IVORY COAST ON EDGE, AS DEFEATED PRESIDENT REFUSES TO YIELD POWER?

Icheoku calls on the world to take action and very fast too, and take out the defeated former President Gbagbo of Ivory Coast before he takes the whole country down with him into the abyss; an infamous Somali-like ungovernable entity. There was an election which he lost, but the bug of perpetuity in office which usually bites Africa leaders haven bitten him, he now refuses to let go of the political power lever in Abidjan. Icheoku says probably he is calculating that when the push comes to shove, Ivory Coast will be forced to settle for a unity government like in Zimbabwe and Kenya; with him as president while the person who rightfully won the election will become the prime minister. But when will enough be enough for these African leaders so called, who usually cling to power at all cost and without deference to the will of the people as expressed by their votes or the fate of their country which could be drastically altered as a consequence of their action. Stopping defiant Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast may be a good start and a message-sender to all other intending African leaders that their penchant for perpetuating themselves in office will no longer be tolerated.

The thing bad with setting a bad precedent is that no one knows when it will develop into a hydra-headed monstrosity, with a spread, reach and consequences which are both unimaginable and unintended. The world acquiesced Robert Mugabe to have his way when he refused to cede power following his defeat in a general election in Zimbabwe and as a compromise, a unity government was instituted with him as still the president while the man who rightfully won the election was relegated to the office of a prime minister. In Kenya, Mwai Kibaki  upon losing his election looked west at the Robert Mugabe's example and concluded that if it could be possible in Zimbabwe why not in Kenya and decided to resist the will of the Kenyan people as expressed in their polls. He succeeded and today the constitution of Kenya went under surgical knife to enthrone a parliamentary form of unity government with Kibaki as president and the man who rightfully won the election, Odinga, was made the prime minister. This is the precedent Laurent Gbagbo is eying to replicate in Ivory Coast and Icheoku is afraid that the world might eventually indulge him; it being a lesser evil and the least costly arrangement in the circumstance, an all out atrocious war between both candidates supporters and tribesmen considered. It happened before in Harare, and once again in Nairobi; so the likelihood of it repeating itself in Abidjan is very high and this is exactly what the latest sit-tight wanna be African leader Gbagbo of Ivory Coast is banking on with his refusal to relinquish power.

Unfortunately Africans and their leaders have failed and/or refused to learn from past experiences that such obstinacy by a defeated president in refusing to concede defeat can only lead to one pitiful end - restiveness of the polity and possible unraveling of the country including devastating wars. The biggest threat to political development and democracy in Africa is the lack of smooth transfer of power from a losing incumbent to his successor; and until Africans learn to be magnanimous in defeat,  regrettably, it will continue to be the same cycle of vicious cantankerous struggle for power. Icheoku says as Ivory Coast tethers on the edge of the cliff, precariously dangling over the precipice, with two candidates proclaiming themselves victorious as president of the country respectively, the time is now for the intervention of ECOWAS, African Union and the United Nations led by Ivory Coast's former colonial master France and supported fully by America, and forcibly remove this intending sit-tight, defeated former president of Ivory Coast. Laurent Gbagbo should be stopped by all and any means necessary now and taken into prison custody, exiled or even killed if that is what it will take to avert another potential upheaval in another African country with its attendant heavy cost both in materials and human lives. Icheoku believes that Ivory Coast will not become despondent with a dead Gbagbo as there will be so many qualified people to successfully take over the mantle of governance including the man who defeated him at the polls, Quattara. Enough should now be enough; it is about time to teach these Africa leaders how to take an electoral defeat with equanimity and that presidency of a country should not become a do or die affair for them or converted into their private and personal property right. As president, Gbagbo succeeded someone who previously occupied that office; so it defies every logic that he now does not want any person else to succeed him and this is the fork on the road leading to the latest inching towards an anarchical upheaval in Ivory Coast. 

So with two pejorative presidents respectively sworn in for the same country, Icheoku asks, in whom shall the authority of commander in chief of the Ivoriean armed forces reside? Who shall appoint and receive members of the diplomatic corp and manage the affairs of the Ivoriean people? One civil war is more than enough for the country as no country usually survives two civil wars easily; and now is time for the world to come off its fence-seating and unanimously condemn and reject Gbadabo's current attempt to steal an election which he lost. There must be no room for negotiation with him for an interim government or a unity government arrangement to accommodate his ego; such concessions help to perpetuate Gbadabo-type misbehavior, as no leader or head of government in Africa wants or is willing to voluntarily yield power and its associated perks of office. Gbadabo must not be allowed to thumb his nose at the world without dire consequence; so the United Nations, America, France, Africa Union and ECOWAS must now give Gbadabo a fixed ultimatum to comply with the election result and quit office or be forcibly removed from office. Regrettably, the armed forces of Ivory Coast are not neutral in this imbroglio, otherwise they would have served Gandabo with a deservedly red card and order him to concede defeat immediately or be overthrown; taking cognizance of the 2002-2003 Ivoriean civil war which the country is yet to fully recover from.

It is good that United States President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have already said that opposition candidate Ouattara rightful won the election and that his victory must be acknowledged by the Gbadabo pretender-government and quit. These world leaders should take a step further and give Gbadabo a fixed time within which to do the right thing at the pain of unleashing their military best to smoke him out of the government house in Abidjan. That is the only language despots and despots-apprentice understand; and an example must be set of Gbadabo to send a clear message to other African wanna-be dictators that the world would not let them have their ways anymore. With the development in Abijan, Icheoku asks who knows what will become of the forth-coming general elections in Nigeria and whether President Goodluck Jonathan will peacefully concede power should he be defeated or even lose in the primaries to the northern consensus candidate Atiku Abubakar. Should Gbadabo be tolerated by the world in any form and allowed to stay in office, it will only serve as an impetus for his likes and so many elections are coming up in Africa. The  Ivory Coast election is significantly important because an electoral commission appointed by the defeated President Gbadabo conducted an election and announced a result which the appointor-government was not satisfied with, hence their decision not to comply with the electorates decision. Icheoku asks, is there a possibility that Nigeria's INEC Jega could toil all in vain with President Jonathan insisting that a particular election outcome trumps any other, including that certified by the Jega INEC.

The die seem to have been cast for a shooting war in Ivory Coast as each self-sworn president is said to have their own army, support network and legal framework for governing. Defeated President Gbagbo allegedly has the support of the regular army, while Ouattara is supported by the New Forces rebels of northern Ivory Coast. Gbagbo is also supported by many of the country's most important institutions including the constitutional council and the state media, while Ouattara is backed by several foreign powers; admitted African Union and ECOWAS is yet to take a stand. It should also be noted that Gbadabo is a hold-over president since 2005 when his first five-year mandate expired. After several delays, the election finally went ahead in October but then headed to a runoff vote in November when the country's election commission announced that Ouattara had won the run-off. However, new results released later on national television by Gbagbo loyalist, who heads the constitutional council, said that the incumbent president Gbadabo had in fact been re-elected. Icheoku says, only African-Africans understands what is really going down in Abidjan with paid pipers singing the varying tunes of their paying masters. Finally, Laurent Gbadabo must quit power and respect the wish of the Ivoriean people who with their ballot decided that Quattara should be their next president.