2023 And The Careless Whispers In The Dark -By James Sunday

President Buhari’s second tenure is secured, barring any last minute verdict by the courts, but yet to kick off fully until May 29^th, however, we are beginning to pick up unmelodic cacophonies emanating from the shadowy backstreets about 2023 and beyond.

A day ago, I stumbled on a troubling headline which reads: ‘No plan to amend Constitution to keep Buhari beyond 2023’. The deeper I reflect on the story, the more troubling it becomes.

Knowing my country for what it is and how  mind-altering the fear of losing power could be, I dare say that men of goodwill should not wish away this ‘whispers’ no matter how careless and insensitive it appears to be. Or, did they not say that there is no smoke without fire? And that from every rumor, there is an element of truth?

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo almost sprang a surprise on Nigeria with his ill-fated third term agenda. It actually started like a joke. With a few loyalists whispering the idea until Nigerians woke up from their slumber when it was almost too late. The book, “Too Good To Die: Third Term And The Myth Of The In Dispensable Man In Africa”, written by Chidi Odinkalu and Ayisha Osori provides a better insight into how the seed was planted.  According to the narrative by the authors, the seed for the Third Term Agenda was planted in the first term of President Obasanjo.

“The seed germinated perhaps innocuously, from the idea that political stability and continuity of policy was vital to Nigeria’s economic development.

“As chairman of the G77 developing countries, Obasanjo was an active and vocal advocate for debt relief in the context of the Jubilee 2000 global campaigns calling for debt relief for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).

“This required meeting conditions of the Bretton Woods institutions, some of which entailed economic reforms. With this realisation, the Obasanjo administration reportedly worked feverishly, first with his ALF (African Leadership Forum), and then with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), to create a blueprint for economic reforms. Their efforts came to be known as the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS).

“During this exercise, the penny dropped. It dawned on Obasanjo that he would not be in office long enough to oversee his plans for Nigeria and towards the end of 2002, sources recalled, in a meeting about the reforms which would lead to debt relief, President Obasanjo confessed that he would not be able to execute his vision without first tackling the political problems, starting with his own party, the PDP.”

“Advocates of ‘consolidation’ sprouted, nourishing the roots of the idea that Obasanjo needed more than two terms in office. The Nigerian shorthand for this was tazarce, the noun for ‘continuity’ in Hausa, the major language in Northern Nigeria,” the writers revealed.

At this instant, those who feel that these ‘careless whispers’ be waved away should now begin to have a second thought. The temptation is very strong. Back in 2011, Buhari himself appeared not to have fancied the idea of a second term. In an exclusive interview with Sunday Trust’s Theophilus Abbah in February, 2011, the then presidential aspirant was asked about an earlier statement where he promised to serve for only a term if elected in the April elections. “I’m not getting younger. If I succeed and do one term, I will be 73 years old,” was his terse response. But now….? Your guess is good as mine.

I became really interested and decided to make this intervention after reading the terse denial by the group fronting for Ahmed Lawal’s Senate presidency. Spokesman of the Senator Ahmad Lawan for Senate President Group, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, was quoted to have described as fake news, a story making the rounds that Ahmed Lawan, if elected as Senate President, will amend the constitution to allow President Muhammadu Buhari stay in office beyond 2023

Senator Abdullahi said in the statement that, “This is just a very desperate attempt by detractors and some politicians who want to taint the good image of the Senate Leader, and the future Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan..When we (Senators) met the President two days ago, he (President) was very emphatic that he has stood for election five times, and this is his last.

“The President made it clear that he wants to retire quietly to his home, on the basis of which he is going to work very hard these four years since Nigerians have given him this opportunity, to leave a lasting legacy behind.” He added.

This is reassuring. However, Nigerians must remain vigilant. The president might be oblivious of this, at least for now but his hatchet men are those I am somnolent about. Events of the last few months have shown us that these men are power drunk and might go to any extent to maintain status quo. We need to be mindful, because it is the anxiety of losing power that perverts those who exercises it.

James, a Journalist and Development Communication expert, writes from Kaduna, tweets @jamessunday20