March 19, 1984

Playing War Games In Lagos

Elizabeth Ohene

Those politicians who found themselves outside the country before the events of December 31st and those who evaded arrest and left the country soon after, must be thanking their good luck daily, for there is nothing happening in Lagos currently to make any of them regret their decision to avoid Gen. Buhari's Nigeria for the moment

Seeing that nobody seems quite sure what the armed forces in our part of the world are really meant for, it is difficult to tell whether those who have chosen soldiering as a profession come anywhere near to fulfilling their expectations.

One cannot tell where to place Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, for example, on the professional soldier's scale, but there surely would be no difficulty in placing him at the bottom of the scale in his status as a politician.

And let no one say that the man is a soldier and not a politician and therefore needs to be excused if he blunders politically he, after all, placed himself in the political life of Nigeria and has attempted to even plead a case of previous experience by suggesting that his administration is an off-shoot of a previous administration. In other words the general would have everybody believe that he and his colleagues are not novices in the art of politics, having ruled the country before.

Thus far, it takes more than charity to see any method in the style of government that he is leading in Nigeria and the treatment of the political leaders who have been arrested demonstrates this lack of direction better than anything else.

Putting the country's former leaders in the maximum security prison at Kiri kiri was obviously a decision taken to placate what the soldiers saw to be the let-the-blood-flow' section of the society - the group that lent them their support in the early days of the take-over.

For somebody who has been promising safe conducts and proper trials to those politicians outside the country, it is a very strange way of demonstrating the treatment that he plans for those he already holds in detention. Maximum security prison before they are accused of anything.

When the original inmates of the prison - those who have have been charged with crimes, tried and convicted - rioted against a purported preferential treatment of the politicians, the official policy towards the detainees immediately changed.

They are no longer allowed visitors, they are being kept without any access to newspapers, radio or television and mosquito nets require permission from on high before they can be received. Such pettiness and punitive measures destroy any credibility that could be accorded the promises of fair trials.

There is a distinct impression also that Gen Buhari is not in charge of affairs, when his decisions are going to be influenced by rioting demands of convicts. Supposing that another group of convicted prisoners riot and demand that the political leaders be announed that an account had been lynched... can we look forward to a crowd-pleasing supreme Military which contained N15 million, which Council releasing the politicians to the mobs?

Or take the case of Lateef Jakande who, from press accounts, is being moved about in a most bizarre fashion because there have been criticism about his being held in Kiri-kiri. Or could it be because Mr Jakande has a more passionate and vocal following who are ready to make their voices heard and their feelings known by camping outside the prison? Or could it be because Mr Jakande is lucky in the fact that Kiri-kiri and Ikoyi prisons are all located in his constituency and that if the politicians were being held in Enugu or Kano, the most popular detainee would be different?

Those politicians who found themselves outside the country before the events of 31st December and those of them who evaded arrest and left the country soon after those who have been named 'fugitives' - must be thanking their good luck daily, for there is nothing happening in Lagos currently to make any of them regret their decision to avoid Gen Buhari's Nigeria for the moment.

HEADLINES

The circus being staged by the Chief of Staff Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon will after a while be seen to be an unfunny performance, and reinforces the proposition that soldiers in the role of politicians rate very lowly indeed.

It is possible that the soldiers still feel a need to justify their action in taking over the government and they imagine that if they can find enough sensational headlines, public attention will be permanently directed on those and nobody will give a thought to their actions or non-actions. A few weeks ago, Brig. Idiagbon announced that an account had been discovered at the Savannah Bank which contained N15 million, which amount had been stolen before the coup. The Chief of Staff was quite categorical that the account belonged to Chief Adisa Akinloye the national Chairman of the NPN.

If Chief Akinloye had been inside Kiri-kiri, as the military government would dearly love him to be, that would have been the end of the matter. Even the most ardent supporters of the NPN would have had to shake their heads sadly at the greed and thievery that was the Shagari government. But Chief Akinloye is NOT in Kiri-kiri, he is, in the words of Nigerian media, a fugitive free in London and he promptly issued a spirited denial in the form of a letter to the military rulers and bought space in the newspapers to put his side of the story across.

Most surprisingly, Brig. Idiagbon has not reacted to Chief Akinloye's statement to show the public that the man is lying, a strange silence has descended on the matter. And yet 15 million naira is hardly the kind of sum that can just be brought up and thrown off without a second thought and one would like to think that Brig. Idiagbon based his unequivocal statement on something more than assumption or a fanciful and vivid imagination.

ALLEGATIONS

Since there has not been the expected refutal of Chief Akinloye's defence forthcoming from Brig. Idiagbon, one is left with the most uncomfortable feeling that the defence from the fugitive in London carries some weight.

One therefore would necessarily have to wonder what weight to attach to the other equally sensational allegations that are made routinely by the Chief of Staff. If the objects of those allegations were not inside Kiri-kiri, but outside Nigeria, is it possible that they also would have issued statements denying or explaining the allegations? If the Chief of Staff has evidence to prove these allegations, he surely owes it to the long-suffering people of Nigeria not just to make headlines but to indicate the charges that are following the investigations. Now that these people are being kept without access to newspapers, radio or television, it is reasonable to imagine that they have not even heard about the allegations being made against them, let alone have the opportunity to defend themselves.

Is it possible therefore, that these Idiagbon statements and press conferences are meant purely to keep the public in an antagonistic mood towards the 'corrupt politicians' so that come the time for the threatened tribunals, nobody will want to see any of them acquitted?

So far, the Idiagbon statements give the distinct impression of crowd pleasing gimmicks and desperate attempts at finding excuses. Considering the fact that the targets of this exercise are in prison under the custody of the military and those outside the prison but inside Nigeria have no access to an enthusiastic media, it is surprising that there should be such an overkill.

NAIVETY

Doubtless Brig. Idiagbon would have some ideas on how to handle troops on an exercise, and possibly be able to deal with marching a brigade of soldiers to the top of the hill and marching them down again, and if that is the case, he really ought to have kept to doing just that instead of venturing into politics where he and his colleagues are displaying such painfully embarrassing naivety.

Quite possibly, the novelty of their newly exalted positions will take some getting used to and as some other soldiers have shown in other parts of West Africa, many soldiers never quite adjust to seeing their names in print nor their voices on the radio nor their faces on television.

The soldiers in Liberia when they discovered walkie-talkies, took them to enough? absurd proportions and elevated the humble instrument to a new status symbol. It may well be that the Nigerian soldiers have discovered the holding of press conferences and the issuing of wild statements as the new status symbol, but they might want to think that the reason they have given for staging their coup is to correct the nation's economic problems.

They seemed to be already aware of the 'corruption' when they undertook their military action and it therefore cannot be that they are hoping that the Idiagbon circuses will serve as an excuse if they are unable to restore Nigeria to prosperity in 18 months time as they have promised.

PROFESSION

It is to be hoped that while they are trying to get used to the political limelight, they would not destroy their own chosen profession completely in the process. The spectacle of a Brigadier making wild allegations which are routinely challenged any time they touch anybody or company not currently being held in Kiri-kiri is less than complimentary to his rank and very soon, even their 'funny interlude' value will be lost.

It surely also cannot be that the Nigerian government is so desperate for international contact and recognition that they are falling over each other to welcome anybody who visits Lagos these days.

What explanation can there be for the 19 gun salute given to Mr P. V. Obeng the Ghanaian co-ordinator for the PNDC on his recent visit to Lagos? Mr Obeng must have been hugely amused at it all, for even though he is unofficially known in Ghana as the 'Prime Minister' to Rawlings's 'President', this has never been acknowledged officially until his arrival in Lagos.

Doubtless, if Brig. Idiagbon who was at the airport and in charge of the Obeng welcome ceremonies had waited just a bit longer, he would find a more openly acknowledged head of government to give a 19-gun salute to and conduct around a guard of honour inspection.

One wonders whether Mr P. V. Obeng bothered to tell the Nigerian Chief of Staff that they in Ghana have dispensed with all such ostentations which were part of the hall-mark of the 'corrupt politicians' regime.

Or is it possible that both sides are now enjoying the trappings of power so much that any excuse is good

There is a very good reason why when people decide and select a particular profession, they should stick to it and perfect their performance there; invariably when they venture into fields they have no training nor flair for, the results are very far from funny, and Nigeria cannot afford the unfunny spectacles being staged currently.