Thank God for Wikileaks

There are several reasons why we need not bother about the stories in part one. To start with, it is important to note that by its nature, grapevine is hardly ever accurate making it easy for many citizens cited to be mere victims of blackmail and sponsored smear campaigns. For example, our Minister of Finance, […]

There are several reasons why we need not bother about the stories in part one. To start with, it is important to note that by its nature, grapevine is hardly ever accurate making it easy for many citizens cited to be mere victims of blackmail and sponsored smear campaigns. For example, our Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was accused of influencing the award of contracts worth $50 million to her brother.  Malam el-Rufai former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was also reportedly part of the deal. Iweala and el-Rufai have both denied the allegation frontally. They did not adopt the escapist strategy of ‘silence is golden’. Similarly, President Jonathan on national television last week put a lie to allegations made against him and his wife leaving the accusers with the options of providing better evidence. Accordingly, we have very little interest in the claims and counter-claims in what we have chosen to describe as part one of Nigeria’s wikileaks.

The real issue concerns the stories in part two which suggests that some well placed Nigerians often reveal state matters to officials of a foreign country. We cannot question the right of such citizens to interact with foreign diplomats because ours is a nation where people are free to do a lot of things. No less than three different provisions of the Nigerian Constitution confirm this. Section 41 says every Nigerian is entitled to freedom of movement- meaning that anyone is free to go to an Embassy or anywhere else. Section 40 entitles us all to freedom of association-meaning that anyone can choose who to interact with.  On its part, Section 39 gives everyone the right to freedom of expression- meaning that we are all free to determine those we wish to communicate with. The combined effect of these sections is that this column cannot question the choice of our compatriots who think that the American Embassy is their best Public Complaints Commission. We can only draw their attention to the duties which our constitution assigns to us all in its Section 24 – a section which among other things envisages that every Nigerian shall “help to enhance the power, prestige and good name of the country”.  Put differently, every Nigerian is expected to be patriotic- a virtue which appears lacking in our top officials that have been so far cited in wikileaks. That they have all kept mute implies an admission that their actions displayed the least knowledge on the basics of international relations. No matter how highly placed they are or have been in our own system, they were allegedly summoned with ease by embassy officials only to discuss matters that are sensitive to our national security. It is a shame.

In fairness however, those named in wikileaks are not the only Nigerians who are sufferers of inferiority complex. Many of us within and outside government are like them.  Some years back, foremost economist, Professor Sam Aluko publicly condemned the use of certain ‘experts’ by Nigeria. According to Aluko, those ‘experts’ and a few Nigerians including himself were all in the same class, same school and in the same European nation; they were all taught by the same white lecturers; the language of communication was English-not Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba; yet the Nigerians turned out to be better rated academically than their white counterparts who a few years later became prized consultants to our governments. When we occasionally pick a Nigerian for a job, he earns a ‘black’ salary and is subjected to routine control by a novice who is politically connected.  I remember how in my days at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), government, rather than make the organization viable by reversing its yearly zero capital allocation, opted to invite the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to come and reorganize it.  I had to imagine how the reorganization would cover the BBC attitude of transmitting now and again, unsubstantiated news about Nigeria, which breaches the ethics of balance and objectivity in media coverage of events! Was any one surprised that on January 12, 2010, it was the BBC that the handlers of late President Yar’adua found to be the best medium for the President to speak to the nation on his health after 50days of national anxiety on the subject?  Yes, it was in line with our national habit where officials adopt a ‘no comment’ posture to their nation’s media on any issue but excitingly host the foreign media on every matter.

This urge to embrace the exogenous is one habit we need to watch in order to properly develop the self determination principle. How do we explain the way we caught cold when President Obama on assumption of office picked Ghana and not Nigeria among the countries he was to visit? After watching how the American Secretary of State, Senator Hilary Clinton was received when she visited Nigeria in August 2009,  I  wondered aloud if my friend – Ojo Madueke who was then our Foreign Affairs Minister could pay a similar state visit to God’s own country. In truth, the often acclaimed principle of reciprocation in international relations notwithstanding, Nigeria’s ‘lowliness’ towards the Unites States is astonishing. For instance, our posture of naming some roads after American Ambassadors would be perpetually unilateral.  It is similarly clear that there are ambassadors and there are Ambassadors. In America, no mediocre is saddled with diplomatic assignments on the basis of prescriptive criteria like state of origin or religious denomination. Indeed, America does not pick its ambassadors from members of the ruling political party who could not win elections in their constituencies. Rather, an Ambassador is a fit and proper character whose charisma and articulation can consummate his nation’s vision. Take a look for example at Robin Renee Sanders, the immediate past American Ambassador to Nigeria before whom many of our leaders according to wikileaks openly genuflected – she had a strong and top military background, serving first as the international advisor and deputy commandant of the industrial college of the armed forces of the US; director for Africa at the national security council; director for public diplomacy for Africa for the state department (2000-2002) before becoming her country’s  ambassador to the republic of Congo (2002-2005). She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications and two Masters-one in International Relations and African Studies and the other in Communications and Journalism. Ambassador Sanders also holds a Doctorate in Information Science and Communication.

We are wise enough not to envy Ambassador Sanders-her credentials are intimidating; her country is the world’s leading nation. We probably would have done more than her if we were in her shoes. But it is certain that hereafter, many Nigerians will become more cautious with how they fraternize with foreigners to the detriment of their nation-thanks to Wikileaks.