The Nation Newspaper

Tag: democracy

  • Democracy without choice?

    Democracy without choice?

    The words that are needed from political parties are words that assure voters of a level playing field for all parties

    Apart from the traditional definition of democracy as a government of the people, by the people and for the people, one abiding dimension of democracy is that it is a system of government that is driven by choice on the part of the electorate, the traditional owners of any democratic nation-state’s sovereignty. Looking at Nigeria’s democracy two years before the 2015 election, it appears there are serious challenges to the choice aspect of democracy in the country.

    What is on the electoral horizon barely two years before the 2015 election is a politics of fear or fear mongering. Before President Jonathan came to power in 2011 on his own steam as presidential candidate of the PDP, Nigeria’s political space was free and agog with political campaigns by several presidential candidates that got narrowed down to three candidates from three distinct parties: PDP, ACN, and CPC. However, there was no clear manifesto from the party that brought President Jonathan to power. The closest to a plan of action on his part was the promise of transformation. Transformation was a word that was attractive and even intoxicating to voters, who had lived for decades under various military and civilian rulers that did not bring noticeable progress to most citizens.

    For anybody to promise transformation in a country with about 20,000 kilometres of tarred highways, with a railway without coaches; with houses and factories powered by generators; with an educational system on its knees; and with a security architecture unfit for a federation of nationalities; it was as good as promising a government of miracles. Millions of voters crossed party lines to vote for President Jonathan, the presidential candidate of the PDP. It will be uncharitable to say two years on the throne that the rest is history on politics or ethic of transformation.

    Now five years away from the 2015 election, President Jonathan’s party men are effusive in the use of vocabularies that are reminiscent of President Obasanjo’s characterisation of the 2007 election as do-or-die. Vocabularies attributed to the President and leaders of his party smack of fear mongering. Instead of giving Nigerians any indication about what PDP is committed to do for Nigerians between now and 2015, PDP leaders are deliberately heating the polity with military diction: capturing 32 states; accepting the challenge of the 2015 election as war, etc. It is not democratic to give voters any reason to be afraid of elections.

    Furthermore, at the national level, efforts by opposition parties to merge and give the electorate two major political parties to choose from in the next election are perceived to be frustrated by the ruling party, at whose door step opposition party leaders put the blame about the sudden emergence of political parties and organisations with the acronym APC. The effect of the perception that there are invisible government hands behind the birth of several organisations to snatch the acronym APC from the party to emerge from the merger of ACN, CPC, and ANPP is that there are politicians that are afraid of new parties that are big enough to give the ruling PDP stiff competition in 2015. If a new party with the right size and spread to challenge the ruling party is frustrated in any way, it is the voters that are disrespected. Democratic political competition for votes is generally one that is driven by ideas and performance of parties in competition for citizens’ votes. President Jonathan has promised many times that he wants to be remembered as one president that has encouraged free and fair election. Free and fair election is not just about what happens in polling booths or at vote counting stations; it is also about readiness of party leaders to present their ideas and records of performance to the electorate while leaving the voters to make their choice without intimidation, coercion, or cajolement of opposition parties.

    The country needs to hear what each political party has to offer as vision, strategies and policies to achieve direly needed change. It will need a political party that is not afraid of coming to terms with Nigeria’s diversity, not a party that sees development and unity as synonyms. Voters need to hear from political parties that are willing and able to address the problem of infrastructure head-on, without having to blame power outage on too much or too little water in the dam or no natural gas to power the turbines, etc. Voters are waiting to hear from all parties that have plans and methods for addressing the problem of limited spaces for thousands of post-secondary students that desire to obtain tertiary training, instead of the millions of students that now roam the streets in search of visa to North America, Britain, Australia, South Africa, and even Ghana in search of university education. The Nigerian electorate will need to see from all parties willing to rule Nigeria in 2015 blueprints for reducing the number of able-bodied young men and women that roam in the millions the streets or offices of unemployment. Voters need to hear from all political parties what plans they have for preventing the death of 1,000 Nigerian children from malaria every day.

    Millions of Nigerians who asked for political re-structuring of the federation are still craving to hear from political parties that want to work towards purposive unity among Nigerian nationalities through a programme of equal opportunity for all citizens and all cultures; of equity and justice in revenue allocation; fiscal federalism; sustainable appropriate security architecture for the country; infrastructure renewal that covers the whole country; free and compulsory education for the first twelve years of schooling in public schools; strategies for achieving nation-wide religious tolerance and harmony; unapologetic attitude towards any form of terrorism, etc.

    These are some of the issues that voters are craving to hear political parties and their leaders address with honesty and sincerity, not bellicose words that evoke two years before 2015 the picture of war and blood. The words that are needed from political parties are words that assure voters of a level playing field for all parties, respect for the rights of all parties to contest for power; and respect for citizens’ right to choose the leaders they desire.

  • How to deepen democracy, by Tambuwal, Aliyu, Tinubu, Kukah

    How to deepen democracy, by Tambuwal, Aliyu, Tinubu, Kukah

    How can Nigeria deepen its democracy? That was the question yesterday at a colloquium organised to mark the 60th birthday of Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole at the Imaguero College hall in Benin-City, the state capital where some eminent Nigerians spoke “Deepening Democracy and Enhancing Public Welfare”.

    The event was attended by top political leaders, traditional rulers, businessmen and ordinary citizens.

    House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said the independence of the electoral umpire was critical to democracy.

    Tambuwal noted that for Nigeria to continue to deepen democracy, the electoral umpire must be seen to be independent.

    He said: “To have a good political party, there is need for political not only to be built around ideology but critical objectives and not objectives of individuals.

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu said the challenge in the country was not how to deepen democracy but how to build democracy.

    Aliyu said Nigeria must go back to the family system, if it must have good democracy, adding that “servant-leaders” must be transparent in all their dealings.

    He said: “We must enthrone a political process where people can go through voting process, knowing their votes will not be skewed. We must go back to the family system. Edo people have shown how to deepen democracy. When my party came to Edo to crush our friend, Edo people said no because God has given them a good man.”

    “If you aspire to be a godfather, there must be rules and regulations to become a godfather. We must learn the mantra of one-man-one-vote. That will entrench democracy in our community.”

    The governor criticised the slow process of the legal system, adding that everybody must be seen to be equal before the law.

    “Where a political party does not follow internal democracy, we must fight it strongly,” he said.

    The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, noted that Nigeria is not practising the right democracy.

    In his view, although Nigeria may have gotten rid of dictatorship, the ingredients of dictatorship remain in the country. Rev. Kukah said providing infrastructure was not synonymous with democracy as according to him, “there has to be something of unpredictable about the substance of democracy.”

    “A president or governor has to be clear about what legacy they want to leave behind. We can’t run a country this way. We have not started the foundation of democracy that enable citizen determines the character of leadership.”

    Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu lamented that President Goodluck Jonathan has polarised the Governors’ Forum.

    He lampooned governors for not seeking redress in the court of law, saying they were supposed to be an institution that others depended on to deepen democracy.

    Said the former Lagos governor: “You would have gone to court straight because by going to the court, you are deepening democracy. I went to court 11 times and I won all the suites. It is not for me. It is about taking our right seriously and protecting it.

    “I make bold to say the greatest shame of the president was the day he announced the PDP Governors Forum. What a shame. The body is to protect constitution. Leave the governors to unite to give reasonable level of performance and freedom of the constitution. Don’t polarise them on a partisan basis.

    “Let us stop the lamentation. If you have state police, you will know where militants reside. You will get rid of a bad system. Give more funds to the state. In the meantime establish community police.”

    On amnesty, Tinubu said he disagreed with the question of a ghost because “from creation, ghosts never throw bombs. They remain quiet in cemetery. You cannot arrest ghosts”.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan has said he cannot. He says Boko Haram members should pull their mask to qualify for amnesty. The sect has killed thousand of people.

    The former governor urged Tambuwal toprevail on the National Assembly amend the Electoral Act to provide for biometrics use by INEC, if the last voter registration data does not meet the standard quality.

    “Nigerians still suffer under the inferior and slipshod manual registration, verification and accreditation of voters when there is the biometric system to ensure one-man-one-vote. In our situation, the struggle for one-man-one-vote is not yet over. We must push for the use of biometrics, as witnessed in Kenya, Sieria Leone, Ghana.

    “Biometric is not electronic voting. That is the challenge. Until we do that, the challenge of our nation is to have a credible leadership who are very honest. We don’t need the number of security operatives on election if we embark upon biometric registration and validation.”

    He said progressives have made the APC for the PDP”, adding “If they cannot do it, we will do it.’

    He said Oshiomhole deserved to be regarded as leader of ACN because he had performed well and made the party proud.

    Tinubu said: “It takes extraordinary leadership for democracy to survive and to be sustained. Oshiomhole realised the importance of good planning to bring good governance. We have created an opportunity for a platform that can deepen democracy.

    “We must insist that subsequent elections are free and fair. The people of Edo have seen the light. They are ready to protect their votes and to reject the erstwhile PDP government that served them a salad of corruption and rickety governance for years. “The people are now witnessing rapid development because they voted for change. This is manifest in the development across Edo State, the provision of water, modern transportation.”

    The chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Aliko Mohammed said the ACN believes in Nigeria which was why its leaders moved round the country to convince people on their belief.

    Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili said it is the people that would determine the scorecard of a government.

    She said those who democracy has thrown up must have a rallying vision as ‘poverty has no ethnicity and no religion’.

    Said Mrs. Ezekwesili: “ There has not been a change in the economic structure in Nigeria. No economy that has improved the lives of its citizenry keeps its manufacturing at 15 per cent.”

    “A weakened citizenry cannot be the basis for the deepening of any democracy. What democracy do you want to deepen if you do not fundamentally think in terms of the structure of inequality and accountability that exist between the political elite and the citizen.

    “You cannot say you started the deepening of democracy, until the people of the state tell you that you’ve started the job.”

  • On internal democracy I stand, says aspirant

    Anambra State politician Chief Udo Udeogaranya has urged political parties to embrace internal democracy.

    The former chairman of the Coalition of the Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) said that any party that refuses to hold primaries will fail in the next general election.

    He warned the governors against manipulating the primaries to their advange, adding that the voters are now wiser.

    Udeogaranya, who is eyeing the governorship, said that the culture of imposition is old-fashioned, urging the party leaders to embrace the tenents of democracy.

    He explained that imposition would deny the people of their freedom of choice, especially when certain aspirants have been edged out of the contest.

    Udeogaranya maintained that the election is violated at the shadow poll because there is no transparency and justice.

    He said: “History will adjudge me in bad faith, if I do not make my positive contribution to the ongoing debate on the ‘solecandidature/no primaries’ for the incumbent President and governors seeking the mandate to represent their various parties in the general elections.

    “The essence of party primary is to determine the popularity of candidates seeking nomination to represent the party in a general election among the card-carrying members of a political party”

    The politician chided the governors for using tactics to edge other aspirants out of the race.

    He added: “ To ask other aspirants to go into the primary election or the popularity contest with their party leaders, President or governos, is a sheer hypocrisy and , wastage of funds”

     

     

  • ACN: PDP a threat to democracy

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of being a threat to democracy.

    It alleged that the ruling party is sabotaging the merger of the progressives.

    In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party urged lovers of democracy to join in the efforts to stop the PDP and its cohorts from truncating the nation’s democracy.

    The party said: ‘’Having misgoverned Nigeria since the country’s return to democratic rule in 1999, the PDP – realising that its time is up – has now resorted to a dangerous game aimed at either keeping the party in power at all costs or crashing the country’s democracy. This is a dangerous game that must be stopped, with the good people of Nigeria, not just the progressives, leading the charge.’’

    ACN said the PDP is using some of its members to scuttle the registration of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC). It described this as a throwback to 1993, when the then military junta supported the so-called Association for Better Nigeria (ABN) to scuttle that year’s presidential elections.

    The party said the dirty game started by the ABN snowballed into a series of cataclysmic events that culminated in the annulment of what is still widely regarded at the best elections in the country, as well as the ascension into office of a man regarded as the most brutal dictator in the country’s history.

    ‘’What started as a mere game of political desperation in 1993 was to set Nigeria back by many decades, and the country is still reeling from the effects of that single act of high treason, sabotage and subterfuge. Sadly, 20 years on, it now seems that our country has learnt no lessons from what the ABN did, as we are back to another desperate times, with the PDP sponsoring some scumbags to stifle the growth of the country’s democracy,’’ it said.

    ACN said there is no doubt, going by the revelations in recent times on the efforts to scuttle the registration of the real APC and the reaction of Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, that the PDP has finally driven the final nail its own coffin.

    ‘’The revelations have been mind-boggling: A well-known PDP hatchet man and a card-carrying member of the party hired the apparently-naive lawyer who filed the phantom APC’s registration request at INEC; An apparent card-carrying member of the PDP working in INEC is the internal contact of the saboteurs; The email addresses used by the phantom APC were culled from that of PDP’s publicity office, while the scallywags who have now donned the garb of ABN (under the African Peoples Congress) made sure to copy their emails to their masters at the PDP!

    ‘’Equally mind-boggling is how the phantom APC, backed by its contact person in INEC, short-circuited the process of seeking registration by using computer-generated forms and fake signatures, among others.

    ‘’Ironically, in seeking to stop the All Progressives’ Congress, the PDP has now shot itself in the foot, as discerning Nigerians do not believe in its denials of any linkage with the so-called African Peoples Congress. An official of the PDP, employing warped logic at its crudest, even had the temerity to insult Nigerians by suggesting that the opposition may be the one engineering the registration crisis to gain popularity! In any case, what is now happening to the PDP will speed its demise, and that is what happens when desperation clouds the sense of reasoning,’’ the party said.

    ACN assures that no amount of underhand tactics will stop the merger of the progressives, who are even stronger now as they have received an overwhelming support and encouragement of Nigerians in the wake of the PDP-orchestrated registration gate.

    ‘’But we call on all our supporters and indeed all Nigerians to remain vigilant in the days ahead, as eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,’’ it said.

  • Group rises for human rights, democracy

    Group rises for human rights, democracy

    As part of activities to mark the 2013 edition of World Freedom Day, members of World League for Freedom and Democracy WLFD), an advocacy organisation for freedom and sustainable democracy the world over, recently converged on Taipei, Taiwan to strategise on ways to achieve global freedom. After much deliberation, they reached a conclusion that good governance and democracy remain key means through which this could be guaranteed.

    A Nigerian Hon. Beni Lar representing Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives was a member of the forum.

    The WLFD, which was formed in 1959, is an anti-communist League that fought for freedom and democracy for Taiwan.

    Its objectives to advocate and support causes of freedom, democracy and world peace; to promote respect for human rights and the fundamental freedom of all people; to be a coordinating centre for international co- operation in economic development and educational and cultural exchange designed to contribute to social progress and better standard of life; and to combine efforts against international terrorism, aggression, imperialism in whatever form or guise.

    The organisation that has 100 chapters worldwide plans to partner with the National Assembly and National Human Rights Commission to open a chapter in Nigeria.

    In her remarks at the forum, Hon Lar said: “Nigeria is working hard to promote freedom and human rights, even as she tries to consolidate on its gains of democracy. She posited that Nigeria is strengthening its democratic institutions and processes to achieve this goal.

    Continuing, she said: “The Nigerian Parliament recently passed an Act to give the National Human Rights Commission prosecutory powers. It also made it an independent body. And through Acts such as Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, the HIV and AIDS Anti-discrimination Act, the Minimum Wage Act and pending Bills such as the Violence against Persons Bill and the Anti-torture Bill among others, it is strengthening human rights protection.

    “The National Assembly is working hard to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedom of Nigeria citizens.”

    She also disclosed role that Nigeria is playing to promote regional security and development in the West African Sub-region in order to maintain peace and security.

    She thanked the Taiwanese government for inviting Nigeria to be among the 100 countries that participated in this year’s World Freedom Day celebration.

  • Mimiko urges military to protect democracy

    Mimiko urges military to protect democracy

    Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has called on the Nigerian military to assist in defending the nation’s democracy.

    He reiterated his government’s continuous partnership with security agencies to sustain the prevailing peace in the state.

    Mimiko made this statement in his office in Akure when he hosted the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major-General Ahmed Tijani Jibrin.

    He appreciated the noble role played by the military and other security agencies during the October 20, 2012 governorship election in the state, which paved the way for peaceful conduct of the election that was devoid of bloodshed and rancour.

    He noted that democracy as the bedrock of the nation’s development must be well protected through the collaboration of the military and civil society.

    The governor also stated that his administration would continue to support the families of the fallen heroes with loans and credit facilities, stressing that youth engagement in productive ventures would continue to be prioritised with a view to ensuring peace and development across the state.

    Earlier in his address, the GOC, Major-General Jibrin, thanked the state government for the support given to the Army, particularly in the area of logistics to enable its officers carry out their duties effectively.

    He assured that the military will not relent in protecting the nation’s democracy and also reiterated their unalloyed loyalty to civil authority and dictates of the constitution of Nigeria.

     

  • Democracy, taxation and austerity

    Democracy, taxation and austerity

    Given the rate at which euro zone nations have been beset by street riots over austerity measures there is no doubt that very soon the concept and practice of global democracy will be synonymous with unrests and riot. Let us distinguish the euro zone riots in Greece , Spain and Portugal from the ones against despots and tyrants in the Arab world that started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt and Libya and which at first successfully achieved the objective of removing the dictators but also created fresh problems of governance, security and stability in the process.

    Again let me stress that both the euro zone austerity riots and the Arab street protests stem from how economic resources have been allocated and managed in the two environments. In the euro zone, the location of the world’s oldest democracies the maintenance of the welfare state has taken its toll on the resources of the environment and that has created the problem of higher taxation and decreasing welfare benefits leading to redundancies and massive job losses with workers unions taking to the streets with strikes to protest economic measures by governments to make ends meet. In the euro zone the welfare state has spread itself thin on resources and must rethink its economic solution approach or die a slow and withering death.

    In the Arab world and most of the so called third world, the strategy of state survival is to wrest the resources of the state from a few hands that have cornered it and start a welfare state or a semblance of it and that is if those with the huge stolen resources allow such a change at all. It is a tall order but that should be the direction of political change after decades of thievery and debauchery

    In effect then, we may be talking of two sides of the same coin if we say soaring welfare begets austerity and despotism begets poverty but that each must be experienced before lasting growth can be achieved to sustain prosperity. That however is so much theory as events have shown in recent times both in the euro zone, the Middle East and Africa, that poor management of resources create tension that overheat the socio economic fabric of society and that is taxing direly the concept and practice of democracy globally.

    In Italy former PM Silvio Berlusconi has made a move against the general EU trend of governments solving debt and economic crisis through austerity measures and increased or new taxes. Berlusconi has written letters to voters in key areas of ltaly that he would refund the property taxes they have paid so far in the name of economic reforms if he is elected in tomorrow’s elections in Italy. His opponents and critics have denounced his letters on taxation as a bribe and have asked for him to be prosecuted. Knowing Berlusconi’s highly controversial political antecedents and given the big luggage he already carries in terms of litigations in his past spell as PM of Italy, the prospect of his being deterred by litigation is nil. It is however the possibility of voters reacting positively to the attractive tax offer that fascinates me and leads me to examine the nature of political leadership in a democracy in the face of dwindling economic resources and the peculiarities of each political system. Aside from Berlusconi we will take on the elections in Kenya where one of the front runners is Uhuru Kenyatta who is facing charges for genocide in the Hague and the consequences of that for Kenya’s elections.

    Back to Berlusconi again, it is apparent that God is not finished with him yet, as Jesse Jackson once said of himself, as far as Italian politics is concerned. This is because here was a man written off for many vices and cases he faces involving sex with harlots and under aged girls when he left office last year. But now the polls show he is bouncing back and he even though his party may not win he may get enough votes to be a key kingmaker in ensuing political marriages that make governance a tedious exercise in Italy.

    In addition while Berlusconi may have lost his charisma because of his many flirtations and dilettante he has his club AC Milan to always lure and dazzle Italians soccer loving and passionate to his side. However, this last week luck was on his side as his club AC Milan did the unbelievable by beating defending champions Barcelona in Milan by two goals to nothing. Who knows the impact of football on politics sufficiently to dismiss the possibility of voters voting for Berlusconi again to make the good times of soccer victories come back to Italy under a Berlusconi regime? Surely no one can be certain.

    But if you add the tax offer to an unforgettable AC Milan victory over Barcelona in an election week you can fathom why Italians against all odds may develop sudden amnesia for the many vices of their most controversial former PM and still offer him another chance to lead or mislead them again in the peculiar democracy that Italy has become nowadays.

    Similarly you want to wonder why Kenyans will be asking a man who is on trial at the Hague to lead them as Uhuru Kenyatta is and is still contesting for Kenya’s presidency. A Kenyan woman interviewed on satellite TV was adamant that Uhuru is her choice because the father, Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya well and the economic situation was very good then as there was free education. But then the UK envoy in Kenya was insistent that he may not be able to shake hands with Uhuru Kenyatta if he wins as that is the policy of Britain over those standing trial at the Hague as Uhuru is. Yet both Britain and Kenya are democracies. But if Uhuru wins, will Kenya not have problems with the international community?

    Surely no one but Kenyans can decide this and one must wait awhile to cross that bridge. But I think Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana won elections in 1951 in Ghana while in British colonial jail, and Uhuru at least, is still on trial and has not been jailed yet so there is still some similar legal antecedent to muse over in case Uhuru wins the presidential elections in Kenya

    It is apparent that taxation becomes a huge political problem in hard times in any political system. Here in Nigeria, and as we now know also in Greece, given the Largade List and the name and shame campaign to make rich people, consultants and lawyers to pay taxes in Greece, most rich people go to great extent to dodge taxes. Yet taxes are vital for the supply and maintenance of essential infrastructure like transportation , housing , and security.

    A peculiarity of the Nigerian situation is that tax collection and gathering is done so massively and in a very modern way but the infrastructure on the ground are so old and obsolete that one wonders what the taxes are used for after all.

    In addition Nigerians are so used to constant power failure and would be wondering why people in Bulgaria will be rioting as they did this week because of high austerity taxes and high electricity bills which are a way of life in Nigeria. Yet Nigeria too is a democracy. It is however a unique one that has produced long suffering citizens who never want to rock the boat or bell the cat as long as each person or family is able to make a subsistence level of living literally from hand to mouth, leaving the way for the rich tax dodgers to have a field day and dominate both the political and economic environment maximally. Yet Nigeria is a democracy too but a very calm one where people don’t demonstrate because of high taxes or perpetual power failures or in b-uilt, reinforced, austerity measures from time immemorial.

     

  • Traders assured of democracy dividends

    TRADERS under the umbrella of Market men and Women Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter have been assured of constant dividends of democracy.This is because of their importance in the growth of the state’s economy.

    The assurance came from the President-General of the association, Alhaja (Dr.) Abibatu Magaji at a luncheon organised for her members from all the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas in the state.

    The President-General, who also doubles as the Chairman, Lagos State Market Management Board, asserted that “the importance of this association to the economy of this state, albeit, this country at large can never be over emphasised,” just as she said that “this administration is not unaware of your importance, hence the pride of place it gives you in its day-to-day activities.”

    Mogaji, who was represented at the luncheon that took place at her Alausa, Ikeja residence by the Vice Chairman of the LSMMB, Mrs Folashade Ojo, told the attendees that “nobody would be discriminated against in the scheme of things in the state,” adding that “marginalisation, which has never had a space in our lexicon, will not creep in now because everyone of us is as important as any other person in the association.”

    She therefore urged them to keep on supporting the present administration of Babatunde Raji Fashola to encourage him to do more for the state, just as she advised them to remain peaceful, law abiding reminding that “nothing positive can be achieved in a crisis ridden atmosphere.”

    Mogaji therefore called on her members to always feel free to channel their grievances, series of advice, observations, suggestions and comments through the board, assuring them that “this administration operates an open door policy just as it is a listening one.”

    All the speakers at the well attended luncheon pledged their total loyalty to the leadership of Dr. Abibatu Magaji as well as the Lagos State government, just as they expressed appreciation for carrying them along in the day to day activities of the state.

    Mrs. Ojo, who represented her boss told the newsmen that “this get together is going to be a regular event to brief our people on the goings on in the state and also to address and iron out some knotty issues that might have arisen through our human interactions.”

  • ‘How to make democracy work’

    ‘How to make democracy work’

    It was not all academic activities at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria last week. On Saturday, the Faculty of Law hosted the president of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar. The labour leader was the guest speaker at a public lecture organised by Human Rights Club, a students’ organisation in the faculty, which promotes students rights on campus.

    As early as 9am, the expansive hall of the Centre for Islamic Legal Study (CILS), the lecture venue, was filled to the brim. The Law students sat neatly with staff of the faculty, awaiting the labour leader’s arrival.

    As Omar stepped into the hall, students stood up to catch a glimpse of him. He was received by members of executive of the club.

    In his lecture entitled: The role of Nigerian Labour Congress in the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, Omar noted that the establishment of the labour organisation predated Nigeria’s independence. NLC, he said, was formed in 1912; the amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorates came two years after.

    During the struggle for independence, Omar said the labour union was at the front of the vanguard that fought the British colonialists, adding that the organisation had been a pressure group since its establishment over a century ago.

    He said but for labour’s struggle, the country would not have gained freedom at the time it did. The comrade paid glowing tribute to Michael Imoudu, the first president of the labour organisation, whose contributions, he said, led to the independence of Nigeria from foreign rule.

    According to Omar, the NLC played a prominent role in the sustenance and deepening democratic practice in Nigeria. He said the organisation fought the military regime to a standstill including the regime of Ibrahim Babangida.

    “It was the Labour Union that came out openly and said no to military rule in Nigeria. The NLC fought strenuously against Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) introduced by the Babangida regime,” he said, adding that corruption remained the scourge making democracy impracticable in Nigeria.

    “When Mrs Farida Waziri was appointed the chairperson of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), she visited me. During our discussion, she showed me the list of corrupt individuals in the country. She said Nigeria needed prayers to free it from the shackles of corrupt individuals that prevent its progress,” the NLC leader quipped.

    Omar said the establishment of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) by government was to weaken the power of NLC, adding that successive governments had tried to create parallel labour unions in states to check the “legitimate activities” of the NLC. If this is achieved, Omar said, the labour union would be at the mercy of governors.

    The comrade noted that for democracy to work in Nigeria, there was need to expunge Section 308 of the Constitution which shields elected public officers from prosecution while in office. He said the NLC was not only fighting for the increment of salaries of Nigerians workers but it was also playing A role geared towards strengthening the economy of the country.

    Dr Kabir Issa, a lecturer from the Department of Local Government and Developmental Studies, ABU, who also spoke at the programme, said only revolution could save the country from the monster of corruption. He said Nigeria was lagging behind among its peers in termS of development and economic growth.

    In his address, the Secretary General of the club, Usman Ashafa, said: “It is a true assertion that Nigeria democracy lacks the true internal mechanism of democracy. We hope that after today’s lecture, everyone here will adorn himself in gown of struggle to fight for freedom.”

    Mustapha Katsina, 400-Level Law, said: “We as students are really surprised by Omar’s appearance in person at the public lecture. We are now forced to erase our misgivings about him. We were able to grasp some pivotal issues, which ordinarily we cannot think of. He is indeed a man of virtue and valour.”

    Muhahammad Abdulkadir, another Law student, said: “The lecture of NLC president exposed to a lot of controversial issues. I must say that personally I feel privilege to hear him speak.”

     

  • Dons decry slow growth of democracy

    Two university lecturers, Prof. Dorothy Oluwagbemi Jacobs of the University of Calabar and Dr. Vincent Asor of the University of Port Harcourt, have described the growth of Nigeria’s democracy as poor.

    Giving separate lectures at the Freedom in Chains Lecture Series organised by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Cross River State, they urged the electorate to change the status quo through their massive votes.

    They bemoaned the stagnant growth of democracy in the country, maintaining that what obtains at the moment are indices that have eroded the gains of democracy and inflicted pains on the ordinary people.

    In her lecture titled, “Democracy in third world countries, the Nigerian Experience”, Jacobs said the return of democracy after several years of military rule in the country has only recorded little or no impact on the general populace.

    Jacobs, who is also the Head, Department of Political Science, University of Calabar, said popular participation, which allows the people select their leaders through a free, fair and acceptable election has been jettisoned.

    According to her, “The Nigerian example has been a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. The prevendal and clientelist politics have become common place in Nigeria’s democracy with a handful of patrons of office seekers deciding for the mass of the people. Politics in Nigeria revolves around god-fathers who are themselves gate-keepers.”

    She regretted that the electoral process in the country has been manipulated to suit the whims and caprices of those who want power at all costs thus negating the tenets of democracy.

    She said it was the responsibility of non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, professional groups, among others, to rise up to the occasion of checking the excesses of those in authority for the nation’s democracy to work.

    Also in his presentation titled, “The incursion of progressive politics into a conservative society,” Dr. Vincent Asor of the University of Port Harcourt posited that what is lacking in the nation’s democracy is a case where the ruling junta lacks basic ideology and reform programmes to enact the transformation of the polity.

    According to him, this development accounts for why progressive politics must be embraced for its ability to cater for the generality of the masses through clear-cut ideologies and reformist programmes.

    He added that what Nigeria desires in its transformation drive is what he described as “more democracy” where equal rights and protection of all as against selective bargaining and sectional interest hold sway.

    He lashed out at conservative politics, saying that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) was a typical example whose ideology only values the status quo because of the pecuniary benefits that accrue to the “god-fathers,” while the masses continue to be enslaved.

    He suggested “the broom revolution to sweep conservatism away and allow progressive politics infiltrate the Nigerian society.”

    State Chairman of ACN in Cross River, Comrade Hilliard Eta, expressed the need for the masses to root for change from the present political status in order to be free from the shackles of poverty and under-development.