Any war, even if verbal, between President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Edwin Clark, is bound to be intense. It cannot be otherwise. Here are two irrepressible folks, well into the winter of their lives, but with no signs of letting go; never ever ready to yield the way to anyone. Talk of two cannons, at times loose.
Where Obasanjo stands on issues is always not in doubt. As is well known of the retired General, he does not only speak his mind at all times, he pulls no punches as they come. Obasanjo is not the one to step back from any duel, be it on a high ground or on low. The dynamics of Nigerian politics drew Obasanjo into the thick of civilian politics and sought in accordance with the dictates of his new station to make a democrat of him. The retired General is not known, however, for yielding ground on any matter. He tries at all times to have his way and only yields grudgingly when there is no choice. Obasanjo must have tried his best to adjust his temperament to suit the dictates of democracy when he entered partisan politics, more so as he had to negotiate and deal with the National Assembly and political party leadership as President. Not many are convinced that he ever was, or ever can be, a democrat really. Reality dictates, however, that the society makes do with what is available. Matthew Olusegun Obasanjo is who he is, an asset on many fronts, it must be conceded.
On the opposite corner in the recent confrontation is Clark, not an easier customer to deal with by any chance. He may not have been a military General or serviceman of the modern era, but Clark remains a tough nail no less, indeed a soldier of an entirely different hue. He too can be a loose cannon. His passion for his Ijaw ethnic group and the larger Niger Delta defines his personality. On this score, he has no apologies and is known to have taken a stance on issues, which others find quite illogical and unacceptable. Like Obasanjo, Clark is not known to pull back even when his position is not commonly tenable by many others. With age on his side (let the reader understand), Clark has since secured license to say anything he so wishes.
The recent spat between Obasanjo and Clark is very interesting, not so much because of the sport it offers the public to savour a duel between two heavyweights but for the attention the disputation has called once more to one of the fundamental issues in the Nigerian state. Resource control remains, to all intents and purposes, an unresolved issue in Nigeria.
It is not clear why Obasanjo brought up the matter the way he did at this critical time, or the point he set out to make. Even he himself accepts that Nigeria as is has numerous unsettled issues rocking its very foundation. But then, nobody can say that Obasanjo did not know what he was doing at any point in time. Maybe he stoked the fire to remind the country of an outstanding issue. He possibly could not have decided to add to the conflagration across the land.
Obasanjo’s commitment to a united Nigeria is well known. For him and those who share his inclination in this area, everything possible should be done to keep Nigeria as an entity. There is no problem there. Where Clark got miffed was in the curious stance by the retired General, which seemed to insist that a status quo built on fundamental inequities should be maintained, for the sake of keeping Nigeria one. Clark saw everything grossly insensitive in such a stance.
Interestingly, the former President, piqued at certain tendencies playing out in the country in recent times, had warned sometime ago of the dangers inherent in insensitivity by the present government to the varied interests of the constituent parts of the federation.
It is, of course, not Obasanjo’s famed love for Nigeria that Clark was raging at. It is his holding up of the provisions of a decadent status quo with some relish, as it were. For sure, Obasanjo was not wrong per se in stating that the extant law in Nigeria vests ownership and control of mineral resources in Nigeria in the Federal Government. His insistence, as it were, that this status quo should be defended was the crux of the matter. Should that status quo be maintained? Is it really sustainable to maintain a country on its present squeaking, creaking foundation?
The Niger Delta region, being the oil-producing belt, has been the front-crier for a new resource control regime in the country. It has been at it for long, especially against the backdrop of the devastation that oil exploration and production have wrought in the area. How the region got to its sorry pass is instructive, but that is another matter altogether. The truth, however, is that all regions in Nigeria ought to be interested in a re-worked, new equitable charter of existence for the country. In the interest of peace and sustainability of the country.
The bane of the Nigerian elite and political class is myopia. They never seem to live beyond the present. But that soon gives way. The agitators aginst President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday are the loud shouting defenders of the Federal Government at the moment. Check them out in 18 months, depending on where the sun rises from. It is very amazing that people do not easily see that peace cannot exist in a setting of injustice. Also importantly, there are resources everywhere and what goes around comes around.
Clark’s charge that Obasanjo never liked the Niger Delta zone may seem more sentimental than any other thing, but it is not difficult to understand his pain. Yes, Obasanjo can quote the provisions of resource control as they are at the moment, but trying to stop those who argue for a better deal for those whose land directly bear the burden of the resources we share is most unfair. He ought to know better.
Not surprisingly, the Arewa Consultative Forum jumped into the fray and promptly declared that if the oil-producing area takes control of the resources, by which they mean oil, they too will lay ownership claims to Abuja. That is how ridiculous public debates go in Nigeria. It is often good to know peoples pet dreams.
There are natural resources in the North, in the West, in the East and in the Niger Delta. Only recently, gold has become a factor. Zamfara is coming steadily into the resource control mix. More states will do so, if Nigeria were to be serious in developing itself effectively. The resource control debate needs to be attended to with more open mind and sincerity. Clark may be aggressive in his ways and manner of speaking, but you cannot fault him for wondering what the heck Obasanjo thinks he is doing in not calling a diarrhoea its proper name so that it’s cure can be easier.