Time for ‘do-or-die’ decisions

It was the once dashing, well - endowed and latterly thoughtful young man born with a golden spoon in his mouth who had whatever or whoever he wanted for his comfort and satisfaction, that left the world with these immortal words: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven….” Yes, “… a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to tear down and a time to build,….a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace”. (Ecclesiastes, 3: 2-8).

And when all had been said and done by our “Allegro” (John Milton) man, he ends up with his admonition in Chapter 12 of the same book in the “Holy Bible”, thus: “…Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Chapter 12:13-14)

Why is this column recalling these words from the great King Solomon, which may well have spiritual parallels in the Holy Koran? The answers are in Nigeria’s current public affairs.
Nobody can doubt the wisdom in the King’s College Lagos, School Song, which partly states that : “Present, past and future, form one mighty whole…”

And so, when people, especially those in the “centre of power” – not just its corridors - begin to express anxieties over current happenings and also give cautious warnings to those they think are going off-course, it behoves them to remember that “there is no smoke without fire” and, in any case, that “every effect has a cause”, as any elementary philosopher can assert.

It’s already well known that in his keynote speech at last week’s conference of judges, President Umaru Yar’Adua had advised the judiciary “to shun the temptation of basing their judgments on popular sentiments,”and to avoid “playing to the gallery.”

That statement has, not surprisingly, generated perhaps more reactions than any other made by Mr. President since May 29. And one-millionth of the citizenry have said nothing yet.
No one raised an eyebrow when the President consistently harped on his “rule of law” and “due process” philosophy, hallmarks of his Administration that are already yielding good fruits in terms of national image and personal credibility. But when he used words like shunning “temptation” and basing judgments on “popular sentiments”, obviously, he had some nerves rattled: When a man who does not talk much yells (however silently), people worry.

Some have said the President’s statement “was a planned and deliberate attempt to intimidate the Nigerian judiciary and the elections petitions tribunals”; others have “advised” him to “withdraw his statement in the interest of peace and justice”.

The most vocal and sensitive political party in the land with respect to taking positions on public issues, the Action Congress (AC), said last Wednesday that “Yar’Adua’s warning to the judiciary, at the opening of the All Nigeria Judges’ conference in Abuja on Monday, amounted to a subtle harassment of the Judiciary. Accusing the judiciary of playing to the gallery, shortly after a string of judgments that reversed some of the so-called victories of the PDP in the last polls, is nothing but a way to strike back at the judiciary, especially the election petition tribunals, “ said the party’s hawkish National Publicity Secretary, Lai Muhammed.

For the first time, someone has called the president either a rattle snake, or a boar constrictor that methodically but steadily squeezes its captives to certain death. The strategy is first to knock them silly and, like Mighty Igor (where is he now?) arrange to land the pin-fall, and the demolition is then assured.
Only President Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua knows his own mind; others can only guess its contents or intentions, and the current controversy over his pronouncement in the judicial theatre will be cleared by what he says or does in the next few days.

What needs to be said, without any fear of contradiction, is that those who believe in the rule of law and due process must always be mindful of certain facts: That they cannot afford to be equivocative or “double speakers” – saying one thing, and encouraging the doing of another. They must stay the course, or forever lay themselves open to criticisms of hypocrisy, deceitfulness, untrustworthiness, and of being unprincipled.

Even the president cannot but agree with prophet Isaiah’s view on sin, confession and redemption, when he said: “… for your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt, your lips have spoken lies, and tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil … “
Obviously, again, the Holy Koran must be full of wise sayings like these, but are they guides to proper behaviour by many of the leaders here?

Long ago, William Shakespeare, in his “Macbeth,” painted the picture of the dilemma to which President Yar ‘Adua indirectly alluded, when, in the course of executing the murder of King Banquo, Macbeth soliloquized thus: “…But here, upon this bank and shoal of time, we’d jump the life to come. But in these cases,

We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which being taught, return to plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice. To our own lips…” (Macbeth, Act 1, scene 7).
There we are! People inevitably reap what they sow. And there can be no wishing away the judgment of history.

That is where most African leaders miss the point, because they care mainly about the comforts and pleasures of today, forgetting that their thoughts and actions will be supremely judged tomorrow, or sooner than later. And they then begin to run from pillar to post, looking for salvation in the wrong places.

Back to the headline: Is it not logical that “do- or- die elections” must be followed by do - or - die decisions? That those decisions, acknowledging and re-enforcing the democratic doctrine of the separation of powers, cannot be made by those who, in the first place, gave “instructions” for “do – or die-touches” to the April 2007 elections?

Is it not true that, as in 2003, those presented for elections by some political parties were hand-picked by the high and mighty, and not through the known democratic processes? Does anyone doubt that the clauses of the Electoral Act 2006 and the Federal Constitution were not faithfully followed before and during those elections, as was honestly admitted by the President himself? This is indeed the time to uproot bad plants and practices and build again from surer foundations. A time for the critical decisions.
And talking about “the gallery,” we are all there. The judiciary serves everybody, so the gallery idea is neither here nor there.

The Judiciary should be allowed to do its constitutional duties without veiled threats, and freed from the financial (or apron) strings of the Executive. That is another, and assured, path to political stability in the land. There should be no beating about the bush on this matter.