June 12: The Vultures And The Rest Of Us -By Richard Odusanya

This Day in History: June 12, 1993. Today, June 12, is exactly three decades since Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new President in the Third Republic of the country’s Democratic journey. That Presidential election was the first since the 1983 military coup that swept away the Second Republic politicians. June 12, 1993, is undoubtedly a watershed in Nigeria’s political history.

June 12, 1993, thirty years ago was a date with history, It was a day Nigerians came together regardless of tribe or religion – it was a time when many of our citizens and progressive minds coalesced to birth ‘A New Nigeria’ and sacrificed their comfort to dream actualization for both present and unborn generation. It was a stillborn baby of Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO). Hope ’93 was truncated by the headmasters of the vultures.

HOPE ’93, was the harbinger of a series of good tidings that was on the way coming before the reactionary forces scuttled the JOY of NIGERIANS. The message was very clear; eradication of POVERTY. He said in his campaign for HOPE: “No citizen of our dear nation Nigeria is permitted to go to bed on an empty stomach.” MKO, as he was fondly called, was a man of sharp intellect, witty and rare sagacity. He was the pillar of sport in Africa. For those who do not know, the phase was a time when arguably the freest and fairest election took place in our nation’s democratic process. Nonetheless, the euphoria was short-lived.

Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), championed Hope ’93: farewell to poverty: how to make Nigeria a better place for all – it signposts the beginning of an era. Sadly the situation of our citizens is in a precarious state. No food, no light, and the other life-threatening issues confronting the nation as a result of the rodents and vultures in high places. Hope ’93 was truncated, in a similar way by which recently former President Olusegun Obasanjo tried albeit unsuccessfully to call for the cancellation of the presidential election results which was part of a grand orchestration to truncate the nation’s democracy.

Before I continue, permit me to share with us the characteristics of a vulture: physically and socially, the vulture is a clumsy creature, and its unusual features border on homeliness. Vultures are large birds that do not hunt for food. Instead, they feed on the remains of dead bodies. In Africa, vultures eat far more meat than all predators put together. Vultures are heavy birds, they have large, powerful feet that are strong enough to bear their weight when walking on the ground.

More relatively, In the words of Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. In Chinua Achebe’s “Vultures,” a pair of grim birds nuzzling each other after devouring a rotting corpse becomes a metaphor for the uneasy fact that human beings are equally capable of love and evil. Just as vultures can feast on death and still cuddle, the poet observes, the man who runs a Nazi death camp might pick up chocolates for his beloved children on the way home; cruelty and tenderness can coexist in the same person.

Achebe had describe the birds themselves and paints a grim image of them, having already described them as harbingers, a word closely associated with the bringing of death; he describes them as having “bashed-in head” and “gross feathers” and later in the final line. He describes them as having “cold telescopic eyes” giving the birds an almost mechanical feel. It suggests they shouldn’t even really be classed as a bird. Whether that’s cause for hope or despair, the novelist can’t quite decide—but despair seems more likely.

Admittedly, our leadership recruitment process is faulty and needs serious reforms. It has produced more of the vulture’s attributes than selfless and patriotic leadership. Unfortunately, the mindsets of an average Nigerian are not different from the leaders we criticized for our state of despondency. Thus, making it extremely difficult for tangible progress unless we as well as the leadership at all levels change from our old ways and embrace a new approach to our national re-birth reorientation and values.

It is thus, imperative, that in solemnity and the spirit of healing, we come together regardless of the past to honor our heroes, particularly, Bashorun Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), his late wife Kudirat, Alfred Rewane, Anthony Enahoro, Beko Ramsome-Kuti, Gani Fawehinmi, Frank Ovie Kokori, Ndubuisi Kanu. Living legends Wole Soyinka, Ayo Adebanjo, Ayo Opadokun, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Femi Falana, Yele Sowore, and many more. On this day, our democracy day, if we are determined to honor our heroes by changing our ways, by rewriting the pages of my beautifully imperfect life – this would give succor to the less-privileged in the nation.

In conclusion, never again should we have a situation that is deceitful and making our beloved country and her citizens become an object of mockery and feeding on ignorance. Such as exemplified by the recent activities of some disgruntled elements pushing for change through unorthodox means. But I’d maintain that the only reason why such idiocy gains currency among young Nigerians (including otherwise discerning older people who support and encourage such nonsense because it aligns with their hateful sentiment) is beyond these guys. The mass gullibility speaks to deeper systemic issues.

Finally, I must place on record, the profound words of Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo GCFR; a Nigerian nationalist and statesman who played a key role in Nigeria’s independence movement (1957-1960). Awo posited: “Peter, not Peter the Apostle, but Peter the hero of Hugh Walpole’s novel entitled “Fortitude” said: “It isn’t life that matters but the courage you bring to it.” this is an encouragement to us as well as motivation for patriotism.

CONGRATULATIONS NIGERIANS! HAPPY DEMOCRACY DAY!!

Richard Odusanya

Mind Restructuring Enthusiast