By SUFUYAN OJEIFO
THE recent celebrations of the 80th birthday of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and Iyasele of Esanland, Chief Anthony Anenih, have left in their trail useful lessons across the political divides, the most important being that political leaders should eschew bitterness and embrace forgiveness, which is needed to pull all men of great influence and goodwill together to work in the interest of national security, development and unity.
That was the homily Anenih delivered on Sunday, August 4, this year, at the lunch reception held at the International Conference Centre, ICC, Abuja, shortly after his birthday thanksgiving church service at Our Lady Queen Catholic Church, Area 3, Garki, which had in attendance former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose relationship with Anenih went awry after the 2007 “coup”, masterminded by Obasanjo, which ousted Anenih from office as Chairman of the BoT.
Obasanjo had taken over the position, from which he resigned in 2012, prompting the PDP leadership to bring back Anenih to succeed him. For about five years, there was no love lost between the two leaders. I cannot confirm if there were efforts by either of them to reach out to each other for appeasement, reconciliation and forgiveness. Such feeling of animosity is understandable within the context in which power and brinksmanship were deployed in an attempt to dismantle cherished political reputation and truncate dreams that had taken decades to build and nurture.
There is no doubt that some people may find it easy to remain calm and overlook the shenanigans of the recent past suffered in the hands of some others, but to forgive is something that is divine and perhaps very difficult to accomplish. It takes extraordinary large-heartedness bolstered by the grace of God to do so in a world of boundless malevolence. It is against this backdrop that Anenih’s act of forgiving Obasanjo for his (Anenih’s) unjustifiable hurried ouster as BoT chair in 2007 is commendable.
The Anenih forgiveness, in this instant case, comes across as very genuine. For a man whose inscrutability is reinforced by his few words, coming up to talk about forgiving Obasanjo during his short remarks, speaks so much about what the development means to him. Those who are close to him attest to the fact that he does not bear the burden of malice for too long in so much as those who offend him realise it and beg for forgiveness. He is always quick to forgive and forget. To have taken about five years to thaw the ice must be that the other side did not make genuine overtures.
But now that something had led to the other and both have put the past behind, for it is also possible that Obasanjo might have been holding something against Anenih, the “birthday boy” ensured that he preached the message of forgiveness to his audience so that those present would know that he was not preaching what he could not practise.
He, as a matter of fact, said he visited Obasanjo a few months back, in company with some members of the BoT of the PDP, at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta, to explore the potentials of reconciliation among members and leaders of the PDP for greater cohesion within the party and to carry critical stakeholders outside the party on board of government’s development plan.
For him to have anchored his homily on the forgiveness that has taken place between him and Obasanjo, in order to drive home the point that leaders of Nigeria, both past and present, should forgive one another and work together in the national interest, remains the strongest hint ever, amid the intriguing political interactions, that there are unlimited possibilities that leaders of the nation can drive to achieve better understandings in the flourish of nationalistic fervour. Peace and selflessness, deducing from his position, are key in this regard.
Read Anenih: “If you look round, you will know that Nigeria is here. We must forget the past and move forward. I was thrilled when I saw former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Church today (August 4, 2013). For him to be here is to me forgiveness. I want to appeal to IBB, Abdusalami, Danjuma, Obasanjo that Nigeria needs peace. If they can give us peace and Jonathan is genuinely advised, he will move forward; if these men come together and advise Jonathan, Boko Haram will die…. Nigeria is turn-by-turn.
We should wait for our time. Jonathan is there now, it will get to another person; we should talk less. Let us put our hands behind the President. Time flies. Today he is the one, tomorrow it will be your turn.’’ This is no doubt good proposition to support Jonathan to complete his constitutionally circumscribed two terms of office, which is expected to end in 2019.
But then, there is a place for reciprocity in the socio-political mix way beyond the rigors of protocols. Reaching out at the social and political levels helps to nurture and deepen bonds as well as weaken fault lines of ethnicity, religion and other primordial considerations that tend to negatively emphasize our diversities. I must on this score commend former President Ibrahim Babangida who has devoted his post-military presidency years to touch base with friends, associates and explore new frontiers of relationships across the nation deploying the platform of social engagements.
This is a demonstrated commitment to dismantle the age-long culture of erecting barriers and fostering cleavages, which President Goodluck Jonathan spoke against in his speech at the birthday reception. To him, time has come to sidestep our primordial cleavages and begin to sing the song of unity. He showed how passionate he is to his preachment when he urged leaders of the nation to set shining examples in patriotism as Anenih has done.
In fact, he urged political leaders, stakeholders and elders to stop making provocative statements capable of dividing the country even as he underscored the need for statements that would build the nation. For him, it was unfortunate that some highly inflammable statements were coming from elders, who witnessed the Civil War. His plea that elders should sing the song of unity in this country fittingly redefined the texture and character of the event as transcending the realm of festivities to the sphere of politics.
Perhaps, the greatest tribute to have come the way of Anenih on that day was Jonathan’s description of him as a leader who has remained very relevant in the political landscape: “…To pass through one winter is a tug of war, to cross 80 is worth celebrating. 80 years of bad health is like punishment to the body. For all the period I have known Anenih, he has been very vibrant. To be relevant politically for all these years is not easy. It is not easy for a politician to stay on top for a long time.
I see something in him which is a little advice I will give to all of us. Tony Anenih has shown that he is a nationalist. He has not shown that he belongs to one tribe, or one religion. So in spite of the challenges of politics, the unpredictable political environment, he continues to stand tall.” These words must remain indelible in the minds of Anenih, his loyalists as well as acquaintances and it is hoped that the import of the words to other leaders of the nation would not be lost.
In addition, one hopes that Jonathan would genuinely seek the guidance-cum-cooperation of his predecessors and hugely commit himself to his development agenda that will transform the nation and rekindle the belief of Nigerians in our nation. He should set the example of sacrifice by leading the process of reconciliation and overtures that will soothe frayed nerves and galvanise quantum nationwide support for his administration. He has the capacity to build national consensus around critical development issues as well as nurture a common front in a determined effort to chart a trajectory to a destination of greatness for the nation. History will not forget him and posterity will judge him positively if he can now incrementally walk his talk.
Perhaps, as a starter, what lesson would appear to have been learnt and, which is now manifesting positively in the PDP is the craving for reconciliation and forgiveness as gleaned from Anenih’s homily. I see that Obasanjo has now taken up the gauntlet to intervene in the lingering stand-off between some PDP governors and the party leadership as well as the presidency. The process is on-going, even though, it has not been smooth, at all. The good thing, at least, is that parties to the conflict are now talking in formal or structured settings.
It is expected that before long, lasting peace will return to the PDP fold, especially before the 2015 election year, otherwise, the party may be forced by the opposition to come down the wire in the sets of polls that will hold. The party leaders and the presidency must act expeditiously and in good faith to put their house in order as forewarned is forearmed. If the party and the Federal Government act expeditiously and achieve positive results, historians and watchers of developments in the party should be charitable to anchor the development on the impact of the homilies by Jonathan and Anenih on the latter’s 80th birthday reception and the subsequent positive moves.
· Ojeifo, journalist/publisher, sent this piece from Abuja.
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