Masterstroke

Gambari: A Prophet without Honour
The problem of the Niger Delta is not intractable. If the government wants to end the crisis tomorrow it can do it conveniently. The way things are going, I am convinced that the government has given up. The militants have gathered arms and ammunitions probably more than the ones in the armoury of the Nigerian army.
I am not impressed by the grand-standing of the militants and their sponsors. Nigerians are worried about the ongoing consistent mayhem visited on innocent people by the militants. These people are not ready to cease fire under any condition. The proposed summit for the stakeholders of the Niger Delta is going to be a precious waste of time and resources. The reason is that, militancy is a lucrative business and nobody wants to be out of it.
After the election of the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians thought that the criminalities in the region were going to abate. It escalated! They became more daring and blood-thirsty.

Abel Ada-Musa

The summit to be chaired by the respected academic, politician and diplomat, Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has received knocks from the stakeholders for no just cause. The minds of the stakeholders have been so poisoned that they do not want Gambari to head the summit. At least, they have not given convincing reason why Gambari must not chair this Summit.
Professor Gambari is the current UN Special Envoy to crisis ridden Myanmar and for the Iraq Compact on behalf of the international community. His invitation to come and coordinate the summit is like saying ‘what you have done in other countries come and do it your own country.’ He has just been released by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon at the request of the Federal Government to chair the Niger Delta summit. The UN secretariat expects him to return to Myanmar and Iraq after the assignment.
Professor Gambari is like a prophet without honour in his own country. Recently, the nine governors in the oil producing states met in Abuja with other stakeholders and the Vice President on the way forward. The governors were unanimous that Gambari should be replaced by another person. Still they did not say categorically why they do not want him.
The most disturbing comment and resentment came from Professor Wole Soyinka and Professor Tam David West. I wish to officially express my disappointment over the comments made by these two eminent Nigerians.
Professor Tam David West served with Gambari during the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari. Since David West was sacked by the IBB regime that followed, he has never seen anything good about Nigeria or any government in power. Both West and Gambari were on the panel set up to whitewash the image of Nigeria after the execution of ‘Ogoni nine’ by the Abacha regime. Professor West even said in a recent interview in the newspaper that Gambari is a personal friend.
The last strand of respect that I had for David West was pulled down last week when he referred to the militants as ‘freedom fighters.’ Hear him: For Gambari to call for 90-day truce is an insult on the Niger Delta people. It is an insult on the militants who are freedom fighters.” To say that I am disappointed by the position of this erudite scholar of virology is an understatement.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka is an international figure. His words and actions carry weight. Such an international heavy weight does not talk carelessly. People in his mould are reserved on critical national and international issues. They are men of few words! The reason why God has endowed us with two ears and one mouth is for us to listen very well and talk less. I want to put it across that Soyinka is a little careless with his utterances.
I wonder whether Soyinka knows how much he is worth, especially with the Nobel Prize. Apart from his literary works what has stamped him on the mind of the world is the prestigious intellectual prize.
As a student preparing for West African Schools Certificate (WASC), I was subjected to reading his plays. Prominent among his plays was Trials of Brother Jero. His poem Telephone Conversation was also a masterpiece.
If you are determined to make a career in literature, there is no way you can avoid Soyinka’s works, which stand out among the literary genre. I became familiar with Our Husband has gone Mad again, The Road, Death and the King’s Horseman among others.
At the University, I had cause to analyze his tragic plays and his concepts, dabbling into the ‘Fourth Stage’ and the realm of Ogun, the Yoruba god of war. I was surely at my best with the works of Soyinka and William Shakespeare.
As a student I considered him to be a mystic, especially with such enormous poetic liberty and the flare with which he used the English language. The beauty of language, in cultural milieu and his syntactic embellishments endeared me to him. His strength was anchored principally on his flowery imageries and images conjured from the rich Yoruba tradition and custom. However, his books were not a delight of any student.
Sincerely speaking, apart from passing my examinations, the writings of Soyinka did not change my perception or my world view about anything. I say this with all modesty and due respect to the Kongi and his accomplishments. His best achievement probably is that he personally excelled in his literary world.
I listened to Soyinka on ‘Focus Nigeria’ anchored by Gbenga Aruleba on African Independent Television (AIT), when he carpeted Gambari over the Niger Delta Summit. He said that the scholar-diplomat was not the right person for the job.
At a separate forum he suggested that former Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi Annan or former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter could be better alternatives to Gambari. He also pointed out that there were many other Nigerians that could do the job better than Gambari. He described the choice of Gambari as an insult and an aberration not acceptable to the people of the Niger Delta.
Speaking also at a reception in Lagos in honour of Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, the Nobel Laureate advised the Federal Government to look outside the shores of the country for the chairman of the summit.
The only thing I can say about West and Soyinka is that they are both envious of the international dimension the integrity of Gambari is attaining. Both professors have never seen anything good in another person except themselves.
Really, I find is difficult to place Soyinka. I know he is a scholar, a national and international commentator. I know he is an unrepentant critic of every administration that comes to power. He has never spoken well about any regime as if he is a saint or claims to come from another planet. Yet I have never seen him take responsibility or organize any function!
I cannot regard him as a social crusader because there is nothing social about him. When you do not associate with your immediate community or have a defined pattern of life, you cannot be called a social crusader.
I said earlier that his writings did not have any attitudinal change on me and I doubt if he impacted positively on any society. I expect his comments to be more seasoned to build society. Soyinka’s utterances do not build anybody. Come to think about it, how does the appointment of Gambari (a northerner) an insult to the people of the Niger Delta?
In most cases Soyinka does not offer solution, when he criticises. If this is how all Nobel Laureates are, there is no need to produce them. They should be catalysts for positive change, not armchair critics.
Soyinka has no disciple any where because of his taciturnity. He does not interact socially and has no communal impact. Soyinka is not in the mould of the redoubtable human rights lawyers, Gani Fawehinmi and Femi Falana.
I am not aware of any personal project(s) that he embarks upon that can affect individuals or community. If he is so dissatisfied with the way things are run in this country he should show a way forward by his personal efforts. It is not only government that can affect lives.
The major contribution he bequeathed to the youth of this country is the Pirate Confraternity, which has graduated into a dare devil cult group on our campuses.
Nobody is more qualified to head the summit than Gambari, not even Carter or Annan. If he cannot handle the Niger Delta case he has no morality to do a similar assignment in Myanmar and Iraq.
We should not run him down. If Soyinka were selected as the chairman of the summit would he have suggested Carter or Annan? Talk about envy and selfishness!