Yes, I Pardoned A Serial Treasury Looter But What Can You Do About It? By Ogaga Ifowodo

Presumably, President Jonathan and
the members of the National Council
of State who granted a state pardon
for the convicted former governor of
Bayelsa State, D. S. P.
Alamieyeseigha, are aware of Section
14 (2) of the Constitution which
states that “The Federal Republic of
Nigeria shall be a State based on the
principles of democracy and social
justice,” and accordingly “sovereignty
belongs to the people … from whom
government … derives all its powers
and authority.” It is possible that
Jonathan’s image-makers, better
known as his “attack lions,” believe in
this principle, just as much as they
believe that the people are always
ignorant, misinformed, mischievous,
unpatriotic and wrong. Jonathan may
also remember Abraham Lincoln’s
famous definition of democracy,
which we all learned in secondary
school, as “government of the people,
by the people, and for the people.”
Still, it is clear to the world, now
more than ever before (assuming that
further and better proof were ever
needed) that Jonathan thinks or
knows very little of the concepts of
democracy and the people. Neither
matters to him in his sordid game of
power-for-its-own-sake. Thus, no
deed appears to him too indefensible
to warrant discretion. He may very
well be a king since he operates by
the credo of might is right. Indeed,
that is what he meant when he said
“I don’t give a damn” about
transparency and leading by example.
And that is what he has told us again
by pardoning a confessed and
convicted kleptomaniac who also
happens to be his former boss. By
this latest show of contempt for the
will of the people, Jonathan thumps
his chest and sneers, “Yes, I
pardoned a serial treasury looter.
What can you do about it?”
It explains why he hardly tried to hide
his hand. For, he has to have known
that his ruse of granting absolution to
a poster-face of corruption by
simultaneously pardoning persons
“previously pardoned” would be
exposed before long. But, then,
Jonathan does not give a damn about
what the people think; does not
believe the people can think. He does
not care if the world thinks as
Transparency International does, that
his “decision undermines anti-
corruption efforts” and “encourages
impunity.” Those blokes at
Transparency International, like the
ignorant fools under his rule, assume,
erroneously, that he has to prove his
anti-corruption bona fides by
strengthening and not relaxing
sanctions against treasury looters.
One might be tempted to say that
Jonathan has hammered the final nail
into the coffin of the war against
corruption, but that would be
admitting that there was ever such a
war. In any case, rather than review
his action, he has set his attack lions
loose on the people.
I think I know now the source of
Jonathan’s ill-advised bravado,
strikingly unbecoming of one whose
ascent to power has been more a
matter of sheer good luck (I can’t tire
of the pun) than merit or
accomplishment. In being so
dismissive of Jonathan as weak,
clueless and totally out of his depth
as president, we may have unwittingly
created a political monster. Like the
poor boy picked upon by every kid in
the schoolyard and neighbourhood
and who, to restore his dignity, finally
takes a stand, Jonathan is now
totally blind to reason or
consequence. He will take on all
comers, even if every one of them be
twice his weight; even if he must spit
in the face of the people at every turn.
At least, then he can go to bed
beating his chest and saying out
loud, “I did it! That should teach them
to call me weak and clueless!” Every
serious decision has become for him
an occasion to assert his political
manhood. The unreflective display of
machismo is spawned by a desire to
appear strong and decisive. In short,
Jonathan is governed by the fear of
being thought weak, like the tragic
Okonkwo in Achebe’s Things Fall
Apart.
Yet, there are better ways for
Jonathan to prove his political
manhood. He could, for instance,
have publicly declared his assets,
thereby assuming the role of
commander-in-chief of a real war
against corruption. Or implemented
all the recommendations of the
Justice Uwais panel on electoral
reform, thereby going against self-
interest and the entrenched privileges
of the powerful few who profit from
rigged elections. Or prosecuted and
jailed the trillion-naira oil subsidy
thieves that bled the country white.
He could convene or facilitate a
sovereign national conference at
which, for the first time since
independence, we as a free people
would agree on the articles of
association for a prosperous,
peaceful and equitable nation. He
could … but none of these would
project the image he craves of a
strongman in a tall hat; they smack
of bending to the will of the people,
which is incompatible with an I-
don’t-give-a-damn philosophy of
governance.
Yet, for all the great wisdom we have
been told informed the pardon, one
crucial detail was omitted: an
unreserved apology to
Alamieyeseigha for his conviction in
the first place. After all, how many
treasury looters have been asked to
explain the source of their instant
wealth, never mind being charged to
court? Bode George, Tafa Balogun …
the few who did not get away scot
free, must be wondering how much
longer they must wait before getting
their pardon.

omoliho@gmail.com