Unegbu: Fayose advert: Much ado about nothing

BY the time the Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose published his so-called “Death Wish” newspaper advert on Monday January 19, titled “Will You Allow History to Repeat Itself? Enough of State Burials,” the polity was already pretty ‘heated up,’ as they say in Nigerian political dialogue. In the ad, which was illustrated with photos, Fayose called the attention of Nigerians to three separate leaders of Nigeria from the North who all died in office and then implored Nigerians to spare themselves another anguish of a future state burial by refraining from electing the APC presidential nominee Muhammadu Buhari, aged 72, who he claimed was in ill health. Fayose also urged Nigerians to take a pass on the idea of a Northern president until the next vote in 2019.  The howls of outrage provoked by Fayose’s admonition to Nigerians only added to the intense heat of electioneering controversy in Nigeria and raised its decibel level by a lot.  

    Yet, in the grand scheme of things in Nigeria’s democracy, including the upcoming vote, this big excitement over Fayose’s ad amounts to little more than a storm in a teacup; much ado about nothing, as they say. For starters, it is conceded that his statements were offensive, perhaps very offensive even. Yet, as hard as it might be to acknowledge it, the fact remains that Fayose was within his permitted space under Nigeria’s democratic constitution to sound off as he did.  He was simply exercising his right to free expression and there is no requirement that he need speak only in a manner that other people would find palatable. Electoral politics can be pretty tough business and is not something for the faint of heart and it is certainly not a game for gentlemen. As it happens, political candidates usually take potshots at one another or launch ad hominem attacks on each other either by themselves or through surrogates. 

  And this is the situation everywhere in liberal democracies, including America, a well celebrated beacon of democracy after whose political practice most Nigerians wish to model their own country. For instance, during the battle for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1960, surrogates of Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) used the chronic health problems of John F. Kennedy (JFK) against him. One LBJ ally reportedly told journalists that Kennedy was so sick with Addison’s disease that if he wasn’t receiving regular doses of cortisone medication, he would be dead. And another LBJ ally, campaign manager John Connolly, flat out said that if Kennedy was nominated and then elected president, “he couldn’t serve out his term” because “he was going to die.” For their part, the Kennedy campaign people vociferously denied that JFK had Addison’s disease and claimed that the statement to that effect from LBJ’s surrogates was “malicious and false.” 

   And during the presidential campaign of 2008, some of John McCain’s surrogates (people derisively referred to as the ‘birthers’) maliciously suggested that Barack Obama was not even born in the U.S. and therefore was not eligible to run for president. Again, that suggestion was forcefully denied by the Obama campaign. 

    In Fayose’s case, although he may not have been specifically commissioned to do the “death wish” hit on Buhari, it is obvious that he was acting as a surrogate for incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Such is life in democratic politics and so Fayose is certainly allowed to say whatever he likes, however offensive the statements might seem to others. The only limitation, of course, is that he must always act within the law, meaning, for instance, that he would be wise to avoid making any defamatory or seditious statements or statements that tend to incite other people to imminent acts of violence.  In this regard, it is worth noting that the opposition politicians who have recently threatened the formation of a ‘parallel government’ if they should lose the election have actually come closer to crossing the line into the red zone of illegality than what Fayose himself has done in his advertorial. Considering that some of these politicians are not office holders at the present time and therefore enjoy no immunity from arrest and prosecution, it is a good sign for Nigeria that the government has shown remarkable restraint in the process and did not try to arrest anybody as a form of retribution. 

  In its proper context, though Fayose’s advertorial may have been in quite poor taste, it nevertheless falls within the rubric of democratic free expression. In this regard, it is fair to note that all what he purported to do was merely to make a case to the people of Nigeria as a concerned citizen (again, maybe in poor taste) regarding the fitness of a particular candidate for the nation’s highest office. As already noted, Fayose certainly wasn’t under any obligation to say it nicely or politely and needless to say, it remains entirely up to the sovereign people of Nigeria to accept his proposal or to reject it. 

    In the final analysis, Nigeria is truly blessed that its elections are increasingly becoming open and fiercely contested affairs and that the debates in its media and civil society are quite active and robust. Considering this, a modern Nigerian citizen living in the twenty-first century, despite the temptation to act otherwise, ought to be willing to practise the creed that prevails in most present-day democracies that though they may not agree with what somebody else is saying, they would nonetheless be prepared to fight to defend that person’s right to say what he said. 

   It is encouraging to note that the fuss over Fayose’s advertorial ended just about right. Quite appropriately, Fayose bravely stood his ground; the president’s campaign distanced itself from his remarks; and the opposition expressed its deep outrage.  And the beat goes on. This is how democracy is meant to work. Despite its occasional discomforts, messiness, and tensions, democracy remains the best system for Nigeria and it is only right and proper for Nigerians to embrace it and to celebrate it.

• Obinna Carl Unegbu is a Nigerian-born American lawyer and journalist. He lives in New York City.