The controversy that has trailed the commencement of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States is not altogether unexpected. Opinions are naturally divided over the desirability of the measures announced last Tuesday by President Goodluck Jonathan. Majority, I believe, endorse the proclamation not because it is the best one would wish for, but, because at this juncture, there is hardly any viable alternative. The insecurity and wanton killings in the North since 2011 cannot be divorced from the prevailing political environment.
The North feels aggrieved that it has been outsmarted on the political scene by Jonathan and his kinsmen. The leaders told a bewildered nation after the last general elections that they would make the country ungovernable. That Boko Haram grew confidence thereafter and became more deadly could have been a coincidence, but it is instructive. It is my opinion that the terrorists could not be checked earlier as a result of a combination of the incompetence of those in charge at the centre and the tacit support they got from Northern elders.
Had Jonathan moved fast enough after the election to soother frayed nerves, assured all that he would be working in the overall interest of the Nigerian people and, most importantly, disarmed critics and enemies by governing well, the insurgents could have been isolated and smoked out easily. Rather, he chose to alienate the people of the North East and their leaders. At a meeting with them while on a visit to Maiduguri, he actually had a face-off with the traditional, religious and political elite. The outcome was that the troops found it more difficult to operate and the battle got fiercer at great cost to lives on both sides.
It cannot be argued that the President has acted within his powers. As he pointed out, he is covered by section 305 of the constitution and he has done very well in at least symbolically keeping the democratic institutions in place. It is fraudulent to argue that the section gives power to the President to whimsically declare emergency in the federation or any part thereof and thus proceed to sack democratically elected governments. The governors of Borno and Yobe States were elected by their people in 2011 and the process by which they could cease to hold office are spelt out in sections 180, 188 and 190 of the constitution. Declaration of state of emergency is not one of such conditions. The people took a conscious decision to have All Nigeria Peoples party governors and legislators as against the wish of the Peoples Democratic Party to take over. This fact should not be lost on all in this debate.
The logic is very clear. The relevant section on emergency rule says it could be declared in the entire federation or any part thereof. If state of emergency were to be declared throughout the federation, would the President proceed to step aside, while equally suspending the National Assembly? That would certainly be an absurdity. The supreme law also says the governor of the state could invite the President to impose emergency rule and deploy troops. Is it thus intended that the governor would be inviting the President to sack him?
On previous occasions when emergency rules were imposed on regions and states, the federal authorities had seized power not conferred on them to remove the democratic institutions. This was the case in 1962 when the late Dr. Moses Majekodunmi was posted as administrator to the Western Region, in 2004 when Joshua Dariye was sacked in Plateau State and replaced by General Chris Alli by the government of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and 2006 when the Fayose government, too, was pushed aside and replaced with General Adetunji Olurin as administrator of Ekiti State.
Under the Jonathan administration, there has been a limited application of emergency rule in 15 local government areas of four states of the federation. In that case, since it did not involve state governments and Nigerians had become unfortunately used to illegal rule at the local level, there was little protest.
The question to ask is, on those previous occasions when the centre had acted ultra vires by usurping the power of the electorate, how well were the crises resolved? In the Western Region, autocracy was defeated by the Peoples’ Will. Despite Obasanjo’s crude intervention, the insurgency in Plateau has continued. Till date, the governments are still at sea on how to end the sectarian strife that gave rise to such extreme measures.
At this point, what should engage the minds of the political leadership of the country is how to build consensus post-emergency rule. All political parties, politicians and patriots must be recruited to restore order in all parts of the country. The atmosphere appears better now that those who had given tacit support to Boko Haram at the initial period have seen that we would all be losers at the end should the insurrection be allowed to fester. It is therefore time the federal government, while wielding the stick through emergency rule, dangled carrots, too, to check the menace.
President Jonathan and his advisers should realise that the country is greater than anyone and anyone’s ambition. Besides, whatever any leader cannot achieve in six years, would remain out of range in eight or ten years.
It is time real tacticians were invited to put on their thinking caps in this war against terrorism and incompetence.
