AS we inch our way to the February 2015 general elections, several Mr. Powerfuls have arisen in Nigeria threatening Amagghedon if their candidate doesn’t win. Such threats make the wise and prudent laugh. Why? It is because no mortal is really Mr. Powerful most especially if his touted secular omnipotence is not founded on equity. Or do we again need to be reminded that victory in human endeavours does not necessarily follow the laws of mathematical permutations as historical evidence prove?
Now, let’s begin this discourse on first principles. Enter our biblical Goliath. Despite all his braggadocio, he fell to David, the ‘smaller’ man. In boxing, this same scenario occurred. Mr. Powerful collapsed at the feet of his less fancied opponent. For instance, no bookmaker gave Mohammed Ali a chance against the ‘ugly bear’ Sony Liston during their epic match in the sixties. But then the underdog Mohammed Ali beat him senselessly garnishing his victory with a technical knockout of the world’s most dreaded boxer at the time. Thereafter, Mohammed Ali became the world heavyweight champion of the world.
Yes, who really is Mr. Powerful? None. But Joe Frazier once thought he was one, having won the Olympic gold, in the heavyweight boxing category in 1964 and went on to rule the world as a heavyweight champion from 1970 – 73. However in 1973 he lost the crown to George Foreman in a shameful way in their “Sundown Showdown” encounter in the National Stadium, Kingston in Jamaica. George Foreman knocked him down six times in two rounds to win the fight in a record 4 minutes three seconds!! And, so, Mr. Powerful fell, like a pack of cards.
Remember, too, that at one time in Delta State history, James Ibori as Governor, branded himself as Mr. Powerful. The honorific title also stuck when he left office in 2007. Afterall, he was then very close to Aso Rock whose tenant was President Musa Yar’Adua. Deploying his enormous powers, it was alleged that Ibori single-handedly inflenced the appointments of Mrs. Farida Waziri as EFCC boss; as well as Mr. Mike Okiro as the Inspector-General of Police. He did all this, continued the report, to shield himself from the law which was hunting him for kleptocracy. Don’t forget that former EFCC boss told us in Daily Trust of September 20, 2013 that Ibori alone misapplied N90 billion of Delta State’s public funds while in office as governor. Also, don’t forget that Ibori was alleged to have planted Dr. Uduaghan as his successor in office to help him cover his tracks as governor. Behold, the wiles of our Mr. Powerful. Again, we know that a case of corruption against Ibori in an Abuja court was thrown into the trash can on the technical ground of lack of jurisdiction.
The case resurrected at Asaba said to have the jurisdiction to hear it. But Ibori was pronounced innocent of all the charges levied against him. Indeed, our sick judiciary asked our Mr. Powerful to “Carry go. Nothing do you – oo!!” But tell me where is Ibori today? He is in jail in the United Kingdom, totally de-powerised.
In other words, no evil by any Mr. Powerful ever goes unpunished here on earth by a spirited superorganic force while still awaiting the more devastation judgement of God. Once again, recall that all the demonic powerful rightwing generals who ruled Argentina during the seventies are paying for their crimes. Generals Galteri, Lamidozo and several others have been penalised for daring to lead their country into the Falklands war they lost to Britain. Not too long ago in 2009 some other Argentinian retired generals were jailed for life for their serial atrocities crowned with the killing of an innocent 14 year-old boy in 1976.
Today also Mr. Powerful and former Chadian president, Hissene Habre, is not at ease even after fleeing from his country in 1990 to seek refuge in Senegal. Till date, he is being investigated for war crimes, torture and human rights violations attributed to him while in office. Now under house arrest he is suffering from what late Dr. K.O. Mbadiwe could have described as “demobilised powerfulness malariasis.”
No condition indeed is permanent. Today, you may fatuously claim to be Mr. Powerful. But when tomorrow arrives, you discover you weren’t really powerful. This also was the story of Muammar Gaddaffi who undemocratically held on to power in Libya as Mr. Powerful since 1969 after, anyway, toppling a tyrannical monarchical system in a coup. True, he had his good revolutionary points as a leader. But he “missed road”, to use FELA’s terminology, when he assigned omnipotence to him.
Well, the rest is modern history. He has now learnt in his grave that no man is Mr. Powerful. In 2011, he lost his Libyan presidency as well as his life during the battle for Sitre in a war that broke out in Libya while in office.
Similarly, there was another self-acclaimed Mr. Powerful in the person of Mr. Jonas Savimbi. In 1975, his UNITA party lost the presidential election in his home country Angola to Dr. Augustinho Neto of the MPLA. Savimbi aided by America rejected the election result and took to a bush war to make the country ungovernable. The war lasted 27 years but he lost it woefully following his betrayal by America which earlier on supported him. His logistics was made available by America to Angola troops who killed him in an ambush. Too true, with mortal, untrusted sponsors all over the place, no man is Mr. Powerful. Now, for a brief moment, let’s ask ourselves where Charles Taylor of Liberia and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast are today. Answer. Charles Taylor is in jail courtesy of a judgement of the International Criminal Court, Haque. He was found guilty of war crimes and other serious offences as a result of his support for Sierra Leone insurgent leader Foday Sankoh of the Revolutionary United Force rebel group.
How about Laurent Gbagbo? The former president of Ivory Coast and his wife are facing trial at the ICC in Haque over their dismal election conduct which culminated in mayhem in their country. Lest I forget, the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto are being tried by the ICC today for their roles in the post – 2007 election violence in their country.
The lesson here is that in our civilised, modern and global world the concept of Mr. Powerful only exists in our surrealistic minds. This is because the West and ICC are made to answer for them at the ICC. It is for this reason all those who contributed to the Rwandan Genocide in the nineties through their direct physical violence or inflammatory statements are still being hunted caught and tried at the ICC sitting in Tanzania.
Now, hear this. The Tamil Tigers of Sri Lanka (now Ceylon) were the No. 1 terrorist group in the world. They introduced suicide bombing to militancy and the use of fighter bombers. Today, they are no more after decades of struggle. It only took a responsible and righteous Sri Lanka government barely 57 days to end their menace finally. Indeed, no one is Mr. Powerful. Only God is omnipotent. Therefore, it is time we watch our actions and utterances of threatening to undo Nigeria over the 2015 elections. A word is enough for our Mr. Powerfuls. A cat has nine lives but it still lost its life out of undue audacity while the rat lives on.
gaddafi
