A cynical but interesting perspective. The cynicism is understandable I might add.
Not much enduring good came off past probes' attempts. They sang the same song and told the same story. Their common thread was the poison of bad faith. Grudges were settled by humiliating and punishing selected enemies and opponents. The exercises most of which were futile, were like drawing water from a well with a bucket whose bottom had fallen off. Any surprise change has remained an improbable outcome. I sit in wonder.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 20, 2015 12:11 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari must probe IBB, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo too — Ben Nwabueze
A little thinking backwards will remind all of us that there had not been any government in Nigeria that did not probe activities of the regime or regimes before it. What bothered some of us was that nothing came to ordinary Nigerians from such probes, leading some of us to believe that the purpose of those probes were to educate contemporary governments on how their predecessors in office played the trick and what were the errors that made their activities known and objectionable so as to perfect their own perfidy. We pray that the current exercise will yield benefits to the country and its citizens.
On Tuesday, 18 August 2015, 17:40, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
thanks toyin. much of this is familiar history; much of it contains refinements i didn't know.
i am grateful.
i noticed you did not include religion in your statement beyond identifying igbo w christian and muslims with the north. i assume there is a christian presence in the north, and that yorubas are divided between the two? how important is the religious difference?
maybe a question might be, how long before the aftereffects of the biafran war will be gone? or it is the case, as i think i hear on the list, that igbos still feel aggrieved today, despite jonathan's presidency?
you also do not mention nigerianness in your summary. trump calls for america first. i assume there is no real nigeria first sentiments to which politicians can appeal, that it is still ethnicity that prevails?
have there been cracks in this ethnic divisions?
kenOn 8/18/15 5:08 PM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:
Kenneth,
These political orientations might reflect deep seated perspectives developed across decisive historical situations, the self perception of the various groups and ideas about comparative advantage in relation to Nigeria as a whople.
In Nigeria, these attitudes may be seen as emerging decisively in the lead up to and during the Nigerian Civil War.
One plank of the agitation for Biafra was rebellion agst the genocidal massacre unleashed by Muslim Northerners in response to the killing of Muslim Northern leaders and Yoruba leaders by a team led by Igbo army officers.
Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Biafran leader, developed an ideological statement on this orientation in his Ahiara Declaration of 1969 in the depths of the war, describing Muslim Northern culture as antithetical to the Igbo Christian culture.
Igbos have continued to suffer killings in the North across various kinds of unrest.
The pre war, war and post war experiences ensure that the SE and the Muslim North are not likely to ever see eye to eye.
The SW has at times found it advantageous to ally with the Muslim North, thereby gaining access to the centre of national power, as represented by Yoruba icon Obafemi Awolowo's role as war time finance minister, I think, of the fed govt established by the Hausa/Fulani led counter coup and the recent CPC and AC alliance that brought Buhari to power agst a President who had the support of most of the South outside the SW.
Alliance with the Muslim North is the only way the SW has ever had access to the centre of national power, in most periods remaining in the opposition, rarely able to break out of Yorubaland.
There is also strong anti-Igbo sentiment in the SW as evident from support given to the declaration by the Oba of Lagos that Igbos must vote for PDP Lagos guber candidate Ambode or face drowning in the lagoon.
This sentiment might be seen as emerging from both Biafran efforts to capture Ibadan and Lagos during the war as well as resentment at Igbo attitudes demonstrated in the social penetration culture Igbos have demonstrated in various communities to which they have migrated.
These groups- the Hausa/Fulani, the Yoruba of the SW and the Igbo of the SE represent peoples with what may be described as distinctive cultures and strategies of social relations.
Igbos, Yorubas and Hausa/Fulanis are proud groups with a very clear sense of cultural identity and history, stretching to pre and post-colonial periods.
Their group cultures may be described as significantly different from each other.
At the more abstract level of cosmology, general philosophy and spirituality, they are very close in their traditional contexts, Igbo and Yoruba philosophies and most likely, spirituality, being variations on the same central themes.
The most flexible political group among them are the Yoruba, as demonstrated by the existence of strong divisions between various groups representative of the Yorubas in the last election.
The SS is ex President GEJ's home base and not surprisingly, was allied with the SE in defending their son in power, being the first time they have got near that level of national power, despite being the centre of the Nigerian economy and the region bearing the brunt of environmental destruction for this role.
The claims of Igbo efforts to annex the SS in the war, of Biafran war crimes agst the SS and the infamous 'Abandoned Property ' saga in which Igbos were described as returning to their homes in the SS and Delta state , if I remember well, to find them them taken over as 'abandoned property' were superseded by the need to combat a common opponent in this instance..
The ex-Midwest, now divided into Edo and Delta states, shares cultural community with Yorubaland and has the Delta Igbos. It seems their political orientations are closer to the SS/SE configuration.
My understanding of this situation is that, having their own cultures, languages and distinct history, even though they share cultural continuities with Yorubaland, they assert their independence from Yorubaland, and as with Benin, remind others that even Lagos was once under their control in the Benin Empire.
Biafra occupied the Midwest during the war and is reported as committing war crimes there, but the character of Igbo presence in the region may be described as contributing to ensuring identification with the SE.
I would appreciate any corrections of fact or clarifications on this brief summation about an aspect of Nigeria's ethnic/cultural/political dynamics.
thankstoyin
On 18 August 2015 at 10:46, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
didn't the votes in the election also reflect the same division?
ethnic, but also regional?
i wonder how this reflects divisions elsewhere. for instance, in the u.s. blacks vote democratic; white men in the majority vote republican; southerners republican, etc.
ken
On 8/18/15 10:31 AM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju wrote:
Interesting arguments.
Also interesting to observe the ethnic configuration of contributors-
Yoruba and Hausa/Fulani names- support Buhari and APC and the selective probe strategy
Igbo and other non- Yoruba names- agst the selective probe strategy and possibly agst Buhari and APC.
I am agst Buhari, APC and their selective probe gimmick. I am not Yoruba although my name is Yoruba.
The picture of the demographics of support or non-support on other Nigerian centred listserves seem to be the same as is evident here.
A similar but less stark picture emerges on Facebook.
What does this mean?
toyin
On 18 August 2015 at 09:16, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
Ben Nwabueze was answering questions he was asked by a journalist in an interview. He answered the questions he was asked. The journalist pushed back. Nwabueze responded. My reading of the interview is that the interviewer-journalist was satisfied with the answers he was given. Why accuse Nwabueze of insincerity because you do not like his answers to the questions he was asked? Is the case being made that Nwabueze cannot be sincere because he turned down the offer to chair the "National Confab" and later supported it? Is Nwabueze's accuser privy to why he turned down the offer to serve as Chair? If he is not did he try to find out why? It is ludicrous that any Nigerian is questioning Nwabueze's meritorious service to Nigeria. He is a trueblue patriot if there are any left.
If Nigerians have learned anything, it is that selective probes do more damage to governments' credibility than no probes in both the short and long runs. Buhari's was widely accused of unequal treatment of equals as Head of State 1983-85. It cost him three presidential election victories. Obasanjo's investigations and prosecutions of public officers he did not like while ignoring and protecting those who found favor with him is another case in point. Obasanjo went after Abacha but not Babangida and Abubakar. He went after some governors and not others. Those choices and actions by him remain indelible stains on his integrity as a person and leader. They confirm his popular characterization in Nigeria, as a corrupt and shamelessly vindictive leader. Do Buhari's supporters want the same thing for him again? Are they concerned about his legacy?
Are Buhari's supporters making the case that there should be a statute of limitation on investigating corruption in other than the Jonathan Administration? Should a thief keep stolen property because they stole it a long time ago? Should they be allowed quiet enjoyment of their loot because of the effluxion of time? The effluxion of time does not coffer legal title to stolen government property including public funds.
The evidence is that selective probe of the stewardship of public officers has never served Nigeria well. It creates more problems that it seeks to solve. There are few more effective ways to undermine or destroy public faith, public morality, and the rule of law than the selective dispensation of justice.
No one it seems to me, is suggesting that all corrupt administrations be probed at one and same time. The hope is that Buhari will have the wisdom to treat equals (ex-military or not) as equals on a matter as grievous as the wanton theft of public funds in his present incarnation as national leader- which means according to the law, regardless of the passage of time. He suffered for failing to do so before. Buhari should know not to let the hatred of some for Jonathan set his agenda as president. He should do right for Nigeria which is what he was elected to do. It is up to him to confirm or debunk, the public perception that he is a partisan who is beholden to negative and unprogressive forces and is consequently an indentured and not a free agent.
oa
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Segun Ogungbemi
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2015 5:59 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Buhari must probe IBB, Abdulsalami, Obasanjo too — Ben Nwabueze
Professor Ben Nwabueze is not sincere in his demand. Where was he when the past administrations before Jonathan were looting the treasury? This was a man who was asked to chair the National Confab and he chickened out only to come back to support it.
Buhari said that if "we don't kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria" and he has begun the means to kill corruption before it kills the country.
He cannot do it alone. Prof. Nwabueze was in Nigeria during the Oputa panel was set up by Obasanjo administration and he asked Nigerians who had evidence of corruption against IBB to come with it and he did not come out to say he had any. How can Buhari go after such a man? Fighting corruption is not the job of Buhari alone, it is a collective assignment.
Buhari was categorical in his statement that his first assignment is to wage war against corruption. He has to begin with the man who handed over the records of his stewardship. Did IBB, Abdulsalami and Obasanjo handover their stewardships to Buhari? The answer is capital NO.
The Erudite lawyer can use the profiles in his custody of those he is suggesting Buhari should probe to press charges against them just as Gani Fawehinmi did before his death.
Prof. Segun Ogungbemi
On Aug 17, 2015, at 1:52 PM, "'Ikhide' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:
"Probing the Jonathan administration alone, when there are other past administrations equally or nearly as corrupt as his, is not right, proper or justified for various reasons. One, it is selective, and selective probe has the appearance of a vendetta aimed mainly at denigrating or demonising individuals. It discredits the exercise and deprives it of public confidence. The people must be made to believe in the genuineness and sincerity of the exercise, if they are to give up the entrenched and rampant culture or habit of corruption. This is the factor that robbed the so-called war against corruption under the (Olusegun) Obasanjo administration of all credibility and effectiveness.
Two, selective probe is unfair and unjust. It is contrary to the Constitution of Nigeria, which ordains in section 17(1) that "the state social order is founded on the ideals of freedom, equality and justice". This is the principle that must inform all actions of government. It offends against justice to probe the Jonathan administration and not other past administrations equally or nearly as corrupt as his.
Three, probing the Jonathan administration alone is not justified by the reason that there is massive and readily available evidence of corruption committed during that administration. No evidence of corruption is more visible and concrete than palatial houses built by past rulers, multi-billion projects like a university, a library, a mechanised farm, etc. A probe will ferret out hidden evidence, which is available in various places.
Another reason why a probe is necessary and demanded is that eradication of corruption will enable Nigeria to make a new beginning, which is an imperative necessity, if the slide to state failure is to be halted. Nigeria needs a new beginning; a clean slate untarnished by the prevailing rottenness due to rampant corruption. A new beginning requires or implies a social and ethical revolution. This is a vital part of the change desired by Nigerians, and which the new All Progressives Congress government under President Muhammadu Buhari is supposed to usher in."
- Professor Ben Nwabueze
Fascinating interview. A compelling read...
Renowned law scholar, Professor Ben Nwabueze, in this interview with LEKE BAIYEWU, bares his mind on President Muhammadu Buhari's anti-corruption crusade...
Preview by Yahoo
- Ikhide
Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
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