Uche Igwe
A
man who has no tincture of philosophy passes through life imprisoned in
the prejudices derived from common sense, from habitual beliefs of his
own age or his nation, from convictions which have grown up in his mind
without the cooperation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a
man, the world seems to become definite, finite and obvious; common
objects rouse no questions and unfamiliar possibilities are
contemptuously rejected
—
Betrand Russell
Since President Goodluck Jonathan
announced a pardon for his former boss and ex- governor of Bayelsa
State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, and others last Tuesday, many Nigerians
have, understandably, been incensed by his action. Realising the
blunder, his handlers in the Presidency and other apologists immediately
swung into action, struggling in the last few days to offer either a
justification or at least an explanation to douse the fury of both the
citizens and friends of our country. It may be true that the President
‘innocently’ exercised his constitutional right and tried to spread the
largesse to other geopolitical zones. It may also be true that the
beneficiaries — at least in the case of Alamieyesigha and Shettima
Bulama — have suffered enough and might have become “sober” and
remorseful. It could also be possible that this could be yet another
script in the well-crafted dance drama that will water the ground for
the eventual announcement of Jonathan’s formal interest in the
Presidency, come 2015. It may even be just a simple token of gratitude
to a former boss who plucked him from relative obscurity to limelight.
Whatever the reasons that anyone can conjure, what is clear is that this
may turn to be one of the “daftest” and most politically-disastrous
decisions that the President has ever taken. Simply put, he goofed. The
revelation that some of those in the list had benefited from the same
thing or something similar, whether called clemency or pardon, makes the
whole exercise even a bigger caricature. I do not want to be drawn into
the difference between pardon and clemency. I leave that to the lawyers
among us who delight in ontological promiscuity. Rather, I will try to
draw out three probable political extrapolations from his action. The
first is superlative political insensitivity. The second is naïve
confidence in his instrumentality of manipulation. The third is
ignorance of the possible global repercussions of such an action.
Frankly speaking, the political support
of President Jonathan is diminishing by the day. There is hardly any
week that passes by that he will escape the critical radar of the
Nigerian public. He has been very slow in delivering on any of his
campaign promises. Electricity supply is still unstable nationwide. The
security in the northern part is worsening despite celebrated rhetoric
to contain it. Decaying infrastructure litter the country. High level
corruption and impunity have been going on unchallenged in our public
service. Many governors and even his own appointees do not seem to
respect him. The verdict on the street is that he lacks the courage,
somebody said the balls to play the ball, to appropriate the powers of
his office to cause improvement in the lives of citizens. Therefore,
one should naturally imagine that it is only an insensitive politician
that will be seeing all these as they are and still go ahead to take any
decision that potentially narrows down his/her political support. By
the action of pardoning Alamieyeseigha at this time, the President has
portrayed himself as a politician who is not only tactless but out of
touch with the pulse of the street.
Another reason discernible from such an
action at this time could be that Jonathan has received assurances from
his strategists that all is set to manipulate the polity and possibly
maximise the rigging machinery to his advantage. They may be thinking
that 2015 is already a fait accompli. His recent moves to capture the
soul of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party has yielded fruits with
some of his loyalists now in charge of vital party organs. A few others
in the party hierarchy who are not necessarily supportive of him are
now busy with one case or another and so they have been taken care of.
The President’s men have also invaded the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. The
agenda ostensibly is to castrate the “overbearing body” and enthrone a
leadership which will be a rubber stamp in endorsing policy positions
that are pleasing to the President whether or not they reflect the
aspirations of the Nigerian people. The offspring of his desperate
approach is the PDP Governors’ Forum — a coalition of cronies, which is
set to do the President’s bidding and who has sworn to cleanse the party
of alleged ‘Judases’. If all these machinations and shenanigans
succeed, a smooth ride will be provided for the emergence of Jonathan as
the “consensus” candidate of the ruling party come 2015. With an
adequate financial war chest allegedly accumulated already and
well-oiled machinery, the ruling party will aim at foisting an unpopular
candidate again on the Nigerian people. How can a man who is aware that
his lieutenants are putting final touches to such a “master plan” give
a damn about taking unpopular decisions?
The third and probably most important
dimension is the insinuation (nationally and globally) that granting the
pardon is tantamount to high level endorsement of corruption. The
question in the minds of many relates to the kind of perception this
will trigger in the global community and its consequences on the image
of the country. Corruption hurts. It portrays state institutions as
ineffective and diminishes a nation’s ability to attract foreign direct
investment, leading to lower growth rate, stumpy GNP per capita, poverty
and inequality. Since the Obansanjo era, Nigeria has been posturing in
the war against corruption through the establishment of anti-corruption
agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the
Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. These efforts,
however, have been dismissed by many as largely selective and
hypocritical; however, it earned the country some mileage in the
perception of the world. Pundits believe that Jonathan’s action has just
landed a big blow on whatever remains of the war against corruption.
Granted, the President may not be vast in international affairs to know
that what powerful countries and potential allies think about his
leadership style is important; but at least he should know that his
so-called transformation agenda will make little progress unless
investors have confidence enough to bring in their resources to partner
him in delivering the deliverables.
In drawing my conclusion, I want to
deliberately ignore the incompetence evident in the handlers of the
President and the blunders they often commit. Rather I want to dwell
momentarily on the person of the President. The famous philosopher
Betrand Russell, in his book, The Problems of Philosophy, reminds us of
“an instinctive man” — one who is shut within the circle of his private
interests, family and friends and who considers the outer world only
from the lens of how it helps or hinders his instinctive wishes. Such a
man possesses an arrogant form of dogmatism and lives a life that is in a
“constant strife between the insistence of desire and powerlessness of
will”. That sounds to me like a picture of what Jonathan personifies.
But a President of such a complex country like ours needs to break away
from such a beleaguered fortress. He needs the impartiality of deep
contemplation to weigh every action he takes no matter how urgent. He
needs to see the bigger picture. In short, he needs a tincture of
philosophy. The other option is to pretend or grandstand and continue in
that imaginary confinement until 2015, when the righteous anger of the
Nigerian people will likely prevail.
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