NASS, the house Obasanjo built

Messy events are unfolding in Nigeria’s House of Representatives. This is not surprising.
There is no where 360 people from different backgrounds will gather to express 360 sentiments that blows will not be thrown and scandals or assumed scandals will not unfold.
It was actually long time coming.
Unfortunately, the on-going scandal, though with a semblance of a self-afflicted symptom, is making some people at the hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Villa smile; as villains always do.
As a silent, non-participating observer of events at the National Assembly (NASS) since 1999, this flame that has been lit in the desert; and is being fanned by the certain power-hungry dry wind, will go pretty far.
Those who are behind this continuous pursuit to change the leadership of the NASS by all means so that they can hand-pick those who would do their bidding, have certain agenda that would throw this country into utter confusion if the situation is not handled more carefully.
The last time I witnessed this kind of turmoil in the NASS was when Anyim Pius Anyim was the president of the Senate; and Ghali Umar Na’Abba was the speaker of the House.
Both men were not in the good books of then President Olusegun Obasanjo. The president’s men had deployed every means known and unknown to have these two individuals removed. All failed.
In the Senate, the drama reached a point where Senator Arthur Nzeribe alleged publicly that he offered every willing senator three million naira to drop the idea of removing Obasanjo; a move that was initiated by the House of Representatives at that time.
That was when three million naira had value.
The comment drew the ire of many senators because “even among thieves, there is honour.” I recall that the current Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, challenged Nzeribe to either mention names of those who collected the money or keep his mouth shut.
Udoma’s position, supported by a few others, was that Nzeribe had gone too far in saying that he gave each senator three million naira as though everybody in the Senate took the money from him.
Udoma wanted his name removed from the list of the so called recipients of the loot.
In the end, Anyim had Nzeribe suspended indefinitely from the Senate. I don’t intend to go into the details of that suspension here. It was a swift political move that shocked even the master political strategist himself.
That was how Anyim survived his tenure and made no attempts at re-election in 2003.
Na’Abba’s survival strategy was a product of suave and uncommon media fireworks that shocked even the masters of the game in the Villa. But he got thoroughly embarrassed when he tried to ride on the back of that triumph to seek a re-election. He was dumped. He miscalculated.
This is a mere summary of what happened. The drama left the NASS in suffocation for a long time.
That brings me to the statement allegedly made by Obasanjo that the NASS is (paraphrased) a den of thieves. If Obasanjo actually made that statement, then he has again danced naked.
Agreed, we are living in a deeply religious country where forgiveness and forgetfulness run together; but that does not make us fools.
If anybody were to accuse the NASS of being corrupt, that person should not be Obasanjo; not at all. This man is too mature and too experienced to get involved in issues that would only help expose certain hypocrisies of his past administration.
If indeed the NASS is corrupt, and both the House and the Senate constitute a den of thieves, who engineered the corruption? Why can’t some people just keep their mouths shut and allow the sleeping dogs to lie down quietly!
If a group of senators and House members was to compel Obasanjo to provide proof based on his allegation, and he is able to point at money allegedly distributed to kill impeachment threats and the scandalous N50 million allegedly shared to silence lawmakers opposed to tenure elongation in 2006, who will the money be traced to? On whose watch was the money shared?
Obasanjo is a known patriot. Very few people can question his commitment to the peace and oneness of this country. He fought the civil war and emerged as one of the heroes. He has been a head of state and an elected president. That means this country has equally been good to him.
That is why when Obasanjo speaks, we listen and consider. When Obasanjo keeps quiet for so long while the nation grapples with contentious issues that could tear it apart, we are somehow concerned.
Unfortunately, it has become common for the former president to say things that are so ridiculous and unthinkable! This ought not be so.
A good examination of the history of the legislature in other countries will show that the situation in Nigeria is not that repulsive. The American legislature that we so much cherish today started as an assembly of people of little regards.
But gradually, over the decades and centuries, it has matured and grown into the most respected political institution in the world.
While we criticise, we must not tear down our legislature. Even if it is a den of thieves, my take is that our respected statesman, Obasanjo lacks the moral authority to be the judge.
Whatever the NASS has become today, Obasanjo has played a significant role either in building or destroying it.