TuesdayRapAround: To Whom ‘National Honour’ Is Due (I)

Some refer to it as a master stroke. Others claim the timing was wrong. There’ve been fanfare in some quarters, really. Political jobbers are having a field day.

Yet, some other schools of thought are of the view that it’s a Greek gift; pot of porridge, and an attempt to seek cheap political patronage from the South-West ahead 2019 elections. If that’s the case, has honours finally taken over the place of tangible development in our society?

Whichever way the pendulum swings, some fundamental questions that can’t be taken away from the whole episode include but not limited to the following: Would late Chief Moshood Kasinmawo Olawale Abiola have shifted from his graveyard to applaud this rather suspicious, die-minute gesture by the government of Mohammadu Buhari? and perhaps roll out the drums to celebrate it?

Late Chief MKO Abiola

In the light of current predicament nationwide, where mass burial has become a recurring decimal, would the national honours have gone down well with the late fiery lawyer and Senior Advocate of the Masses (SAM), Chief Gani Fawehinmi, who during his time, fought a good fight to protect the masses of this nation, against political, economic and social injustice?

With his boundless energy, late Gani tenaciously and uncompromisingly pursued and crusaded his beliefs, principles and ideals for the untrammelled rule of law, undiluted democracy, all-embracing and expansive social justice, protection of fundamental human rights and respect for the hopes and aspirations of the masses who are victims of miss-governance in the country.

Late Chief Gani Fawehinmi

It is instructive to note that in 1984, when the new Buhari regime enacted the Recovery of Public Property decree, the NBA under the presidency of Prince Bola Ajibola directed its members not to represent any client in a military tribunal. Fawehinmi flouted the directive because he believed the accused should be made to disgorge any money stolen. As a result his name was placed in NBA’s dishonour list.

Would he have sincerely accepted a ‘pot of porridge’ or give his family a path on the back for daring to accept the honour on his behalf, when obviously the values, tenets, egalitarian society, effective and efficient justice system he believed in are unconscientiously and clandestinely being undermined with impunity – under Buhari’s watch.

Awards to individuals – how does that translate to meaningful, sustainable development? A development that is all encompassing; something that is beneficial to all and sundry – irrespective of local/ethnic, family, social, economic and political standing? Mores so, to now warrant the torrent of opinions that have trailed the announcement. Even people who have been critical of the present government’s lacklustre performance were almost blown off balance. How does the awards provide food for the man on the streets, add value to the inconsequential N18, 000 minimum wage?

Juxtaposing national honours with devolution of powers cum restructuring, is Mr Buhari telling us national honours is preferred to a better system of governance that would guarantee equity, fairness, competitive development as opposed to the present top-down defective hegemony?

Did the president and his handlers genuinely acknowledge and appreciate the fact that the man who conducted the said 1993 election which has been adjudged Nigeria’s freest, fairest ever is from the South-Eastern part of the country, and not from the north? (That’s without prejudice to the north.)

Did the president also note that the then Chairman of the National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON) appointed by President Ibrahim Babangida, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu, was from Anambra State; MKO Abiola, one of the candidates was from the South West (Ogun State) and the other candidate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, was from the North, Kano to be precise; and that the INEC Chairman was never from the same region or state from the military head of state or any of the candidates – so as to guide against clannishness, nepotism, tribal sentiment and ensure geographical spread, fairness, equity and balance?

Is there any sincerity in the whole exercise? And to whose interest?

If there is any, why wait till almost three years after inauguration of this present administration and about a year to another general elections before making attempt at effecting such a deserved honour for the late heroes of democracy in this part of the divide?

As for the internationally acclaimed author of novels including Things Fall Apart and Anthills of the Savannah, late Prof Chinua Achebe, it was on record that he turned down national honours several times. The fact that he turned down the awards, he was never diminished. In fact, they were a plus for him.

While laying out the thinking behind rejecting the 2004 honour in a letter to the president of Nigeria at the time, Prof Achebe explained that, “for some time now I have watched events in Nigeria with alarm and dismay.

“I have watched the chaos in the country where a small clique of renegades, openly boasting its connections in high places, seems determined to turn my homeland into a bankrupt and lawless fiefdom. I am appalled by the brazenness of this clique and the silence, if not connivance, of the presidency. The reasons for rejecting the offer when it was first made have not been addressed let alone solved. It is inappropriate to offer it again to me.”

That apparently came from a man who was NOT concerned about personal derivatives or benefits such honours would offer, but was more encumbered by the yearnings and aspirations of the downtrodden for a better society – a place where human life is valued; where there is equal right and opportunity; a nation where one’s religious, ethnic or state of origin is NOT a determining factor; where there is justice, peace and progress.

This is the more reason why the hurried acceptance by respective families of the awardees calls for serious concern. It is a pointer to the fact that – with a morsel of food or pot of porridge, collective goodwill can be mortgaged, and traded off unknowingly.

Specifically, for the family members of late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, would the late icon have given the government of President Buhari a pass mark, with plethora of rights abuses here and there, outright disregard for the federal character principle, disregard for rule of law and court processes; promotion of clannishness, nepotism, culture of impunity, propaganda, selective fight against corruption; unbearable economic conditions for the people?

Fawehinmi got arrested, detained and charged to court several times. He was beaten up times without number and was deported from one part of the country to another to prevent him from being able to effectively reach out to the masses among whom he was popular. His books were confiscated by the military government and his library at Surulere, a suburb of Lagos, was set ablaze. His law Chambers at Anthony Village, Lagos State, were invaded by persons suspected to be agents of the government.

In the process of his crusades for the rule of law, the hopes and aspirations of the poor and the oppressed, he fought many battles against military dictatorship. He was dumped in many police cells and detained in several prisons between 1969 and 1996.

His supporters have called him “the scourge of irresponsible governments, a sphygmomanometer with which the blood pressure of dictators is gauged, the veritable conscience of the nation and the champion of interests and causes of the masses”. Many Nigerians also referred to him as the people’s president. Gani Fawehinmi, sure, died as a disappointed man.

Would he have been made happy by mere national honours in today’s Nigeria where ‘things have fallen apart’, taking a leaf from Achebe’s famous book?

As the families file out to be decorated today, it is imperative for them to know that such honours are part of the usual deceits of the federal government. If the FG believes in democracy, it should know that democracy is about people. It is about making life meaningful for the mass majority. It’s not about honouring select few – while majority suffers.

(To be continued)…