May 29: This too shall pass

Two days… two destinies could well bespeak the correlative contrasts between Independence Day, October 1, 1960 and Democracy Day, May 29, 1999 – in the annals of the political history of Nigeria.

The themes of both days spell out democratic ideals but their plots differ on the grounds of historical provenance.

While October 1, 1960 was plotted and “gifted” to Nigerians by the British colonialists in response to global trends and nationalists’ agitations, May 29, 1999 was a product of home-grown democratic experience foisted by the military on citizens.

It is, however, indubitable that both were ordinary dates made extraordinary by events that rode on the crest of inexorable time and tide.

The issue could be put into perspective with a recollection of how Nigeria made formal entry into the comity of sovereign states almost 63 years ago.

Nostalgia is rife about how we waved our new national flags frantically and sang heartily to “hail” the birth of “own dear native land” where we pledged to stand in brotherhood “though tribes and tongues may differ”.

The hope and aspirations of Nigerians for a land “where no man is oppressed” as rightfully expressed in the nationalist agitations became enlivened. How far we have achieved these laudable objectives, in the light of glittering degeneracy of civility and. human decency, is a moot point.

Even as opinions diverge on the value and volume of the goodwill that our quest for independence received “on a platter of gold”, there’s dependable evidence to applaud the intellectual vehemence and patriotic gusto of the nationalists’ struggle that achieved the feat.

Some Nigerians have argued, in the wake of the undemocratic tendencies exhibited ,that we might have taken democracy for granted and misused it because we did not earn it through “sweat and blood” like others in the contemporary political milieu of those days.

In spite of these criticisms, we cannot gloss over the great exploits of the political leaders of the First Republic (1960-1966) to deliver the dividends of democracy in their regions under a Parliamentary Constitution. They made cash crops foreign exchange earners, built skyscrapers and eased access to education.

Yet, it is difficult to ignore the accusation that the whole idea of Independence was “a Greek gift”;- going by the spate of ethno- religious intolerance and the political upheavals that provided an excuse for intermittent military incursions.

It would appear that the aura and sacrosanctity of the Independence Day began to experience defilement as a result of coup d’etats and counter coups (1966-1979) and Civil War (1967-1970).

Sadly, the crassitude of the political elites, combined with the overweening ambition of the military class worsened and the hope for the restoration of democracy heralding the Second Republic (1979-1983) was short-lived.

As such, military adventurism stepped up the assault on democratic ideals between 1983 and 1999 leaving, but a whiff of participatory democracy through the annulled Presidential Election won by late Chief MKO Abiola on June 12 1993.

Curiously, no matter how hard we try to make military rule an aberration deserving, perhaps, only a mention in historical footnotes, they wrote themselves legibly back into national consciousness on May 29 1999.

On that day – christened Democracy Day – when power was handed over to the elected government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the Fourth Republic, our most enduring democratic experience to date was born.

The idea seems worthy of amplification, on this note, that if Independence Day was “a ribbon- adorned gift package” handed down to us by the colonialists, could the Democracy Day foisted on Nigerians by the military be the silver bullet.

Is there any aural or clairvoyant potents of May 29 that has kept the military in the barracks, 24 years on, in spite of ceaseless bouts of political rascality?

Talk about the defiant continual harshness of socio economic life that kept inflation in perennial double digits, the rising debt profile, intractable insecurity and cultural electoral malfeasance and you’ll catch the drift.

It is amazing how the halo effect of May 29 could still hold against the backlash of a vertiginous descent into acts that could trigger anarchy by the sore losers arrow-headed by the Labour Party( LP) and its unhinged “Obidients army” following the 2023 Presidential Election.

At the height of indiscretion , they sent a direct invitation for a military takeover of government through a protest in front of the Army Headquarters and called for the establishment of an illegal Interim National Government.

Indeed, the preponderance of intrigues rallied against the statutory Handover Ceremony as typified by Datti Baba Ahmed, vice presidential candidate for the Labour party who would pay little regard to the rule of law by suggesting extra judicial means of preventing the Swearing- In of the President Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu the APC flagbearer on May 29 2023 is yet unabating.

To be sure, any run-of-the-mill democrat should accept that once a petition is filed against the winner, who has also exercised a right of response through a cross petition, there would not be room for expressing fertile imaginings and zero tolerance for recklessness would kick in.

Thank God that rather bring the full weight of the law to bear on the felonious acts, the fallout of all the rantings is being contained maturely in the interest of national unity.

It seems tenable that if we go by the submission that the outcome of the 2023 polls should be rejected due to “substantial non- compliance” with electoral rules, it bids fair that the LP which rewrote the rules of winning in spite its organic incapacities should pray the tribunal to cancel the entire results; including its impressive first time deliverables at the gubernatorial, senatorial and other legislature levels.

As we speak the signs bode well for the Democracy Day Handover Ceremony. What with congratulatory messages from far and near, induction of the President Elect into Time Magazine 100 Influencers Hall of Fame and the Transition Committee working at full pelt.

As the reality of Democracy Day solidifies by the day and unnatural wish “to stop the rise of the sun” on that day dissipates, it is important to remind the President -Elect Bola Tinubu of the enormous task of national reconciliation and confidence building that should attract his immediate attention.

It ought to be noted that Asiwaju Tinubu’s citation in the “Time 100 Publication” has joined the unequivocal call of all well-meaning Nigerians that he should tackle the “litany of crises in a fractured nation including deep corruption, religious insurgency, and shortages of cash and fuel, and power in a crumbling economy”.

Also, he must be aware that he has to contend with a myriad of last-minute liabilities imposed by the out-going Buhari administration such as Fuel Subsidy removal, acquisition of Baggage scanners for Railway Stations, purchase of 350 cars for Customs Department and approval of N6 billion for the repair of Third Mainland Bridge.

The president-elect’s reputation of strategic performance would appear to precede him to this assignment, his clarion call to all Nigerians including co-contestants and his peace overtures should help him surmount the onerous tasks.

Given the futility of all attempts to truncate democracy, it is pertinent to expect that cognitive distortions on the outcome of the elections and existential threats to the Handover date would be tamed by patriotic zeal.

Whatever fear, whatever apprehension being harboured would do no more than weaken the resolve of today’s election losers to be better prepared for another tomorrow, another May 29.

Afterall, as the Alfred Hitchcock, of the TV Horror Series of the 1960s would say: there is no terror in the bang (of our Democracy Day); only its anticipation (for naysayer).

Jenrola is a veteran journalist and communication consultant.