Sanusi
appears to be a poor student of Nigerian history; otherwise, he would
have known that whenever Nigerians are hailing the disciplinarian
father of a recalcitrant child, the same people always turn around to
ask if he wants to kill his own baby.
Fellow
Nigerians, please permit me to borrow the cliché that “whatever
has a beginning must have an end.” This is the only way I can
describe what seems to be an end to Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s
reign of recklessness and authoritarianism at the Central Bank of
Nigeria. Even if he remains in office till 2014 when his tenure
mandatorily expires, he has already waltzed his way into a
cul-de-sac. The reason is very simple. Sanusi appears to be a poor
student of Nigerian history; otherwise, he would have known that
whenever Nigerians are hailing the disciplinarian father of a
recalcitrant child, the same people always turn around to ask if he
wants to kill his own baby. The attention span of an average Nigerian
is short and limited. Nigerians are a people perpetually in search of
new heroes. We are a people so confused about what we want, whether
democracy or militocracy. Many years of debilitating military
interventions and interregnum have turned us into victims of acute
psychological impairment.
That
must be the reason many of us often deify those we believe can help
us punish, or even kill, our enemies. But our romance with
kill-and-go administrations is always short-lived. A good example was
when the Shehu Shagari government was terminated in 1983 by Mohammadu
Buhari and Babatunde Idiagbon, Nigerians spilled into the streets
like locusts to celebrate their victory over a most profligate ruling
party known then as the National Party of Nigeria. Many prominent
members of NPN were hounded into prison, house arrest and exile.
Jubilant Nigerians even saw nothing wrong with the despicable attempt
to crate Alhaji Umaru Dikko alive and the abortive “mission
impossible” to smuggle him back to Nigeria. We tend to love and
promote selective justice and injustice. We support whichever is more
convenient at any particular time.
You
must give it to him, Sanusi is a princely and charming man.
He’s the type that most ladies would see and curtsey. He loves
attention and attracts it almost effortlessly. He would have done so
well as a Nollywood actor or a music superstar.
The
same Nigerians flooded the streets when the man with the toothy
smile, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida did his own coup and sent Buhari
and Idiagbon into premature retirement. Yet Babangida did the exact
opposite of what Buhari did by giving a human face to dictatorship
and inviting prominent Nigerians to serve in his government. He
garnished his solid team with a few social critics and freed the
Buhari captives from arbitrary incarceration. Babangida did not end
it there, he forced open the dreaded cells of the then National
Security Organisation where political detainees were tied down and
lived like animals. Sympathetic Nigerians thanked the new benevolent
ruler and embraced him warts and all. Buhari and Idiagbon simply
melted into oblivion.
Sooner
than later, Babangada started his transition games and started
dribbling Nigerians with the dexterity and foxiness of the legendary
Maradona and his infamous ‘hand of God’. He shifted the goal
posts several times while the game was on. He even transfigured,
without the benefit of elections or any referendum, into a civilian
President and held the whole nation spellbound. He banned and
unbanned potential candidates at will in a classic case of chess
whilst keeping a straight poker face all the time. Nigerians watched
in utter amazement, helplessness and befuddlement as someone played
them like Ping-Pong. Meanwhile, it was alleged that under
Babangida, corruption stank to high heavens. The chief critic at the
time was General Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo who called
IBB all manner of unprintable names.
To
cut a bad story short, an election was conducted on June 12, 1993,
and the presidency was won by Chief Moshood Abiola but was annulled
by General Babangida for reasons yet to be disclosed till this day.
In the middle of this higgledy-piggledy, a contraption called the
Interim National Government was hurriedly packaged and Chief Ernest
‘Degunle Shonekan was made its Head. That government lasted only a
few months when the maximum ruler with dark goggles, General Sani
Abacha arrived on the scene and sacked the ING with automatic
alacrity, and everyone scampered into safety without as much as a
whimper.
Sanusi
had managed to capitalise on the kill-and-go mentality of most
Nigerians to win sympathy for his dangerous annihilation of his
enemies without caring for the stray bullets that may hit innocent
bystanders. In other to catch a few rats, Sanusi chose to set fire to
the whole village.
If
IBB loved to smile like a beautiful bride, Abacha was the exact
opposite as a gloomy groom. His mien was something else and everyone
feared him with utter trepidation. He took over the liability of June
12 and appropriated the mandate to himself. Those who challenged him
soon found their ways into prisons or on the road to Golgotha. Two of
Nigeria’s most powerful army Generals of all times, General
Obasanjo and Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua who tried to monkey
with Abacha were both roasted like chicken in Abacha’s gulag. While
Obasanjo was lucky to stay alive and live to tell the tale, Yar’Adua
was very unfortunate, as he died in prison and was silenced forever.
The winner of the election MKO Abiola and his wife Kudirat died under
different circumstances. Other pro-democracy activists suffered
various collateral damages, including death.
Is
it not strange that the powers-that-be in their wisdom sooner than
later thought it fit to invite General Obasanjo to take over the
mandate that should have been that of Abiola? The man who made it all
happen was Babangida who had been publicly scandalised many times by
the same Obasanjo. It is also interesting that Obasanjo would later
block the same Babangida who helped him back to power when the man
wanted to stage a comeback. The drama also became a theatre of the
absurd when General Mohammed Buhari also came back on the scene after
quitting power since 1985. He’s been contesting permanently since
2003 and he’s yet to give up. The same Nigerians who called him the
wicked tyrant are the same people saying he’s the best man for the
task of changing Nigeria for the better no matter how old and weak he
may have become since leaving power 27 years ago.
This
is my summary of Nigeria’s history that Sanusi failed to read or
possibly chose to ignore. A good student of Nigerian history would
always try to check when the market is over and the traders must
close shop and go home. Sanusi did not understand this and behaved as
if he was the de facto President of Nigerian. He had cashed in on the
weakness of the Jonathan administration to run his own parallel
government and haul insults at anyone who dared to challenge him. He
neither spared the executive nor the legislative arms of government.
He went meandering from one controversial policy to the other and
bullied everyone into submission. If he didn’t know other things,
he understood the magnitude of our docility and took full advantage
of it. It was always obvious to discerning minds that Sanusi is a man
of tall ambitions who was willing to do anything to achieve his aims
and goals. He spent money on outlandish projects and anything that
caught his fancy and ran a personal fiefdom.
I
must confess that when Mallam Sanusi started his highly-controversial
tenure at CBN, on June 4, 2009, I saw through the smokescreen of his
vengeful mission very early in the day, and warned many of those
jumping up like frogs thinking a Messiah had finally landed on our
shores to take caution. While acknowledging his academic brilliance,
I was duly worried about his unbridled radicalism. He did everything
in the extreme and lacked the tolerance to persuade others. In the
process, he stepped on too many toes and acted like he was beyond
control. He fought for total autonomy for the CBN and campaigned
vociferously against any form of audit by anyone of his actions as
CBN Governor. He thus became a loose cannon and a sword of Damocles
against his foes. His word was law as everyone feared his tempestuous
outbursts.
I
must confess that when Mallam Sanusi started his highly-controversial
tenure at CBN, on June 4, 2009, I saw through the smokescreen of his
vengeful mission very early in the day, and warned many of those
jumping up like frogs thinking a Messiah had finally landed on our
shores to take caution.
You
must give it to him, Sanusi is a princely and charming man.
He’s the type that most ladies would see and curtsey. He loves
attention and attracts it almost effortlessly. He would have done so
well as a Nollywood actor or a music superstar. It is strange how a
man of such sartorial tastes ended up in banking and not showbiz. The
profession he chose was traditionally reserved for taciturn and
conservative characters and not for vainglorious and adventurous
rabble-rousers. His major weakness was his sharp tongue. He could
almost raise the dead with it.
Sanusi
had managed to capitalise on the kill-and-go mentality of most
Nigerians to win sympathy for his dangerous annihilation of his
enemies without caring for the stray bullets that may hit innocent
bystanders. In other to catch a few rats, Sanusi chose to set fire to
the whole village. He needed to disguise his real intentions and
motives by taking on an entire institution and sacking otherwise
brilliant bankers in the process. Some innocent people had their
eventful careers terminated by a rampaging bull that was goaded on by
a neurotic society and a vindictive population. It was so tragic that
the warnings of a few of us fell on the deaf ears of those who were
more interested in the extra-judicial crucifixion of those perceived
as rogue bankers. Nigerians allowed themselves to be mesmerised and
hypnotised and hoodwinked by a quintessential bully in search of
victims to devour.
Sanusi’s
eloquence and debonair presence made it possible for many of his
unwary admirers to get carried away by his sophistry. But they didn’t
need to look too far to realise that his combative approach would
soon go up in smoke like others before him. Perhaps, he would have
fared better as a military dictator than as a sanitary inspector in
the cesspool of banking mess. The game he played was too hot to
handle and for too long. He should have known that one way or the
other anyway, the chicken must come home to roost. And bullies always
have their terminal dates. This is because, according to
Wikipedia, “a bully is a constant harasser of the weak.” A bully
argues his victims into submission through intimidation and name
calling.
Wikipedia
explains further that a bully is usually arrogant and narcissistic
and by bullying others, he feels empowered. He suffers from
“personality disorders, quickness to anger, use of force, addiction
to aggressive behaviours, engaging in obsessive or rigid
actions…well-planned and orchestrated attempts at
character-assassination…” It explains that a bully cannot exist
or thrive without the active connivance “of a large group of
relatively uninvolved bystanders.” It is the ability of the bully
to create the illusion of a support base from the majority that
propels him to instil the fear of God into people and prevent them
from speaking out against him. This is palpable in Sanusi’s case as
no member of the economic team or the Institute of Bankers could
openly speak up against the excesses of this man. Even our President
appeared to have been clearly subdued; the reason he quickly assented
to a foolish experiment. Bullies exert and expand their power when
they see the unwillingness of anyone to challenging or taking them on
because they depend largely on mob action.
Wikipedia
puts it succinctly: “When the bully encounters no negative response
from observers, it provides social approval for the bullying and
encourages continuation of the behaviour.” Most people ignore
bullies because they are not in any present danger themselves, or may
feel that there’s no point becoming the next victim, so better to
keep mute. But there is never a guarantee that anyone can escape the
bully, as General Obasanjo must have discovered when Sanusi referred
to him as “a poor economist.”
I
believe three things ended Sanusi’s regime of fear. The first is
that he did not gauge the mood of his ubiquitous mob who did not
subscribe to his N5,000 note misadventure. If he read their lips, he
would have known he was on his own and would have avoided the risk of
dancing naked in the market place. And the second was his attempt to
stylishly rubbish a former President and Commander-in-Chief, Olusegun
Obasanjo. No matter the degree of the seeming cold war between
Obasanjo and his estranged godson, President Goodluck Jonathan, no
one would allow Sanusi get away with such sauciness while he’s
still a public servant.
The
last straw is the rumour of Sanusi’s Presidential ambition which he
has since denied. But denial or not, the Jonathan crew would never
close their two eyes again where Sanusi is concerned, and he has
become a potential enemy and a marked man whose wings must be
clipped.
He
should have realised that a child who buys a pair of shoes for his
limping father must be ready to listen to the dark tales of his
lineage.
By
his own feathers, Sanusi is now smitten! That is how the cookies
always crumble.
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