Article written by Reuben Abati. Read below...
Our neighbours to the West, the Republic of Benin, have just concluded a
Presidential election, which has been considered free, fair and peaceful, from
the first round, to the run-off which produced businessman Patrice Talon as
winner and next President of that country of about 10 million people.
Commentators have noted with delight the manner in
which incumbent Prime Minister and Talon’s main challenger, Lionel Zinsou,
graciously admitted defeat even before the release of final, official results,
and congratulated the winner. Zinsou has been compared to former Nigerian
President, Goodluck Jonathan. In a continent threatened by a renewed appetite
for sit-tightism by its leaders, it is exciting that some politicians are
setting good examples. In the last one year, we have had the example of Jonathan
in Nigeria. And now Zinsou, in the Republic of Benin. We hope that there will
be more of their kind.
For, indeed, Africa has been raising some anxiety about the prospects of
democratic consolidation. In Burkina Faso, the President had to be chased away
after 27 years of corrupt and ineffective leadership. In Congo
Brazaville, which held its election the other Sunday, President Dennis
Sassou Nguesso is sitting tight. The February 2016 election in Uganda saw
Yoweri Museveni’s forces brutalizing the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye.
Two women politicians were also stripped naked and publicly humiliated for
daring to decamp from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) to
Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). In Rwanda, President Paul
Kagame had to change the Constitution so he can have a third term in 2017.
In Burundi, the incumbent President Pierre Nkurunziza waged a similar war
against the people, leaving over 400 dead, and he remains in office by force.
In Equitorial Guinea, Gambia, Cameroon and Zimbabwe, the maximum rulers in
power are determined to die in office. The people of the Republic of Benin
deserve to be congratulated for further raising our hopes about the power of
the people and the prospects of democracy in Africa. They were the true
winners. But for me, the hero is the incumbent President, Thomas Boni Yayi.
When he steps down on April 6, and hands over power after completing two
terms as President, he will be greatly missed by his fans and perhaps derided
almost to the same degree by those who have accused him of running a government
that promoted cronyism, corruption, clientelism, media repression and official
opaqueness. But my bet is on him being well-remembered in the long run, for his
services to his nation, the sub-region and the continent. He also did not try
to change the constitution or manipulate the process.
Patrice Talon, Yayi’s arch-enemy, who did not pull
punches during the campaigns has accused Boni Yayi of creating a “banana
Republic” which has become “the laughing stock of the world.” Talon is wrong;
he is guilty of that newly discovered disease called Trumpism, named after the
first host of the virus: a certain fellow currently seeking to be President of
the United States called Donald Trump. Elected President in 2006, Boni Yayi was
again re-elected in 2011, and although he faced much opposition, including
assassination attempts, he has managed to survive the various intrigues that
dogged his Presidency. He has also successfully organized elections and
ensured a smooth succession.
Zinsou is a member of the ruling party but there was no evidence that his party
or the incumbent President tried to subvert the people’s will, despite Yayi’s
undisguised support for him. Domestically, President Yayi may not have
fulfilled all the promises he made to the people in 2006 and 2011, but he is
leaving behind a country that is much better today than he met it. The
Republic of Benin used to be a communist enclave, which has gone through many
transitions, from communist dictatorship to a Presidential multi-party system.
Under Yayi’s watch, the country’s profile rose. Benin is far from being a
banana republic. Yayi gave his country a new bounce, a stronger voice and
presence within the international community, and greater stability within its
borders.
President Boni Yayi is also Nigeria’s very good friend.
Nigeria’s relationship with her Francophone neighbours is a major plank of her
foreign policy process. The closeness of those Francophone countries to France
and the dominant influence of France in their affairs has always been part of
the sub-text of our interaction within the sub-region. Benin is particularly
strategic: close to half of its population boasts of historical and cultural
connections with Nigeria, making the geographical boundaries, largely
artificial. Long before Boni Yayi became President, the relationship with
Benin Republic was not always smooth. The trigger areas included ideological
differences at the time Benin was a communist enclave under Mathieu Kerekou.
During the civil war also, there were allegations that Benin provided a support
base for the defunct Republic of Biafra.
Nigeria is Benin Republic’s main export market. But it is also the
biggest smuggling route into Nigeria. With the Lagos port not functioning
efficiently, and our customs tariffs so high, Nigerian businessmen found solace
in the Cotonou port, creating a revenue crisis for Africa’s largest economy,
and informal trade link that has not been properly measured. Anything that
could be smuggled into Nigeria went through the Cotonou port. It still happens.
Across the land border between the two countries, the Beninoise gendarmes
constituted themselves into a threat to Nigerian communities. They still pose a
threat, but just occasionally now. Due to the factor of proximity,
Nigeria’s biggest challenge with its immediate neighbours has always been one
of security. Criminals have turned trans-border organized crime into a major
source of economic leakage and basic insecurity. There was the case of one
Hamani Tijani based in Benin Republic who operated across the border. Nigerian
criminals also commit atrocities inside the country and they slip into
neighbouring Benin. The borders between both countries have been porous
forever.
There are many Nigerians living in Benin Republic and vice versa
due to linguistic and cultural affinity. But whereas in Nigeria, we
accommodate our neighbours living among us, Nigerians living in Benin Republic
have not always had it easy. In one instance, Nigerians in Benin were
repatriated in their thousands. What has been demonstrated is that Benin
Republic’s closeness to and seeming dependence on Nigeria could pose a threat
to Nigeria’s security. For example, petrol smuggled from Nigeria finds a ready
market in Benin Republic. In 2003, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had to
close down the border between the two countries. Benin’s economy went into
instant coma.
In 2006, Boni Yayi assumed office as President. In fairness to him,
he took Nigerian-Benin relations far more seriously than did his predecessors.
As spokesman to President Jonathan, I had the privilege of watching him
closely. President Yayi was always a delightful visitor. He referred to
President Jonathan always as his “elder brother”, and his own country, the
Republic of Benin as “Nigeria’s 37th state.” He didn’t just say
it. He meant it. And he repeated that phrase at every turn. Of course, he
wasn’t asking Nigeria to annex his country. It was his way of emphasizing the
strategic importance of good relations between both countries.
Throughout his tenure as President, he has managed to build a strong, personal
relationship with every Nigerian President, starting with President Obasanjo
whom he refers to as “his father.” In his position as Chairperson of the
African Union, and as mediator on many issues within ECOWAS, President Boni
Yayi always supported the Nigerian interest. No other Francophone country or
leader within the sub-region has tried as much to build a stronger relationship
with Nigeria. It should therefore not be surprising that under Boni Yayi’s
watch, the frictions that used to affect Nigeria-Benin relations were reduced
to the barest minimum.
The lesson of this is that country-to-country or
government-to-government relations are often influenced by the chemistry
between the leaders of the respective countries. Boni Yayi has proven himself
to be a great diplomat within the sub-region and a forthright marketer of his
country’s interests. It was indeed proper that President Muhammadu Buhari not
only attended Benin Republic’s 55th independence anniversary
last August but that the government also provided logistics support to ensure
the success of this month’s Presidential elections in that country. The
principle of reciprocity requires that we support countries, which extend the hands
of fellowship and co-operation towards us. The only problem with our foreign
policy process is that we often do not know where to draw the line and act in
enlightened self-interest. We must keep an eye on Patrice Talon as he assumes
office as the President of the Republic of Benin. He seems to have a talent for
the melodramatic.
It will be in his interest to learn from President Boni
Yayi and seek to sustain a tradition of amity and brotherliness that has
resulted in better Nigeria-Benin relations since 2006. Patrice Talon may
be tempted to embark on an internal mission of vengeance, and extend that
arrogance beyond the borders. His supporters are already suggesting that
as soon as Boni Yayi loses his immunity on April 6, Talon who was once
accused of being part of a plot to poison President Yayi (he was pardoned in
2014) should take his pound of flesh. The “King of cotton” as he is
called, should resist the likely temptation to follow the script of the
sycophants who are now getting ready to call the tunes of his Presidency.
The people of the Republic of Benin by voting for an opposition candidate
have spoken clearly that they want change. The change that they seek cannot be
the humiliation or the harassment of Boni Yayi. They want a different kind of
change. Despite post-communist era stability, Benin remains one of the poorest
countries in the world. The people want greater prosperity, they want the
challenges of energy and infrastructure and access to education further
addressed; they want a more productive economy, they want jobs, they want
national progress. Focusing on these priorities will move Benin Republic
closer to the people’s expectations, and indeed beyond the politics of vendetta
which seems to be a growing sore point in Africa’s politics of
succession.
No comments:
Post a Comment