Lagos — A Russian President once said that war is too important to be left in the hands of army generals. But Nigerians seem not to share that Russian President’s sentiments, hence, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari, who willy-nilly are going to be slugging it out for the nation’s presidential mandate (a modern day warfare), come April 19, are ex-Army Generals who have a long history of rivalry that dates back to their days in the military. But in a manner that is stranger than fiction, Obasanjo seems to have always had fate working in his favour such that leadership is easily foisted on him all the time, while the same fate appeared to have been conspiring against Buhari to deny him of the same political power even when opportunity appears to have knocked on his door. Let’s quickly put things in historical perspective by casting our minds back to February 13th 1976 when the assassin’s bullet suddenly sent the charismatic General Murtala Muhammed, the then military Head of State of Nigeria to the great beyond. According to military chronicles, the then Brigadier Olusegun Obasanjo was practically compelled to fill the leadership vacuum created by Murtala Muhammed’s demise at the same time that then, Col. Muhammadu Buhari was denied the opportunity of being Chief of General Staff (CGS) – a post reserved for the next highest ranking officer of the northern stock if a southerner is occupying the number one slot. Reportedly, Brigadier Theophilus Danjuma who was the Chief of Army Staff (CAS)and next to Obasanjo in the hierarchy had opted to remain the CAS, a non-political office. According to military sources, instead of Buhari, a full Colonel at that time to be moved up the political ladder as the Chief of General Staff (CGS), Lt. Col Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was chosen to occupy the office of CGS. Although the explanation for the decision was that the CGS office is a political post and therefore not based on military rankings alone Buhari who must have felt let down, was probably by way of compensation, appointed Federal Commissioner for Petroleum – a lucrative portfolio. Following his appointment to the top cabinet post, to assuage his feelings, Buhari might have forgiven the military high command which had side-tracked him, but it is imagined that he didn’t really forget that he was indeed shortchanged. This probably’ explains why after enduring the apparent injustice of 1976 for about seven years, Buhari chose New Year’s eve, 1983 to, as it were, claim his pound of flesh by seizing power from an elected democratic government of Shehu Shagari whom Obasanjo and Yar’Adua had handed over power to in l979.
By that action, Buhari might have achieved his little long ambition of ruling Nigeria, but another twist of fate ensured that he did not stay long in office to accomplish his mission because not long after, Major General Ibrahim Babangida, a fellow coupist kicked him out of office via a palace coup. After being retired and placed under house arrest throughout the reign of IBB, Buhari returned to the political limelight in the hey days of Sani Abacha as the Chairman of the social development behemoth, Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). But the opportunity to be at the commanding heights of governance was once again marred by a sudden twist of fate – the demise of Abacha. Again, this sent the General into political hibernation. But in what appears to be hinged on the principle of “if you can’t beat them, join them,” Buhari has now emerged on the political scene. This time as a democrat, hobnobbing with the politicians most of whom he had clamped into jail after his New Year’s eve 1983 putsch. Would fate let him down once again or smile at him this time? As they say, time will tell. So much for General Buhari, the rarely smiling born again democrat. Let’s turn the searchlight on the incumbent President, General Olusegun Obasanjo, who on the other hand has been an exceptional benefactor of fate having been crowned a military Head of State in 1976 without seeking power; having been handed the rare privilege of presiding over the first military hand over to civilian government in Africa in I979; and having had the unprecedented privilege of returning to power as a democratic president twenty years after he left office without really politicking. The question now is could the same fate, that has been so benevolent to Obasanjo propel him to the highest office of the land, a third time and thus make him the first Nigerian leader to preside over the first ever successful civilian to civilian government? As we all know, history does not always repeat itself. More so, because, unlike in the past when Obasanjo waited for fate to practically thrust leadership on him, he is now vigorously pursuing his re-election, implying that he is taking his destiny into his hands. The question is, can Obasanjo retain his winning streak again? Only time will tell.
With the emergence of a plethora of Army Generals as presidential candidates of the major political parties there is no need for further conviction that the nation remains a hostage of the military in or out of uniform.
This is not surprising because having been ruled by ‘militicians’ for most part of our forty two years of independence, Nigerians are more used to General this or General that in Dodan Barracks or Aso Rock than members of other professions like journalists, teachers, lawyers, engineers, accountants or even career politicians.
As the American author of the sensationally critical book on Nigeria: This House Has Fallen, Karl Maier noted, both Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former United States President Bill Clinton had at different occasions endorsed the intention of both Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha to convert from military to civilian leaders. This implies that the exchange of military khaki with civilian robes which some Nigerians appear to loathe would have been welcome by the leaders of the democratic world such as the United States and the United Kingdom if the former dictators had gone ahead with their inordinate desires. This is not surprising since nearly all major democracies in the world have had military men at the political helm of affairs at the formative stages.
From the days of General George Washington as the President of the United States of America; General Winston Churchil as the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Togugawa Shogunat’s military reign in Japan, military, men have been war time presidents of their countries. But what distinguishes the American, English and Japanese military in politics from our experience with the military in politics is that while the military in those countries are largely responsible for laying the foundation on which some of the world’s leading democratic and prosperous economies are built, the Nigerian military is notorious for under developing our society through the plundering of the nation’s treasury- Abacha as a typical case in point.
In the words of the former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew in his famous book, From Third World To First: The Singaporean Story,” My experience of developments in Asia has led me to conclude that we need good people to have good government. However good the system of government, bad leaders will bring harm to the people.”
This sort of corroborates the belief that the problem with Nigeria is not so much the profession, ethnic group or religion of the people who have ruled and are aspiring to rule the country. The problem with Nigeria is poor leadership. So regardless of who takes over the mantle in Aso Rock after election 2003, between Obasanjo and Buhari, the most critical quality that Nigerians crave is good leadership – the sort the former Singaporean leader, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew described as a “Burning Desire to Change an Unfair and Unjust Society for the better.”
More or less, the emergence of Generals Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari as the main presidential flagbearers in 2003 presidential elections should ordinarily be a good omen since they would invariably be the last Generals to occupy the exalted office of the president of Nigeria. But with the alarming spate of politically-induced assassinations, politicians appear set to drag us back to the days of anarchy.
Onyibe writes from Lagos