former Minister of Housing Mobolaji Osomo, former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun, former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chris Ekpenyong, former Governor of Anambra state, Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju. For each of these persons, the year 2005 held painful memories; it confronted them with the ephemerality of all things, good and bad, and the rest of us watching them, in contemplating the circumstances of their experience need not moralise, only to take the lessons to heart.
Saddam Hussein was once regarded as the most powerful man in the Middle East. He ruled his country, Iraq with an iron hand. With a murderous state machinery under his command, he exercised the powers of life and death over those whom he loved and those who stepped on the wrong side of his sword. With his open defiance of America's supremacy, he soon became an international celebrity. But his world has since unraveled. When Saddam was smoked out of the hole in which he had hidden away like a frightened rat, he was paraded on television like a common criminal, and his ordinariness was exposed. The strong man of Iraq was no better than any other coward; in the face of defeat, he fled.
In 2005, his humiliation was well-advertised. He was shown on television as he and his former aides stood trial for the murder of more than 140 residents of a Southern Iraqi town after a 1992 assassination attempt against him. Saddam Hussein used to look so impressive in his military uniform. That has been taken away from him. He used to be surrounded by an elite corps of Presidential guards; today he is ferried to court like a common criminal, thrown into a cage and treated like an ordinary man. He was dressed in a black suit and white shirt, without a tie. On one occasion, he asked to be allowed to go for prayers, he was disallowed, and he closed his eyes in open court and simulated the ritual of praying. Here was the same Saddam who once seemed like the "God of Iraq."
His experience should provide good lessons for those who often rate themselves above their nation and people. We have seen leaders who ended up in front of the firing squad, those who went to prison, gained freedom and still returned to prison: all because they embraced madness, refused to listen to wise counsel and forgot to be humble.
In South Africa, Jacob Zuma, former Vice President to President Thabo Mbeki, also fell from grace. In 2005, he was accused of corruption and thrown out of office. He has been going in and out of court to defend himself and to respond to an additional charge of rape involving a 31-year old AIDS activist. A self-made man, Jacob Zuma earned his laurels as an active member of the Umkhonto We Sizwe. He spent 10 years in Robben Island having been accused of trying to overthrow the apartheid South African government. After his release in 1973, he continued to serve the ANC in many capacities. With the dismantling of apartheid he emerged as one of the leaders of the new South Africa, not just in his KwaZulu Natal province but in the entire country.
In 1997, he was appointed Deputy President of the ANC, and two years later, Executive Vice President of South Africa. As at March 2005, Zuma looked like a possible successor to President Mbeki in 2009. He is still Deputy President of the ANC but his integrity is under assault; his reputation has been torn into shreds. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which used to feature him on its programmes only recently cancelled a scheduled Newsmaker of the Year interview with him. Obviously, the managers of SABC do not want to offend President Mbeki. Zuma is alleging victimization by the President, and misrepresentation by the print media, notably by The Mail and Guardian, but the only persons still supporting him are those who call themselves "Friends of Zuma", and they are very few. They can be found on the internet soliciting for financial support to enable the former Vice President pay his legal bills! Zuma has become persona non grata in many places.
Here in Nigeria, we had similarly dramatic cases. In January 2005, the former Inspector-general of Police, Tafa Balogun was suddenly removed from office and charged for corruption. He was in and out of court for the rest of the year in a trial that ended with his conviction for a period of four years and eight months in prison, on eight-count charges that are supposed to run concurrently. The facts and circumstances of his trial remain open to debate but the more shocking image that struck Nigerians was when on the occasion of one of his appearances in court, the former Inspector-general of Police was rough-handled by the police, in an attempt to re-arrest him after he had been granted bail by the court. He was pushed and kicked into a standby vehicle; when the vehicle moved off, its doors flung open and the former police boss was thrown out.
The rear tyre sped over his leg. This was classic police brutality and inhumanity on display. Nigerians were horrified, but they were not surprised as they pointed to the irony of the situation. Only a few months earlier, Balogun had been the top police boss. How could his own men, those who used to be under his command treat him so poorly? But that is life, isn't it? Human beings are forever present-minded. They accord you respect especially in work situations only because you wield certain powers over them. The moment you lose power, you could be treated with scorn. Have you not heard of stories of former Managing Directors who have been kept in the sun by the same receptionists who used to worship the very grounds on which they walked when they were powerful.
Also in April 2005, former Senate President Adolphus Wabara lost his position as the country's No 3 man, having been accused of collecting a bribe of N5 million. The then Education Minister Fabian Osuji who was said to have given a total bribe of N55 million to facilitate a positive consideration of the budget for his Ministry was also fired and publicly embarrassed. Another Minister, Mobolaji Osomo who had been in charge of Housing was also sacked. She was accused of abusing due process in the sale of Federal Government houses under her Ministry's supervision. Wabara, Osuji, and Osomo have since disappeared from the front pages of newspapers. If they would be willing to talk, they will readily admit that the crowd of hangers-on and admirers who used to call them Honourable Minister has vanished. The mountain of invitations to events, which they used to receive, would have thinned down. Last Xmas, they must have received fewer hampers and cards than they would ordinarily have received if they were still in power. Power is sweet only when you still have it. Once it slips away, be prepared for life in the cold.
Former Governor of Bayelsa state, Diepreye Alamiyeseigha should know this. Up till three months ago, he was still a very powerful man. He granted interviews and spoke like a warrior. He insisted on his innocence against allegations of corruption and money laundering. His supporters called him the Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and conqueror of the British system from which he had jumped bail. When Alams was impeached by the Bayelsa House of Assembly, he suddenly found himself all alone. Those who used to swear by his name vanished. The Council of Ijaw elders which used to queue up behind him, has since issued a statement expressing support for the new Governor, Goodluck Jonathan. The same contractors who benefited from Alams as Governor have gone to pay homage to his successor. Alams is in EFCC custody. The other day when he was brought to court and slammed with a 40-count charge, the man broke down and started weeping like a child. The tears rolled down his cheeks.
Those were hot tears of sorrow and regret. Seeing this, why are men and women whose moment of gracelessness may still come, so arrogant.