This is the News Analysis segment of the Voice of Biafra International Broadcasts

For August 30 2003  

You have heard the news...now, the analysis...  

Fellow Biafrans:  

Do you know what the five-step dance is? We shall discuss it in this week's broadcast. The 5-step dance is the dance of the doomed; the dance of the vision-less. This dance was described by no other than General Obasanjo in explaining the way that Nigeria works. General Obasanjo was careful to observe that Nigeria has no vision, which means, neither the administrations, governments, leadership, leaders, nor even the people have a vision, never mind a coherent or even shared vision. The General then proceeded to explain the result of lack of vision in Nigeria. he said, to paraphrase:  

"Since Independence," Nigeria, as a result of "lack of vision," has been moving thus:

Step 1: One step forward;

Step 2: Sidestep. (Step left or right, your choice!)

Step 3: One step backwards

Step 4: One step backward

Step 5 :One step backward.  

To summarize the 5-step dance of the visionless Nigeria, well described by General Obasanjo:  

Take 1 step forwards; then, a side step (left or right); then, 3 steps backwards.  

We want to indulge your patience: we ask you to please stand up and do the dance steps. You will find out that within a few cycles, you will lose sight of whatever you were heading for in the first place—that to which your first and only forward movement was aimed for. You lose your mark in at least 2 ways: you get further and further away from it directly; second, that mark also moves away sideways from your line of direct vision. If this was a soccer field, and the opponents' goal-post is your target and you are starting from the center, then, pretty soon, you will be near your own goal-post—well away from the opponents'. But more importantly, you will also be out of bounds—out of the playing field, because of the sideways movement.  Do you now understand what General Obasanjo has correctly described about Nigeria? He was right. He is perfectly correct.  

Where General Obasanjo is totally wrong about this is that he wants to blame this problem of lack of vision in Nigeria on the previous military regimes while trying to make an exception for his own stint as military ruler of Nigeria. He is also wrong when he says that now, he will change things for the better. In another sane and sober and honest moment for him, he, General Obasanjo confessed that Nigeria has marched backwards in every single sector in the four years since 1999 when he was god-fathered into the presidency of Nigeria—put in power by the Northern Nigeria Elders and their powerbrokers. There, as such, General Obasanjo admitted to leading Nigeria in the  5-step dance of the visionless. Of course, on just about everything else, he is almost always wrong. The most pressing wrong and wrong-doing now is that he, with his party, PDP and with INEC's acquiescence, rigged the last elections and has usurped power, counting on the weakness of the peoples living in Nigeria to retain his illegally obtained hold on power. Thus, he, General Obasanjo, is doing the same 5-step dance, and carrying the rest of Nigeria with him in this visionless act and direction.  

Since Nigeria is on its 5-step dance of doom, it is quite easy to find more examples of visionless motion. In fact, the most difficult thing in Nigeria is to spot anything that is not doing the evil 5-step dance. It is next to impossible to find such, perhaps, outrightly impossible. That is where profound sadness comes in; that is why the sense of utter hopelessness prevails; and whence the reason for the feeling of helplessness among the peoples living in Nigeria.  

Let us demonstrate to you another most recent example of the 5-step dance of the visionless. As we stated earlier, it is all too easy to find—anywhere you care to look. Even when you are not looking, it stares you in the face. We are going to shift our focus to the Nigerian Police Force, and its Inspector General (IG) of Police, the highest-ranking officer in command and in charge. As you all know, one of the many corrupt practices of the Police is the extortion of money from motorists. The practice is so common and so well accepted that nobody can remember when this extortion was not the custom of the police with the motorists. It is common knowledge, even occasionally reported in the media, that the police have shot motorists to death on the spot when the motorist refused to hand over his/her money to the police. It is also common knowledge that such acts were never questioned by either the public or by the police department or by Obasanjo’s administration. This—in spite of the fact that such acts of murder or more technically, armed robbery, by the uniformed police, were committed in full view of the public, witnessed by many motorists, in broad daylight. It is as if the police extortionists are sending a message to motorists: “refuse to hand over your money, and we shall shoot you to death…and nothing will come of it..."  

Now consider this: the Police set up roadblocks presumably to check and stop highway armed robbers in the first place. This would have counted as one step forward. But, as it is well known, you (and history) will confirm and verify that the Police have never really stopped armed robbers in any way, always managing to be “away” when the armed robbers strike and victimize hapless motorists (side step); or even preferring to run away in the rare encounter with armed robbers (3 steps backwards). There is an example of the 5-step dance of the visionless. But, wait: that’s not all; keep listening…  

Now, it was reported that the IG (after the recent revelation that he himself is the king of extortionists, the chief of robbers), feeling the heat and anger of the people, in order to act like he was doing something, summoned the Police brass on this issue. They came out with the announcement that: “enough is enough”—meant to read: “we’ll get serious with, and tough on, police extortionists.” Actually, for all practical purposes, this was an agreement among boss-thieves to instruct their servant-thieves to avoid certain targets—they are supposed to lay off motorists (for now?). So, what does the IG do?  

First, the IG sends a warning to the Police ranks that police extortionists will be “dealt with.” This looks okay on the surface. Next, he proceeds to insinuate that this is a 2-way crime: both the victim of police extortion and the police extortionist have a responsibility—having done nothing first to actually curb the thieving actions and forceful demands of the police extortionists. Then, he, the IG,  boldly proceeds to promulgate a law that says that any motorist who is successfully extorted money from, by the police, is guilty of crime and will be sent to prison. Imagine that!  

Let us clarify this picture for you. If you are a motorist, and you are stopped at a "real armed robbers'" roadblock, you follow instructions, totally dispossess and relieve yourself of everything that you have on you and in the vehicle, with your face forced and pressed in the dirt or asphalt; most times, you are lucky, you don’t get shot, you make your way home and go to your church or congregation and hold a Thanksgiving ceremony. Sometimes, you are not so lucky. On the other hand, if this is the "armed robbers-under-the-guise-of-the-Nigerian-Police" roadblock, with the IG’s new law, you are faced with a different dilemma. If you refuse to pay the extortion money, the extortionist police can shoot you to death there and then; nobody will care. If you obey the extortionist police and hand over your money, the Police IG says that now you have committed a crime, which is punishable by imprisonment. So, you, the motorist, can also be arrested and put in jail—in a Nigerian jail, no less! Now, tell us: with whom would you rather try your luck? The Nigerian Police armed robbers or the “professional” armed robbers.

We can very well predict how this would work for the motorist. The police now have two options: they can kill you, the motorist, on the spot at their police-imposed roadblocks, or they can collect the extortion money from you and then arrest you on the spot. Rather than putting you in jail right away, they will place you under police detention—which is in fact a worse fate. Why? Because under police detention, they can hold you forever. Then, your relatives, if they are bold and brave enough, will come forward and pay a lot more money to bribe the police officers in charge of the detention center. Do you know the reality of police detention by the Nigerian Police? You, the detainee, are supposed to provide your own food! Please, can anybody imagine that? But, it is real. The Police in Nigeria detain you, and you are expected to provide your own food while you are in detention, and to feed your own self. (When the latter is possible, you end up being provided for, and fed by, your friends and Family and relatives, with at least half of the provisions feeding the Police too—as bribe in kind!). And, they can hold you in detention as long as they like, without otherwise charging you to court where the judge could decide your fate in a formal trial.  

When it is said that:

“Without Vision, the people perish…”

do understand that this statement is very, very, accurate. Nigeria is visionless. That well-described 5-step dance leads to oblivion—to destruction and annihilation, and it is happening to real people, such as you!

In a country where there is vision, first of all, there will not be a Federalized centrally-controlled only Police when there are different nations and different states. How can you have a State government with powers of governance when the State is forced to rely and depend on the Federal Police? Especially given the high level of corruption and malfeasance of this Centralized Police, and its propensity for mischief?

Second, the IG could have shown that the Police is serious about tackling police extortion—same as police armed robbery—by bringing to public trial the most recent case of the police shooting a motorist to death because the motorist refused to pay the police. But, that would be too much and too visionary for the Nigerian Police and for Nigeria. Rather, he, the IG, now wants to place the onus on the motorists to control police extortion and armed robbery.

Third, why does not the government order a public hearing on what is going on with the Federal Police? A government with vision would have already done that by now, assuming that such a condition with this level of depravity would even exist in the first place. Why do the rank and file policemen feel that they must extort money from motorists? We know that they are not being paid what is due them, when it is due them. Where is the money for their payroll going? Who is stealing it, or leaving it in banks for the sole purpose of collecting and pocketing the interest on it first, then eventually, converting it to his own personal use? How is the money extorted by the police divvied up—how high up the ranks does that extortion money go? These are issues that when exposed, studied and settled, would make for a better Police department rather than the IG's immediate visionless promulgation placing motorists in a new position of vulnerability and jeopardy.

Once again, we must thank General Obasanjo for describing the 5-step dance of the visionless, and for doing us the extra favor of actually living up to it by his own visionless actions and by the visionless actions (or inactions) of his administration in visionless Nigeria. The most unfortunate part is that General Obasanjo, the visionless, is running Nigeria, the visionless, dragging the peoples living in visionless Nigeria with him, thus fulfilling the fate:

“Without Vision, the people perish…”  

It is for this reason that we are determined to have Biafra—now. We are not going to perish with visionless Nigeria. No way! God forbid.

God made Biafra. God made Biafrans. We must be true to what and how God made us, because by God’s doing:

Biafra lives!

God bless and protect Biafra; and you, until our next broadcast. Voice of Biafra International (VOBI) broadcast continues. (http://www.biafraland.com; follow Voice of Biafra Link)