AAKUNYILI: WHERE  ARE  THE  MEN?

I could imagine the emotions on the faces  of members of the Federal Executive Council when Dora Akunyili presented the now-famous memo. Surprise and disbelief. After these initial reactions, anger seemed to be the dominant mood at the meeting as the hawks rudely shot the memo down. The pretext was that it didn’t follow due process as it should have been circulated to members at least one week before it was discussed in council. But that is bunkum. What the Minister presented to the council was not a memo per se, but a note. There is no need to adhere to the one-week-notice rule with notes. In times of crises, or during emergencies, a minister  can introduce  matters of urgent attention through a note. You wouldn’t expect a patriotic minister to have the luxury of a seven-day wait before introducing an urgent matter to the council. That’s enough time for Jos to burn, and for Al-Qaida run rings around Nigeria.

To boot, the last Jos crisis was discussed in Council without FEC members  following the one week rule. Same for the Abdulmutallab issue. No doubt, those were issues requiring  urgent attention. With Jos, a major Nigerian city was gripped by ethno-religious violence while our image was  being assaulted by  foreign media because of the imprudent action of the alleged Nigerian bomber. If the ministers could waive the rule in those cases, couldn’t they adopt the same approach with the matter Akunyili brought to council?

Or, is  the 74-day absence of the President not serious enough to  be regarded as a an ‘urgent national issue?’

Of course, It is and Akunyili was right to bring the matter to council.  The minister of information and communications was  brave and deserved commendations for that action. Just imagine!  A  42-member council made up of at least 36 men, not one of them could speak up for what they know is true in their heart of hearts. I have strong suspicion that  these men are great patriots .... in the privacy of their bedroom.  There, they could analyse all the issues regarding the president’s ill health and give countless reasons why he should step aside for his deputy.  They are heroes only to their wives and girlfriends who they regaled with their ‘deep insight’ on the constitutional crises  brought about by the president’s misadvised action. But Nigeria does not need men like them. We do not need men who will not speak up for their convictions in public, who will say the opposite of what they know is true and right.  Nigeria needs statesmen, men who will place national interest above self.

Men like Akunyili. Yes, I know, she is not a man. But do you call cowards who can’t stand up for their beliefs men? Do you?

I was grated  by news reports that a good number  of the ministers later congratulated Akunyili behind, telling her that what she did required guts. I took that as an admission that they lacked it. Since they are lily livered and  cannot stand up when history demands it,  they have no business being in the cabinet.  We can’t trust them to be bold enough to defend  our interests in cabinet meetings.

The scenario playing out in the cabinet underlines the postulations of some scholars that the majority is sometimes, if not often, wrong. And the dictatorship of the majority is a very terrible thing indeed. It could easily prop up leaders without moral compunction.  It is reason why the worst dictators in human history got away with genocide. Imagine there had been serious revolt in Hitler’s cabinet, that someone like Goebbels or Himmler seriously canvassed an alternative view, instead of egging the Fuehrer on. The course of human history might have changed for the better, and millions of lives would have been probably saved. But what we have mostly is the silence  of  men in the corridors of power. Men who are afraid to speak the truth because it might jeopardise their daily bread. But no nation can truly develop if we only  consider our self interest above everything else. There must be a time to stand up tall for what you believe in and damn everything else.

That’s what Akunyili did at the last FEC meeting. She could have continued to toe the line of the majority of the FEC members – that cowardly bunch;   brief the press on the outcome of their non-meetings, then go home to agonize  about the rudderless state of our union.  She did not. Akunyili took the bull by the horn and stood up for her beliefs. Our beliefs.

It is not as if what she proposed was unique or treasonable. It was common sense. If the President  hands over properly to his deputy, the  controversies generated by his long absence would all but die off. He would have more time to undergo medical care and do so without pressure. Then whenever he returns, he could get some needed rest before taking over as commander-in-chief. As it is if Yar’adua is rushed back to the country it would be at the expense of his health and ultimately the nation’s.  Considering the nature of his illness, it is possible that a recuperating Yar’Adua may not be able to stand the rigour  of a cabinet meeting. He is  likely to be distracted, too tired or drain to  make intelligent contributions and decisions. 

The question is, what is Yar’adua afraid of that is preventing him from  presenting the vacation letter? This question may be unfair to Yar’adua since the man may not be aware of the hullaballoo caused by his absence. Then again, the President might have done the right thing  and written to the National Assembly and the letter confiscated by his aides.  Whatever the case may be, the prognosis does not bode well for Nigeria. Except more cabinet members  develop the courage to gently ask the President to forward (another) letter to the Senate temporarily transferring power to Goodluck Jonathan. If they don’t do so, the uproar about the president’s continued absence will get worse, and this may lead to unintended consequences. Also, if FEC refused to face the fact now, they will eventually do so. If Yar’adua fails to return anytime soon, who will sign the budget? Who will appoint new Board members of INEC? Let’s assume for argument’s sake that we found a way around all of these potential crises and yet the President did not return, would he be presented in absentia as PDP candidate in the next Presidential election?

Like Akunyili, the time to act is now!