The Nation Newspaper

Tag: democracy

  • Nigeria’s democracy and its future

    SIR: Nigeria is the largest democratic nation in the Africa. Democracy has been regarded as an ideal form of government in which people are governed by their own elected representatives. It is a government of the people, for the people and by the people. It is a people’s government in which the voice of the people is supreme and where the laws are fashioned according to their wishes. The question whether democracy has a future in Nigeria has aroused grave concern among our educated ones. Even the most pious optimist believes that our democracy has a bleak future. It can have a future only when our politicians cease to be power mongers.

    With every sector crumbling, one wonders what the future really holds for our dear motherland. Tolerance is the essence of democracy. Judiciary is its backbone. One after the other, leaders of today have been showing their firm faith in the unity of the Nation. But the common man finds these very leaders, with knives of different size and shape putting deep scars on the face of the motherland.

    There is a gap between promise and performance. We enjoy every right in theory, but not in practice. Real democracy will come into being only when the masses are awakened and take part in the economic and political life of the country. Nigeria today is a rich man’s democracy. Our democracy is a democracy of the rich, for the rich and by the rich. The implementation of laws is almost nil in most of the parts of the country. If they are honestly implemented Nigeria will have been a dreamland for other nations, but the reverse is the case in our society. The National Assembly and state assemblies enact laws and pass them on to the administration not for their execution but for their non-execution.

    Our national leaders introduced adult franchise with one stroke of pen when 85% of our people were illiterate. It was a foolproof experiment to start with. Universal basic education should precede adult franchise. Election is always a costly affair and the lure of money works wonders especially among illiterate ones. The absence of an organized opposition the party in power resorts to dishonest means. No single party in Nigeria can claim to be really democratic.

    Violence has taken a serious turn in our country. Misuse of legislative privileges does not augur well for democracy. Defection from one party to the other on selfish and flimsy grounds has added to the instability of the government in our country. It is bad on both moral and political ground. There is no sphere of national life which can be described to be free from corruption. At the political level everyone – ministers, legislators, and party officials suffer from it. Our democracy has miserably failed on different front, agriculture, home, foreign etc.

    The masses are illiterate. They abuse their votes. They are easily bought. No democracy can succeed until there is widespread education and enlightenment among the people. Here the rich exploit the poor who have no voice or share in the democratic structure. Democracy is on its trial now. Democracy has not failed. It is we who have failed. If we develop democratic spirit, temper, and character and become Nigerians in true sense, it can certainly become a success. The future of democracy will be bright only when our people possess national character, consciousness and responsibility. Intellectuals should come forward and create better society with a true democratic spirit prepared to march further in a democratic way. It is still in the childhood, yet the hope for the future is bright.

     

    • Comrade Ahmed Omeiza Lukman,

    Kieve, Ukraine.

  • Mubi tragedy and PDP Abuja’s mockery of democracy

    President Jonathan, unlike PDP hawks and ethnic irredentists that have captured him is on the surface a complete gentleman whose words will be his honour. And unlike a politician, a man of many words to whom the end justifies the means, he cuts the picture of a pastor. He is patient, a rub-off virtue from his virtuous wife, Dame Patience Jonathan. He seduces everyone with the coy smiles of an innocent shoeless school boy. It is precisely for these reasons PDP needs him more than he needs PDP. And it is for this reason most people think he is unlikely to survive the wiles of PDP, the nemesis of his better gifted godfather, ex-President Obasanjo who realised too late after his third term fiasco the evil influence of sycophants and appropriately admonished his godson to stay clear of them. But tragically for the nation, President Jonathan has been captured by the same forces that destroyed his predecessors who were first persuaded to believe that without them, there would be no Nigeria. He now truly believes he is the best that has ever happened to Nigeria, ‘the embodiment of the combined virtues of our founding fathers’, as Ebenezer Babatope recently claimed. Like Babangida, Abacha and Obasanjo, he now believes Nigeria will disintegrate without him. He has been conditioned by PDP to see anyone that tries to wake him up from this illusion as enemy envious of his achievements and set to derail his 2015 ambition. Elevated to a status of an oligarch, he like all oligarchs even in democracy now believes he is wiser than any other person in the nation. Worse still, even as the insurgents are perfecting strategies to dismember Nigeria, he believes he has fought it into a standstill and that grateful Nigerians are begging him to continue with the good work…He now sees what he wants to see-his own invincibility

    This much is what one can draw from the mockery of democracy which best described the president’s act of picking up of PDP’s only available nomination form in Abuja last week. After picking up the only available application form, the president thanked Nigerians and PDP for the confidence reposed in him by giving him the right of first refusal. He promised to achieve greater things for the country. He went on to ‘thank PDP Governors Forum for providing the N2 million for the procurement of the expression of interest form and the N20 million for the procurement of the nomination form. He was silent on the fact that the generous PDP governors also secured the right of first refusal. He concluded by thanking ‘TAN for providing N22 million for the nomination form, as well as  youths groups, women groups and students for their contribution for the procurement of the form’

    The farce was captured by The Guardian on page three of its October 31, edition by a resourceful production editor who juxtaposed the celebration of the president victory with the gory story of anguish, of sorrow and of pain; of destruction of homes, of families who cannot find their loved ones, of bodies strewn around the streets ,of helpless men and children lying helpless without help in the bush; of soldiers allegedly escaping to Cameroon leaving the residents of the city to face the wrath of Boko Haram brutes.(Cameroon has already admitted having in their protective custody about 300 soldiers).

    But first, the president’s victory.  The path to his victory like that of Boko Haram in Mubi last week was strewn with carcasses of vanquished political enemies. Prominent among them is Obasanjo, his estranged godfather. His hollow cry that it was the turn of the north to produce the president going by PDP constitution to which both he and Jonathan were beneficiaries, was ignored. The price for telling Nigerians his own side of the story was his substitution as South-west PDP rallying point with the president’s trusted friends- Buruji Kashamu, Segun Mimiko and Gbenga Daniel who recently crawled back to PDP from Labour Party after four years of EFCC harassment and of course Ayo Fayose who has threatened to expel Obasanjo from PDP if he fails to desist from his criticism of the party.

    Also listed among his vanquished political enemies was the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), whose leadership had in July issued October deadline to Jonathan to bring back the abducted Chibok girls and put a stop to Boko Haram and other violent killings or forget about 2015. Jonathan had dismissed the threat insisting ‘he needed no ultimatum from anybody to live up to his responsibilities to the Nigerian people.’  Similarly ignored is the body’s insistence that “it is the turn of the north to produce the president.

    Another loser is the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). The body’s allegation  that “most of the crisis plaguing the North is a deliberate ploy to weaken the region economically and politically’  has  been controverted by another body from the north- The Transformation Agenda Solidarity Forum, (TASOF) led by a former chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Alhaji Muhhamadu Gwaska. According to him, “TSAOF has noted with revulsion the unguarded utterances of some mischief makers who masquerade as northern elders and pretend to speak for the entire North regarding the political future of this country.”

    But then a critical look at the crusaders behind the president’s victory. Leading the crusade is Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) which claims its objective is ‘to celebrate Jonathan’s sterling human qualities, democratic credentials and landmark accomplishments that are currently under marketed and under advertised’.  It defines itself as a non-governmental organization made up of “individuals of impeccable character”. A leading member of the amorphous group as speculated by the media is Patrick Ifeanyi Uba whose Capital Oil and Gas firm was recently taken over by AMCON following a debt of about N65billion. That was after his running battle with EFCC and Cosmas Maduka’s Choscharis over business deals that went sour.

    Others known members include billionaire oil magnate and PDP chieftain, Arthur Eze, who declared during a meeting of the Elders’ Advisory Council of Goodluck Support Group in Abuja last week that ‘President Jonathan reelection is not negotiable’. On the list also is Innocent Chukwuma, a businessman and owner of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company Limited, who donated 24 vehicles to Goodluck Support Group during the same ceremony.

    Now let us return to The Guardian’s record of events for history. According to the paper, as at 2pm Thursday October 30, when, the president and PDP were celebrating the farce in Abuja, Mubi had been under Boko Haram siege for two days. The paper reported over 200 killed, the torching of Mubi central market, 19 police stations, banks and the Mubi central prison where over 400 prisoners were liberated. It reported that the bridge linking the emir’s palace with Cameroon was blown off.

    In a globalised world where millions saw the video recording of how Obama and his cabinet members monitored from the White House the killing of Osama Bin Laden in his hideout in Afghanistan,  the only plausible explanation for the October 30 mockery of democracy could only be that the president was shielded by PDP from October 29-30  Mubi tragedy.  Even if the president does not know what is in his own interest, how about those paid by the taxpayers to shield him by protecting him from himself?

    We can recall it is the same PDP enemies of our country and enemy of the president who once goaded him on to commandeer three aircrafts bought and fuelled by the nation’s taxpayers to ferry PDP members to Ilorin, Sokoto and Kano to welcome defecting politicians shortly after Abuja Inyanya  bus terminus bombing that killed scores of Nigerians. It is the same self-serving PDP men who appeared on television blaming everyone else except government for the abduction of 300 girls from their dormitory and driven over a distance of 200 kilometres within a state under emergency laws. These are the men who persuaded the president to deploy 12,000 security personnel to intimidate and brutalise the opponent of the PDP candidate during the recent Osun governorship election. These men serve neither Jonathan nor Nigeria.

    I don’t think it is too late for men of good will to save our nation from the impending doom. Credible members of the Council of State like Gowon can for a moment take a break from endless prayers bearing in mind God’s admonition that we will all reap what we sow. He can mobilize other credible leaders like Emeka Anyaoku, Theophilus Danjuma,  Maitama Sule, Shettima Ali Mongono and  Ayo Adebanjo, to talk truth to power and see how we can reclaim our nation back from those who have no state in Nigeria. And time is running out. With Boko Haram controlling nine local councils area in Borno State, we should not wait until the fall of Maiduguri from where Boko Haram can launch aerial attack on any part of the country.

  • Oyeleye Oyediran and the struggle for democracy and good governance

    Although it had been published as far back as 2004 by Ibadan University Press, it was only recently that I came across the seminal collection of essays on diverse aspects of Nigeria’s politics, society and economy titled ‘Nigeria’s Struggle For Democracy and Good Governance’, edited by Professors Adigun Agbaje, Larry Diamond and Ebere Onwudiwe’. This 470 page festschrift in honour of the eminent Nigerian political scientist, Professor Oyeleye Oyediran, is a testament to the high esteem in which he is held by his intellectual colleagues both for his immense contributions to scholarship as well as the political development of the country at the practical level through his participation at different times of Nigeria’s constitutional and institutional re-engineering processes.

    Among the eminent scholars whose contributions constitute the 26 chapters of this book include Richard Sklar, Peter Ekeh, Ritimi Suberu, Julius Ihonvbere, Darren Kew, Ebenezer Obadare, Adewale Adebanwi, Adele Jinadu, Kayode Soremekun, Adebayo Williams, Cyril Obi, SojiAkinrinmade and Aderemi Ajibewa. Bringing to bear their deep learning and unique insights in their various spheres of specialization, these scholars ruminate in the various chapters on such issues as the foundations of federal government in Nigeria, minorities and the evolution of federalism, the politics of revenue allocation, civil society and democracy, the military and democratisation, political parties and elections, democracy and violence, governance and the development crisis, gender politics and international dimensions of politics and governance in Nigeria. In his examination of the role of ethnic minorities and the evolution of federalism in Nigeria, Professor Peter Ekeh, deplore the perpetuation of a multiplicity of 36 tiny and ineffectual states as an enduring legacy of military rule that continues to haunt the country. According to him, “This design of Nigerian governments appeared deliberately orchestrated by Nigeria’s military rulers to ensure the supremacy of Nigeria’s central government”. The discontent arising from the perceived deficiencies and injustices of this structure, he says, fuelled a resurgence of ethno-regionalism and agitations for the resuscitation of a six-regional federal structure patterned substantially after the first republic. Professor Ekeh rightly notes that the separatist sentiment has been most vehement in the Niger Delta, has felt the most alienated of the ethnic minorities because of the mindless exploitation of its oil and the extensive destruction of its environment.

    It is, however, ironical that the ascendancy to the country’s apex of political power by a Niger Delta Ijaw indigene, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, no concrete step has been taken under his leadership to either restructure the country in favour of the ethnic minorities or indeed meaningfully address the problem of the socio-economic exploitation and marginalisation of the region.  Afer an exhaustive examination of the trajectory and travails of federalism in Nigeria, Nuhu U. Yaqub in chapter four advocates the restructuring of the 36 state structure into a six state or regional structure based on the existing zones. In his words “Agreed that certain vested interests are going to be hurt by the proposed arrangement but we may be having a much more viable and a highly ideal federal structure, which, if existed in the First Republic, would have hardly warranted the creation of the current parodies called states”.

    But is a return to a regional governance structure in the image of the First Republic a realistic response to the perceived structural deformities of the Nigerian federation? Professor Richard Sklar in the very first chapter of the book does not think so. He reviews the various attempts in the practice of federalism in Nigeria “to reconcile the claim of each nationality to its place in the constitutional sun with the practical necessity of having a reasonable number of viable states as constituent units of the federation”. In his view, “The lessons of Nigerian political history teach that political regionalism is not compatible with the empowerment of a multiplicity of politicized ethnic groups. Once regions are established and endowed with political power, ethnic interests are articulated by the leaders of large ethnic groups. Smaller ethnic groups then look to the centre for protection against their overbearing neighbours within the region”. In the final analysis, therefore, the constitutional formalisation of regional governance may only end up strengthening the pull of centralisation.

    In chapter three, Professor Rotimi Suberu exhaustively examines the various stresses and challenges of revenue allocation in Nigeria particularly in this fourth republic and proposes strategies to address identified problems. Two of his innovative suggestions to strengthen Nigeria’s fiscal federalism are to enhance the prominence of Internally Generated Revenue as a criterion for revenue allocation as a way of encouraging component states to tap and develop local revenue sources as well to limit the salaries and emoluments of politicians and civil servants with the exception of teachers to the Internally Generated Revenue of the various states. Suberu also advocates making the submission of audited financial accounts of all levels of government a precondition for the release of fresh funds to them. This latter suggestion may, however, unwittingly strengthen the federal government to the detriment of the other levels of government unless Suberu’s other recommendations to enhance the autonomy of the Federation Account are implemented.

    Professor Larry Diamond in another key chapter of the book dilates on how to build a system of comprehensive accountability – horizontal, vertical and external –to control corruption and promote good governance. His fundamental premise is that “the deepest root cause of development failure is not a lack of resources or international isolation. Rather, it is a lack of good governance – the inability or unwillingness to apply public resources effectively to generate public goods”. For Professor Julius Ihonvbere in his rumination on constitutionalism and the national question, the resolution of the political question is a necessary condition for the attainment of peace, progress, growth, development and democracy in Nigeria. He advocates radical political restructuring predicated on the active involvement of non-elite groups in the process of evolving a new, people-oriented and inclusive constitution to help reduce conflicts and pressures on the state, its institutions and custodians.

    It is the central contention of Professor Adebayo Williams in one of the most exhilarating contributions to the book, ‘The Radiance of the Uncaptured Scholar’ that “the signal importance of Oyediran for a democratic Nigeria does not lie in earth-shaking theories or a paradigmatic leap of insight but in his sturdy determination to evade capture by the Nigerian military state unlike many of his equally distinguished colleagues and professional peers”. He was referring to Professor Oyediran’s initial participation in Babangida’s convoluted political engineering project but resolute and risky disengagement from the project when he discovered it was an elaborate farce. And Professor Adele Jinadu offers his interrogation of various dimensions of ‘The Identity of African Political Science’ as a testimonial “to Oyeleye Oyediran’s life-long interest not only in the development of Political Science in Africa but also its relevance to democracy and development in Africa” as attested to by “his persistent advocacy on the point that the association and Nigerian political scientists must uphold the canons of scholarship, insist on standards and play a vanguardist role in advancing democracy and development in Africa”. This book is a veritable goldmine of information and refreshing interpretations of various aspects of the politics of constitutionalism, governance and development in post-colonial Nigeria.

  • ‘Nigeria is not yet a democracy’

    Professor OBC Nwolise, Head, Political Science, University of Ibadan, in this interview explains what is lacking in Nigerian democracy and laments what he described as “the brevity of tenure of lawmakers in Nigeria.” Sam Egburonu reports

    THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate for the 2015 election; do you think this is the right way to practice democracy?

    Well, the best standards and practices is that the President should follow due process in his political party. If the constitution of the PDP allows them to come up with consensus candidate, or endorse one person, then that is the party’s machinery. The important thing is that the rules of the game in the party should be followed, that is due process. That is why some of us have been shouting about internal party democracy, that democracy is about owners and members of the party taking decisions, not someone somewhere or godfather saying this is the candidate. There is a difference between the machinery of the party saying let us support this fellow and a godfather or party stalwart or a money bag somewhere controlling the party, saying this is the person that must go. What we expect from the field of political science is that candidates would be voted for by their parties and once that takes place, that candidate carries the flag.

    But state governors that are leaving office are now boldly endorsing their successors, against majority of other aspirants that would want to contest election. Is this not creating double standard?

    That is the problem when things start happening from above. It depends on the trade off. We do not know what was agreed upon between the president and the governors. They may have been some trade off, I don’t know. I am not a politician; I do not join them in their meetings. If they were tradeoffs, support me and I will support you in doing this, I do not know. But if that was what they agreed, then it would flow down. But if that was not what they agreed upon, then governors are still going to face those who are going to emerge and the different parties at the state level still have to face internal party democracy. That is what it is supposed to be. But if they were tradeoffs, then we are likely to have problems.

    Some people have argued that zoning does not provide for the best, particularly when it concerns legislature. What is your position on that?

    Zoning, if it would go round, I am saying this because in the Second Republic, the NPN zoned the presidency to the north at the first four years. We had the understanding, I do not know, there was no agreement published for us that after Shagari’s four years, it would come to the south. And then some southerners were warming up. But nothing happened and Shagari was given a second chance. So, if zoning means that it would go round legitimately, justly and fairly, I do not have any problem with that because there are some sections of the country that has not ruled this country since its creation. The South-East has been locked out. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwa was just a figure-head; some people do not understand so when they talk of president, they mention Zik. Zik was there but had no powers; he was a figure-head. General Ironsi was there for six months, he was killed and that was the end. So, in actual fact, the South-East has been out completely.

    And the problem we have is that they had been a permanent formula to deny the east including the south-south region of the presidency of this country because Nigeria as I have always argued got its independence on the platform of three regions; north, east and west. But when they talk of zoning, they only talk of north and south. And so, the west and north ruled and nothing has come to the east until President Jonathan came up. The South-East remains out even up till now. So, if zoning will make things go round, there will be fairness, justice and equity. I do not have problems with that. If you remove zoning in the actual sense of the word, not the political maneuvering, then some parts of this country will never rule Nigeria. But if it is zoning by a governor who manipulates things to suit his own whims and caprices, that is not the job of the governor. Let the people decide who goes where.

    That is why I keep saying this country is not yet a democracy. I have said it severally that Nigeria is not a democracy as at today. Because we are not seeing the basic tenets of democracy; the people are not allowed to determine their leaders. Nigeria is not a federation because we know the principles of federalism. Nigeria is not a republic because we know what republicanism means. In a republic, the public themselves decide the great issues of the day and power is not inherited by anyone. But we are in a nation where the NPN told us in 1982/1983 that NPN would rule Nigeria forever. PDP also told us recently that they would rule Nigeria for 60 years; so you are already seeing power inheritance. That is why I say Nigeria is not yet an effective republic.

    We want a situation where the people would decide who takes what position, who represents them in the Senate, House of Representatives, state Houses, as governors and so on. Even in some countries, judges are elected; some judges are elected in the US. In South Africa, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission is not chosen by the president who is also a partisan competitor in the elections. These are the things that make me feel Nigeria is not yet a democracy; we are not yet there. I do not support zoning. Zoning kills competence, expertise and zeal because you are saying it is the turn of this group whether they have a competent person or not that the whole nation or state can judge, let them produce anybody. So it can equally produce a nonentity because it has been zoned to them.

    Zoning does not call for healthy competition. So, it has its ups and downs, checks and balances. If zoning is going to be the collective decision of the state, the opinion leaders, the party stalwarts coming together, and say let us zone positions, then they can support whatever is coming out of that decision. But for a governor to sit down to say who stays or not, that is not democratic.

    Let us look at the issue of the tenure of lawmakers; when a lawmaker stays maybe a tenure or two, he is not allowed to re-contest but in other democracies, it is not so. Why is the Nigerian system different?

    Who does not allow them? That is where the problem lies. Is it godfathers or political stalwarts? One thing with our legislative houses in Nigeria and this is what one needs to bear in mind; legislature is the only arm of government that has always been stultified in any military rule. Once the military came in, they took up legislative positions and functions. So, the Armed Forces Ruling Council or the Supreme Military Council became the law makers; the judiciary was still left there as window dressing. So, the executive is the person who makes the policy and the law. The ultimate result is that the legislature in Nigeria is the undeveloped organ of government because every subsequent election period of four years, we have new hands coming up; and these new hands are inexperienced.

    If you look at our legislative houses, the National Assembly for example, you cannot count up to 10 people that have spent four terms. There is something that we need to note, our legislature has to grow, and this means allowing people who are experienced to remain for a long period. The legislative house is not the same with the executive; they do not have tenure so people can stay there for decades. It is a privilege. The legislative body is actually the most powerful organ of government; it is not the executive or judiciary because in some countries, the legislature can throw out the executive through impeachment or vote of no confidence, but many do not know that. The executive cannot do without the budget approval by the legislature. The judiciary will not have its funds if the legislature refuses to give it money. The legislature represents the people in action and so the longer the experienced ones stay, the better the functioning of the legislature.

    In America, some people have been in the Congress for 20, 30 and some 40 years. But in our own society, although democracy started in 1999, you cannot count 10 people that have been there consistently since 1999. In the next assembly, I want to see experienced lawmakers like David Mark, I want to see Chukwumerije, I want to see Senator Gwarzo Hayatu, let Ndoma-Egba return. You will see that the Nigerian Senate has stabilised under Senator David Mark as Senate President. It is not like the first five, six years of our democracy where at a point we were having turnover of Senate Presidents and Speakers. With a Chukwumerije in the senate, the South-East will be assured of proper representation, so also Senator Maccido for the North-West or Ndoma-Egba for the South-South. That experience is needed to transmit legislative historical values to the younger generation of lawmakers.

    Are you by any chance saying that experience of certain senators may have engendered the stability of the legislature?

    Of course, their experience and maturity has enabled them to handle things more maturely and this is good for our democracy. I will want a situation where the few that have stayed for four terms can even continue so that they can guide the young ones coming behind. And we are now interacting with legislators in and outside Africa. I can imagine a situation where you have someone who has been in the American congress for 30 years and he comes to see a young Nigerian who has just been there for three, four or eight years, the difference will be very clear from the way they analyse situations, interact with the executives, judiciary and the way they even carry themselves in terms of the maturity, and confidence in that office. I would support a situation where those who are already there would spend a longer time or more tenure as long as they are performing and as long as their people want them to be there, let them be there because it elevates their representative to higher positions in the legislature. This is because they are ranked in terms of how many years they have been there and they are also respected in terms of how many years they have been there.

    They are people you cannot just shut down in the legislative houses either at the state or national level because of their carriage, integrity, prestige, maturity and the image they had created. As we are interacting with legislatures outside Nigeria, it is very important that we keep our experienced legislators at the national level so that they will be able to interact effectively with maturity and competence with those coming from outside Africa.

    Why do you think that elections in Nigeria always come up heating up the polity? Do you think it has to do with the do-or-die syndrome that the Nigerian politics has become?

    I would lay the blame at the door steps of lack of political will of the government to punish those who truncate democracy.  I have spoken and written several papers on this issue that election riggers and political thugs should face death penalty. Unless we do that, it would be difficult for us to come out of the situation that we are in now. Somebody from INEC single-handedly truncated the elections in Anambra State and nothing happened to him because the INEC Chairman does not have the power to hire and fire. That was why I earlier said that in real democracies, the president does not appoint the chairman of the electoral commission. The most powerful organ in democracies is not even the executive but the electoral umpire or administrator. That organ must be democratised and must be owned by the people themselves because that organ is working for the people.

    The president that is a partisan fellow should not hold the power to appoint the chairman of the electoral commission and at the same time, the fund that is for the commission should not be left to the whims and caprices of the executive. We also need to talk about the internal party democracy because this is part of what heats up the polity. When candidates are imposed on parties, it leads to the break-up of parties into splinter groups and movements. That is also aided by the fact that in Nigeria, there is no politics of ideology.

  • Oligarchy versus democracy

    With the 2015 elections in sight, the underbelly of our democracy has been exposed to the long knives of the Oligarchy in power. The inimitable Fela Anikulapo-Kuti characteristically referred to the political elite as Vagabonds in Power (VIP), but because I lack Fela’s courage, I will rather refer to them as Oligarchs pretending to be Democrats. Again, that instructive political philosopher, the indefatigable Abami eda after seeing through all the mago-mago, the shenanigans called democratic process in the run up to the 1979 presidential election, which Alhaji Shehu Shagari predictably worn, cynically referred to it, as an Army arrangement. In the same manner, in the run up to 2015, a bizarre type of arrangement is taking place

    The name of the game is settlement. What you are settled with depends on how high up you are. What you settle with depends on how depraved and desperate you are. Those who refuse to settle will be betrayed. The custodians of the power ladders are the godfathers; and the power centers are varied and scattered. The loci of power exist in the military, politics, judiciary, religions, traditions, intelligences, insurgency, tugs among others. Of course there are fake power centers and fake ladders, owned by impotent godfathers. Welcome to the magic world of Nigerian politics. If you are naïve like most of us, you will be waiting for the natural birth pangs, not knowing that what will take place is an induced labour process.

    The biggest prize is the presidency, and President Goodluck Jonathan, being an incumbent, is naturally the most desperate. The presidency also has the largest constituency and also the greatest amalgam of godfathers, waiting to be settled. To his goodluck, he has so many resources at his disposal to settle the godfathers. He has the banking licenses, oil blocks, contracts, appointments, promotions, awards, recognitions, huge financial cache for bribes and corrupt inducements, potent threats and force, arranged insurgency and so much more, to choose from to settle the godfathers. His major contenders have mostly their personal resources, and long forgotten favours to match the president’s arsenal. The only saving grace will be if the godfathers reject the enticements, considering that out of desperation, no price will be too much to offer. But can they?

    To show how influential the road to the presidency can be, the armed bandits ravaging the north-eastern part of Nigeria, the Boko Haram, has reportedly indicated their interest to make peace, just in time for President Goodluck Jonathan to declare his interest to run again in 2015. The theorists who have been claiming that the insurgency was arranged, either by the government or the political opponents of the government, now have every reason to push their theory. But how can we ever know those who were settled and what they were settled with, to agree to the timely seize fire, in other to give the presidential declaration, some modicum of honour. After all, many had hoped that without an agreement on what to do with the abducted Chibok girls, President Jonathan will not have the moral high ground to declare for a re-election. Now that the release of the Chibok girls has been arranged, with a seize fire as jara, the President can earnestly kick off his campaign.

    Such is the potency of the settlement business that many of the presidential hopefuls have ‘willingly’ given up their presidential ambitions. In appears that all the gragra was merely to raise their settlement price. Looking across the country, one can clearly second guess those that already ‘sold in cash’, as their business empires are booming. One group that has been accused of having sold by wholesale is the Igbo political elite. One of the major accusers is Joe Igbokwe, the All Progressive Congress (APC) spokesman in Lagos state. His frustrations are well documented, especially his queries over the settlement price paid by President Jonathan for the unprecedented wholesale support, and a near total abdication from contesting the presidency, by the entire Igbo power mongers.

    Mr. Igbokwe however has not written about his personal efforts, or that of his party, the APC, to make a strong pitch for followership in the South-East. His party appears contended with seeking for support from outside that geo-political zone, as even Governor Rochas Okorocha dose not rank high in the pecking order for the party’s Vice Presidency, since the party have officially seeded the presidency to the North. Strangely the South-West intelligentsias despite the acclaimed political sophistication of the zone are arguing that the APC can only make a strong showing in the zone, if the Party fields a Vice President from the South-west. That argument may further reinforce the argument against the sympathizers of APC in the other zones in the South, except the South-West; people like Joe Igbokwe.

    In my view, if the APC wants to lay claim to being a truly national party and counter the menace posed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which it should for our common gain, then it has to appreciate that Nigeria is made up of six geo-political zones. The implication is that with the South-West having produced President Olusegun Obasanjo who served for eight years, it will be a hard sale for it to again be angling for the Presidency, eight years after. What the APC should do is to seek for a quality Vice Presidential candidate from the South-East or South-South, to further reinforce the argument that the party is a national party. One major reason why the PDP has survived strongly over the last sixteen years may be because the party has no strong regional coloration. The other major reason of course, is their well oiled settlement culture; the oligarchy arrangement.

     

     

  • Party defections and democracy

    Political parties are associations formally organized with the explicit and declared purpose of acquiring and or maintaining legal control, either singly or in coalition with other similar associations, over the personnel and the policy of the government of an actual or prospective state. Strictly speaking, political parties occupy an enviable position in representative government of modern states. As a matter of fact, political parties are the major hallmarks of democracy.

    Since political parties are essential components of a democratic machine, it is imperative that they be democratic in their internal operations as one cannot give what he does not have. This, therefore, makes internal (intra-party) democracy a crucial feature which political parties must possess in order to be able to make fundamental input to any democratic arrangement and speed up democratic consolidation.

    Nigeria has not fared well in party politics and democracy. Many decades after the introduction of the elective principle by the Clifford’s Constitution and the formation of pioneer political parties, the country has had a chequered history of party politics. Nigeria has struggled without success, to evolve virile political parties that will fit into the role of what parties do in other democratic polities, which is, to advance national interest through well thought-out policies and programmes. Political parties have, in our clime, remained mere platforms for the advancement of individual interests and ambitions.

    Where these selfish interests are not served or threatened, Nigerian politicians have evolved the culture of defections and cross-carpeting in desperate bids to serve sectional, individual or group interest. Hence, defection from one political party to the other has characterised the political landscape of Nigeria. It has become an established political culture in the Nigerian case to defect. This comes with it, a lot of debilitating challenges and implications for democracy and party politics in the country.

    Cross-carpeting as a political culture did not start today. It started from the days of early political parties established in the run-up to independence. Historically, Nigerian parties have largely revolved around individuals or godfathers who parade themselves as the best people to articulate ethnic positions either in alliance with others, or alone in opposition. Issues and ideology have always been secondary considerations, at best, despite the tags of conservatives and progressives, socialists and feudalists, populists and elitists and the like. If the Nigerian party system as it later emerged, can trace regional pivot of its component parties to the NNDP, its tendencies to respond to ethnic pressures can be similarly traced to the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM).

    Originally, the Lagos Youth Movement which in 1939 became the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) was an open political organization. It was open in the sense that it attracted to its fold persons from the different Nigerian groups. The reflected its national membership. The ‘Nigerian Youth Charter’ erected for the movement the ideal among others of bringing together the different ethnic groups in the country in addition to raising their collective awareness. As part of the practical approach towards its objective, the movement established branches in the eastern towns of Aba, Calabar and Port Harcourt, in the Western towns of Benin-City, Ibadan, Ijebu Ode and Warri, and in the North in Jos, Kaduna, Kano and Zaria.

    However, the promise of the national front it held forth was not realized. In 1941, the NYM, to intents and purposes, shed its national character when Nnamdi Azikiwe led the Igbo members of the movement together with Samuel Akinsanya and the Ijebu Yoruba, out of the movement.

    The reason was that the non-Ijebu Yoruba supported the victorious candidacy of the Ijaw, Ernest Ikoli, to the legislative council over that of Samuel Akinsanya. This incident marked the beginning of party defections in the Nigerian polity.

    However, defections have become more alarming in the present democratic dispensation and have become more so in the build up to general elections. Nigerians have continued to witness the drama of movement of party members especially of the two leading parties of APC and PDP. Several reasons account for this. The major reason is the lack of internal democratic practice and culture in these parties.  The inability of political parties to enforce or play politics according to the rules of the game both within the party and in the art of governance has turned politics to warfare.

    According to Azazi (2012), the escalation of the atrocities perpetrated by the “Boko Haram” sect especially in the Northern parts of the country is a corollary of the absence of internal democracy in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The zoning arrangement would have kept power in the North till 2015 but President Goodluck Jonathan used incumbency power to circumvent the arrangement. Defection or cross-carpeting is a major hallmark of absence of internal democracy in political parties in Nigeria. More often than not, politicians who feel short-changed during primary elections find succour in other political parties. After being deregistered in 2007, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar found favour with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) where he was candidate in the 2007 elections. He however, quickly dumped the ACN and re-joined the PDP. He has since joined the All Progressives Congress on the account of lack of internal democracy.

    The defection of five governors from the PDP to the APC is equally on the same account. Just as the decampment of Ibrahim Shekarau, Attahiru Baffarawa, Ali Modu Sheriff, Tom Ikimi, etc  (all founding members of the APC) to the ruling PDP is said to be hinged on lack of internal party democracy. After the 2011 primaries of the ANPP, which produced Shekarau as presidential candidate, two frontline aspirants, Harry Akande and Dauda Birma defected to the ruling PDP.

    In addition to the foregoing reasons, decampments are equally orchestrated by the fact that political parties lack guiding ideologies. This explains why politicians easily switch parties once their individual interests are threatened. The recent decampments of Peter Obi, Gbenga Daniel, etc, fit into this category.

    The Labour Party ordinarily should be progressive and welfarist in nature. However, the decampment of Mimiko to a more conservative and elitist People’s Democratic Party exemplifies our argument that these parties are not really rooted in any ideological persuasions. Same goes for Gbenga Daniel who hopped from the PDP to the PPP, LP and back to PDP. These are all in attempts to secure better political deals.

    Given the foregoing therefore, it becomes imperative that all activities and systems within parties should be guided by internal rules and procedures consistent with the expectations of party members and the legally established statutory organs; holding of democratic, periodic elections of party leaders, and a non-personalized leadership that willingly submits itself to these periodic elections. Thus, the question of life chairman or life patron should never arise; internal debate of issues and democratized decision making; equal and open participation of all members in the decision making process in such a way that various interests are more or less equally represented, especially disadvantaged groups such as women and youth; transparency and accountability in the administration of the party; democratization of party funding, such that the party does not rely on a few wealthy individuals only for its financing, and equally fundamental, there should be the adoption of inclusive, democratic processes for the holding of party conventions, and the selection of the party’s election candidates, that is, the use of primaries.

    A strict adherence to these prescriptions will reposition Nigerian political parties and enhance their contribution to democratic consolidation in Nigeria.

    • Adeyemi writes from Lagos

  • ‘APC encourages internal democracy’

    An aspirant contesting for Oyo state House of Assembly on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Wasiu Olatunbosun Akere has praised the party for encouraging internal democracy compared to some other parties in the state.

    He made this known at a press briefing where he declared his intention to contest for the state assembly in Ibadan Southwest Constituency 1.

    According to him, the internal democracy of APC that allows a level playing ground encouraged him to want to contest for the assembly seat considering his best performance of rendering service to humanity.

    He said part of his service to humanity include associating with market women to improve on their trade and helping youths to get employment among others saying that if he is giving the opportunity he will do better.

    Akere maintained that politics runs in his family as his father had once been a bigwig in the state politics adding that Akere family is well reputed in Orita-Merin in Ibadan and across for Local governments in the state.

    He said if he is voted into the House of Assembly, he will focus on Labour and industrial law to improve standard of the state economy and also to encourage more participants in enhancing a good policies.

    He further enthused that his strong influence in grassroot politics coupled with his reputation of rendering service to humanity will earn him the chance to become a member of Oyo state House of Assembly come 2015.

  • ‘Judicial autonomy deepens democracy’

    ‘Judicial autonomy deepens democracy’

    Abia State Chief Judge (CJ) Justice Nnenna Otti has called on states that are yet to ensure financial autonomy for the judiciary to do so without delay in order to stabilise the democracy in the country.

    Justice Otti said there are three arms of government namely the executive, judiciary and the legislature, saying each of them should be independent of each other as none should encroach on the jurisdiction of the other to avoid chaos.

    Speaking in Umuahia as part of the activities to mark the state’s legal year and her valedictory session, Justice Otti said when both the executive and the legislature try to relegate the judiciary to the background, things will not work out well for the system.

    Justice Otti said the state judiciary has a cordial working relationship with the executive to some extent, adding that there should be a mutual respect for each arm of government as specified by the Constitution of the country, “which is the grand num.”

    She noted that the executive arm of government in most states holds the finances from which other arms of government are funded from, while they make their budgets to the executive which, in most cases do not release enough funds to them.

    She said: “The executive arm holds in custody money for the other arms of government. While they make their budgets to the executive, it has the right to determine if there is enough money or not to disburse to the other arms of government for their projects.

    That is one of the reasons the judiciary is calling for financial autonomy and we are happy that it has been granted. But it is left for the executive arm of government to implement them like some of the rich states have done.”

    Justice Otti also said the issue of infrastructure is a problem in the judiciary, stressing that it could only be solved when the state judiciary is financially autonomous.

    “A situation whereby 80 Magistrates share one court room is absurd as it results in making them to sit on shift basis,” she said.

    She maintained that lack of funds and non-financial autonomy has forced the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji to come to their aid by building two multi-million Naira court houses in Aba and Umuahia and other court buildings across the state.

    She, however, appealed to the state governments to adhere to the constitutional provision by granting the judiciary financial autonomy as some states have done.

    Justice Otti appealed to the other arms of government to stop interfering in the affairs of the judiciary, saying that the judiciary is there to dispense justice.

    “The executive and legislature should not think they can do it alone as such assumption is wrong, because the judiciary has enormous powers from the Constitution,” she said.

  • Remove Wike’s name from honour’s list

    Remove Wike’s name from honour’s list

    A group, Movement for Advancement of Democracy, has protested the inclusion of the name of the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, on the National Merit Award list.

    The National President, Martins Okachi, called on the committee in-charge of the award to delete the minister’s name.

    He said the Federal Government cannot give an award to somebody who has not recorded success since he was appointed as minister.

    “Few days after his name was selected for the award, Unity schools were shut over unpaid benefits and allowances.

    “Nobody will deceive us, Nigerians knows who is performing, we hereby call on the award committee to remove the minister’s name because he does not deserve it.”

  • What manner of democracy is this?

    What manner of democracy is this?

    “Each nation gives life to democracy in its own way, and in line with its own traditions” – Barack Obama

    Democracy must be the most sought-after bride in the world. Everyone lays claim to her. Everyone trumpets an undying love for this highly desired bride. Even the meanest form of dictatorship never shies away from showcasing to the world,  elements in its mode of governance, in which it sees any semblance to the tenets of democracy.

    Bernard Crick best captures it. Democracy, he says, is “perhaps the most promiscuous word in the world of public affairs. She is everybody’s mistress and yet somehow retains her magic, even when a lover sees that her favours are being, in his light, illicitly shared by many another.”

    A few months to the Presidential elections, the results are virtually decided. According to INEC guidelines, the period for campaign is not upon us yet. Political parties cannot even conduct primary elections to decide on their candidates until the final quarter of the year. Yet, the sitting President, who already enjoys a massive advantage by virtue of his office, and most likely to run in the elections, is way ahead of everyone else, with a media campaign that has been in our face for almost a year now. Indeed, those behind the campaign are quick to tell us they have not jumped the gun, teasing us that what they have running is not a campaign. Wonder what it would be like when the campaign really starts.

    The advertising campaign by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria and her co-travellers, obviously well-oiled from an abundance of unexplained resources, has been running for over six months now. The government has nothing to do with it, we are told, yet the Secretary to the Government of the Federation always finds time to be at these rallies to receive a pile of signatures. The President has nothing to do with it, yet his ministers, from time to time, abandon their duty posts to partake in this ritual. Even Ministers Adesina and Okonjo-Iweala could not help but leave their busy desks to partake in rallies at Ibadan and Port-Harcourt.

    At whose expense are they making these trips?

    The rally in Port-Harcourt was so urgent that public health risks from the Ebola Virus Disease could not make the Transformation Ambassadors quarantine their desperation over 2015 and shelve it. Not even the advisory from the President for Nigerians to restrain themselves from large gatherings counted for anything with the Transformation Ambassadors. They will rather defy the President’s directive and put lives at risk, in order to convince him to run. To them, all that matters is winning the 2015 elections.

    But do you blame the transformation ambassadors? You will think with rules in place, the umpire will be up and doing with enforcement. INEC will rather pretend that it has not noticed what is going on. When it comes to standing its ground against infractions by the party that has promised to be in power for 60 years, INEC suddenly catches cold.

    But when it comes to bullying other political parties, withholding recognition of one, in clear defiance of valid court pronouncement, INEC finds its voice. It is bad enough that the field is not level for all players within the political space. To make an open show of it, as the case is now, is simply obscene. It is like a case of putting two boxers in the ring, with the hands of one of them, tied behind him.

    To bring impunity to an end, Nigerians will have to take a stand to demand for change. It is not enough to simply desire freedom and true democracy; citizens are expected to possess what Heater calls an ‘educated sense of political responsibility’. This, “entails a positive  interest in public affairs, a sense of responsibility to use one’s political rights for the public good, a certain minimum of education in order to be capable of making a responsible and independent political judgement, and finally, the existence of political debate to stimulate thought”.

    It is time to take the country back from those whose only obsession is winning elections and attaining power for purposes not in tandem with a meaningful developmental agenda for the country. You cannot simply appropriate Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King as your pals, hoping to fool the people. You cannot keep harassing us with disjointed lies, patched together to con the gullible, and sell that to us, because you have the resources to beat the gun, and expect us to believe you have some altruistic objectives for the country.

    A democracy practised with rigged dice cannot give birth to national transformation.

     

    • Simbo Olorunfemi,

    Lagos