Celebrating survival not service or sacrifice

There is an adage that one should not speak ill of the dead. The logic and morality behind this proverb is that if you must criticise somebody it’s proper to do so while they are alive and in a position to defend themselves. Once a person has departed, no matter how poorly they lived their […]

There is an adage that one should not speak ill of the dead. The logic and morality behind this proverb is that if you must criticise somebody it’s proper to do so while they are alive and in a position to defend themselves. Once a person has departed, no matter how poorly they lived their lives, it should be left to history to judge them after sufficient time has passed to put their lives in perspective.
In Nigeria it appears as if we have adopted the opposite view altogether. We habitually praise the living and rubbish the dead. We celebrate survival rather than good deeds or meritorious service. Nothing illustrates this more than the encomiums poured upon former military dictator Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) as he celebrated his 75th birthday. There is no doubt that he has earned his place in our chequered history of notoriety.  Between 1985 when he seized power until 1993 when he had to scamper shamefully out of office, he institutionalized corruption especially within the military and incredulously set corrupt politicians free and instead detained his military predecessor Buhari! Under IBB assassination became a tool of state policy and Dele Giwa became the first of many high profile Nigerians to subsequently be killed mysteriously.  In addition so many others were killed and unable to celebrate their 75th birthdays as a result of failed coups against his regime. A mysterious plane “crash” wiped out a whole generation of officers, and his administration earned an international reputation for open corruption, murder and deceit. The peak of his wickedness came in 1993 when he nullified an election which his erstwhile “friend” MKO Abiola won clearly. 
At the end of the day IBB left the nation worse off than he met it, hastily coupling together a silly interim government contraption which led to the despotic Abacha reign of terror that left Nigeria in ruins. There is no doubt IBB was not the worst of those military adventurists who imposed himself upon the nation, that dubious distinction goes to Sanni Abacha. To be fair to him IBB did institute some far reaching changes and implement some good initiatives during his time. What is relevant here is not IBB as a person or a leader, but our warped national psyche which makes us celebrate those who played a major role in ruining our nation while those who either died or spent their whole lives in meritorious patriotic service are forgotten, if not rubbished. Survival has become the most important trait in our political life.
Chief Bode George survived prison and wants to celebrate by becoming Chairman Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Another surviving military despot Abdulsalami Abubakar under whose watch MKO Abiola did not live to see his 75th birthday took up a full page in a national daily to congratulate IBB. Although responsible for foisting upon us a totally fraudulent and inept Constitution with an unnecessarily expensive political system, and rumours of massive last minute treasury looting refuse to go away, Abdulsalami is left alone to celebrate old age because he carries himself with decorum and basically keeps quiet. General Buhari is himself a survivor. Once reviled as the most oppressive of military dictators he is now celebrated as “change agent” civilian president. Those who died when he enforced retroactive laws did not live to see their 75th birthdays. Perhaps the greatest survivor of them all is Olusegun Obasanjo. He celebrates himself daily. For reason best known to himself he feels entitled to an open invitation to Aso Villa.  Notwithstanding his dubious civil war hero claims, inexplicable whereabouts during the Dimka coup, and disastrous PDP presidency he believes everyone should ask for his opinion on everything.
The great tragedy of our nation is that while treasury looters who became multi-millionaires through their illegal seizure of state power are celebrated, those who spent their lives working honourably and meritoriously are treated shamefully. At both the Federal and State level pensioners who served the nation diligently and honestly are owed several months if not years of pension arrears. Becoming geriatric is a frightening prospect for the majority of Nigerians. Unless you managed to loot the treasury or perform illegal acts to accumulate massive wealth you are more likely to suffer untold hardship than to be celebrated. US Army Colonel Hal Moore was a famous highly decorated Vietnam War veteran whose exploits were captured in an award winning film called “once we were soldiers”. Later in life he undertook tours of schools to warn youngsters not to glorify war but to recognise its horrors. A child asked him how it feels like to be a war hero. He replied “son I survived I’m not a hero, the real heroes are all dead”. The sad irony of Nigeria today is that while we celebrate villains who survived, our real heroes are dead and forgotten.