Dariye: Good Riddance, But…

Comfort Obi

Impeached Governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, remains one of the disappointments of Nigeria’s democracy. In 1998, this magazine had chosen him as one of the 50 youngmen and women with the capacity to move Nigeria forward. Until then, I had neither heard nor read of Dariye. But when the editor sent to me, the names of those shortlisted for the edition, asking me to cut them down to 50, I had no problems picking Dariye as one of The Source, 50.
His profile was compelling. Brilliant, intelligent, a sound professional, he had managed to contribute greatly to uplift his people in Plateau State. When, therefore, he contested for, and won the governorship seat in Plateau State, I felt he deserved it.
But Dariye turned out to be a disappointment. Three years in office, nothing was moving. Instead, Dariye kept putting on weight. I had cause to complain to two of his aides at a cocktail party at the official residence of the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, where he was present. I wondered where the magic wand had gone. They said their boss has been afflicted by the deadly Nigerian disease called sycophancy.
Sycophancy is one of the diseases which has kept Nigeria down. Nobody, especially those close to our leaders, tells them the truth. To be in the good books of a leader, some people would swear that even his feaces smells of roses. And it is getting worse. For some people, it has become an art. This other day, when I read that a group of people in Anambra State had taken one honourable member to court to compel him to run for the governorship of the state, I felt sorry for Nigeria as a country. But I digress. I was taking about the disappointment that is Dariye.
During his second term in office, it got worse. He became afflicted with the Sokugo disease. If you read Cyprain Ekwensi’s Burning Grass, the Sokugo disease makes one unable to settle down, to stay at a place. Once, when he went to London, the crisis in Plateau reached a tragic stage. When he came back, he preferred travelling to Abuja to watch a sports event, to going to the troubled spot to calm nerves. When he accompanied Obasanjo to the troubled spot, his driver missed the way. In the presence of Obasanjo, Dariye was booed. An embarrassed Obasanjo put all things into consideration, and declared a state of emergency in Plateau State. Dariye returned six months after, but was soon embroiled in another scandal. He was arrested in London for money laundering offences. He jumped bail, and shamelessly remained a governor until Monday, November 13, when he was impeached.
For record purposes, Dariye deserved to be impeached. The scandal he was involved in was enough for him to have resigned. But he worsened it by jumping bail. After soiling Nigeria’s image in London, Dariye was comfortable, parading himself as a governor. Instead of hiding his head in shame, he started preaching persecution. He said, often, that he was being persecuted because of his relationship with Vice President Atiku Abubakar. But that was false. Dariye was an Obasanjo boy until the state of emergency. From that claim, he upped the ante. He said he was being persecuted because he was a democrat, who believed in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, you wonder what the offences he allegedly committed had to do with his protecting democracy and the constitution. Soon, he began to answer a “progressive.” He made sure he was always seen in the company of other “progressives.” He was urged on, and protected by some otherwise respectable Plateau State elders. One of the people who shocked me most with his support for Dariye was former Plateau State governor, and the founding National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Solomon Lar. An elder statesman, I expected Lar to tell Dariye the truth. He never did. Instead, he became his backbone. That is another problem with Nigeria.
This is a country where a criminal would suddenly become a democrat, a saint, a progressive, because he criticised Obasanjo. During the tragic General Sani Abacha days, I knew many, who were in support of Abacha, encouraged the cancellation of the June 12, 1993 elections, yet, they suddenly became "democrats and activists" when they didn’t get what they were looking for from Abacha, and found themselves on his wrong side. These days, when I see them parade themselves as those who suffered for democracy during the days of terror, I just laugh. But again, I digress.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) did everything to bring Dariye to book, but the members of the House of Assembly refused to impeach him. When the carrot being thrown at them didn’t work, the EFCC applied the stick method. The commission arrested them, one of them in his pyjamas. It was after this ordeal that six of them made a u-turn, and decided to impeach Dariye. Everybody thought it was impossible. It was. Dariye set the tone for this impeachment by encouraging 14 of the House members to decamp from the PDP to the Action Congress (AC), where he apparently belongs. That made them irrelevant in the PDP. So INEC declared their seats vacant. The desirable, but unconstitutional impeachment took place on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 4.00 a.m, by only six members of the house! With his ouster, five governors have been impeached in the past one year, all unconstitutionally. This is getting ridiculous. In four of the cases, the hand of the EFCC was obvious. This should not be encouraged. It is making us a laughing stock before the civilised world.
Dariye was a disgrace. But he should have been impeached constitutionally. INEC should have organised an election to fill the "vacant" seats before his impeachment.
What has been done now is giving Dariye a chance to scream – if and whenever he resurfaces – “I told you, this country is being ruled by law breakers.” It is sad.