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The founder of the Coalition of Lawyers for Good Governance (CLGG), Mr Joe Nwokedi, has identified religious bigotry and fanaticism as one of the major impediments to peace and stability.
Speaking on the topic: Service as an effective tool for achieving greatness, he said no nation can make progress where its citizens lack patriotism and are unwilling to serve.
According to him, any nation that cannot draw a distinct line between religion and nationhood is bound to fail. “That is the problem we are facing in Nigeria today,” he said.
He said statistics shows that countries faced with challenges of terrorism and similar crises are those which were unable to separate religion from state, adding that such countries allowed religion to take the place of nationhood.
“Religion is an instrument of the state and not the state an instrument of religion. Any society that places religion or love of religious practices above the love of the nation is bound to fail as a nation,” the lawyer said.
In a lecture he delivered at an Award/Investtiture of the fourth President of Rotaract Club of Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos, Nwokedi said ethnicity, tribalism, citizenship problems, corruption and lack of patriotism are other impediments to national growth, unity and service.
He said: “No one, I mean no Nigerian genuinely loves Nigeria. Our alliances go to tribes, ethnic groups, states, local governments and even families but not to Nigeria as a country.
“There is much economic sabotage today because we don’t love Nigeria as a country. How many can do something because they want it to be for the good of Nigeria?
“Look at our democracy and elections. In every election we hold, we deploy soldiers and other armed security personnel. Why? Because there is no love of the country in our hearts. In the United States and even Ghana, do they do that?”
To him, despite the failure of leadership and other challenges, it would take patriotism on the part of citizens to better the country.
“Nigeria is looking for men and women with zeal and passion to serve her dutifully; men and women who will live above corruption, above ethnicity and tribalism.
“It needs men and women who will truthfully say, ‘Nigeria, here I am, send me;’ men and women who can be trusted with power, money, position, authority; men who can dream Nigeria, speak Nigeria, talk Nigeria, sleep Nigeria and wake up Nigeria.
“The country needs men and women who will be fully and truthfully occupied with how to regain our lost glory, explore and maximise our potentials and make Nigeria great again,” he said.
According to Nwokedi, impediments to service include greed, lack of focus, negativity, pride, partiality, money-first syndrome, materialism, impatience, lack of sacrificial attitude, fear and poor personal evaluation.
On the contrary, a life of service, he said, results in empowerment, immortalisation, dominion, access to the top, speedy uplift, standing out from the crowd, acquisition of power and authority, wealth, fulfilment, and happiness.
“Don’t wait any longer. Discover a place now and start rendering service there. It could be in your street, hometown, state, school, mosque or office. Don’t consider any service too small.
“Don’t consider your service too insignificant. Make use of what you have. Humble yourself. Humility is one of the most basic tools of service. You can’t be arrogant and be a servant.”
Nwokedi was presented with two awards at the event – one in appreciation of the lecture, and the other in recognition of his service to the society and support for democracy.

We set out on a road with no clear maps, with a controversial Constitution

given to a motley crowd of greedy businessmen and political contractors and a coterie of individuals who had honed their skills in manipulating the levers of power and could survive either under the military or civilian administration.

To this extent, what we had was a transition from the military but not necessarily a transition to democracy.

The military left behind a country severely fractured by a bitterness engendered by coups, a rash of human rights violations, a wounded, compromised and weakened Judiciary, and a prostrate intellectual and academic community.

Significant portions of the Constitution were suspended. Tribunals and Decrees replaced the rule of law.

Other security agencies were subordinated to military culture with the Police force losing most of its respect.

Some of the consequences of military rule and its impact have been discussed in my new book, Witness to Justice.

Without a constitution, the threads of nationhood, the institutional mechanisms of restraint begin to give way to individual caprice as rule of man replaces rule of law.

Today, post military Nigeria is paying a high price for overcentralisation of the threads of power in the hands of the military dictator.

Today, most of the frustration of the political class with this baggage finds expression in the debate about various shades of federalism.

Corruption was rife not because the military was made up of a band of thieves.

No, there were quite a lot of good men and women in the services and there are still many.

The growth of corruption under the military was the direct result of the destruction of such institutions of restraint as the national assembly, the muzzling of civil society and the media among others.

The Sovereign governed with abandon and was accountable only to a tiny circle of like minded cohorts.

For Nigeria to turn the corner, win public trust and consolidate its gains in our fledging or emerging democracy, there is need to unbundle not only power supply but take the hands of too many bandits who have held the economy captive, those who are growing while the country is diminishing.

Strict laws relating to the attainment of a people oriented budgetary system, removal of the veil of secrecy on such areas as public procurement, contract awards and so on will help us deal with corruption and open us up for international business and investment, a key guarantee for growth.

We should work hard to open up the political space and free our political processes from the throttle of carpetbaggers who continue to compromise the system by using slush funds to dilute the political process.

3: Institutionalising a Democratic Culture:
We need to appreciate the fact that Nigeria did not have a transition to democracy. Our transition route was simply connected by nocturnal trips between the Villa, Yola prisons and Ota farm.

When the deal was struck, General Obasanjo was released from prison with the sole purpose of being the President of Nigeria. Everything else that was done in the name of a transition, from forming political parties, funding the elections and so on was all

tailored to fit that outcome. Even the birth of the largest political party in Africa was choreographed to meet this end. The result is that today, even the PDP knows that it is a unity of takers but not a party founded on any conceivable or perceived ideological commitment.

At the best of times, transitions are always a contested concept.

From Afghanistan to Exodus, the possibility of backsliding is the greatest threat to democracy. It is clear from what I have stated that Nigeria was not really ready for a transition.

Thus, our inability to create the necessary environment for the emergence of a democratic ethos accounts for why we are still unable to emerge from dictatorship to democracy.

Many of us will recall the tragic situation between 1999 to 2003 when right across the entire country, we witnessed so much convulsions which climaxed with series of impeachments.

The President was threatened with impeachment, the National Assembly leadership suffered severe leadership hemorrhage.

The result is that rather than growing, our democracy was sliding into a glorified dictatorship.

Things have piped down now but not because the politicians have imbibed the principle of democracy.

Rather, we are enjoying some respite now because the politicians have gradually learnt the philosophy that in Abuja; You do not talk when you are eating and secondly, that there is an agreement that it is our turn to chop and if you are patient, your turn will also come.

Finally, a measure of the fact that the military did not surrender is to be seen in the fact that up till date, the military is still contesting every available political space in the land.

Our Senate President is a retired General, the National Secretary of the Party is a retired military officer, and, a general is still contesting the office of President. On paper, I have nothing against any of these persons and indeed, at the level of the Senate for example, Senator David Mark has been doing a great job of holding that house together and he has also conferred some measure of discipline.

But I am making the point to illustrate the fact that the levers of power and democracy are still in military hands, evidence of the fact that we are indeed still in an emerging democracy!
Political Parties are the foundation pillars on which the architecture of democracy is built. However, the story of political parties in Nigeria is a manifestation of the corruption in our system.

Political parties are run by and funded as private fiefdoms.

In the course of our work with the Electoral Reform Committee, we discovered that most of the 60 political Parties which had been registered ahead of the 2007 elections literally vanished after the elections. Individuals and groups had registered these parties simply to gain access to state resources.

Those parties in power are also largely funded by state funds. A leaked letter from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, some two or so years ago, instructed all Ministers to make payments into the coffers of the party! Is there any wonder that elections still generate so much anxiety in Nigeria?

4: The Kalashnikov vs. the Ballot Box:
How did it happen that the return of democracy in Nigeria has been marked with so much violence? There are many reasons but I imagine that they must be connected to the legacy of our past.

In Nigeria, military rule glorified violence and lawlessness.

The philosophy behind a coup is not different from armed robbery.

For, by the power of a gun, a man has the ability to make what is yours his without negotiation.

Gradually, the military therefore sanctified violence and since they did not do much to deliver on goods and services, ordinary citizens were compelled to take to the gun either to defend themselves or to enforce their will.

In Cyprian Ekwensi’s novella, Survive the Peace, he tells the story of the dramatic exchange of roles between the Biafran soldiers at the end of the war.

As they threw away their guns and struggled into their civilian clothing’s, the youth in the village appeared, took the guns and took to the streets.

Thus armed, they took to the streets and recycled as armed robbers!
Vigilante groups emerged with sophistication to settle community squabbles and gradually, these same young men and women realised what they could do with a loaded gun.

From the Abacha years, small arms became a big business in Nigeria. Sadly, the government did not do much to set up a programme for the retrieval of these small arms. Local blacksmiths began to enjoy massive patronage and with time, every community began to raise its army to defend itself and its territory from foreign incursions.

These vigilante youths would later become the enforcers for the political class, recycling as thugs and ballot box snatchers.

Thus armed, when news of the return to power began to filter in, the South West responded by calling for Power shift. The prospects of the return to civilian rule was greeted with an upsurge of militant groups who, armed with small weapons embarked on a reign of terror.

The Odua Peoples’ Congress, OPC, emerged in Lagos. On the South eastern and South South flank were the Bakassi Boys, the Egbesu Boys and The Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB completed the pack. Years of military violence on the polity were now bearing fruit. Would we have democracy through the ballot box of the Kalashnikov, this was the question.

After almost ten years of intermittent violence, the Niger Delta would later boil over. The rest is history, but there is now the temptation, can the Kalashnikov or the ballot box fast track access to power?
Now, with Boko Haram on our doorsteps, we have now come full circle. Sadly, although they are also a reaction to the inefficiency and violence of the Nigerian state,more than any other situation, this group has posed the worst threat to national unity. This is not the place to take on the issues of Boko Haram, but in whatever way and manner we see the case, what we have on our doorsteps are the fruits of years and years of degradation by the Nigerian state, years and years of unconscious sanctification of the gun.

From the point of view of the theme of this Conference and it objectives, Boko Haram poses the worst threat to everything we stand for as a country and as a people. The challenge could not have come at a worse time. However, the rather sad thing has been the seeming lack of clarity as regards roles. There has been a lot of buck passing by the political class and security agencies. What was clearly a political problem and evidence of the failure to build consensus has come back to haunt us. When scholars raised this dark specter even before the elections, they were accused of being enemies of Nigeria.
Clearly, Boko Haram is the failure of governance and it s a symptom of what happens when the architecture of state are weighed down and destroyed by corruption and inefficiency. A weak state leaves itself open to these dangers. The essence of politics is the building of elite consensus which provides the framework for peace and stability.

The political class believed that Boko Haram was a religious problem and when the violence broke out, the federal government resorted to a military solution. For a country coming out of a legacy of military rule and violence, this was not the right option. Gradually, the military has dug its heel in and there is now little room for political negotiation and maneuver. Whatever happens, the problems will only be resolved by political trade offs.

Perhaps we can make a proposition. Now that the big three, the Igbos, Yorubas and Hausa-Fulani have all contributed to our pool of blood and violence, and no one can claim any level of innocence, can we now settle down to discuss the prospect of a non violent future for Nigeria? This is a great possibility because, first, the minorities of the South-South have been adequately compensated especially as we daily hear stories of erstwhile militants turning into billionaires now.

The Lagos State Government has established a Citizen Mediation Centre in Badagry to ensure prompt resolution of disputes in the area.
The Director, Citizens’ Mediation Centre, Mrs. Sedoten Ogunsanya, while inaugurating the new facility, described the development as a beacon of hope and respite for the less-privileged, adding that it will also make justice accessible at every level of governance.
She said the mediation centre would reduce to the barest minimum, the number of cases in courts thereby reducing the pressure and cost of litigation on the citizenry.
Mrs Ogunsanya said the services of the centre would be free, stressing that it has to be adopted in other areas where the centre is to provide amicable dispute resolution.
She noted that the atmosphere for settling disputes is friendly, conducive with well-trained professionals, enjoining residents to make adequate use of the opportunity provided.
She expressed gratitude to the Chairman of Badagry Local Government, Hon. Husitode Moses Dosu, for supporting the centre through the provision of a conducive office accommodation in the heart of the ancient city. Mrs Ogunsanya assured that the newly- inaugurated office will achieve more success and impact positively on the lives of people in Badagry.
During a courtesy visit to the Akran of Badagry Kingdom, His Royal Highness, De WhenuAholu Menu Toyi I, the Akran praised the Lagos State Government for the laudable effort in fostering peace among its citizenry.
He described the development as the first of its kind in Nigeria as it is transparent and devoid of nepotism or favoritism.
The Oba  likened the services of the centre to the traditional method of resolving issues between persons involved in communal clashes, land matters, marital misunderstanding and others which cases are brought to the palace for settlement.
He stressed that peace in a the home front is instrumental to engendering brotherliness and mutual co-operation which will bring about rapid socio-economic development in any society.
The Akran pledged support to the centre with a promise to transfer some cases from to the centre.