The Nation Newspaper

Category: Segun Gbadegesin

  • 2019 Election and national values (2)

    I received several private communications since the publication of the first part of this piece last week. It is not unexpected because of the passion that this election has generated for politically conscious citizens. Today, I will address a couple of the most fervent reactions.

    A respected elder asked whether we have any national values and, if not, what leg does my position have to stand on? And a professional colleague of many years challenged my claim that political preferences are reflections of moral values. For him, preferences are merely likings. Just as my preference for vanilla cake does not reflect any deep-seated moral value, so my preference for Buhari or Atiku carries no moral connotation.

    My response to the first reaction is that a nation without core national values cannot expect to survive, talk less prosper. Core values cement the various building blocks of the nation, preventing them from collapse.

    Fortunately, our national values are succinctly articulated in the holy book of the republic. Chapter 2 of the 1999 constitution declares: ”The motto of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress (15 (1)). “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power (15 (5)). And more clearly, Article 23 states that “The national ethics shall be Discipline, Integrity, Dignity of Labour, Social Justice, Religious Tolerance, Self-reliance and Patriotism.”

    A lot is packed into the quoted statements of our national values. But if we truly see ourselves as a nation, what these statements require of us can be attained. And part of what it requires of us is to choose leaders who embody the national ethics as our constitution stipulates, or who, at least, aspire to attain its requirements. An undisciplined person or one who lacks integrity, doesn’t appreciate the dignity inherent in labour, is intolerant, corrupt, and therefore, unpatriotic, is a clear opposite of what our national values prescribe. To that extent, he or she cannot be trusted to lead.

    To suggest that our preferences in national election for the choice of national leaders is a simple expression of taste is to trivialize the significance of this vital aspect of democracy. Therefore, I stand by my position that this election and its outcome, would be an expression of our national values.

    Now, what I just stated in the last sentence is deliberately ambiguous. The first arm of the ambiguity is that national values could mean those expressed in the constitution as our national ethics. Certainly, there could be a coincidence of the outcome of our preferences and our stated national values. If we choose candidates who have integrity, are incorruptible, appreciate the dignity of labour, and are champions of social justice, then, our preferences and our national values are in sync. And the election would be regarded as an expression of our constitutionally mandated national values.

    Second, however, we could make our preferred choices based on individual value systems without respecting our constitutionally mandated national values. If I prefer a kidnapper as president, it means that kidnapping is not in conflict with my values. If majority of my fellow citizens also prefer a kidnapper as their president, then we would elect a kidnapper as president. And while our constitutionally mandated national values would be diametrically opposed to this outcome, there is a sense in which we could still say that our choice reflects our national values, where national values here simply mean a summation of our individual values.

    What I am suggesting here is that our individual values may be opposed to the national values articulated in our constitution. When this is the case, and the majority have values that diverge from constitutionally articulated values, the outcome of elections reflects that divergence.

    Let me put the foregoing in context. Four days ago, a Twitter subscriber posted a thread which describes the findings of a US Senate Committee on the investigation of former Vice President Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate. The findings include an allegation of money laundering and deposits of various dollar amounts in US banks. They are enough to raise eyebrows.

    However, what caught my attention was the reaction from other Twitter users. I quote here one which speaks to my point: “Yes, we know that Atiku is a thief. But we still prefer him to a 100 times Buhari’s Integrity.” Another challenged the writer to set up her shop with EFCC and it won’t deter them from their choice of Atiku. Of course, there are also others who insist that Atiku cannot be trusted with the presidency because of this question of integrity. When minds are made up this way, and question of ethics plays a back role in the choice of leaders, then, a nation gets the leader it deserves on account of the diverse values of her citizens.

    There is another level to this issue. Where there is an assortment of national values, citizens may decide to emphasize one or the other based on what they think are national priorities at any point in time.  For example, an individual may believe that social justice is the most important national value and then choose a candidate or vote against another because they are judged to be right or wrong on issues of social justice. Thus, those who accuse President Buhari of favoring the North in his appointments may close their eyes against the national value of a corruption-free society, which he has championed with fervor.

    We should note, however, that voters have other considerations that may not be as expressly specific to national values but are still tangentially related. Since 1999, the development and maintenance of national infrastructure has suffered gravely in the hands of successive PDP governments. There were abandoned road construction contracts from Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Shagamu-Benin roadway. Railroads were neglected. Airways was scrapped. The power sector was ignored despite a purported investment of sixteen billion dollars. PDP was voted out in 2015 based on citizens’ disenchantment with its record in the destruction of the economy and national infrastructure.

    Buhari administration apparently came in with a strong determination to impress the citizenry with its investment on infrastructure as well as the diversification of the economy in favor of mining and agriculture. In these areas, it has a record of achievements that it has been highlighting in its campaign for reelection. I just saw an impassioned commercial by an APC lady supporter on road construction across the country. For comical effect, she referred to Buhari’s magnanimity in rehabilitating even the road at the backyard of a former president who didn’t care for it when he was in power. Could that be Baba Obj? Ouch!

    The questions, then, are these: value voters have a choice to make in this election. If not all, which of our core national values do you prioritize? Discipline or something integrity? Dignity of labour or a society without the burden of corruption? Religious tolerance or social justice? Do you place value on using the resources of the country for the betterment of the lives of her people or for benefitting a few special interests? Do you prefer to reward failure and impunity or selfless efforts that yield abundant success for all? Then, just go ahead and vote your value and your conscience.

    Remember, however, the words of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, which I have paraphrased here: “Elections belong to (you), the people. It is (your) decision. If (you) decide to turn (your) back on the fire and burn (your) behind, then, (you) will just have to sit on (your) blisters.”  There are good reasons to choose wisely. It is unwise to get fooled twice.

    As I was finishing this piece, Opalaba, my friend, called. He had also read the last piece and was concerned about my “philosophical twist and turn” as he put it. Call a spade a spade, he shouted. “In any case, as for me and my household, for what PDP did to this country for 16 years, I will never vote for any of its candidates. Never. Do you hear me?” And he hung up.

    Happy voting.

     

     

     

  • 2019 Election and national values (1)

    Next week, Nigerians will head to polling stations to declare their preferences in the choice of a president and national legislators for four years. The president’s election is a national affair because the entire nation is the president’s constituency. By the same token, then, choosing a national president is, ultimately, an expression of the values of the nation. And a president that is elected by the free will of the people reflects their values.

    While some preferences reflect nothing more than taste, electoral preferences reflect deep-rooted moral values. Your choice of chocolate over vanilla cake is simply a matter of what tantalizes your taste bud. However, if you prefer, say, a child molester as your governor or president, that says a lot more about your morals. For governors and presidents have responsibilities over the lives of millions of people, and not caring about their moral standing puts you in an indefensible position.

    Furthermore, as birds of a feather flock together, so humans with the same preferences and values stick together. Your preference for a child molester will naturally place you in the same party as other child molesters. If you have pleasure in racist rants, you are most likely going to end up in a political party that empowers racists. And corrupt exploiters, who feed fat on the common patrimony of the collective, will always find a home in the company of other exploiters. Even if they wonder afar for a while, they will have no rest until they find their way back to where they belong.

    Some clarification is in order. Despite the picture of fixed groups with people belonging to one or the other as painted above, we also know that there are nuances worth understanding. Some are die-hard members of specific parties because what the parties stand for jell with their preferences, whether morally debased or morally sound. But there are other groups of individuals.

    First, there are those individuals who choose to sell their birthright for a pot of porridge. They fall prey to misplaced priorities, selling their votes for a pittance that they expend within a day or two. But they end up in a lifetime of poverty because those who buy their votes have no sense of responsibility to them.

    Second, there are decent value-voting citizens who choose to stay out of political parties as independents. In close competitions, these could sway the outcome of an election. They are also the most likely to examine seriously the character of candidates, their position on issues, their background and experiences in politics and society, and the prospect of their candidacy for the masses.

    Finally, there are non-partisans who are nonetheless greatly invested in elections. I have in mind ethnic voters whose preference is dictated by the ethnic nationality to which they belong. Interestingly, this presidential election is different from recent ones. It is the second one since 1999, when the two frontrunners come from the same ethnic nationality. In recent elections, we have had one candidate from the north, another from the south. This year replicates 1999 when the two major candidates came from the southwest and 2007 when Yar’ Adua, Buhari and Atiku were the frontrunners.

    One would expect, therefore, that ethnicity will not be on the ballot and ethnic champions will have no serious platform. But, of course, such a thinking reflects an underestimation of the place of ethnicity in our national space. We have heard reports of even one of the candidates questioning the ethnic authenticity of the other. Buhari doesn’t speak Fulfulde well; therefore, he is not a true Fulani, according to Atiku.

    There are also surrogates in other nationalities routing for one candidate or the other based on their assessment of his positions relative to their interest. And though the heads of the ticket are from the same nationality group, their running mates are from two of the most competitive groups, Yoruba and Igbo. To think, therefore, that ethnicity will play no role in this election is to be a dreamer. The reality is that it will, at least, to some extent.

    If we cannot wish away the role of ethnic calculations, what can we truly and realistically expect to be on top of the reasonings that everyone with a thinking cap brings to bear on their decision to vote one candidate or the other?

    Let me make another assumption. There are probably good reasons why some may not be enthusiastic about voting. Beside the IPOB loyalists harkening to the voice of Kanu to stay home or participate in his referendum, there are those who are disgusted about the choice presented to them and would rather not venture to the polls. This is, of course, a weak excuse and a dangerous position to take. Many who took similar position in the 2016 US elections are living to regret it.

    For those who would not shirk their civic responsibility, the question remains, what are their priorities? On what basis are they thumb-printing their ballot papers? What reasoning process have they been through? I assume that they have been inundated with campaign slogans and promises of all the candidates, especially the leading ones. What messages have stuck with them as worth their consideration?

    It is fair to suggest that the priorities of the electorates, from security, economy and jobs, to anti-corruption, restructuring and infrastructure, are as diverse as the nation’s demographics. The candidates naturally take their cue from this. Thus, President Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the two leading candidates, have in varying degrees focused on infrastructure, security, economy, anti-corruption and restructuring. How do we assess their claims and promises?

    Restructuring is high on Atiku’s agenda. It’s the reason for the support he receives from some southwest, southeast, and south-south leaders. How does he plan to do this? How seriously is he to be taken? It is instructive to note that among his powerful endorsers is former President Obasanjo who has been contemptuous of restructuring. Will Atiku dare his former boss again? Can Atiku single-handedly restructure the country without national and state legislatures?  How about his NEF supporters? While presidential leadership is important, it is hardly enough.

    APC promised devolution of power in 2015. A party committee submitted a report; but intra-party politics surfaced. The promise is back in its 2019 manifesto. Is there reason for us to keep hope alive?

    The war against corruption has been President Buhari’s forte and his political party has made much of it. He has dared anyone with a knowledge of corruption about him or his family to come forward. Even with powerful enemies along the way, he has vowed not to shy away from the fight.

    Atiku has made a similar pledge. However, he continues to be under a cloud of suspicion. His chief endorser and campaigner, President Obasanjo, has been unapologetic about his allegation that Atiku is a corrupt politician. It’s in black and white. Atiku is still under investigation in the U.S. for corruption. In a moment of unintended frankness, he declared on national television that he would use the presidency to enrich his friends.

    Beside the candidates, it is also important for neutral electorates to consider the stand and background of political parties on whose platform they are running. PDP ruled the country for 16 years. What was its record? Both Atiku and Obi, his running mate, are on record publicly accusing their party of mismanagement of the country’s resources from 1999 to 2015.

    PDP Chairman Secondus publicly apologized to the nation for his party’s performance. That was only a couple of years ago. The same leaders who led its failure are still in the leadership role. Obasanjo who left the party and tore his membership card publicly is also back routing for its presidential candidate. But no one has told the nation how the party has changed in the last four years. What evidence of change when it has not been in power since that apology? As to Obasanjo’s vouching for a changed Atiku, what evidence is there since Atiku has not held any elective or appointive position since 2007?

    To be continued.

     

  • Human nature and constitutional corruption

    As Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Onnoghen was accused of failing to report all his assets in the sworn declaration he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB). Confronted, he admitted guilt, explaining that he forgot to include about one billion Naira, hundreds of thousands of dollars, British pounds, and euros in bank deposits plus more than fifty landed properties across the country. He was charged to the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    In a jiffy, fire erupted from political, ethnic, religious, and professional partisans. South-south governors counseled the CJN against appearing before CCT. He took the advice. With the impasse, CCT ordered the President to suspend him and appoint an Acting CJN pending the resolution of the case. He did.

    Thereafter, heaven and hell broke lose. The president has always been a closet dictator and now he’s come out in the open, they pronounced. The head of a separate branch of government cannot be removed by the head of the executive branch, they argued. It can only happen if, and when, the National Judicial Council (NJC) in its wisdom, after its own investigation, concludes and advises the President to remove the CJN or any judicial officer. Per the constitution, the complainants are right.

    NJC has been used effectively even if unethically in the past twenty years since the 1999 constitution was foisted on unsuspecting Nigerians by the military. It was used in the most infamous case of Justice Ayo Salami, then President of the Court of Appeal who the PDP loved to hate for his discipline and judicial temperament. President Jonathan accepted the recommendation of NJC then headed by Justice Katsina-Alu who had fallen out with Salami over a directive which the latter had considered inappropriate. Jonathan suspended Salami and, bowing to his PDP leadership pressure, he never reinstated him even after the same NJC reversed itself.

    But now, we have a case of another CJN in the eye of the storm. Does the constitution anticipate the crisis it has created? NJC is headed by the CJN who also appoints its members. Is there an expectation that a CJN could be indicted by the NJC over which he presides? Even if it is possible because there are members with the courage of a lion, do we expect the CJN to deliberately place himself at risk? Self-preservation is the first law of nature. Predictably, CJN Onnoghen canceled the meeting of NJC indefinitely. If you can’t meet, you can’t investigate. Unless reason intervenes and institutional integrity prevails. Hopefully, it will.

    Our constitution assumes the best angels of our human nature to prevail in circumstances where the worst has thrived since the beginning of the fourth republic. In our present predicament, decency would prescribe resignation on the part of the CJN who has admitted to wrongdoing in the matter of asset declaration. On many levels, it is regrettable that he has chosen the path of ignominy. Coming to the table of equity with clean hands is not an empty demand. The highest judicial officer, who has himself ruled in favor of CCT as the exclusive judicial body for matters of asset declaration cannot possibly have any more justification for sitting tight in the face of a damning accusation, especially after admitting guilt.

    But again, that is what decency mandates. Unfortunately, it is not an endowment that many in public life can lay claim to, especially in our clime. More regrettable is that a pattern of exploiting the loopholes in our constitution has been established at least since 1999. We are therefore not on an uncharted territory.

    Since 1999, our institutions have failed to prevail against the weakness of human nature parading as strength. When people are weak and cowardly, they hide behind the facade of democracy to instill harm and hardship. The constitution provides for emergency powers for the president. We are aware of how this was used between 1999 and 2007 by a born dictator. We now have a case of the kettle calling the pot black.

    We have a constitutional provision for impeachment of the executive and legislative leaders. We also know how that has worked in the last twenty years with a president who cannot tolerate any inkling of opposition to his self-regarding desires. Those who applauded the strongman approach then, or stood by without lifting a finger of restraint, are now protest leaders against presidential abuse of power.

    So far in this self-inflicted crisis, we have conflated process and substance to the detriment of the latter. The substantive question remains, what is the source of the huge funds in the account of the CJN? Can he account for the funds based on his personal salary and investments? Or has he been corruptly enriched by individuals and groups seeking justice from his court? Is he in some conspiratorial cahoots with the opposition to thwart the will of the people as the ruling party alleges?

    These questions deserve satisfactory answers. Assume that he did not “forget” to declare all his assets, shouldn’t a government that prioritizes fight against corruption investigate the source of those assets?

    By a twist of fate, as this matter engages national attention, Transparency International (TI) released its 2018 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) which is part-encouraging and part-discouraging for Nigeria. While the country moved up four point from 148 in 2017 to 144 in 2018, it retains the same score of 27% that it received in 2017.  But while this may appear encouraging, the full picture points to something else.

    Although, just a handful of African countries rose to or above a 50% score, quite a few out-scored Nigeria, the self-declared giant. Seychelles scored 66% while Botswana and Cabo Verde had 61% and 57% respectively. Sierra Leone had 30% since 2016. Togo dropped from 32% in 2017 to 30% in 2018. Ethiopia is at 34%; Zambia at 35%; Niger at 34%; even Liberia that Nigeria helped liberate from a corrupt dictatorship is at 32%.

    TI postulates that “undemocratic regimes undermine anti-corruption efforts”. Unfortunately, even in a democracy such as Nigeria, corruption could be fatal to democratic institutions. Patricia Moreira, the Managing Director of TI puts it thus: “Corruption chips away at democracy to produce a vicious cycle, where corruption undermines democratic institutions and, in turn, weak institutions are less able to control corruption.” And they won’t until so-called political and professional elite, who benefit from the proceeds of corruption and shamelessly hide behind democracy to undermine its institutions, desist or are made to face the music.

    Focusing on Nigeria in particular, TI advises President Buhari to “veto legislation that weakens laws to fight corruption.” It also calls on the Nigerian Senate to uphold the Code of Conduct as it now stands…. It should apply to the proceedings against Senate President Bukola Saraki.” The statement adds that the “law should apply to everyone equally.”

    The intervention of UK, US, and EU, as well as the effort from some quarters to get them involved, is a sad twist of irony. The same group that insisted on national sovereignty in the horrific days of military dictatorship now rush to seek foreign intervention against national anti-corruption efforts.

    But before you ask for a loan of outfit from someone, you must prudently ensure that what they put on is an indication that they have extra to loan. Electoral corruption is not a monopoly of the global south and the Muller investigation is evidence. In 2017, the US President fired FBI director James Comey to take off the pressure as the FBI investigates Russian intervention in the election that brought the president to power. What about a case of a Secretary of State who has statutory responsibility for umpiring an election in which he is also a gubernatorial candidate? And he refused to recuse himself. That happened in 2018 in Georgia, USA.

    But seriously, why are these countries interested in our democracy now? You probably still remember their prediction for Nigeria, come 2020. With our present suicidal raw partisan and ethnic chauvinistic stance, it is most likely going to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. And that’s the way they want it. If we let them.

     

     

  • Remembering MLK on the 90th anniversary of his birth

    Today, between responding to hate and admiring love, I choose the latter. It is so simple that the alternative doesn’t even come close. I must confess, however, that the temptation was there. How can it not be? You imagine yourself an intelligent human being. But there are those who are hell-bent on fooling you as if you are incapable of seeing through the heap of rubbish they spread. Then, you feel duty bound to respond if only to let them know that they are exposed. But you realize they are not worth your effort.

    One of the enduring lessons of the life and ministry of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is that love trumps hate. It was the lesson of Jesus the Christ who taught us to love even our enemies. Dr. King personified the truth of Christ’s lesson in his thirty-nine years on planet earth. It is one reason he still lives in our consciousness.

    At twenty-five, when many of our young ones are wasting away, unsure of what life holds for them, Dr. King had made the choice of a life time, to fight the cause of justice. At twenty-nine, he was stabbed by a deranged woman. At thirty-nine, he got shot and killed by a racist sniper.

    For the fourteen years of his activism, Dr. King was exemplary in thought and uncompromising in action. With the belief that the “ark of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”, he knew that the fight would be long. He also knew, as he proclaimed in his last sermon before he was assassinated, that he might not witness the sunny day of freedom. Yet he kept fighting because, without the fight, he knew those holding the levers of power were not going to release it.

    Thus, from his leadership of the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 to the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama protests, to the March on Washington of the same year, the Selma to Birmingham protests of 1965, and the 1966 struggle for fair housing in Chicago, Dr. King’s consistency and persistence, in the face of hate from high and low places, set him apart as a leader of leaders.

    Dr. King died young, but his achievements in the less than forty years of his life surpass those beneficiaries of longevity who choose the worthless life of pirates. We know those who, in many lifetimes, cannot match him in status. They include the ones who covet leadership for its sake and the ones who lack the ability to handle life out of positions of power, which they use for personal enrichment. MLK was not a Senator. He was not a Congressman. He was not a Governor. He was a simple man who made himself a vessel for God’s use, like Moses of old.

    Three major legislations that changed the politics of racial injustice in America are traceable to King and his team. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlaws racial, religious, and sexual discrimination in school, employment, and public accommodation, was the first major legislation of the civil right struggle.

    The second was the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which targeted state and local level legal barriers against African-Americans in the exercise of their rights to vote. It banned post-civil war discriminatory practices in the south, including literacy tests as precondition for voting.

    The third, no less important, was the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which was passed seven days after the assassination of Dr. King, and presented by President Johnson as an honor for his legacy. It prohibits discrimination against buyers and tenants on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

    You might wonder why anyone has to struggle for these commonsense legislations. Or why the freedoms and rights that they sought to establish should not have been taken for granted in the first place. And you would certainly be right. But it is the sad experience of our diaspora kith and kin that, from the time they were stolen from the shores of Africa and enslaved by white plantation owners with the connivance of the state, they have been treated as less than human, who are not entitled to the commonsensical rights that whites enjoy. Dr. King saw through the sham of Christianity that his fellow clergy embraced and, in one of the most celebrated letters of the last century, condemned the hypocrisy of White Evangelicals.

    King’s 1963 “Letter from the Birmingham City Jail”, was written to his fellow clergymen as his response to their condemnation of his struggle against racial discrimination, which they had described as “unwise and untimely.” Even in what might come to others as naked hatred and hypocritical stand by the clergymen, King treated them as “men of genuine goodwill” whose “criticisms are sincerely set forth.” His task then was to answer them in “patient and reasonable terms.” That is what magnanimity means.

    Why were the White “liberal” clergymen upset with King? Simply put, they wanted to preserve White privilege, which King was struggling to unravel. While they pretended that they were also for justice but would rather bid their time for the right moment, King argued that the time was right to do God’s will for the promotion of justice. ‘I am here in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus said the Lord” far beyond the boundaries of their home towns…so I am compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.’

    Injustice beckons us to wherever it resides to act for its negation and nullification. That was the call that Dr. King answered when he led his team to Birmingham. And they were arrested and jailed by the city authorities who would rather preserve the privileges of injustice. But should clergymen familiar with the activism of Old Testament prophets against injustice enable them and participate in the perpetuation of injustice?

    “No”, they replied. But they found it paradoxical that direct action for justice would encourage disobedience of valid civil laws, that is, laws that were duly passed by the people’s representatives. “Would this not lead to anarchy”?  It’s a typical fallback of oppressors tactically shaming the oppressed. Of course, King is not caught unprepared.

    There is no contradiction in advocating the breaking of some laws and disobeying others. For King, there are two kinds of laws, just and unjust. The former “squares with the moral law or law of God.” The latter is “out of harmony with the moral law.” A just law “uplifts human personality.” An unjust law “degrades human personality.” While the former must be obeyed on legal and moral ground, the latter does not deserve obedience. “All segregation laws are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality.” Most importantly, these unjust laws were passed by those who placed themselves in position of superiority without allowing the participation of the minority who are supposed to obey them. It is double injustice. The law is immoral and its passage excludes many who it is supposed to cover.

    The above is just a minute sample of the fertile and productive intellect of one of the towering global figures of the last century and, indeed, of all time. No wonder, without being a national president, a nation whose majority has wised up over the last fifty years has come to appreciate Dr. King’s contributions to its moral awakening and the supreme sacrifice he made for America to reclaim its moral ground. With a Presidential Medal of Freedom, Congressional Gold Medal, a federal public holiday, a Memorial on the National Mall, and a host of namesake roads and schools across the country, Martin Luther King Jr. is alive and well. And his legacy is marching on.

    Compare the morally-uplifting King letter that I just partially analyzed with the unedifying letters you receive every now and then from a contemporary elder who craves recognition that he fails to deserve, precisely because his motives are morally obnoxious, self-serving, and down-right malicious. It cannot but boggle rational minds.

     

     

     

     

  • A perceptive and progressive mind at 80

    Today, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to a distinguished statesman, a political and intellectual giant, Chief Bisi Akande, on attaining the enviable status of an octogenarian in a land with an embarrassing average life expectancy of fifty-five. Additionally, he has also earned the grace to be an agbasanko, a respectable elder.

    In view of his intellectual credentials and interest in public discourse on the nation and the conditions for its forward movement, I consider it fitting to honor Chief Akande with a discussion of a subject that is not only topical but is also dear to his mind in view of his well-publicized position on the matter in and out of office. From the obvious powerlessness of his chairmanship of an opposition party, to his powerful leadership position in the ruling party, his focus on the matter of true federalism has not dimmed. That is the true meaning of consistency, which defines the categorical imperative of our humanity.

    On May 29, 1999, Chief Akande took over as the Executive Governor of Osun State. Wasting no time, he used the podium of his inaugural address to offer a powerful defence of the Obafemi Awolowo school of politics. With a review of the story of the republic and the indefensible nature of its current structure, Chief Akande argued for the imperative of “a true and genuine Federalism as a basis for the continuing existence of the corporate entity known as Nigeria.” He also urged that revenue allocation be principally based on the principle of derivation.

    As governor, he demonstrated that a public servant can serve diligently and gain the respect of citizens. With a modest internally generated revenue that supplemented the meager allocation from the center, Chief Akande paid workers salary and leave allowances as due, cleared pensions and gratuity arrears inherited from the military, completed capital projects without borrowing, and ended up with a budget surplus. He taught others, including the federal government, the ethics of fiscal prudence and self-discipline in the management of public fund.

    In 2003, toward the end of his tenure after the PDP rigging trailer vanquished AD in the southwest, Chief Akande compiled and introduced an important volume titled Restructuring: Nigeria’s approach to True Federalism, with proposals from various individuals and groups on the subject. In his own well-researched contribution titled “The Obstacle to Peace in Nigeria”, Chief Akande is brutally honest in his account of the challenges and downright credible in his analysis.

    Observing that the country moved from a true federal status in the early 60s to a unitary federalism since the late 60s, he identified Decree 21 of 1998, which, on the eve of military departure, “transferred virtually all powers of taxation from the states and local governments to the Federal Government, thereby making the other tier of government and the Local Government financially helpless and virtually totally reliant on funds from sale of crude oil.” As he rightly noted, the “strident demand for restructuring, resource control and sovereign national conference” is a derivative of that decree. He then argues that ” the only thing that can give strength to and sustain the unity of the diverse people of Nigeria is true federalism.”

    In that same contribution, Chief Akande made suggestions concerning the distribution of functions and allocation of authorities between the federal and state and local governments. Using data depicting the lopsided distribution of powers and allocation of revenue since 1991, he concluded that in “the interest of peace and harmony, political and economic restructuring is a necessary insurance for the continuity of One Nigeria. In other words, our census must be accurate, our zones/regions must be recognized as the first line federating units, the exclusive functions of the Federal Government must be partly off-loaded and shared among the zones, revenue allocation system must be related to the quantum and complexity of function.” This is the crux of the position of the advocates of restructuring.

    I do not believe that Chief Akande has shifted from his belief and from his position on the matter despite some recent controversies emanating from his public statements.

    In a 2018 address titled “Devolution of Powers and National Restructuring” delivered to the APC-USA Second Annual Convention, Chief Akande attempted a clarification of what APC describes as “Devolution of Powers” in its Manifesto ‘vis-vis its mix-up with what is being described as “Restructuring”.’ Here, he suggests that ‘the means of achieving “devolution of powers” is just persuading the national and state assemblies to reduce the exclusive functions of the central government, and to rearrange the concurrent responsibilities between the central government and the state governments in the list of functions recorded in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a view to giving more residual powers to the states.’ His position is that this is a task of all parties, not just APC.

    In his characteristic bluntness, Chief Akande does not shy away from narrating how the country got to where it is now in need of restructuring. For 29 years, by military fiat, states were created without any attention to how they were to be funded. Favored sections got more local governments with higher revenue sharing.

    For Akande, then, restructuring is “the equitable rearrangement and redistribution of the existing local governments and states per population within the various ethnic nationalities and making appropriate amendments to the Nigerian constitution to accommodate such rearrangements and redistributions.” Importantly, he does not think that ‘the word “equity” can be easily defined to convince those who might have had extra advantages under the constitution to surrender those advantages easily.’

    This is a simple but bitter truth. The mentality of unrelinquishable advantage is not unique to those whom we have been accustomed to linking undue advantage with. Are those that have enjoyed statehood since 1975 and beyond in the south eager to accommodate a restructuring that turns them into provinces within a regional entity? Hence, Chief Akande’s conclusion that ‘ “restructuring” must be seen as a more Herculean major task for all Nigerians than a mere political change of power for which APC was put together.’ This, of course, does not mean we should give up the quest for restructuring.

    I do not believe that Chief Akande has given up despite his loyal defence of his party’s position on a piecemeal approach to restructuring through a manageable devolution of power. In the context of our political climate, we are understandably impatient.

    In 2017, a prominent progressive called me with a complaint about a statement that had just been attributed to Chief Akande on the matter of restructuring. The caller was disappointed and was going to issue a rejoinder. I discouraged a rejoinder without finding out from Chief Akande what the story was. I called up Chief Akande, and true to my suspicion, he denied abandoning the matter of restructuring. He had been asked a specific question about the position of APC on the matter and he had simply quoted the manifesto of the party which promised devolution of power, which for some reason, the party does not understand as identical with restructuring.

    It is always a tricky issue when one is called upon to explain and defend one’s party’s position, even when one is a step or two ahead of the party on the matter. It is not unique to our corner of the world. It explains coalitions of interests within political parties all over the world, as moderates, progressives, and ultra- progressives within the same party. The existence of such groups provides individuals within each coalition to press their case despite their party position.

    As our democracy matures, we would reach a stage where party position on issues is based upon a consensus of all stakeholders, and Individuals and groups with different views could still enjoy the right to fight for their positions within the party hierarchy. What cannot be denied, however, is that due to the principle of party supremacy, party men and women cannot publicly antagonize their party, even as they make effort to have their own ideas accepted on party platform.

     

    Happy Birthday Baba. Igba odun, odun kan.

  • Foundations of national productivity

    It is a new year and it is not too early to fix our national gaze on the push for increased productivity in the national economy. This is the impetus for this piece today.

    National productivity is a prerequisite for national advancement. Worker productivity is the sine qua non of national productivity. Good education, fair compensation, and workplace equity and fairness are indispensable conditions for worker productivity. Therefore, good education, fair compensation, and workplace equity and fairness are prerequisites for national advancement.

    The validity and soundness of the foregoing syllogism is not in doubt. However, our commitment to good education, fair compensation for workers, and our practice of equity and fairness in the workplace could pose a serious challenge. Worker productivity in the private and public sectors of a nation’s economy determine how far the nation can go on the ladder of development. We see this demonstrated in not just the highly advanced economies of the West, but also in those of some of the economies that we started out with as independent nations. Some of them, especially the highly motivated East Asian tigers, have long surpassed us by baring their fangs of productivity. How did they do it? And why do we still lag?

    We know that highly productive workers make highly developed economies. But while productive work is part of our human potential, concrete barriers exist in the realization of this potential. Note that I used “potential” and not “essence”. While it is arguable that we would not be humans without being essentially productive, the essentialism implied here is also troubling. Are flesh and blood humans who despise work and leave work-free lives sub-human? They may be morally irresponsible but there are many human beings who, despite working hard, are also morally irresponsible in other ways.

    What barriers exist in the realization of our potential for hard work? There are at least three: poor education, unfair compensation, and workplace inequity and unfairness.

    We were doing well with the education sector during the first republic. That was the time we were focused on competing vigorously with our peers across the globe. Recently, I revisited a pamphlet that I had checked out on my study shelve in the Library of Congress. It was the report of the commission set up by the Western Regional Government in 1962 to review the regional educational policy.

    The report commended the regional government for earmarking 40% of its revenue for education. That was two-fifth of the regional budget going to education! And we wonder why the region had such a huge success in educating her residents in those days. Even with the crisis in Action group and the emergency rule and stuff, up till January 1966, the region was still ahead in education. The University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University) was established during this period and with its high-quality products, and those of other higher institutions, national productivity was enhanced.

    The foundation for that achievement was laid very early in the intellectual armory of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the architect and builder of the modern West. His firm belief was that “the success of (human beings), in any sphere whatsoever in which he (or she) operates, depends wholly on the degree of his health, his intellectual comprehension, and his spiritual depth—because the coefficient of his efficiency in all undertakings generally, and of his productivity in any economic venture in particular, is education in every sense of the word.”

    Then the military struck 53 years ago this month and everything education was pushed to the back burner of national stove. They jettisoned the federal structure for a unitary system of governance. The federal government budgetary allocation to education between 1966 was 4.23%. In 1970, it dropped to 0.69% and it stayed at less than 1% until 1973. For the 13 years of first military rule, the average federal budgetary allocation to education was 3.66. The four years of the 2nd republic from 1979 to 1983 did not see much improvement, with federal allocation averaging 5.9%. Ironically, the Abacha dictatorship years averaged 10.88% while the return to civil rule in 1999 saw another drop with the Obasanjo years averaging 7.7% budget allocation. The UNESCO recommendation is between 15% and 20%. Currently, our budget allocation to education is 7.04 per cent. Ghana’s is 14 %.

    What does the foregoing data regurgitating exercise suggest about our priorities? Surely, other sectors are also important in the scheme of a whole economy. But education is the master driver in the matter of economic growth. A highly educated citizenry will have the skills the economy needs to fire all its engines of growth. Unfortunately, with abysmal funding, educational institutions from elementary to university levels lack the wherewithal to produce the best. So, we end up with materials that industries are not able to use for lack of the skills that they need.

    Secondly, a highly educated citizenry is also necessary to fight the ills of society that we are rightly obsessed about. Can anyone imagine soundly educated men and women getting involved in thuggery and vandalism as we witness daily in our urban enclaves? Can fully engaged citizens carry sticks and guns to campaign rallies and make themselves available for exploitation by politicians and get killed in the process?

    The elders teach that the proverbial eepa only kills itself while thinking that the dog is its victim. If the fortunate among us think that they can escape the coming catastrophe of frustrated expectation, they must think again. ASUU and other unions in the education sector are only helping us to avert the implosion ahead. It is a relief that the government is reluctantly paying attention.

    Along with education, in our road trip to increased productivity and economic growth, is fair compensation for hard work. Fair wage for work done is a rallying cry of workers the world over. Whether in the public or private sector, when we shortchange workers for the sake of more profit for capital, we deceive ourselves if we think that it will not negatively impact productivity. Where there is self-worth, there is bound to be resentment with a suspicion of cheating. Resentment may lead to cutting corners in a variety of ways, including fraud.

    The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) has fought a just battle on behalf of workers for an increase in minimum wage. Though it has couched its rationale in terms of the welfare of workers, which is right, it is also true that there is an economic justification for the increase in view of the potential increase in productivity that a happy workforce can generate. It is heartwarming that the federal government has risen to the occasion with the president’s promise to send a bill to the National Assembly.

    Finally, productivity also requires workplace equity and fairness. Where wage discrimination is rampant, there’s going to be a negative impact on worker productivity. Again, human beings with a modicum of self-respect normally want equal treatment with peers. When they perceive an absence of fairness in the workplace, it affects their attitude to work, which in turn impacts productivity.

    Fortunately, our institutions of public service—civil service, universities, teaching service, hospitals, etc.— unlike some comparable systems even in developed countries, operate a hiring system that is open and formal. Public sector workers are recruited into a hierarchical system that bases compensation on established rules which recognize gradations of pay scale. Depending on your qualification, you know where you belong, whatever your gender, ethnicity, or religious background. And you can expect promotion on regular basis if you perform.

    Where this regularity is disturbed for whatever reason that has nothing to do with performance, and a worker suffers persecution or discrimination, deliberate or unintentional, there is bound to be resentment and productivity suffers. Again, because human nature is precariously inclined to occasional regress to the dark side, even with an inherently just system of wage and promotion, this cannot be ruled out. And it behooves those charged with the sacred responsibility of human resource management to be above board. That is, if they care for workers’ welfare, an important prerequisite for workers’ productivity.

  • Making 2019 work for the nation

    Last week, I argued for the conclusion that every new year is our creation. It is not an invisible spirit from an ethereal world.

    Today, I want to suggest that in addition to creating a new year, we also make it what we want. In other words, what it is in the end, is what we make it to be. This simply extends the notion that we are the architects of our fortune; and it applies to many things in nature.

    Surely, there are natural events which have been determined to be beyond human agency. Rainstorms, floods, landslides, hurricanes, tsunamis are supposedly forces of nature. We also know, however, that much of what nature has turned out to be in centuries of industrialization and decades of technology-driven economies has to do with human agency run amok. Think climate change.

    Specifically, relevant to this concern is the matter of flooding. Is it pure nature behaving badly, or does it also have to do with human bad behavior? Look around you as you read this piece. Is the ground around littered? Can you see nylon food wraps? How about pure water satchels? And plastic water and soda bottles? Did all this fall on the ground with rain drops? Or they are carelessly dropped and dumped by human beings deprived of a sense of responsibility? And since these tons of litters cannot self-dispose, they are helped by rain to block whatever is left of our already poor drainage system. Flooding is inevitable in the circumstance. Then, of course, we blame nature or government for our self-inflicted woes. Or we curse at the year!

    A most intriguing constant at the end of one year and the beginning of another is the phenomenon of prayer and prediction for a happy new year. They have been woven into the fabric of our sensibilities that it is unimaginable not to have them as part of the ritual. Prayer is our wish for the fulfillment of our hearts’ desires. Prediction satisfies our urge to not be in the dirt regarding the future. They both supposedly deal with the spiritual realm to which only the spiritually endowed have access.

    It is foolhardy to begrudge genuine claims to spirituality of which there are many. At the same time, however, genuine spirituality does not deny the importance of certain foundational principles without which prayers are in vain. Thus, as spiritual as traditional Africans are, work, for them, is an antidote against poverty. They will not indulge laziness while praying for wealth. Now, we have a different mindset that prioritizes the miracle of stupendous wealth with no corresponding effort to work hard. And some men and women of God cheer them on.

    Individuals make the year for themselves, to their happiness or misery, in a variety of ways. Of course, no one deliberately sets out to pursue misery. But as the wise ones teach us, no one plans to fail, but many fail to plan, and failure to plan is a certain precursor to failure.

    Take the case of a student who fails to plan her time and resorts to cramming borrowed notes an hour before a major examination. Under normal circumstances, failure is the assured result, followed by a shattered dream. To rely on prayers in such a situation is to unreasonably test God. If a good education still ranks high in the ladder of long-term success, our student may be on the road to long-term failure. There are numerous examples around our neighborhoods.

    But the circumstances are not always normal, and to the detriment of the system and a nation that is shortchanged in the end, it is this anomalous nature of our contemporary circumstances that such a student and many like her bet on with confidence. Think examination malpractice. Think sex for grades. Think parental collusion with miracle centers. And you have the nightmare of a nation held hostage and cornered at every front. Without paying serious attention to all that individuals engage in which places the nation under stress of negative development, we pray in vain for a happy new year.

    Only a mischievous reading of my argument this far would suggest that I am against prayers. Far from it, I am aware of the power of prayer. But reliance on prayer without hard work is futile and it is a shame if our religious leaders fail to point this out at every gathering of the faithful. For, it is clear to me that many of them are great examples of hard work and smart thinking, which makes up a disproportionate part of their success. It is this that the followers should make serious effort to study and emulate, subsequent to which prayer is in order.

    With a nation of about 200 million, a greater percentage of who profess one faith or the other, and multiple thousands of houses of worship, which make prayer their key, we should wonder why we still have the terrible statistics of armed robbery, kidnapping, increasing terrorist attacks, and political tumult.

    The nation makes the year for herself through the instrumentality of individuals, officials, and institutions in a variety of ways.

    An undeniable principle of prayer effectiveness is that we must be the enablers of the success of our prayer. This is what we have not done in our national life. We ask men and women of God to pray without ceasing for the country. But when we and those who are in public service and their active associates fail to do our part with diligence and integrity, we embarrass the God of prayers.

    As politicians, civil servants, security agents, educators in high and low places, doctors, nurses and matrons, customs and immigration officers, police, judges, contractors, oil marketers and market women, drivers and house-helps, and many other groups, we are all implicated in the disappointment of unanswered prayer. How so?

    Let us reference here just the totally unimaginable in this sordid and messy state of affairs in which corruption has placed our dear country. A house help defrauds his master by inflating the cost of food items bought from a local market and keeps the change. It is perhaps the slightest sample of our national malaise; but it has its tap root in our conflicted culture of ostentatious living and runaway greed for luxury beyond our means. Our young house-help learns the art from the grown-ups whose stock in trade is an irresponsible and nonchalant display of unearned wealth every day of the year.

    A National Assembly member who has fallen out with his state governor recently told his audience about the boastful rant of the latter who bragged of having such a stupendous wealth now that nothing can touch, and he is therefore fulfilled. The same governor confessed that he rode into office with huge help and funds from diverse sources. If he wasn’t sufficiently wealthy to fund his campaign for the governor’s seat, shouldn’t we ask how, after four or at most eight years, he now boasts of a bottomless wealth? Yet we keep praying for miracle for the nation to develop.

    The National Assembly (NASS) is the Naira guzzler of the republic, and it has also proven to be the retirement hub for state governors. With little accomplishment by way of meaningful legislation, it has not led by decent example in the matter of modest living. To make 2019 work for every citizen, NASS members must look in the mirror and ask probing questions: what is true public service? What sacrifice does it require of me? How can the institution to which I belong contribute to the rediscovery of national values?

    How shall we make 2019 work? For a start, we can make 2019 a year of new beginning for the nation. That it is an election year is a plus. That the election comes in the first quarter of the year is a blessing. If only citizens as electorates are well informed and they know what the nation must be for their individual hopes and aspirations to be fulfilled, then we can look forward to the future with confidence.

     

    Happy New Year!

  • 2018’s mix of anguish and joy

    The year of our Lord, two thousand and eighteen, is bidding us a farewell, having stopped by for three hundred and sixty-five days with a mix of fury and blessings. Like many of her chronological predecessors, 2018 means different things to different peoples, nations, and cultures. To many, it has been a year of blessings. To others, she has been a calamitous guest who they won’t miss.

    The last sentence however raises an important question regarding our relationship to time and seasons: who is the host and who is the guest? Do we host time or does time host us? What does it matter?

    Our use of language in relation to the matter is interestingly vague. We say time does not wait for anybody. We also say time goes and we pursue it. These give the impression of time as an itinerant who pops in and out of our sight. The thought has a calming effect. If one season is terrible in her visit, we can hope for the next to be friendly.

    But let’s entertain another thought. What if we are the itinerants whose movements and activities impact the times and seasons? In turn, time affects us by giving back to us that which we throw at it. This is consistent with geographical knowledge according to which the earth rotates on its axis on 24-hour cycle and revolves around the sun on a 365-day cycle. From which it follows that our world creates the seasons. What we do on each of the 24-hour rotational cycles, and 365- day revolution cycles, is implicated in what we experience as seasonal changes and climatic events.

    Therefore, we must move away from the fetishization of time and seasons. For we are creative agents in charge of what they turn out to be. 2018 is not some monstrous alien invading our space. We were responsible for its birth.

    Furthermore, the reality of the events that traumatize us in the course of a year is mitigated by the reality of bounteous blessings that we receive. Sometimes individuals, families, and nations experience this mix in the course of one year. At other times, there is more of one than the other for individuals and families.  Whatever our situation, however, we must always be reminded of the timeless truth of the songwriter’s creative genius in a moment of anguish: Count your blessings; name them one by one; you will be surprised what the Lord has done.

    The world experienced a mix of anguish and joy in the passing year. There were natural disasters, including the recent tsunami in Indonesia which killed more than 900, the California wild fires which leveled a whole town, and hurricanes Michael and Florence which ravaged towns and counties in the United States.

    There were human-made tragedies that call to question our basic humanity, including the brutal killing of Saudi Journalist Jamal Kashoggi inside a Saudi embassy in Turkey by Saudi agents. Yemen continues to experience humanitarian crisis as a result of a civil war in which Saudi Arabia is also a big player.

    There are also a few positive developments around the world this year. On our continent, Eritrea and Ethiopia finally signed a peace deal after 18 years since the end of the war between the two neighbors.

    Relevant to the subject of time, researchers have reportedly discovered an antioxidant that could reduce blood vessel aging by up to 20 years, potentially increasing human life span. Still on time, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos reportedly invested $42 million in a clock to be placed in a hollowed-out mountain in West Texas. It is expected to keep the time for 10,000 years. Don’t ask if that amount could have been spent more productively for ending poverty and starvation around the world. He is probably doing something about that as well.

    In our corner of the world, can we point to more joy than misery this year? We crossed over to 2018 heaving a sigh of relief concerning the Boko Haram affliction. They were being vanquished by our gallant soldiers. Suddenly a reversal of fortunes in the war against terror occurred.

    In February, the terrorists invaded Dapchi, kidnapped boarding school girls and took them to their hideout. Weeks later, they were released but one had died, and they refused to release Leah Sharibu who had reportedly refused to convert to Islam. Leah’s ordeal has continued since. In a society where life means nothing special, and human feeling is a rare commodity, what is happening to the young girl is better imagined than experienced.

    As if we haven’t had enough trauma with the Boko Haram criminals, the Middle Belt erupted with callous beheading of human beings even as security agents felt helpless. Gun-toting herdsmen reportedly invaded villages along their herding routes and killed at will. Thankfully, it appears that sanity has prevailed, and quietude has returned after months of senseless horror. The South experienced mindless kidnapping of innocent victims, extortion being the sole purpose.

    Focusing on these clearly indefensible acts of brigandage, we are used to asking the question: what happens to our values? But we should ask this question in relation not just to violent acts of terrorists and kidnappers, but also with regards to pen-robbers and selfish leaders who fleece the nation.

    Thankfully, our nation continues to relish democracy as norm of government, and despite the efforts of a few, religious harmony prevails.

    Politically motivated tragedies are senseless and preventable. That they occur incessantly is a terrible blemish on our sense of decency. But there are sad occurrences that have no political motivation except indirectly. Such are cases of unexpected death of good people. This year saw a disproportionate number of such incidents, and it hurts.

    Professor Akinwumi Ishola, (aka Honest Man), left an indelible footprint on the sand of time, intellectually, culturally, and socially. A talented artist, he enriched our cultural repertoire with his immense influence. We miss him already. Shortly after Ishola’s passing, one of his chief mourners, Alhaji Gboyega Arulogun (aka Before Before) also joined the ancestors. A good-natured man, ever ready to lend a hand of help, Alhaji Arulogun lives on in our memory.

    Dr. Fredrick Fasheun, founder of Odua People’s Congress lived a life of struggle for the cultural democracy that we desperately need in this country. He was brutalized by the military and civil leaders. In all, Fasheun was unrelenting. He left behind a legacy of tenacity of purpose and an organization that is still to be reckoned with.

    Alhaja Amina Abiodun, Iyalode Ibadan, had an inner beauty that was at par with her external beauty. A genuine human being with selfless love for everyone that crossed her path, she was a mother with the proverbial milk of mercy. I am confident she is already resting in peace.

    The tribe of Nigerian philosophers lost two of its shining stars. Professor Moses Akin Makinde was a philosopher of many parts. After studying Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science with the best minds in Canada and the United Kingdom, he invested his fierce intellect in the development of African philosophy. We miss him.

    Professor Sophie Oluwole is the latest of our new ancestors, having just succumbed to the cold hands of death a week ago. A philosopher of African cultural tradition, Oluwole opened a treasure trove of ideas for many lifetimes of philosophizing on and about Africa. She lives on.

    The Yoruba believe that when death that takes away an age-mate, it is a warning to survivors. My good friend, Sope Moyosade, recently succumbed to a long illness. So did Peju Adeyemo, wife of my best friend, Bayo Adeyemo. Knowing them both for so long, I am short of words. I bid them farewell.

    In February 2018, I survived a car crash. In April and May, my wife and I welcomed two new grandsons.  In September and October, I had two Emergency Room treatments. This month, I had two eye surgeries. Truly, then, for the world, our nation, and for me, 2018 has been a mix of trauma and blessings. We bid her farewell and welcome 2019 full of hope and enthusiasm.

     

     

     

     

     

  • The self-regarding political ingenuity of NEF

    Give it to them, of all the ethnic nationalities in the country, the North is the most politically sophisticated.  And of all ethnic nationality organisations, the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) is the most politically sagacious.”

    “Wow? Opalaba! That is a mouthful! On what side of your aging body did you wake up this early morning?” I asked my friend.

    “On the thinking side, my friend. I have long thought about the players on our national political field. If you have been as keen an observer as I have been, you will agree with my conclusion. You simply must give it to the North. They are unbeatable in this game, and we all have to learn a lesson or two from them.”

    “I am all ears, my friend. I am not too old to learn.”

    “Excellent, you are changing. And that is a good thing.

    “Remember that Sunday School favorite of elders focused on turning us into industrious men and women: “Go to the ants, thou sluggard. Learn its way and be wise.”  Turn that around and you have the most important lesson for your folks: “Go to the North, thou politically naive. Learn their way and be wise.”

    “Ok, my friend. Enough of this preamble. I just told you I am ready to learn. So, what is it about the North that you just discovered at 73?

    “Well, I did not just discover this. And I can go as far back as you want for hard evidence. Of course, NEF is a relatively recent entity. But its members have been in the loop forever, and their old wine just gets better with age.

    “Think way before flag independence. Recall the hard ball played by the Northern delegation to the constitutional conferences. While securing independence from Britain was considered the most nationalistic agenda for Southern nationalists; for the North, being in a state of readiness vis-a-vis indigenous human resources was a priority. That human resources were plentiful nationwide for work anywhere in the country was not a solution for them. They forced the delay of independence on this account.

    “Who can blame them for that position?”

    “I am not blaming. I am only giving you a hard evidence of Northern political sophistication. While you all think national in a heterogenous country with multiple nationalities with no abiding commonality save the artificiality of geography, the North thinks North. Remember “One North, One destiny”?

    “The late Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, was the master strategist of the North.

    “How do you know that?”

    “In an insightful interview during the June 12 crisis, the late elder statesman and leader, Alhaji Maitama Sule, revealed that the Sardauna ensured that many Northern youths were enrolled in military service. As we now know, it was a visionary move that guaranteed that the North controlled not only the armed forces but also the national politics for 24 out of the 28 years of military rule. If that was not political genius, I don’t know what it is. The generals are still around and making waves in national politics.

    “It was during that period of military rule that the federal structure of the country was changed to a unitary one. Ironically, as you know, it was a Southern general that introduced the unitary command system of the military with a view to decreeing uniformity over the entire country. And it was partly responsible for the Northern revolt which toppled Ironsi. It turned out that the unitary system was embraced by the Gowon regime and subsequent military regimes. The North fully embraced it, especially with the prospect that national oil revenue could also be used by non-oil producing states.

    “Abiola was denied the presidency. While that could be attributed to military power grab, there is no denying the fact that many Northern elites raised no finger. It backfired spectacularly, and the North calculated that it had to yield the presidency to the South. But the Northern genius didn’t take a back seat. Between Olu Falae, the candidate of Afenifere, and Obasanjo, it was clear to the Northern elite who their friend was.

    “With Obasanjo in power, the agitation for restructuring since the mid-eighties fell on deaf ears. Political survival forced Jonathan to touch it half-heartedly. Have you wondered why APC, which controls the three arms of government and had restructuring on its agenda, could not pass a devolution bill? A breakdown of the votes for and against is a good place for an answer.

    “But the most glaring demonstration of political sagacity this season is the recent declaration by NEF that it has decided not to support the reelection of President Buhari. The political novice would think that it is because the elites of NEF are against Buhari as a person. I beg to disagree. They are aware of how Buhari has helped the North in the last three plus years.

    “In a recent WhatsApp, evidence-based analysis, posting by Ali Abubakar Sadiq, we have a compelling account of Buhari’s intervention in the economy of the North, from Anchor Borrower program, which disbursed 150 billion Naira to the farmers in the region, to the Mambilla power plant, the Ajaokuta Steel Mill, the Baro port up the Niger, and many road construction projects completed or ongoing in the North. So, it is not Buhari’s alleged neglect of the North that motivates NEF.

    “Sadiq suggests that NEF elites are worried that a second term of Buhari will negatively impact their group interests as opposed to the interest of the masses. That might well be so. But there is something more germane, which bears eloquent testimony to my assessment of the Northern political genius.

    “Buhari is fighting for a second term of four years. He has done well for the North in his first term. But Atiku, a fellow Northern Fulani is fighting for a first term. If Atiku is supported and he wins, there is a good potential for him to serve not one but two terms of eight years. Who does not understand mathematics? Ango Abdullahi is a retired professor and a former Vice Chancellor. Eight is better than four. Therefore, only a novice will support a candidate who has at most four years left when they could have an eight-year stint at the helm of affairs.

    “My good friend, I respect your logic, but I am not impressed by your conclusion. Candidate Atiku Abubakar has pledged to serve only one term. Your conspiracy theory is a sham. So, what do you have to say to that?” I taunted Opalaba.

    My friend exploded with unprintable words. “You just confirmed my hypothesis that you so-called egg heads from the South are far behind in your understanding of politics. Didn’t Buhari promise one term?” Didn’t Jonathan make the same promise?”

    “I am not aware of those pledges. And I cannot vouch for the veracity of your claim”, I replied.

    That’s alright. But it is true. All I want to tell you is that you cannot rely on such promises.

    “But Atiku has promised to restructure the country, a declaration that has excited the South across its three zones.”

    “There you go again with your pathetic ignorance of the way of politics and its masters. It’s called the art of deception; and blessed be the deceiver who masters the art, for he shall have many credulous followers.  Have you ever considered why Obasanjo would give Atiku a full-throated endorsement if he was certain that Atiku was going to restructure the country? Do you really think that Ango Abdullahi will abandon Buhari for Atiku if he ever believed that Atiku will restructure? In any case, a president cannot single-handedly restructure. He must have not only the National Assembly but also the State Assemblies on board. A presidential candidate always has that reality as his or her fall back excuse.

    “Again, if you want to know, it is the ingenuity of NEF that is in full glare. And for them, I doff my gobi. The rest of us have a long catching up to do in this business of self-regarding political ethos.”

    Thus, saith Opalaba, the folk sage.

     

     

     

     

     

  • The futility of religious politics

    What ails the church and its leaders? Recent rumblings within CAN suggest there is a growing obsession with politics. What might be responsible for this obsession, in stark contrast to and departure from the clear Biblical instruction to stand clear from the world and focus attention on the heavenly home? There are both spiritual and self-serving reasons for Christian leaders’ obsession with politics.

    On the spiritual side, Christians feel a duty to call out ungodly conduct and face the consequence, including persecution. Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles traveled this path and they paid dearly with their lives. It is consistent with the practical example of Christ, who, while insisting that his kingdom was not of this world, never shied away from calling out the Pharisees and Scribes of his time.

    His immediate disciples took to his teaching and took his example to heart. We are their descendants, fellow children of the father, the family of the living God. But we now live in a different time far removed from theirs, and we have adopted a different outlook on the world. We are not content to just let our light shine so bright that unbelievers see us and glorify our father who is in heaven. We go further, persuaded that with our control of the levers of power, we could accomplish more for the mission of Christ. This is the worldly dimension.

    There are Christian political parties across the world from Albania to Uruguay with nothing much in common save the addition of “Christian” to their names. Indeed, many of them have members from other religions as well as members who profess no religion. In an increasingly secular and multi-religion world, it is hardly surprising. If these parties are explicitly based on Christian principles, they can only succeed in homogeneous Christian nations. Otherwise, how can they rally people of other faiths to their ranks?

    In our corner of the world, this focus on the here and now also doubtless dominates the outlook of the Christian fold, especially the leaders and the institutions that they lead. CAN sees itself as the “watch person” of the welfare of the society. Therefore, it insists that the association must be interested in politics. However, CAN falls short of declaring itself a political organization, believing that its duty is only to “pray for the nation”, warn it through its prophetic declarations, “act in face of threat to the Christian Faith”, and encourage Christians seeking political office.

    This is a modest position for a religious organization in a heterogeneous nation. But it apparently does not satisfy a segment of the Christian fold affiliated with CAN. Depending on which story you believe, the National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF) is either an organ of CAN or an independent organisation. Believing that NCEF is one of its organs (which NCEF itself confirmed at a March 2016 press conference in Abuja), and because of an apparently irreconcilable difference, CAN dissolved NCEF a few weeks ago. The latter subsequently declared its dissolution a nullity and from its statement, we have an insight into the cause of the conflict.

    NCEF accused CAN leadership of “frustrating efforts aimed at ensuring the emergence of a Christian President in 2019.” It alleged that CAN deliberately “frustrated the meeting summoned by NCEF to build Christian political consensus”, and “frustrated the efforts of CSMN (Christian Social Movement of Nigeria) to mobilize funding for the purpose of building Christian political structures.”

    It is obvious that NCEF has an ambitious mission “focused on guiding Christians to establish a functional and effective political unity so that Christian votes will no longer be used against Christians.” What is important to the organisation is to present “a righteous” (meaning Christian) president for the country in 2019.

    However, just as the constitution prohibits ethnic parties, it offers no room for religious parties. Therefore, to get a Christian president solely by the efforts of a Christian organization building Christian political structures, the organization must work through political parties that are multi-religious in membership. Not only this, they must refrain from declaring their true intentions for fear of a backlash against their candidates or a stalemate in case a Muslim candidate emerges from the same political party and Muslims choose to line behind him or her.

    The foregoing paragraph expresses a simple logic. In a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, insisting openly on fielding a candidate based on an ethnic or a religious identity is a short step to disaster. Why does NCEF think this is the right approach? There is no short answer to this important question. But for an inkling, we need to understand the organisation’s view of the Nigerian state.

    At a press conference in March 2016, NCEF identified some of its concerns as “the deteriorating state of national security, the free fall state of the economy, the inflammation of religious tension through the misappropriation of state powers, a worrisome foreign policy that is evidently skewed in favor of Islamization, as well as the increasing impunity of Fulani herdsmen.” It observed that “traditional and military leaders from the Muslim North were insidiously working to undermine democracy and promote Sharia” setting up “an invisible government” which operates behind the scene” and “constantly undermines liberal democracy while promoting Sharia.”

    In a paper presented by NCEF at a conference in Washington DC, in June 2017, the organization reiterated its belief that there is a “conflict of ideology between democracy and Islamism” and more provocatively, the organisation argued that “once a Nigerian becomes a Muslim, he becomes Fulani/Hausa ideologically.”

    After an Abuja meeting on August 28, 2018, the Christian Social Movement of Nigeria (CSMN), in collaboration with NCEF and other Christian organisations, issued a communique which encouraged Christians to “get actively involved in politics to provide the necessary balance (and) contest for political offices, especially the Presidency.” However, that meeting also “advocated for the creation of a common forum for Christian and Muslim leaders to meet and work at providing quality political leadership for the country.” It also insisted on the “restructuring of the country.”

    In short, NCEF is aggressively packaging a political Christianity as a counter to what it considers political Islam. NCEF and CSMN, the frontline organizations in this effort, are convinced of the rightness of their cause.

    Nigeria doubtlessly has a structural challenge right from inception and military incursion into politics has just aggravated the situation with a unitary structure. What is debatable, however, is that the needed solution is a further polarization of our politics into religious camps. It will not work for two reasons.

    First, assume that the core North is homogeneously Islamic, and the Southeast and South-south are close to being homogeneously Christian. The Southwest is uniquely and proudly diverse religiously, and it insults the Yoruba personality to infer that once a Yoruba becomes a Muslim, he or she has taken on a Fulani identity. For the North Central, I think it is also safe to declare a diversity of religiosity. With such diversity, a Southwest Christian candidate who is sponsored by and depends only on Christians or Christian organizations is not likely to prevail. Ditto for a Muslim candidate who also depends solely on Muslim support.

    Second, we do not have religiously homogeneous political parties. Therefore, candidates with religious identity as their brand cannot possibly fit into a political party with a secular ideology.

    Now, NCEF has identified as the core problem in Nigeria the alleged conflict between democracy and Islamism. But it also differentiates Islam from Islamism, which it defines as political Islam or the application of Islamist ideology to governance. If this is the case, there can be a struggle against Islamism with no fallout against Islam.

    From the foregoing, Muslims, Christians, adherents of traditional religion, agnostics and atheists could collectively mobilize for the deepening of democracy as a secular ideology for all. This is a far better approach than competition among religious bigots for dominance. In a heterogeneous society, religious domination is inherently divisive and counter-productive. The rumbling within CAN on this issue is a clear evidence of the futility of a disastrous descent into religious politics in Nigeria.