On Monday, September 9, I attended the anti-corruption conference organised by the Department of Politics, University of Sussex, somewhere at Clifford Chance Law Office at Canary Wharf in London. It was a one day event packed full of very interesting presentations. The sessions ended a bit earlier than I thought so I wanted to go out to have some refreshments. The organisers had announced earlier in the afternoon that lunch was ready and I rushed out to eat, only to meet predominantly European dishes that looked, to me, like grasses. Effectively, I had starved all day having left home pretty early. I was therefore happy when the conference came to an end, so I wanted to quickly dash home immediately. However, it was raining and I had to grudgingly wait. Instead of joining others in drinking and networking, I decided to go to a corner to check my mails.
While I was navigating amateurishly with my iPad, I sighted an elderly man in white overcoat. His face looked very familiar with an interesting and slightly odd but whitish moustache. Yet, I could not place the face until I saw the tag hanging loosely on his chest boldly written Patrick Wilmot. Yes, I found him. I said to myself in quiet excitement.
Many years ago I read many articles on Nigeria and Africa written by Wilmot in a magazine known as the News Africa, now probably defunct. Those articles were so well-written, inspiring and educating that I imagined that I would one day meet the author and tap from his boundless knowledge on diverse issues. With the opportunity staring before me, I jettisoned my initial plan to go and eat and decided to have a few minutes interview with this erudite intellectual. He was himself, speaking with that same passion with which he wrote; still carrying himself with this calmness that convinces anyone that he spoke from the depth of passion and experience. It was a short but vey loaded interview not less controversial. He recalled with some nostalgia how Nigeria used to be many years ago while he was living there specifically from 1970 to 1988.
Before I get into the details of the chat, let me say that the name, Patrick Wilmot, conjures so many things in the minds of so many people. To so many, he remains an exemplary educator and hero. As a teacher of Sociology at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, many students whom he taught still have fond memories of him. For those who do not know, he was the Jamaican-born teacher who was whisked away from Zaria, driven by road by night to Lagos and deported to London. He recalled how he had the equivalent of two UK pounds in his pocket when men suspected to be agents of the then Ibrahim Babangida junta double-crossed him and took him away for what was later described as meddlesomeness in Nigerian affairs and “teaching what he was not paid to teach”. I also found out that just like those who like him, those who hate him do so passionately. However, both his vociferous critics and his admirers concur that he is both an influential radical and a courageous intellectual.
I cannot claim to have known so much about Wilmot just by doing a few days’ research but I learnt that he was part of the team that travelled from the United States to France at the peak of the Nigerian Civil War to persuade the French Government not to recognise the breakaway Republic of Biafra at that time. Many informed Nigerians from the Eastern part of the country have not forgiven him for what they saw as an ignoble role at that time. I did not see the civil war but from what I read, the massive killing of Ndigbo was unjustifiable. At least, that would have taken the country to a somewhat different historical and political trajectory. I read that Wilmot was “rewarded” for his role with an invitation to Nigeria by the then Inspector-General of Police, M. D. Yusufu, and the late political sage, Mallam Aminu Kanu. At some point after his deportation from Nigeria, he was involved with the late M.K.O. Abiola as a public relations assistant.
One of Wilmot’s most vocal critics is one Ikhide R. Ikheola who reviewed one of his books on Nigeria. Ikhide described Wilmot as “An unreliable historian, lunatic intellectual, exceedingly idealistic, narcissistic megalomaniac; an individual with messianic complex and full of words dripping with unbridled condescension and know-it-all arrogance”. Yes, one may say arrogant when you read where Wilmot talks about himself as graduate of Yale University in the club of but more intelligent than President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry of the USA. That notwithstanding, I thought that the description above depicts a rather harsh way of writing about such an intellectual and his work no matter the content. That is by the way, anyway.
Wilmot told me three things during our engaging brief chat. The first issue he raised was about how peace had regrettably declined in Northern Nigeria. Hear him: “Zaria used to be a very peaceful place. Even Kaduna and Jos. In fact, most of the elite in Northern Nigeria owned a house or two in Kaduna and Jos. In my class those days, it would be difficult for you to know who was a Muslim or a Christian. Every one interacted, socialised and even intermarried. For instance, my wife is from Zurunow, Kebbi State and she has brothers who are Muslims and related well as a family. What exists in Northern Nigeria today between Muslims and Christians can be said to be similar or even worse than what we saw during the apartheid regime in South Africa. You are not free. When you reach a part of the town, they call it the Muslim side and when you go to another direction, they call it the Christian side. It is sad”. He fumed.
The second issue was on the character of politics and politicians in Nigeria. Hear him: “The central aim of a majority of Nigerian politicians is to divide oil money amongst themselves. Today, Nigerian politicians are one of the best paid in the world and that is why politics in the country has now become a do-or-die affair. It does not really matter where a leader comes from, what is important is whether he is patriotic enough to commit to delivering the common good of the public rather than catering for the welfare of a select few”.
The third thing he talked about was on the amnesty programme. He argued that amnesty is not a real solution to militancy both in the Niger Delta and elsewhere, as most of the money given out does not get to the ordinary people. His conclusion was rather unsurprising as he exclaimed: “Nigeria has degenerated rapidly. Everything has gone backwards. In Zaria those days, we had potable water and regular electricity. It is simply unbelievable that the giant of Africa is asleep despite her potential”.
Like or hate him, Wilmot understands Nigeria and you can hardly fault his positions on issues. Now, with all the killings, wanton destruction and hate going on in the North, is it still possible in our life time that Northern Nigeria can ever return to the era that Wilmot talked about and experienced? When will a Christian feel safe again in Zaria and a Muslim feel safe in Kafanchan? When will the indigene-settler discrimination give way to accommodation in the North? Will this cup of violence, hate and hostility pass them by? Will these scars ever heal? Just asking.
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