The attacks on the President

dan_onwukwe@yahoo.com
NIGERIA’s political history as far as elections are
concerned,leaves no crumbs for comfort.At best,it reminds us
of how we got here. And this should surprise
nobody.Violence,thuggery and rigging are common features
that contributed in no small measure to the collapse of past
republics.In the words of Archbishop Matthew Hassan
Kukah,these are the “trinity” that have marred our electoral
process.
It’s in this connection that when the Presidential candidates in
next month’s elections signed a peace pact and embraced
each other,we all hailed it.That was why the picture of
President Goodluck Jonathan and that of the Presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Muhammadu
Buhari,made the front page of many newspapers a day after
the pact was signed in Abuja.
But few weeks after,our worst fears are coming back thick and
fast.What we fear most seems to have come upon us.As bad
as our past political experience
was,one can’t recollect of any incident where an incumbent
President seeking re-election has had his convoy attacked,or
satchet water thrown at his convoy for no justifiable
reason.That’s insane.That’s the dark side of our politics that
portends danger to the forthcoming elections.
If the life of the President is threatened,who then is safe? In
less than three weeks,political thugs have attacked the
President’s campaign train in Kano,Katsina,Bauchi and
Jos,Plateau State.In the case of Bauchi,where two operatives
of the Directorate of State Security were injured and
hospitalized,stones and satchets of water were allegedly
thrown at the President’s convoy.
Who dunnit? While thugs allegedly sponsored by the
opposition APC have been fingered in the ugly incidents in
Kano,Katsina and Jos,that of Bauchi has a curious ring to
it.Was it orchestrated by APC or members of the State PDP
operating from far away Abuja as alleged by the State
Governor,Alhaji Isa Yuguda?
The Governor’s version of the attack in a British Broadcasting
Corporation(BBC)Hausa Service over the weekend sounds
bizaare and unbelievable.This is what Gov.Yuguda said on
BBC two days ago,”I am sure and let the world know that the
people who did this thing were PDP members and those
politicians in Abuja.They found these youths on the road and
gave them brooms and satchets of water and they instructed
them that when the President is passing they should raise the
brooms and satchets of water at him”.According to Yuguda,a
top member of the PDP,the target was to demonize him and
pitch him against the President.How true is this? Well,in
Nigeria,nothing is beyond our politicians.But,to me,the logic of
Alhaji Ibrahim Jalo,deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP
makes better sense.He asks a pertinent question:How can the
ruling party be the one organising the stoning? Well,I don’t
know! He
pushed the question to the State governor to answer. That
would amount to a house divided against itself. Or better
still,an equivalent of a “Mutually Assured Destruction(MAD).
Whichever way,the attacks on the President,by all accounts,is
despicable and an affront on democracy.It also negates the
peace pact entered into by the Presidential candidates early
this month on behalf of their parties.It also raises concerns
that the elections might be a “do or die” affair.
Beyond that,it does not speak well of the maturity of aspiring
political leaders.In short,it offends all known laws meant to
bring sanity and decency into our electoral process as the
attack contravenes section 227 of the 1999 Constitution(as
amended)as well as sections 94 and 95 of the Electoral Act
and sections 5-8 of the Public Order Act and Article 3 of the
Political parties Code of Conduct freely agreed to,and adopted
by all the political parties.
Section 7 of the Code states explicitly that during
campaigns,no political party or candidate should resort to the
use of inflammatory or indecent language,provocative actions,
images or manifestations Mthat incite
violence,hatred,contempt or intimidation against another party
or candidate or any person or group of persons on grounds of
ethnicity or gender or for any other reason.
Besides,section 14 of the Code is specific that “no political
party or candidate shall prevent other parties or candidates
from pasting their posters or distributing their
leaflets ,handbills or other publicity materials in public places.
The Code therefore urges all parties and candidates to give
directives to their members or supporters not to
remove,deface or destroy the posters of other parties or
candidate.
In spite of these provisions, President Jonathan has come
under a volley of attacks.In many states,such
Rivers,Lagos,Kano,Katsina,Kaduna, Plateau ,Abuja,
Bauchi,Nasarawa,Adamawa, Borno, several acts of vandalism
have been visited on the President’s campaign train.Some of
his billboards have been reportedly destroyed and his posters
as well.
Perhaps this is a torch of provocation by the main opposition
party or even some dissidents within the President’s own
party. This is why the directive by the Inspector General of
Police,Suleiman Abba to all zonal Assistant IGP and command
commissioners to crackdown on political thugs and their
sponsors is a welcome development.The Police high
command,should,as a matter of urgency,fish out those behind
the attacks on the President’s convoy.Or will the Police high
command wait until something more sinister happens?
The President,just like any other politician,should be free to
campaign in any part of the country without any
molestation.Politicians should take responsibility for any
misconduct of their supporters.Much to their frustration,and
perhaps sensing defeat, the premeditated attacks on the
President could be a way of provoking the PDP into a
retaliation that could precipitate crisis.
Recall that the President has said many times over that his
political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.
That’s how politics ought to be.In other words,there will
always be life after politics. Therefore, if the forthcoming
elections will be counted a success,this is the time to shake
off the past and let the campaigns go on. We need not to be
reminded of how we got here.