By Linus Aleke
With less than one year left in office as the Speaker of the 5th legislature of the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS, otherwise, known as ECOWAS Parliament, history and posterity beckons on Rt. Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis.
Interestingly, history and posterity are unbiased arbiter, as it painstakingly record the achievements and shortcomings of public figures, locally and internationally or even bilaterally and multilaterally.
It also, does not give a blind eyes to the inactions of the political, religious, cultural or economic figure under scrutiny.
However, some scholars are of the opinion that history is only manipulated in a war situation, where the victor writes the history, with bias and arrogance of victory.
The vanquish in the above instance suffers the dark side of history, but that is not in all circumstances, as history concerning individuals are often chronicled objectively.
For instance, history has this to say about two prominent sons of West Africa, who became global figure through their excellent works in literary and diplomatic world. They are late Prof. Chinua Achebe from Nigeria and late Amb. Kofi Annan from Ghana.
Wikipedia documented this about late Achebe. At the ceremony for his honorary degree from the University of Kent, professor Robert Gibson said, the Nigerian writer ‘is now revered as master by the younger generation of African writers and it is to him they regularly turn for counsel and inspiration’.
Another scholar, Simon Gikandi, recalling the schooling of himself and his classmates in Kenya, said, Things Fall Apart ‘changed the lives of many of us’. The anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela remarked that ‘There was a writer named Chinua Achebe … ‘in whose company the prison walls fell down’.
“Outside of Africa, Achebe’s impact resonates strongly in literary circles. Novelist Margaret Atwood called him “a magical writer—one of the greatest of the twentieth century”. Poet Maya Angelou lauded Things Fall Apart as a book wherein “all readers meet their brothers, sisters, parents and friends and themselves along Nigerian roads”. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison noted that Achebe’s work inspired her to become a writer and “sparked her love affair with African literature”.
Below are the thoughts of world leaders on the global statesman and former United Nations Secretary General, late Amb. Koffi Annan.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, Annan “inspired me and many others with his ideas, his firm convictions and, not least, his charisma. Annan shaped the United Nations, like hardly anyone before him. He knew how to spark enthusiasm, particularly among young people”
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana called Annan one of the country’s “greatest compatriots”.
Former President Barack Obama said Annan embodied the U.N.’s mission like few others.
“His integrity, persistence, optimism, and sense of our common humanity always informed his outreach to the community of nations,” he said.
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called Annan a “diplomat extraordinaire.”
Like the duo, it is also time for reckoning as the Speaker of the sub regional economic bloc, ECOWAS Parliament, counts down on his tenure as Speaker.
Regrettably, while, the historical verdict on the two statesmen enumerated above are more or less carbon copy, in terms of positive eulogy, it is a different kettle of fish for Speaker Tunis as, incumbent MPs, opinion on his stewardship are more like apples and oranges.
A member of Nigerian Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, Senator, Abiodun Christine Olujimi, gave a positive verdict on the Speaker’s stewardship thus far.
Sen. Olujimi, who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, said, this is the first time they had a nil turbulent Parliament.
According to her, “I can easily say that Rt. Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, has done well, because leadership is about managing people and material resources”.
The Nigeria MP, averred that most of them at the ECOWAS Parliament have mutual suspicion of each other, explaining, “I am Anglophone, I don’t understand the Franchophone and I don’t understand the Lusophone. So, when I speak they don’t understand me, but this is the first time a speaker is able to pull together all the Anglophone, Franchophone and Lusophone”.
Senator Olujimi concluded with the following soothing words, “I believe Tunis has done reasonably well. He is approachable, he is reachable, he is a hard worker”.
Alas, the contrasting view of a member of Senegalese delegation to ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Abdoulaye Vilane, not only eclipsed the positive verdict of Senator Olujimi but raises moral questions and alleges corrupt practice.
Hon. Vilane, who is also, the Deputy, President of the Departmental Council of Kaffrine, Senegal, said the management of the ECOWAS Parliament, under the leadership of Dr. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, is absolutely catastrophic.
He also alleged that the incumbent speaker is notorious for power abuse.
“I think, and it is my point of view, that the Speaker Mr. Tunis will remain in the history of ECOWAS Parliament as the worst speaker. His lackadaisical attitude towards official matters is second to none,” he posited.
He further submitted that majority of MPs hold similar opinion but do not want to express it so as not to damage the image and reputation of the Parliament.
The Senegalese MP, also alleged self centeredness and corruption on the part of the speaker, saying “If we take into consideration for example the budget aspect, the speaker said, he received $N10,000 from the Parliament and each member state are supposed to receive that same amount to do a visibility action, within a three year period. But non of the member state received that amount. In any case, he received his own but cared less about other MPs”.
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On why the hallow chambers of ECOWAS Parliament is laying fallow, for close to two years, Hon. Vilane, explained, “there are issues with some of the top echelon of ECOWAS Parliament bureaucracy, including the secretary general of ECOWAS Parliament. Their tenure of office is ending soon, to this end they are not concerned with solving the major issues confronting the Parliament, such as changing or maintaining the cooling system at the Parliament, so as to allow meetings and sessions to take place at the Headquarters. That is why we rent halls or go to ECOWAS Commission. But the budget to maintain this things are there, yet they don’t care to use it. Instead they transfer those funds to their friends”.
He further alleged that “They are profiting from the renting of the halls because they overblow the amount so as to enrich their pockets. It is the same thing that happens with the flight ticket. They inflate the prices, it is all shrouded in secrecy”.
A Member of Parliament from Nigeria, Hon. Awaji-inombek Abiante also, criticize the Speaker’s penchant for renting and begging for a venue to hold the session in Abuja, because of his unwillingness to fix the malfunctioning Air Conditioners at the hallow chambers of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Abiante who expressed this concern during plenary, at the 2023 First Ordinary Session of the Parliament in Abuja said, that they may lose their moral authority as Parliament to perform oversight on ECOWAS Commission if the Commission continues to offer the Parliament its hall to hold sessions.
He said, it was better to hold sitting under a mango tree than to continue to present itself as a beggarly institution before the commission.
Another Member of Parliament from Liberian, Sen. Stephen Zargo, said, the Speaker should be blamed for the lack of interest shown in the parliamentary business, by MPs.
In an interview with ThisNigeria in Abuja, the Liberian MP said, ECOWAS Parliament was more vibrant under the former Speaker, Moustapha Cisse Lo, than now. Another negative verdict on the outgoing speaker.
Name such as Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Kenneth Kaunda, Charles Taylor, Adolf Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, Karl Marx, Barack Obama, Alexander the Great, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Kwame Nkrumah,
Adam Smith, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Haile Selassie, amongst several others invokes things that history recorded about them in the mind of humanity.
It is on account of that Adam Smith, posited thus: “The value and interest of history depend largely on the degree in which the present is illuminated by the past”.
In conclusion, historical verdicts could be positive or negative. The divide an individual falls is dependent on his activities and how chronicler of history perceives them. Hon. Tunis is also having a date with history.
