Somehow, entertainment is not a growth industry in Africa, especially Nigeria. Never mind the exaggeration in media reviews where every actor in the newly released compact disc movie or movie is always the best ever. In lieu of real entertainment, African leaders, especially Nigerian public office holders and public officials always provide fun, which is incredible, ridiculous and yet amusing.

In the past few weeks, we have witnessed three of such. There was the ECOWAS (Economic Commission of West African States) grandstanding on the military coup in Guinea.

Then we had the strange fire incident at the accounts department of the Lagos headquarters of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, (PHCN). Not to be left out was restless and agonizing INEC chairman, Maurice Iwu.

It’s been fun and pageantry all through. The fire at PHCN accounts department in Lagos office came from nowhere and amidst speculations of the arrival of uninvited guests from the EFCC. Noticeably, the fire completely destroyed accounts department where not a single necessary document might be produced incase of any investigation(s). Such fire incident is not new.

In fact, humorously reminding Nigerians of these tactics once got Ray Ekpu (now of Newswatch Magazine) into trouble in our days on the Concord Group of newspapers. National Assembly members in the Second Republic were busy discussing the state of NITEL, (the sole telephone agency in the country), its finances, performance and non-performance. I was the paper’s deputy editor and Ray, as Chairman of editorial board and columnist.

In the midst of speculations of possible probe of NITEL, Ray Ekpu wrote a satire rebuking NITEL’s officials of being unintelligent. Otherwise, Ray Ekpu continued, these NITEL officials had examples to follow. Set the place on fire to burn out any incriminating documentary evidence. Only days later, the tallest building in Nigeria, (at that time) on the Marina, Lagos, just after the General Hospital, was in total flames and a top journalist died. The examples Ray Ekpu referred to were series of unexplained fire incident at public buildings earmarked to be probed.

After the NITEL fire incident, and Ray Ekpu arrived in office, I went to him to humour him if he had with him his toiletries – soap, sponge, towel, pyjamas, toothpaste, toothbrush and underwears. He asked why and I told him the low mentality of security agencies not understanding his satire.
As it turned out, that was Prophet Duro Onabule predicting the day for Ray Ekpu. Later that day, security men came in to whisk off Ray Ekpu. It was very funny and ridiculous that security personnel could believe that Ray Ekpu was seriously inciting arson.

Some 25 years later, the latest fire incident at PHCN headquarters in Lagos has vindicated Ray Ekpu, who only highlighted the criminal tactics of burning vital public documents to frustrate any public probe. It is a standard practice, which, at any rate, without Ray Ekpu controversial comments, has been repeated. Ever so meticulous are the arsonists that no culprit would be found.

Those who create fun are not just the criminals. African leaders have their version of jokes, largely hypocrisy. The platform is their annual jamboree, ether at African Union or ECOWAS. The latest gathering at Abuja offered ECOWAS games masters the cheap opportunity to grandstand and for want of any serious issue, conveniently focused on the military coup in Guinea.

The first to indulge in this illusion was the then President Olusegun Obasanjo mainly for self-serving purposes. Right from his first day in office, Obasanjo had it in mind to perpetuate himself. And, as he reasoned, why not, if those he (Obasanjo) left in office 20 years earlier – Egypt’s Mubarak, Togo’s Eyadema, Gabon’s Bongo, Uganda’s Museveni, Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and others like Burkina Faso’s Compaore, Guinea’s Conteh, etc, were still in office on Obasanjo’s return in 1999.

Obasanjo’s first step was to destroy the career of fit and capable middle-ranking officers in Nigerian military, who could contemplate a coup in any crisis situation. All such officers who held political posts in the past, especially as military governors or administrators, fell easy prey to premature retirement by Obasanjo.
Obasanjo then followed that decision with a public foreign policy statement to lead an anti-military regime campaign throughout the third world. His vested interest was obvious. But he was bluntly warned in this column (then in the Sunday Concord) that he (Obasanjo) was on a failed venture, and that nobody except good governance, free elections to reflect people’s electoral preferences and uphold rule of law, could stop military coups.

Within months, the army struck in Pakistan. Diplomatically, a dumb Obasanjo, had to be reminded in this column, of his wild goose chase. More important and relevant countries like Britain imposed semblance of sanctions and threatened to suspend Pakistan from the Commonwealth. But the new military regime in Pakistan bluffed and pre-empted the expulsion by withdrawing from the Commonwealth.

On its part, the United States was more cautious and simply called for early return to civilian rule. And perhaps to thumb Obasanjo’s nose, the army again struck in Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa. I had to pick up Obasanjo in an article in the Sunday Concord under a memorable headline asking "How now, Obasanjo?" – a reminder of his dismal illusion of leading a campaign against military rule in the third world.

This is the background of the recent coup in Guinea and the "yeye" posture of ECOWAS leaders, who rightly condemned the attempted assassination of President Vieira of Guinea Bissau and questionably passed judgement on the coup in Guinea.

Who and who among these ECOWAS leaders were condemning political assassination and military coup? Bourkina Faso’s Blaise Compaore, the outgone chairman of ECOWAS? The same Blaise Compaore, who in 1987 achieved his ambition by assassinating his commander-in-chief, Captain Sankara.
Was ECOWAS aware of this history and yet allowed Blaise Compaore to join in condemning attempted assassination in Guinea Bissau and a bloodless coup (for that matter) in Guinea? If coup and assassination of Captain Sankara were justifiable in Bourkina Faso to earn Blaise Compaore moral right against coup, why should a bloodless coup in Guinea be wrong?

Was the erstwhile military ruler in Cote d’Ivoire not assassinated for current President Laurent Gbagbo to assume office and has since perpetuated himself in office? The same Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire, at the ECOWAS Conference joined in condemning coup and assassination, the exact two-way highway to his assumption of office.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia? Yes. Sierra-Leone’s Ernest Bai Koroma? Yes. Ghana’s John Evans Atta-Mills? Yes. These are leaders with clean and worthy credentials, holding hope for democracy in Africa and should not allow themselves to be destroyed by the fraternity of political lepers in African Union and ECOWAS.

Yahyah A. J. J. Jammeh of the Gambia? Definitely not! This Jammeh man staged a coup against President Dauda Jawara and since perpetuated himself (Jammeh) in office without even allowing Dauda Jawara to return to Gambia. Jawara himself assumed the posture of life president and deserved to be kicked out but not for Yahyah Janmeh to replace him as life president. Jawara now lives in exile in Britain.

Togo’s Faure Gnassingbe Eyadema should not even be attending ECOWAS or African Union. But as a fellow prankster, he joined in condemning the coup in Guinea.

Gnassingbe’s father, late President Eyadema, ran a tyranny in Togo for over 30 years till he died in office. Eyadema was notorious for assassinating Togo’s first civilian president Sylvanus Olympio in1963, the first post-independence military coup in Africa. Less than three years later, Eyadema staged a palace coup against his commander-in-chief and stayed put.

On the death of a president, Togolese Constitution provides for Speaker of National Assembly to succeed to the post of head of state. Instead, Faure Gnassingbe emerged from nowhere to succeed his father. Nigeria’s Obasanjo resisted but only to the extent of insisting on sham elections conducted by the same Gnassingbe as unconstitutional incumbent president, which in Africa (except Botswana, South Africa, Sierra-Leone, Ghana, Liberia) is a mere rubber stamp. Such a man sitting in judgement over the coup in Guinea, after staging a civilian coup in Togo?

Then there was this outsider providing his own version of entertainment. But he should reflect. Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, Maurice Iwu publicly accused former Senate President Ken Nnamani, of not only asking him in 2007 to postpone the controversial elections but also to enable him (Nnamani) assume office as head of an interim regime.

Probably aware that this charge might not be easily proved in a law court, Maurice Iwu proceeded to reveal his intent to prosecute the same Ken Nnamani for alleged election offences in 2007. Maurice Iwu must be sure of his facts and we should encourage him to be fast, and ex-Senate president Ken Nnamani must be prepared to defend himself.

This coming showdown will provide perhaps the greatest fun from the 2007 elections. This rumble will also remind us of Obasanjo’s showdown with ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar over the PTDF accounts. When Obasanjo set out, he set up and appointed the investigators and the judges.
Midway through, it emerged that in fact, Obasanjo was guilty of not only fiddling with the PTDF account, but also laundering a whopping sum of seven hundred million naira, (N700 million) into the business account of MOFFAS, a company owned by Obasanjo’s friend, Otunba Fasawe.

Maurice Iwu must therefore not only prosecute Ken Nnamani for election offences, the facts of which are still to be disclosed to Nigerians, but must go the whole length or will be forced by facts already established by Election appeal Tribunal to prosecute more suspects perhaps, including himself.
First, the Election Appeal Tribunal, in nullifying the purported election of Bayelsa’s Timpre Sylva as governor in 2007, would rule that there was no (repeat No!) election whatsoever in that state. What other criminal election offence was there for anybody who announced figures for him, (Timpre Sylva) as governor on that day?

Who announced the figures? How did the figures come about?
There was the case in Anambra governorship race where the figure originally announced for Andy Uba as a purportedly elected governor turned out to be more than the entire registered voters? And when this was pointed out, INEC, in a panic, reduced the figure to fit in within the registered number of voters. For the avoidance of doubt, the defendant or suspect in this particular case is not Andy Uba, but Maurice Iwu’s INEC.
So, Nigerians are waiting.