Democracy & Governance
Unmasking of a Nation and The Chatham House Charade -By Lamptay Oriakhi
Tinubu began his depositions with some air of applaudable articulation which was rather short-lived as his incoherence and inability to pronounce words set-in from his second sentence. Please remember that I was watching him as a Nigerian, an African, a westerner and a world leader. He continued his speech without depth but grammatical colourations that served no purpose to the issues plaguing the Nigerian people.
Incidentally, one may never be able to fully appraise the shame and disgrace caused Nigeria in an event where Chatham House erupted into an uneasy applause with no tone of conviction at the instance of Nigeria as a subject matter. Eyes met with eyes and gazes met with gazes as a shameful and unexpected development unfolded before the world. From the unfolding cacophony, a handful of political ‘Hallelujah’ boys who appeared to be in on the plot began to clap and laugh loudly and their orchestrated but disgraceful action began to influence some other unsuspecting and noticeably surprised members of the audience. The laughter and applause rose to a crescendo. I sat on the edge of my seat watching this unfolding tragicomedy strip Nigeria naked. ‘This is Chatham House’. I whispered aloud.
Meanwhile, in another simultaneous show of shame; Just outside the Chatham House building, some alleged ‘stomach infrastructure’ crowd of supporters where having it out with another opposing group of political clowns in a laughable theatre of the absurd. This was happening in far away London. The subject matter was Nigeria, and the shameless, ignorant, and petty political actors were Nigerians. I felt the shame even though I was sitting alone in the comfort of my house watching this Nigerian political drama set in another man’s land. It was Monday the 5th of December 2022.
Chatham House is a reputable British institution of debate and dialogue that has played host to the best of human brains of this world. It is a centre where the vision of global leaders and shapers of ideas are espoused to the attention of our changing world. The likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama, Tony Blair are some of the iconic personalities that have unveiled visions and ideas as visitors to Chatham House. Suffice to state that what is common and consistent amongst the aforementioned leaders and many others is that they take responsibility for their visions, and they explain their ideas themselves. It has been the tradition.
On this inglorious occasion, Chatham House was playing host to Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a presidential candidate of Nigeria’s ruling political party (All Progressive Congress, APC) in the forthcoming Presidential election in Nigeria. Coincidentally, a presidential townhall engagement organised by Arise TV and some Nigerian mainstream media took place a day before with other leading presidential candidates in attendance except Tinubu who released a statement a day before that he would not be attending any such engagements by Nigerian journalists. While many reeled and pondered on the insolence and disrespect of the Nigerian people by Bola Tinubu who has consistently avoided engaging with the people, many awaited his chosen engagement at Chatham House the next day.
On the day, an array of highly acclaimed failed politicians as governors and national assembly members flooded Chatham House with Tinubu taking to the podium to unveil his supposed vision for Nigeria if he was elected President and Commander in Chief of the Nigerian state. Many Nigeria stayed glued to watch the event. It would be the first time he is noticeably engaging with journalist and people while fielding questions. It would be the first time many Nigerians would have some assessment of him and imagine him as Nigeria’s president.
Sadly, this Chatham House engagement by Bola Tinubu was a sham. It was one of those moments when one is not so proud to be a Nigerian. This was a global stage; where one expects to see a candidate who speaks as one who know the issues and is providing a well-articulated summation on how to turn around the fortunes of Nigeria. I assumed different positions as I listened to Tinubu. I listened as a Nigerian. I listened as an African. I listened as a westerner, and I also listened as a world leader looking to do business with Nigeria after the election.
Tinubu began his depositions with some air of applaudable articulation which was rather short-lived as his incoherence and inability to pronounce words set-in from his second sentence. Please remember that I was watching him as a Nigerian, an African, a westerner and a world leader. He continued his speech without depth but grammatical colourations that served no purpose to the issues plaguing the Nigerian people. Alas, some questions that required his intellectual sagacity and preparedness were thrown at him and I earnestly anticipated his response. To my amazement and the amazement of the moderator, he began to make mockery of the process as he deflected the questions to his surrogates to respond to. Chatham House in her 122 years of existence had never seen a thing like that. The charade continued and went on and on. Literarily, Tinubu did not answer the questions which are the core issues of the next election. Those questions on security, economy, climate change, bilateral collaborations etc were answered by people not on the ballot. Men and women regarded largely as failed politicians belonging to the political establishment that has held Nigeria hostage for more than 30 years.
As a Nigerian watching the show of shame, it looked normal as I was not expecting much from Tinubu. Watching as an African, I cringed and saw no hope for Africa’s growth if the largest black nation on earth decides to settle for this. Watching as westerner, it was like; ‘will Africa ever be serious by choosing leaders who can give them good representation?’. Watching as a world leader; I was quietly nodding my head saying in my mind ‘who is this again? can this people ever be serious? Chatham House? oh no’
Meanwhile, I must observe that the timing of the Chatham House engagement by Bola Tinubu and his team was an unacceptable affront on the Nigerian people. Nigeria is the major subject at play. Nigerian people are the people to be governed by the aspiring candidates. And Nigerians deserve the right to question the candidates for the people to make informed choices. Yet, about 10 weeks to elections, Bola Tinubu is the only candidate that has not engaged with the Nigerian Journalists on what his vision is for Nigeria. And he boasts of not giving himself to questioning by Nigerians. This is on top of the numerous displays of incoherence in his campaign rallies over the past weeks. His physical and mental incapacity has regularly been on display even during his highly controlled rallies.
Summarily, Tinubu is a true reflection of the Nigerian political story of the last 30 plus years. Chatham House/Tinubu engagement remains a charade that open Nigeria’s nakedness more to the world. That is even more felt when the entire media space has been filled with credulous APC and Tinubu supporters who are defending and justifying the failed outing in Chatham House, London. Meanwhile, some international journalists have expressed shock at what they experienced.
Finally, with all we have seen and heard, I agree with Tinubu and his team. They should not engage with Nigeria Journalists because the Tinubu/Shettima ticket is not an option in the next election. Nigerians must redouble their effort to do the needful to rekindle hope in this country and reignite confidence in Africa with our western neighbours taking us more seriously. Let’s look inwards….
Comrade Lamptay Oriakhi is a Public Affairs Analyst
