By Kennedy Emetulu
It seems true that President Muhammadu Buhari
is not visiting Ogoniland for that much-publicised flag-off of the
implementation of the UNEP Report on the cleaning up of Ogoniland and the Niger
Delta. Honestly, this is a shocking and depressing development and it calls to
question again the kind of advice President Buhari is receiving in Aso Rock. He
may have the best of reasons or excuses for not going, but perception is
reality in politics! Cancelling that visit is the last thing he should have
contemplated today. Here are 10 reasons why it’s bad:
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| *Buhari |
(1) The Niger Delta Avengers have threatened that he shouldn’t come; not going
there, despite the whole show of military force by the Nigerian Armed Forces
for the visit of the Commander-in-Chief, hands the initiative to the Niger
Delta Avengers. They have showed they control the agenda of his government and
his own movement within the nation. Of course, the truth is nothing would have
happened to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Ogoniland; but,
again, perception is reality.
(2)
The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed talked up Buhari’s impending visit
thus: “Buhari would return to Ogoniland where he inaugurated a fish pond in
1984 where the once flourishing pond regrettably had been destroyed by oil
pollution. The Federal Government is coming back to restore the ecosystem to
what it used to be and as such restore the peoples’ source of livelihood”.
Obviously, mentioning that the president was going to Ogoniland again after his
1984 visit as a military Head of State in the circumstances of both visits was
a way of making the case that between then and now life has been snuffed out of
the environment there and Buhari is now returning life to the people and that
environment with his visit. The symbolism would have been nice. But what have
we now? The president is after all not coming!
(3)
Buhari’s visit would have been the most significant thing in Ogoniland since
the judicial murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa and for Buhari, it would have been a
personal victory and a personal exorcism of some sort as well. Remember that
Buhari was General Sani Abacha’s head of the PTF that was spending the oil
money at the time Saro-Wiwa was killed. Buhari supported that killing as part
of that government and Nigerians and the world condemned it strongly. As the
world knows, Saro-Wiwa’s main message was not the political aspect of the Ogoni
case, but the environmental aspect. Saro-Wiwa was essentially killed because he
drew attention to the environmental destruction oil exploration brought to the
Niger Delta. As president, Buhari would have used this opportunity to show with
his presence his genuine commitment to cleaning up Ogoniland particularly and
the Niger Delta generally. With that he would have come a full circle from his
Abacha days. He would have used his presence to call for the unity of the Ogoni
and the Niger-Delta with the rest of Nigeria
(4)
One of the worst perceptions created by Buhari’s non-appearance is that it has
sent more shockwaves through the Nigeria-related international business
community involved in the oil business. True, everyone has been hearing of the
Niger Delta Avengers and all they've been up to, but there would have been no
better opportunity to pooh-pooh their claim than landing at the epicentre of
oil production and carrying on government and international business as if they
do not exist. This is what gives international investors confidence in the real
sense. Not going there is simply a huge advertisement for the viability of the
Niger Delta Avengers’ insurgency. Buhari has just inadvertently made them seem
stronger than they are in the eyes of the international business community.
(5)
Of course, as with the cancelled Lagos visit,
the real loss for Rivers and Nigeria Nigeria
(6)
Even if Buhari does not know it, his advisers must know that his stock in the
South-South and the South-East is really, really down. His political allies
from these areas might want to give him a different impression, but this is
just the plain truth. After Buhari’s ill-advised rejection of the 2014 National
Conference Report, here was an opportunity to show Nigerians and the Niger
Delta that he was still committed to the Nigerian project based on fairness,
equity and good governance, but he simply blew it by not coming. The political
symbolism of Buhari’s visit to Ogoniland, which was the first community to
prepare their own Bill of Rights under the military pursuant to a National
Conference would have been immense! In fact, he was bound to gain politically
from it throughout the South-South.
(7)
Now, there’s also the problem of what passes for news in the circumstances of
this type of impromptu cancellations. Every action of the president must have
an explanation and where none is provided, people will find something, because
news abhors vacuum. Call it rumour if you like, but it would serve. The
president has cancelled a visit which up till this morning everyone thought he
was prepared for. No matter what reason anyone gives now, alternative narratives
will make more sense to some huge sections of the worried public. For instance,
when he cancelled his Lagos visit, it was interpreted in some quarters as a
chastisement of Bola Tinubu for going to the Ayuba Waba faction of the NLC
without clearance from the government, especially when the same president was
seen welcoming Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State to Aso Rock at the time
he was supposed to be in Lagos for the visit. This alternative narrative made
the president appear petty against the background that everybody knows Amosun
is the closest person to the president politically in the South-West from their
days in the ANPP and it didn’t help that Amosun is viewed as some sort of rival
with Bola Tinubu for Aso Rock’s ear. While I’m not sure who the president would
be welcoming today at Aso Rock, this alternative narrative is even worse in
relation to this Ogoni cancelled visit. Everyone has been witnessing how
Governor Nyesom Wike has been out there robustly ensuring that this visit goes
hitch-free, despite the report of a directive a few days ago targeting him and
Governor Ayodele Fayose over foreign travel. Wike has risen to the occasion and
hasn’t allowed politics to blind him in preparing for this visit. He warned
politicians from all sides not to politicise the visit, he enhanced security in
areas the president is visiting by banning motorcycles and was generally making
sure the president gets a proper welcome. He declared: “Mr President’s visit to
the state is both historic and significant. It is historic because it marks his
first official visit to the state since assuming office as the president of
this great nation. It is most significant because Mr President is not on a
political mission, but to kickstart the largest environmental clean-up in our
nation’s history, for which Rivers people and, indeed, the Niger Delta will
remain grateful.”
But by cancelling the visit, it’s the president that would be seen now as politicising this, because people would think that he is indirectly backing his Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi in his fight against Wike by ensuring that he is not seen standing with Wike in Rivers State as his guest. That is pure pettiness; but it would be the story.
But by cancelling the visit, it’s the president that would be seen now as politicising this, because people would think that he is indirectly backing his Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi in his fight against Wike by ensuring that he is not seen standing with Wike in Rivers State as his guest. That is pure pettiness; but it would be the story.
(8)
Buhari by not going to Ogoniland is letting the impression stick that he is not
interested in domestic visits to states, but only to foreign climes. As funny
as that might sound, many people take this view seriously when they claim he
has made more than thirty foreign trips since his election a year ago, while he
has only visited Cross Rivers State on a state visit domestically. The
implication is that he is a leader not interested in his own people.
(9)
Clearly, the non-appearance has totally diminished the importance of the
exercise he was supposed to come for, which is to flag-off the UNEP Report to
clean Ogoni and the Niger Delta. From now on, over the time of implementation,
every hitch would be viewed from the prism of the president’s absence. That
cannot be good.
(10)
The President had everything to gain by the optics of this visit. The national
mood needed it. A no-show is simply not going to give the president any plus,
no matter what excuse he ultimately comes up with, that is if he actually comes
up with one. Gradually, he’s giving the impression that he’s being overwhelmed
by the demands of being president.
*Kennedy
Emetulu
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