Yar'Adua as enigma

A CORRECT assessment of Yar'Adua's one year in office cannot overlook a possible impact of the prolonged tussle over his electoral mandate in the courts or tribunal. Yet, the much he has done or refused to do in the intervening period since his inauguration 12 months ago should be able to define his mindset and the direction he wishes to pilot the nation. Ironically, the picture emanating from his exertions thus far cannot be said to be as conclusive and revealing.

Oh yes, the man's humility is not in doubt. His professed strictness for the rule of law is endearing and has in many ways returned a measure of confidence to the judiciary and civility to the society at large. And Nigerians have indeed applauded this presidential initiative and Yar'Adua's consistent attitude of non-interference with legislative processes as with the judicial. However, when you weigh this apparent magnanimity and candour with the government's insistence on a secret trial for Okah, the acclaimed leader of the Niger Delta insurgency, one is forced to make a back-take.

The charges against Okah were reeled out for public consumption, but the proceedings at the trial proper are being meticulously kept from the public. The question is: Is the secrecy fair to all concerned? Is it consistent with Yar'Adua's proclaimed policy of rule of law and unfettered access to justice? It might be true that the government is genuinely afraid of possible backlash of an open trial. But isn't that fear in itself an admission of guilt and government's insensitivity on the issues raised by Okah and co? It is all very confusing and a bit confounding.

There is actually a dearth of policy enactments on which the Yar'Adua administration in the last one year could be periscoped and assessed. But one must point out that its recent pronouncement on the vexed Land Use Decree of yore is far from reassuring. The 1978 Land Use Decree has been adjudged in many quarters as oppressive and inimical to development. Many have called for a thorough review and abrogation of the decree with a view to infusing equity and an unfettered and speedy access to the land. The Yar'Adua government's insistence on retaining the commanding structure and clauses of the decree, including the issuance of certificates of occupancy by state governors and local government chairmen, is far from the curtailment of government meddlesomeness in land matters expected by majority of Nigerians.

Yar'Adua's attitude and approach to the Niger Delta insurgency and crisis of development is perhaps the most curious aspect of his government's stance. Yar'Adua's most remembered 2007 electioneering slogan is his promise to solve the Niger Delta problem within the first hundred days of coming to power. And this should be so, for the problem is unarguably the most threatening and disruptive of ordered existence in Nigeria today.

Many problems including the disruption of activities in the oil and gas industry, reduction in the quantum of crude oil exports, availability of needed petroleum products locally, power outages, etc, that affect our individual and corporate welfare, are traceable to the Niger Delta imbroglio. It was therefore hoped that the incoming administration would seriously address this problem and indeed find a lasting solution for the sake of national progress and development.

But alas! Twelve months after its coming, one cannot tell whether Yar'Adua is coming or going on the pertinent Niger Delta uprising. So far, there is nothing to write home about government's striving on the issue. There has been talk about an impending Niger Delta Summit. But pray, do we need another talk shop on this matter? Or do we just want to play to the gallery? Only last week, we read in the papers about government's plan to turn the Niger Delta militants into a force for the protection and the policing of oil facilities and pipelines obviously through a 'settlement culture'. We have also heard of government's offer of oil blocks and other perquisites to Okah and other Niger Delta militant leaders. And one wonders: Is this really Yar'Adua's blueprint for containing the insurgency in the Niger Delta?

Is it really the aim of the Yar'Adua administration to bribe avowed freedom fighters into abandoning a cause they have elected to defend with their lives and blood? Could it actually be true that the Yar'Adua administration is not prepared to make any tangible concession that should reassure the Niger Deltans and elicit their passionate allegiance allegiance and commitment to the Nigerian nation?

Let it be restated that the crisis in the Niger Delta is a serious affair that should not be trifled with and cannot be wished away. It is potentially the most serious challenge to Nigeria's corporate existence today. With the huge resources at its disposal, the Niger Delta could attract strategic alliances in and outside Nigeria to pursue its grievances against the nation. The move could quite easily lead to the balkanisation of the Nigerian state. The example in the Arab world where Western powers created and propped up tiny fiefdoms of oil-rich states like Kuwait to ensure a steady supply of oil from these small pliable nations should never be lost on us.

With the sky-rocketing of oil prices in the world market today, the West could in desperation again intervene in this part of the world to foist tiny republics in the Niger Delta in much the same way they did in the Arab world, to protect their oil interests. Given this scenario, it is obvious that the only sustainable antidote to a cataclysm in Nigeria is to build a unified nation and society and forestall the cleavages and chasm that could create conditions that would turn the Niger Delta into a fertile ground for super-power rivalry and intrigue that might ultimately precipitate the dismemberment of the Nigeria nation.

Nigeria today more than any time before needs a leader that takes the entire country as his constituency, a leader who would strive to and commit himself to assuring justice and fair-play to all and sundry. For in the final analysis this remains the only way to assuage national solidarity and unity. Indeed, this is the time to eschew clannishness and ethnicism that have kept us divided and unprogressive for so long.

We need to integrate politically and reengineer the political ethos of the fifties which encouraged an ethnic mix that resulted in the emergence of a Northerner, Alhaji Umaru Altine, as the Mayor of Enugu; an Easterner, Mazi Mbonu Ojike, as the Deputy Mayor of Lagos; a westerner, Mr. Ajibade, as the representative for Port-Harcourt in the Eastern House of Assembly; as well as ensured the emergence of Prof. Eyo Ita, a so-called minority element, as the Head of Government Business in the Eastern Region, amongst such other build-ups across the nation.

These were unarguably positive developments, a flowering of nationhood, which the country cannot do without. Should President Yar'Adua tow this line and avoid sectional pursuits, he will become a hero of sorts that will garner the support base to take Nigeria to the next level.