The Senate got it wrong on Prof. Humphrey Nwosu

By Ifeanyi Eduzor

It’s quite unfortunate that we’re living in the part of the world where patriotic citizens who served their fatherland dutifully, meritoriously and genuinely are not recognized

Nigeria is a country where those who found themselves in the corridors of power through illegal means and corrupt individuals, including those who pillaged our Commonwealth are celebrated and bestowed with one national honour or the other while men and women with integrity who really deserve such honours are neglected.

No wonder that most of our youths no longer believe in hard work but are occupied with one illegal activity or the other for survival, knowing fully well that nobody cares about how they made their money which has increased such crimes as cyber crime, kidnapping, ritual killing and corruption in all strata of our society which in the past few years has reduced morality in the country to the lowest level since independence in 1960.

The political class could also be said to be the biggest culprits as people who ordinarily cannot win elections in their wards either because of their criminal background or illegal activities are now the ones in positions of authority lording it over more than 200 million Nigerians.

The recent decision of the country’s Senate not to approve the immortalization of late Chairman of National Electoral Commission ( INEC) Prof. Humphrey Nwosu is not only condemnable but raises question about the morality of those occupying the country’s upper legislative chamber.

Surprisingly, some of those who were vocal on the floor of the house gesticulating on why the revered Professor of Political Science should not be honoured were those who one way or the other benefitted from what the late Professor fought for

In presenting the motion, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, proposed naming the National Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after Nwosu in recognition of his role in laying the foundation for the commission in 1993 and overseeing what is widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest presidential election.

Abaribe, in the motion co-sponsored by 15 other senators, argued that Nwosu deserved to be immortalized alongside other heroes of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

He also urged the Federal Government to confer a posthumous national honour on the late NEC chairman.

Abaribe had earlier announced that the motion had the backing of all senators from the South-East, as well as senate minority leader Abba Moro, Ned Nwoko, who represents Delta North, and Kebbi Senators Adamu Aliero and Yahaya Abdullahi.

But instead of supporting such a noble motion, majority of the Senators allowed sentiment to over ride their sense of judgement and voted against it.

Without sounding immodest, the former Governor of Edo State and one time Labour Leader, Adams Oshiomhole whom everybody knew never believed in handing over power to the assumed winner of that election, Chief M. K. O Abiola was vocal in standing down the motion while the Senator representing Ogun West Senator Solomon Adeola in an interview he granted to Channels Television, accused Humphrey Nwosu of not being patriotic enough because he did not risk his life to announce the final result of that election even on the face of trigger happy soldiers.

He also went further to state that he was against the motion because his junior brother died during the June 12 crisis; a reason which to me does not hold waters because in as much as I sympathize with him for losing his loved one, there are also thousands of Nigerians who lost their lives, loved ones and means of livelihood during that time

But the question to ask Senator Adeola who was about 23 years old then and Oshiomhole who was on both sides of the divide during the June, 12 saga, is assuming they were in the shoes of Nwosu, would they have announced the result with guns pointed at them by the military boys.

They should be bold enough to answer this question and not pretend as if they love Nigeria and democracy more than anyone else for the simple reason that they’re beneficiaries of the system or are they just playing the ethnic card or playing to the gallery.

It’s on record that late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu organised the freest , fairest and best election in this country. This was a man who put his life at risk, ignored military orders and went ahead announcing results before the infamous Association For Better Nigeria came with a crooked judgement from a Federal High Court in Abuja to stop further announcement of the result.

As if this was not enough, IBB boys threatened to kill him even with one of them having the efontery to slap the revered Professor for daring the military. What else do they want the man to do in the face of all these threats and intimidation or they wanted him to die for a country like Nigeria that’s not worth dying for and at the end his sacrifices will be thrown into the dustbin of history .

What the present INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu said during his valedictory speech for late Prof Nwosu should be taken seriously. He said, ‘ It’s unfortunate that after 25 years, the June, 12 incident happened,the presumed winner of the 1993 Presidential election, Chief M. K. O. Abiola, received the highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, posthumously. His running mate, Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, was conferred with the second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger. The date of the election (June 12th, 1993) has been gazetted as a national holiday and appropriately named Democracy Day.

” Sadly, the electoral commission that conducted the election which was personified by Professor Nwosu received only a muffled commendation as if no one conducted the election.

“Surely, the election did not conduct itself. It was organised by a Commission made up of Commissioners and a Chairman. If it was an oversight that Professor Nwosu was not honoured in his lifetime, it is never late for the appropriate authority to do so posthumously.

“For us in INEC, we will continue to appreciate Professor Nwosu and the dedicated service he rendered to the nation.”unquote

Prof. Yakubu is not alone on this as his predecessor, Prof. Attahiru Jega in a separate forum has raised similar concern on why Prof. Nwosu should not be honoured

What this statement shows is that the electoral umpire are not happy with the way their erstwhile chairman has been treated and this could lower their morale in doing their work and the earlier our lawmakers retrace their steps and do the needful, the better for our nascent democracy.

It is even an irony that the same politicians who were raising their voices on the floor of the Senate declaring that Prof. Nwosu should not be honoured were the same people who gathered to hail former Military Head of State , Gen Ibrahim Babangida, the same man that annulled the June 12 election at his book lunch.

At that lunch, they were not only singing his praises but were busy donating millions of naira to a man who caused so many death, pains, hardship and agonies to Nigerians and they were busy donating money to him, when millions of Nigerians cannot afford a day’s meal . What a shame to our so called leaders.

I believe that the Senate erred in not approving the motion for the Headquarters of INEC to be named after Prof. Humphrey Nwosu and a posthumous award given to him and the earlier they retrace their steps, the better for the country’s democracy.

Nwosu no doubt deserves national recognition and I expect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ignore the Senators and sign an Executive Order to that effect after all, our Senators can only bark but cannot bite.