One of the knotty points they encountered was the National Electoral Commission, Vincent Okoye. After the gaming had been nearly perfected, the caucus including Fox who at this time had assumed the unofficial headship of the project started reaching out to various sectors and interest groups whose roles would be vital to the actualization of the third term project. When it was time to reach NEC, these tenure elongation strategists encountered a near hitch which however took the intervention of Fox to clear.
“The president is going to run again, of course, and when he does, he wants your support,” Mr. Fix-It said.
“So why won’t Fox do the right thing by going home gracefully when his tenure expires?” Vincent Okoye asked.
He still sometimes wondered if by choosing the path of maintaining his integrity, he had done the right thing. He was aware that Fox was likely to succeed taking the greed and gullibility of many politicians into reckoning. And if that be the case, fox would be in a position to punish anyone who had worked against his interest. And to reward those that had been helpful.
“Professor, you don’t understand. The matter is not as simple as that,” Mr. Fix-It replied.
Vincent Okoye was a professor in the university before he was appointed to be the Chairman of National Electoral Commission (NEC).
“How? Most of our past leaders had attempted to over stay their welcome in office. But invariably all came out bruised in that effort. General Gowon told Nigerians that “1976 is not realistic” and was overthrown. When Babangida arrived at the scene, he started his unending transition process. When the heat became unbearable, he stepped aside. General Abacha was trying to change his army uniform for political garment (babariga) before he died. Nothing would have prevented him from transforming himself into life president. Now Fox is seeking for tenure extension. He should not mistake the silence of our people for acquiescence or weakness and the cacophony of the greedy and opportunistic people who parade the corridors of power as representative of the true feelings of the people. He was not elected to subvert the democratic process. Any of them, who advises him to extend the tenure of his administration, even for one day, have betrayed the trust of the people and is therefore a betrayer of the country’s democratic process, ” Vincent Okoye said.
“Mr. President is only out to do us a favor. At seventy years of age, the last thing he wants to do is further exert himself, ruling this difficult nation. But it is a call to duty by the people to save the nation from scoundrels angling to plunge her once again into the medieval chaos it had been in past years before he became president,” Mr. Fix-It said.
“I hope you are not suggesting that this government has got the nation out of the huge woods in which it has been into a path of progress?” Vincent Okoye asked.
“That’s ultimately what I’m saying and there are proofs.”
“But let’s look at it critically. Would you say in all honesty, that the country is anywhere near the end of the tunnel? Is there any hard proof that the material condition of her citizens is significantly better today that it was a few years ago?”
“I don’t know why you are behaving in such an undignified manner. The truth is that this presidency has unleashed forces which if properly harnessed will surely make Nigeria assume her rightful place in the comity of developed nations. A more rigorous analysis of the policies and actions of this presidency will show that. They may not be obvious to the unschooled, but only to seasoned political analysts,” Mr. Fix-It insisted.
“Well, I don’t agree with you. But even if it is so that doesn’t justify the desperate push to amend the constitution as it affects presidential office. Like most Nigerians, I consider it exceedingly perfidious, indeed obscene. Whatever good the president might have done will be wiped out if he goes ahead to force himself on Nigerians. For me it is dishonest, unconscionable and self-serving,” Vincent Okoye said.
Mr. Fix-It was a man who prided himself on maintaining an iron discipline over his emotions. He had learned at a tender age never to let his emotions surface for the world to take advantage of. “Let me tell you what you may not like to hear. The tenure extension will be carried out within the law and nothing can stop it. The press may yell all it wants against the plan but I do not think it will scuttle it. A year from now, those who are stridently opposed to the plan will realize their mistake.”
Vincent Okoye was speechless, not able to take in what he was hearing. “Please, please, save me that uppity stuff. I would, of course, imagine that the messianic complex of Mr. President is a common disease among African leaders. They always believe there are the only persons who understand what is wrong with their respective countries, and the only ones who have the answer. Nothing can be more arrogant or is there?”
“That is not what I’m saying…”
“But that is what you imply,” he interjected.
“Well, let me explain myself.”
“Please do.”
“You will agree with me that the Nigerian situation is quite a critical one. The economy is in the intensive care unit. The slightest mistake in attending to it can lead to a collapse altogether. Those who really care for the survival of this nation considered all these when they advised that the president’s term in office be constitutionally extended to enable him put the ailing comatose economy at least in stable condition before he quits.”
“Come on, I hope you are not suggesting that the president must be personally be there to implement every policy he authored?” Vincent Okoye asked.
“Not necessarily. Just that we are in a particular situation. The radical reforms introduced by Mr. President need careful nurturing and he is the best person to do so.”
“Don’t you think that a president’s job is never completely done? And that this is why, every president must strive to build strong institutions to protect good policies from being arbitrarily upturned.”
“That is right but it is not exactly the same in this circumstance.”
“Well, if you must hear this, let me say that the bid of the president to extend his tenure by all means is in itself an admission of failure of this administration. If after eight years, the president cannot trust his successor to carry through whatever good policies he may be leaving behind, then it shows that he was unable to build the right institutional framework to sustain such policies. This is to say nothing of grooming the right kind of person as possible successor.”
“You’re letting your obsession with textbook political theories cloud your common sense. The matter is more complex than that. A lot more is involved and you may not understand, unless you have certain kind of information. What our nation needs now is not chance taking. It needs a tested leader who has learnt over the years what it would take to fix the many problems of the nation.”
“I guise a tested leader is one who is able to fix something as simple as electricity supply. In several years, the country’s power supply situation has moved from bad to worse. And there is no indication that it will get better in the foreseeable future. Is that a good performance index for a tested leader? Look at the sleaze in the nation’s oil industry.”
“Professor, those are not the issue now.”
“So what is the issue if provision of infrastructures is not? Were you not arguing a while ago that he has done well? Yet, the facts hardly support that position. In any case, even if it does, the unrelenting opposition to this unjustified tenure extension ought to make those of you pushing it to back down. The whole essence of democracy is for the people to choose their leader.”
“It may be. But have you taken a look at those who are warming up for the next election? How ideologically barren they are? Think of their antecedents. Are those the kind of people that should take over the leadership of this nation at a time like this?”
“So what kind of people is the president prepared to hand over to if he does not like those who have so far announced their presidential ambition? You should at least know, given your place in this administration?”
“I don’t know, but would you like him to hand over to any of the scoundrels masquerading as presidential aspirants?”
“But whom has the president groomed? Or are you saying he is so self-centered he has not thought of grooming anybody to continue his self-declared economic miracles after his tenure?”
“Some of you just choose not to understand the president’s fear for this potentially great country that he has sacrificed so much for.”
“I wish that there is really something to understand in this matter. All I want to say is that Mr. President should do the right thing even if it is hard for him. It will earn him a better niche in history. Or you don’t think so?”
“I do. However, the president owes a duty to the nation not to allow political jackals hijack the presidency.”
“I agree, but this is not synonymous with defying the tenure limit.”
Mr. Fix-It was a slim, black old man of eight five. Now he pursed his lips as though it tried his patience to deal with folks obviously less intelligent than himself. He was the chairman of Board of Trustee and acted as if he knew everything. Some politicians made fun of him, but he had his admirers, the president was one. “You can’t stop him,” Mr Fix-It interjected, waving away his protest.
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