Emulating Obasanjo’s scorched earth war on terrorists and bandits?, By Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu

Enough is enough.

Like Obasanjo, President Tinubu cannot promise to give Nigeria everything, but he can promise to give Nigeria leadership. He should totally use his powers to flush out this insanity that breeds insecurity from our system and that will be the true definition of the rule of law. He should not be intimidated by emergency activists who will shout that democracy is in danger or there is no respect for the rule of law, because no nation truly progresses if it allows miscreants and anarchy to flourish in the name of democracy.

“When we came in 1999, we were absolutely clear on one thing. I said that there should be no business as usual and as you can see, there is no business as usual and I also said that I cannot promise to give Nigeria everything, but I can promise to give Nigeria leadership. Try me there and you will not find me wanting.” — President Olusegun Obasanjo during his tenure as Nigerian leader.

In 2007, when he was in control of the nation’s seat of power, former President Obasanjo also said that whenever a leader is focused, there will be pressure, there will be intimidation, and there will be blackmail, but all he knows is that he is too big to be pocketed.

You may wonder why I began this brief write-up with those references, and here is the reason. I have read comments on a video in which Obasanjo calls on the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be more decisive in dealing with bandits and terrorists. In their comments, many Nigerians were calling on President Tinubu to use Obasanjo’s style and deal with insecurity. While I understand that every patriotic Nigerian wants insecurity to be a thing of the past, I am also happy that even the emergency patriots are calling on the president to act like Obasanjo, even though such persons will be the first to shout if the president decides to be so strict.

For those, especially the Gen Zs, who were either not born or were too young to observe Nigeria’s politics during Obasanjo’s regime (1999-2007), note that the regime utilised executive power extremely, to the extent that there was a perception that no governor travelled overseas without clear permission from the Commander-in-Chief. A notable event that showed how strict he was in enforcement was the famous ‘Odi Massacre’ that took place on 20 November, 1999. On that day, on his instruction, every living and non-living thing, including animals, were wiped out by the Nigerian Armed Forces in Odi, a community in Bayelsa State, following the killing of policemen and soldiers deployed to the community by a gang. And when asked on national television why he gave such an instruction, Obasanjo said that the police and soldiers were the instruments through which he maintained law and order, and that he sent policemen, and then soldiers to the area, and both were killed; as such what was he expected to do: to just fold his hands in acceptance? That decisive action sent the villagers who weren’t around during the ‘massacre’ on the run for years and, of course, scared many from other parts of the country from killing or ambushing the security forces throughout his tenure.

It is also important to note that Obasanjo made another uncommon and decisive decision about the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), an association of Yorubas seeking self-determination. During his regime, he ordered that every criminal should be shot at sight, and on a live media chat, he confirmed that the security forces acted in line with his instructions. Also, he gave another instruction that anybody who called himself an OPC member should be arrested, and if such a person failed to give in to arrest, he should be shot at sight. He stated that the country should not be allowed to be taken over by hoodlums and criminals.

Another remarkable pattern of Obasanjo’s administration was the very powerful institutions he worked with. At that time, the EFCC was so powerful that even the Inspector General of Police was publicly handcuffed and a sitting Senate President was disgraced out of power. The courts also secured remarkable convictions, including that of the then Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. Obasanjo also made history by having five different Senate Presidents (Evans Enwerem, Chuba Okadigbo, Anyim Pius Anyim, Adolphus Wabara and Ken Nnamani) within a period of six years (1999-2005), with four different persons occupying the position in his first tenure (1999-2003), and it was only Ken Nnamani who was able to escape tenure instability as Senate President, as he held the position from 2005 to 2007. His Vice, Atiku Abubakar, did not also escape his heat, as he became the first vice president in the Fourth Republic to face investigative panels inaugurated by the president, his boss, and he was humiliated and ridiculed to the extent that he is yet to politically recover from the damage.

Having noted some of the notable events that occurred during former President Obasanjo’s regime, I can now urge all, especially the Gen Zs who are calling on President Tinubu to follow the same route, to study the examples given carefully, and be ready for the experiences involved. I am also happy that some notable individuals, especially Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the current National Security Adviser, served in Obasanjo’s government and, in fact, he was the powerful EFCC boss then who ensured that an Inspector General of Police was publicly handcuffed and jailed. I am confident that he is ever ready to support the president to fight insecurity fearlessly.

In support of the calls on President Tinubu to be strict on bandits and terrorists like former President Obasanjo was, I also call on him to utilise all the state institutions to humiliate and neutralise all hoodlums, bandits and criminals, including their sponsors in all parts of the country. The EFCC should be made more powerful than it was during the Ribadu days, to arrest, prosecute and jail sponsors of the terrorists. The Commission should also serve as a weapon of mass destruction against all unpatriotic politicians and public office holders. The National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) should also be made more powerful than it was during the days of late Professor Dora Akunyili, in order to work closely with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to flush out all narcotics and drugs that are mostly used by those criminals and their sponsors.

Like Obasanjo, President Tinubu cannot promise to give Nigeria everything, but he can promise to give Nigeria leadership. He should totally use his powers to flush out this insanity that breeds insecurity from our system and that will be the true definition of the rule of law. He should not be intimidated by emergency activists who will shout that democracy is in danger or there is no respect for the rule of law, because no nation truly progresses if it allows miscreants and anarchy to flourish in the name of democracy. After all, even the world’s heart of democracy defined this system of government to suit their political culture and behaviour. Every nation should define its own style of democracy and the time for Nigeria to do its own is now.

Enough is enough.

Chukwuemerie Uduchukwu writes from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be contacted via: chukwuemerieuduchukwu@gmail.com