MEDIOCRITY: THE CONFIRMATION

We are in a very deep s…t and we know it; everybody knows it. That is the good news. The bad news is as follows: Thursday before last (5/11/2009) I watched a debate on the NTA on the state of the Nigerian nation. The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives Sani Sale Minjibir (ANPP, Kano) presented a motion which was also the first order of the day. The background to Rep. Sale’s motion was a report carried by a Lagos-based weekly news magazine, The News. The title of the magazine story was: The making of a failed state. The magazine had echoed popular sentiments and concluded that Nigeria is indeed a failed state, and that the prediction by a US-based Non-Governmental organization to the effect that Nigeria would disintegrate in 15 years from 2005 is coming to pass.

Summoning all his oratorical powers, Sale took the position that there was something in the magazine’s report which required the urgent attention of the House. Amid irritating, childish and dishonourable interruptions from his colleagues, he concluded that the magazine report was unpatriotic and irresponsible; that Nigeria was not a failed state; but that the country is exhibiting certain symptoms of a state that is on its way to failure; he therefore suggested the setting up of a House committee to address those areas where the country appears to be slipping. A perfectly reasonable position since even the most irrationally optimistic Nigerian cannot deny that our country is tottering on the brink of complete chaos.

What followed next was the bad news. It was time for the other members to comment on Sale’s motion. I would like to offer an apology at this point; I was unable to remain calm enough to note the names and other details of those that commented and what their various comments were. But I managed to retain in my 40-something-year old memory the contributions of at least three of such members. Speaker Dimeji Bankole himself; former speaker Patricia Etteh and high-flying Rep Bala ibn Na’Allah.

Bankole: I don’t know if the rule of the House allows the Speaker to take sides in a debate while it was still going on in the House. But for whatever reason, Bankole left nobody in doubt the disdain in which he held Sale’s motion. A member who supported Sale’s motion had cited the recent Mo Ibrahim award for leadership which did not honour any African leader this year as another indicator that our country was not living up to expectation, otherwise it ought to have at least clinched that award. To the horror of anyone that understood the implication, Bankole was derisive and cheeky when he interrupted the speaker with a very silly question: “WHO IS MO IBRAHIM; I DON’T KNOW HIM?” When he was informed that Mo Ibrahim was the Sudanese philanthropist that had instituted an annual award for African leaders that have distinguished themselves, his reaction was even more appalling and a national embarrassment. He retorted, with his nose up in the air: “SUDAN, THAT AFRICAN COUNTRY WHERE NIGERIA IS HELPING TO KEEP PEACE, SOMEONE FROM THAT…?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I’m still struggling to come to terms with it. Bankole was 40 years old yesterday, but even if he was 40-years old his behaviour was disgraceful; and if that is the way he conducts the public and private affairs of the House, then the country is truly doomed.

Patricia Etteh: She was the controversial former speaker of the House whose removal claimed the life of at least one member, among other casualties. I don’t know how she managed to swing the issue of a debate over a failed state to the issue of gender insensitivity. But in a very confusing, disorganized sort of way, she managed to wangle her personal misfortune into the matter. There you are! To most people in government, what they do is not usually about the country; but about them and their personal interest. Now does anybody need to wonder whether our country has failed or is failing? Do we even have a state? If we do, it certainly does not command our allegiance, and that is why after 50 years we are still without the most basic necessities of life.

Bala Ibn Na’Allah: He is a lawyer by training and he’s been in the House since inception 10 years ago. Recently he purchased an aircraft for his personal use. When he was challenged, his explanation according to media reports, was that it was cheaper and safer for him than to maintain a fleet of cars. So the choice for this man is between a fleet of cars and a private jet! Well if those that elected him—if he was elected—are cool with that, so be it; they certainly deserve him.

In his contribution to the debate about whether Nigeria was a failed state or not, he made two confessions. First, he said in his 10 years in the House, that day was the proudest day of his life. Reason? Because by opposing, loudly and rudely, Sale’s motion, the members had shown that they were patriotic Nigerians who would not allow their country to be slandered. Meaning that for Bala, denying the truth, or running away from it, or playing the Ostrich is equivalent to patriotism! A great, patriotic legislator. I used to take the guy serious. His second revelation was that Rep Etteh had no business complaining about anything because she was a beneficiary of whatever is bad in the system. “We were all coerced into accepting you as speaker”. At that point it was all I could do not to turn off the TV set. But thankfully, somebody from among Na’Allah’s colleagues asked him the decisive question: “WHY DID YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE COERCED?” Simple; because he needed to buy a plane to escape armed robbers.

That question actually summarizes our predicament. How did all those people come to be at the helm of our affairs? Clearly, our affairs are controlled by opportunists and frauds that are ready and willing to support and do anything at a price. If we are to save our country, we have only one choice, which is to be prepared to make whatever sacrifice that is necessary to ensure that no fraud, no misfit and no ignorant and incompetent self-serving opportunist reaps where he did not sow. It is not impossible; it was done in Bauchi in 2007 and in Kano in 2003. We must never wait for any amendment to the Electoral Act; the rules as they are contained in the Act are sacrosanct enough; they do not allow for rigging or imposition of candidates. It is us the electorate that must insist the rules must be observed; insisting on amendment to the Electoral Act may amount to chasing a mirage. Clearly, President Yar’adua, for obvious reasons is not enthusiastic about the amendment; and the House doesn’t look like it has what it takes to compel him. Thus, our only chance is to begin to work out a back-up plan of action in 2011.Otherwise, the debate about a failed state would be a luxury, because there may not be a state to debate about. As for Hon. Bankole, who grumbled a few weeks ago that Nigeria worships medicrity; how in all honesty would he describe the debate on Sale’s motion? Let him also be reminded that it is immaterial whether he knows Mo Ibrahim or not; but it would matter a lot him if Mo Ibrahim gets to know him.