The Nation Newspaper

Tag: democracy

  • The demonisation of democracy

    The demonisation of democracy

    (Being the chairman’s opening remarks at the annual lecture of the Centre for Constitutionalism and Demilitarisation held on Saturday, December 8th in Lagos)

    The revered guest lecturer, Professor Tim Shaw, distinguished and illustrious Nigerians in the audience, exactly nine years ago when I was invited from America to give the inaugural lecture of the Centre for Constitutionalism and Demilitarisation, the atmosphere was quite different. After almost two decades of brutal military misrule, Nigeria was experiencing a fine spell of civil rule and democratic governance. The economy was buoyant. After a long period of absence, the habits of civil and democratic conduct were beginning to take root in the land once again.

    At that point in time, there had been some hiccups in the system. The executive and the legislature, particularly, the lower house, were beginning to flex their muscles. Political Sharia had reared its ugly head. There had been some acts of executive highhandedness and even lawlessness, particularly in the brutal official reprisal at Odi. There were also muffled complaints about an absentee president who usually returned from long trips abroad to put some spanner in the works.

    But everybody was united in the belief that these minor problems were very surmountable, that some of the infractions were inevitable side-effects and consequences of the authoritarian culture of military rule, that Nigeria will comfortably ride the bumps of adversities. By his personal conduct at that point in time, the president, retired General Olusegun Obasanjo, had shown a zero tolerance for corruption. It was the belief of many that even if Obasanjo did not achieve any other thing, once he was able to rein in the monster of corruption every other good thing would follow.

    Today, it is sad to observe that we seem to have moved from a situation of great hope and expectation to one of utter dejection and despondency. What seems to be going on at the moment is a demonisation and demystification of democracy as the best system of governance ever devised by the human political imagination. Nigerians, particularly some sections of the political class, are bent on giving democracy a bad name in order to hang it.

    But if the political class are bent on committing political suicide, Nigerians have a right to retrieve their country from them before they push it over the cliff together with themselves. All those who suffered greatly in the process of enthroning this civil rule must be prepared to mount a vigil for democracy. The danger signals are there for all to see.

    In contrast to the current parlous situation of the nation, nine years ago seemed like an unfolding paradise. This time around, almost everything that can go wrong in a fragile nation and a more fragile democracy has gone wrong and without powerful countervailing institutions.

    As it was the case in the First Republic, we have a military stretched to the limits of its fabric and professional tether by internal security operations. We have a bitterly divided political elite. We have a situation in which a section of the country has been rendered virtually ungovernable by armed insurrection, with the other sections besieged by social, economic, political and religious vampires and vultures.

    But now in addition to these ancient woes, we have the alarming situation in which ordinary and normal military postings are judged and condemned through the prism of religious and ethnic coloration. We have warlords and powerlords jostling for contention. We have a ruling class that has become a byword for a bizarre and berserk variant of kleptocracy. Never in the history of this country has the run on the Exchequer been more openly defiant and in your face, particularly at the centre.

    The rot has been steady and systemic and did not begin with Goodluck Jonathan. But he has contributed his own valiant quota even where it can be logically argued that he had inherited an unlucky conjuncture. Since the advent of civil governance in 1999, increasingly costly and astronomically prohibitive elections have produced increasingly cruel travesties leading to democratic regressions rather than the consolidation of the democratic process. Civil rule in Nigeria has produced electoral results which cannot stand scrutiny or the elementary tests of integrity. The paradox is that the more costly and prohibitive the elections, the less satisfactory have been the outcome.

    The widely disputed elections of 1999 cost a paltry 8.6 billion naira. Four years later in 2003, the figures had jumped to an outlandish 45 billion naira. The result was an electoral terror which was widely condemned by both the local and international communities. The figures for the 2007 elections have been wisely kept from public scrutiny, which speaks volumes for the transparency and accountability of the officiating government and the integrity of the entire process.

    It was the first time Direct Data Capturing machines were used in the annals of elections in Nigeria. But it is instructive that when the then boss of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Maurice Iwu, attempted to demonstrate the efficacy of the new gadget before the national assembly, the result was a monumental fiasco with the machine not being able to capture any data. Nevertheless, Iwu went ahead to order thousands more of the malfunctioning contraption.

    In the event, the 2007 elections have been adjudged the worst in the history of the nation and probably in the history of humanity. Ballot-snatching, illegal candidate substitution, whimsical disenfranchisement of large sections of the electorate, computer-assisted generation of fake results, vote-switching, criminal manipulation of results and larcenous fabrication of figures became the order of the day. The disputes arising from that inglorious charade were still ongoing four years after. It was the most fraudulent electoral chicanery ever foisted on a people. Many years after, Nigerians are still shell-shocked by the brazen audacity of it all.

    Such was the scale and magnitude of this electoral heist that discerning and perceptive Nigerians began to whisper about the abolition of the Nigerian electorate. The former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, himself famously described the election as a do or die affair. The brutalisation of the average Nigerian psyche by this egregious effrontery has led to an abiding national trauma and widespread fear of the electoral process.

    In a sense, President Jonathan’s election seemed to have restored the hopes of majority of Nigerians in the ballot box. Although there were still widespread allegations of irregularities, particularly ballot-stuffing, vote-inflation and under-age voting, the outcome was adjudged by local and international observers as reflecting the wishes of the majority.

    But thereafter, Jonathan seems to have stumbled from one major political and economic blunder to another. As each new day brought in a fresh wave of revelations about massive scams and unimaginable heists, the authority and legitimacy of government have suffered incalculable damage. The reputation of democracy as a government of the people by the people and for the people has been dealt a fatal blow. So also has its twin legacy as the vehicle for the greatest good of the greatest number.

    In the long run, this brazen kleptocracy will lead to voters’ apathy and an ultimate loss of faith in democratic governance as a means of ameliorating the human condition. In a worst case scenario, the situation may topple into anarchy and the worst form of social miscreancy with unimaginable consequences for both nation and democratic process.

    Many have pointed at the lopsided structure of the country, particularly the overconcentration of power at the centre, as a disincentive to genuine democracy. A few have pointed at the residual and lingering efficacy of the despotic and authoritarian African traditional culture. Many more have ascribed it to some innate psychological conditioning which makes Africans predisposed to undemocratic conduct. It takes a long time for democracy to take roots among traditional non-democrats, it is cautioned.

    Whatever it is, it is now important for all men and women of goodwill to come together to mount a vigil for democracy in Nigeria. The collapse of the current democratic experiment in Nigeria may result in the eventual collapse of the country. If and when that happens, the humanitarian catastrophe for the subcontinent will be of apocalyptic magnitude.

    But if Nigeria can be persuaded to reclaim its destiny as the potential hub of progress and development for less humanly and naturally endowed African countries, it may yet be the African century. For the moment, that hope looks foolish and forlorn. Thank you all.

  • Corruption’s cure is surgery, not softly softly!; Demon of Democracy! A new Armada 2012

    Corruption’s cure is surgery, not softly softly!; Demon of Democracy! A new Armada 2012

    So the thirst season of death is not yet over. Helicopters drop from the sky / Generals and Governors die/ Sabotage, mechanical or human error /Mistake or a form of terror / Their secrets to be buried in the earth/ Just what is a human life worth?/ And who will be next?

    Almost N1,000,000,000,000, one thousand billion naira, spent on fuel imports only because we refuse to operate and police functioning refineries guided by our chemical and petroleum technologists and engineers. This represents lost employment to Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Portugal. Shame!

    This petroleum ‘subsidy’ is only subsidising failure of the refineries and is a N1,000billion needless drain on our resources and a loud attestation to our CINS of Corruption, Incompetence, Negligence and Selfishness. Nigerians in oil power would rather roundtrip to ‘chop our money’ than refine oil for us at home. An intelligent country would have recruited the local technology from the 2,000 ‘illegal’ Niger Delta refineries to make them legal. Hiking prices is not an answer to national governance failure. How can any of our past six rulers in Nigeria explain why a village in the USA has more power than Nigeria at present -4,000Mw.

    Meanwhile British, VIP, Very Imprisoned Prisoner Ibori collects N50m/year as retirement benefit after being a governor. These self-imposed ‘legalised illegalities’, perpetual goodies from the national and state treasury merely for holding political offices are immoral and insult Nigerians and a slap in the face for pensioners denied pension for years. Why should Nigerians be punished in this way. This is not a dividend but a demon of democracy.

    The arrogance with which Senate ‘Rules out’ voting in the diaspora is reminiscent of a military government decreeing stupid laws against natural justice and simple easily implementable IT computer programmes. Remember that many Nigerians collectively send billions home annually as respected citizens. Even Egypt allows diaspora voting. Such voting is available for many countries abroad including France, Germany and the USA. We should demonstrate our ability to recruit our citizens abroad, largely forced abroad by SAP, Babangida, Abacha, poor economy and education and mismanaged democracy. Shame on Senate as we once again lose an opportunity to catch up in democratic ‘modern methods.’

    Of course the Senate knows that 90% of those abroad will never vote for the ruling party because they are themselves political and economic refugees from the same system that is killing us at home. They should also expect to vote. By the 2015 election we would have had, and as usual wasted, four years to prepare and computerise a Diaspora Voters Register for each country through our embassies should not be nuclear physics. Another ‘Democracy Paradise Lost’ opportunity lost to the evil machinations of petty partisan politics.

    Does no one see the big picture –‘Nigeria Okays Diaspora Voting for Passport Carrying Citizens’? It is not too late to make Nigeria great by forcing the Senate to reverse this decision, a slap in the face of millions of Nigerians abroad and our IT capability. After all we have SATNav1 and 2 and thousands of jobless IT ‘experts’ and the voters programme is available for purchase and modification from democratic and IT compliant nations. Senate should not make an undemocratic mountain out of this political molehill. How dare senators attend international parliamentary group meetings when they are so anti-democratic? There should be a letter to Senate ‘Campaign to reverse this obnoxious ruling’.

    Maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar dies at 92, 1920-2012. He popularised internationally, the Sitar, a complex guitar-like Indian instrument to Beatles’ George Harrison, in Bollywood and Attenborough’s Ghandi. A clean living man who kept his reputation against all norms of the period, RIP. Meanwhile many of Nigeria’s greats struggle on without grants, recognition or support or commissions. Bruce Onabrakpeya is 80. When he dies we will have a big cow-killing because ‘we have lost an irreplaceable gem’ party. A museum now will be preferable.

    There are more than 60 large vessels on the Atlantic Coast sitting off the Lagos harbour waiting to enter port, as any news hungry crew with binoculars or a helicopter and a tiny bit of investigative journalistic DNA knows. This 2012 Armada is caused by the massive corruption and lack of management of the ports in Nigeria which have failed to grow to meet demand. The cost is unquantifiable but it must be quantified by social science and political science and NISER staff and student losses to demurrage, to neighbouring countries from diversion of 100s of ships per annum, to multiple corruption layers from different ‘security and anti-corruption’ agencies, to exit ‘fees’ charged by gatemen for container carrying trailers instead of railways- the true mark of a modern container port. ‘Nigeria Incorporated’ must go down in history as the worst run company in the world and a lesson in incompetence and warning to our children as a company that managed to loose.

    Corruption is Nigerian politics’ greatest ‘Dividend of Democracy’ to the Nigeria electorate. But Nigerians know that corruption can and will be stopped immediately, once the conditions are right when the right leaders and followers will be in place. Is a murderer asked to murder less and less or a rapist to rape less and less or a wife beater to beat less and less monthly? Even our police had the checkpoints cut off suddenly by the incumbent IGP –an amazing feat needing repeating.

     

  • Media and sustainable democracy

    Media and sustainable democracy

    The oldest definition of democracy is one in which it is conceptualized as, government of the people by the people and for the people.

    In ancient Greek city states, it was possible for the people to gather in a square and directly take decisions on issues affecting their common wellbeing.

    Overtime, the concept of representative democracy evolved in the fashion of the Kuhnian revolution to supplant direct democracy.

    Central to this concept is that government is a social contract between the people and the rulers and the people as the ultimate sovereign, exercise the right of control on their elected representatives.

    Periodic elections and separation of powers are necessary conditions for democracy. It is through periodic elections and the checks and balances attendant to separation of powers that democracy derives its greatest attraction over other governance forms. Through periodic elections, the people keep a check on leaders’ activities ensuring that the bad ones among them are voted out at the next round.

    Almond and Verba in their classification of political socialization identified three variants of political culture: parochial, subject and participant. For them, the political culture of democracy-civic culture is a combination of the three with the participant variant being the most dominant. By way of contrast, the subject political culture in which the individual makes no input into the system but enjoys the benefit of its output is more easily located in totalitarian states. In the participant variant, the individual has some idea of what the political system is and very well disposed to it. He makes inputs into it and enjoys the benefits from it.

    One point that has been bought to the fore is that there are ordered attitudes, orientations, dispositions and roles that must be played by the people for democracy to survive. And in these, the media have an indispensable role to play.

    The 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in chapter (1) 4(1and 2) vested the legislative powers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the National Assembly which shall have the powers to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation or any part thereof.

    Section 14 (2a) stated that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this constitution derives its powers and authority; while (2c) guarantees the participation by the people in their government.

    It went further in section 22 to state that the press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

    One recurring issue so far is that government is an institution of the people and exists in the main, for their collective good. An essential element of representative government is the legislature through which elected leaders make laws for the general wellbeing of the people.

    Through periodic elections, the people constantly ensure that those who exercise mandate on their behalf use them for public good. This entails regular monitoring of the activities of elected representatives through reports, write-ups and analysis in the media. Monitoring could also be direct or through other informal means. And in this monitoring and keeping a tab on their activities, the media have a very indispensable role to play. Through the media, the people get to know what their representatives do in the national Assembly; their contributions to debate and how reflective of their wishes and aspirations they are. Through the media also, they are able to articulate their preferences on the conduct of legislative activities thereby contributing to the law making process. Misuse of power is expected to attract reprisals- rejection of that representative at the next round of elections. There is also the power of recall of errant lawmakers which is vested on the people of the constituency. These key powers of the people act as a check against the excesses of law makers and work in the direction of responsible conduct which in turn, strengthens democratic practices. For these to happen, there must be free and unhindered flow of information. That is where the freedom of information Act cues in. For the media to play this role very effectively, it must be driven by public interest. The media could also become an impediment to this role especially if money and muscle power get control over it to the point of becoming an economic exercise rather than driven by public good. It is in this regard that some authorities have come up with the term Media Democracy. The driving idea here is that the media must be independent, plural and democratic in its ownership and role perception for it to effectively discharge these functions without which democracy cannot survive.

    Information being the basis for decision-making, there is no doubt that the amount of it available to the people bears direct correlation to their ability to influence legislative outcome. It is a three directional thing involving input, output and feedback. The media convey relevant information on the feelings of the people to the legislature. It also conveys to the general public happenings at the legislature thus increasing their awareness on such events. These in turn, influence action and elicit response from the public which is conveyed back to elected leaders through a feedback system.

    Access to information is essential to the health of democracy for at least two basic reasons. First, it ensures that people make responsible, informed decisions rather than act in ignorance or misinformation.

    Second, information serves as “checking function” by ensuring that elected representatives uphold their oath of office and carry out the wishes of those who elected them.

    In some societies, an antagonistic relationship between the media and the government represents a vital and healthy element of full functioning democracy.

    The national assembly through its oversight functions interfaces with other critical institutions of government.

    Through it, elected leaders ensure that public institutions are run in the overall public good. Since the new dispensation, we have seen such probe committees as the ones on fuel subsidy scandal and the capital market as well as those on constitutional amendment.

    These are responses to concerns by the people on the fraudulent manner fuel subsidy payments and the Capital Market have been managed in this country. The constitutional amendment process is responding to public agitations for a constitution that represents their wishes and aspirations. Most of the issues slated for discussion: state creation, residency clause, State police, local government autonomy and immunity clause have been in the public domain for sometime now.

    The essence of the public hearings is to give the people a say in the amendment process given that the 1999 constitution being a product of the military did not have inputs from the people.

    In this desire to give the people a say in the constitutional amendment process, the media have a pivotal role in providing the necessary information and education that will aid decision.

    But the media must be credible, objective, independent and responsible for it to positively influence public perception and action.

    Excerpts from a paper at a UNDP capacity workshop for the press corps of the Senate held in Makurdi, Benue State.

  • ‘Nigeria needs legislative library to boost democracy’

    ‘Nigeria needs legislative library to boost democracy’

    The Director General, Information Services, House of Commons, London, Mr. John Pullinger, said on Friday that Nigeria needed a well equipped legislative library to boost her democracy.

    Pullinger told the News Agency of Nigeria in a chat at the closing ceremony of the National Training workshop for Legislative Librarians in Nigeria that a sound legislative library would contribute to a well-informed democracy.

    “This means the legislature will be well informed about the business that comes before it.

    “Individual members of the National Assembly (NASS) are well informed to carry out their parliamentary duties in their constituencies.

    “The public is well informed about the importance of NASS in their national life, ‘’ the lawmaker told NAN.

    Pullinger said that there was need for the legislative library to take a leading role in democracy -wide information management activities through the indexing of materials to facilitate access to knowledge.

    He urged legislative librarians and politicians to be avid readers, so as to be well informed and equipped to manage democracy.

    He also advised them to be good role models to the youth, mentoring them to be true citizens.

    He called for frequent training and guidance to staff in the use of information, particularly online resources and Library services to position them to meet up with global best practices.

    Also speaking to NAN, Alhaji Suleiman Mohammed, Director, Library Research and Statistics at the National Assembly, said the conference was convened to create an opportunity for the legislative librarians to upgrade their knowledge.

    Mohammed said that there was need to gather legislative librarians from all the states to build their capacity so as to learn from each other and keep abreast with modern technology, especially e-library.

     

  • Nigeria’s democracy improving, says Mark

    THE Senate President, David Mark, yesterday hailed the nation’s democratic experience.

    He described democracy as a superior form of government premised on the respect for man as a reasonable being.

    He noted democracy is also a difficult system of government because “it requires the highest qualities of self discipline, restraint, a willingness to make commitment and sacrifices for the general interest.”

    Mark spoke while presenting a lecture titled “Democracy and Democratisation in Nigeria: The Journey so far” at the fourth convocation lecture of Anambra State University at Igbariam campus.

    He praised members of the National Assembly for successfully amending the 1999 Constitution in 2010 and passed the Electoral Act, 2010.

    He said that the passage gave both INEC and the Judiciary a first line charge on the consolidated Revenue Fund.

     

  • Dividends or Demands of Democracy? Envir/ Land Use Demands – Terrorist Taxation: A ’penkele mess’

    Dividends or Demands of Democracy? Envir/ Land Use Demands – Terrorist Taxation: A ’penkele mess’

    Alhaji Lam Adesina, Former Governor and ACN leader in Oyo State is dead. We console his family. May he Rest in Peace. His legacy, limitations and achievements, will be analysed politically. All governors must think of their legacy. Today the living working citizens have serious economic challenges in Oyo State aggravated by IGR strategies. This requires intervention by current Governor Ajimobi.

    A letter from a State Commissioner may appreciate you for ‘services rendered’ or be an Internally Generated Revenue Demand. The citizens are asking from government agencies ‘When is a ‘‘legality’’ an immorality?’ Bad Breaking News 1 on 1-11-2012: The Environmental Ministry’s Commissioner Dauda signed a dreaded ‘Demand Notice: Annual Environment Development Charges’ for my and hundreds of other business premises, N50,000/annum backdated 3 years to 2009 before this government came in. This N200,000 is payable ‘within three weeks or you.. ]face] a fine, imprisonment, seal of premises – 2004 law.

    Bad Breaking News 2 on 29-10-12: Courier letter dated 29-10-2012 delivered on 9-11-2012 -10 days lost. Finance Commissioner Adelabu signed to me and hundreds of others a 2012 Land Use Charge of N126,000 for commercial use of building within 30 days. We could pay a discounted N107,000 if paid by 13-11-12, N157,500 paying between 13-28 Dec, N189,000 paying between 29 Dec-Jan 28 2013 and N252,000 paying between 29 Jan-28 Feb 2013, or ‘property will be liable to receivership by the state or its agent and any other ENFORCEABLE reliefs.

    How can a charge double in four months? Does that make it easier to pay? Is this mere law enforcement or extortion? Is this bad political advice, legalised illegality or political rascality like when ‘people’ working during Adedibu/Akala’s time extorted up N20,000 ‘within one week’ from Ibadan businesses for ‘fire protection’? Those promoting excessive government charges should explain and perhaps be ‘sued’ by Civil Society and Consumer Protection Agencies. Are these government charges, their size, time frame, threat factor and insulting wordings not ‘terrorist tactics/Tax Terrorism similar to colonial taxation? Imagine if we had enforcing state police. We should feel at home in a state we love, not in occupied territory.

    Let public officials publish their own payments for charges in their business officers and homes. We hear the Residence Charges are coming also. What an unpleasant End of Year present from Government for an ‘annus horribilis’ with the January fuel strikes, poor power, dwindling business, November fuel scarcity and N120/litre fuel. Now triple taxation! Does government want blood from stone?The Governor, as a professional, businessman and politician, should please intervene. Can the Governor please cut the fees by 80% and cut out corruption opportunities of ‘negotiation’? A little from a lot of citizens is better than a lot from a few. Obama and the Red Cross made ‘billions’ from millions of $10-50 donations and not $1000s from a few.

    These charges may breach the human rights of citizens who deserve civility not ‘demands’. Just because someone calls it ‘TAX’ or ‘Charge’ or ‘Demand’ does not make it morally correct in amount. Even if it is ‘legitimate’ and ‘IGR’, Fellow Nigerian citizens need protection from overzealous taxation. Where is the Citizens Ombudsman? The authors of excessive tax bills should be cautioned and sanctioned because their wild assessments are causing panic among their tax victims, the voting Nigerians of 2015. This ‘mental assault’ intimidates the citizens and the letters should be rewritten. There should be trust and mutual respect between citizens and government, not a master servant relationship. This is not a human face of government.Does no one uphold the SERVICON pact not to abuse the citizens’ trust and respect?

    Would the Commissioners writing these letters be happy to receive letters promising such violence and vitriol? The bills are too high, too late in the year, with too short a notice for payment and too severe punishments. Does government want us to steal to pay these bills? Whenever the amount is agreed, bills and rents can be more easily paid by 12 monthly instalments like in civilised countries instead of once annually, ‘within one month’. An honest business professional could lose his business for this while the dishonest one will pay up and even ‘bribe up’. Meanwhile billions are stolen in government inflated contracts and corruption nationwide daily for no punishment.

    IGR must be ‘Intelligently’ and empathetically collected. Are these letters different from the threatening text messages and letters sent by Boko Haram, kidnappers and robbers forcing citizens to pay ‘protection’? They have ‘legal’ backing but every schoolboy knows the quote ‘The law is an ass’ and interpreted differently by every lawyer and judge. Indeed the ‘law is a manipulated ass’ used by authorities to legalise immorality. The principle of environmental care and land use are good but extortion is not.

    Firstly a charge for 2012 is issued in November 2012. Secondly, which financial wizardry makes N126,000 malignantly become N252,000 in four months, 300% interest per annum? Is that legal? Neither the Mafia nor Shakespeare’s Shylock and his ‘pound of flesh’ charge such interest rates? A la Adelabu of old, this is a ‘’penkele mess’’ demand of democracy, not a dividend. The citizen needs protected from government agents paid by citizens’ taxes. Struggling business, education and health services lift the state’s income and reputation. They are not pariah or the enemy but partners in state progress. The governor can intervene. For me, Agodi prison is a real 2013 possibility.

  • Aregbesola: social justice, rule of law vital to democracy

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday said social justice and the rule of law are vital for sustainable democracy.

    He said the absence of the two is causing avoidable socio-economic challenges in the country.

    Aregbesola spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, at a workshop organised by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

    The theme of the workshop is: “Social justice and the rule of law: The panacea for peaceful co-existence in Nigeria.”

    Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Titi Laoye-Tomori, Aregbesola said no concrete development could occur in a society without equal rights and opportunities.

    Describing the workshop as “laudable and necessary”, the governor said social justice and the rule of law are central to sustainable democracy and meaningful governance cannot be achieved without them.

    He said it is encouraging that officers manning NOA Social Justice Centres across the country were periodically trained.

    Aregbesola said: “It worries the mind that Nigeria has not nationally accorded social justice and the rule of law the necessary attention.

    “Nigeria is stranded in the pit bog of avoidable socio-economic challenges because the two core ingredients of democracy outlined in this theme have been either half-heartedly appropriated or ignored completely. “This explains why our democracy appears to fit the common description of being nascent, despite our return to democracy 13 years ago.

    “Peaceful co-existence among the various major and minor ethnic groups in the country has also been under threat at different times, owing to what is perceived as the inequality enabled by the political economy in place.

    “We are witnesses to the common development in which citizens rejoice openly over the misfortune of public office holders simply because they are convinced that those individuals came into sudden wealth at their expense.”

  • No true democracy in Nigeria, says Belgore

    Former Chief Justice of Nigeria Alfa Belgore has decried the infrastructural decay in the country.

    The problem, he said, was responsible for lack of true democracy in the country.

    The retired jurist spoke yesterday at the fourth Justice Bola Babalakin annual lecture organised by the Osogbo branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

    He said it would take some time before Nigeria gets true democracy where people’s wishes and what is good for the country prevail.

    In the lecture, titled: “Nigeria Constitution. What is the future?” Justice Belgore, who is the chairman of the constitution review committee, berated the political class for the nation’s infrastructural decay.

    He said it is preferable that Nigeria is called a federation rather than federal republic.

    “I will like our country to be called a federation of Nigeria rather than the Federal Republic of Nigeria, because we are not a true republic as our culture do not reflect the republican tendency.

    “What type of republic is this that has traditional rulers – the Obas, the Obis, the Emirs and others?

    “The truth is that we are a federation and not a republic.

    “Whenever there is a crisis in this country, these rulers mobilise their subjects for peaceful settlement. We cannot do without them.

    “I believe entirely in the united, peaceful and economically vibrant nation of Nigeria, but we have to have a rethink of the constitution without the interference of the military,” he said.

    He noted that from 1979 till date the country has only had constitutions that are irrelevant, difficult to practise and expensive.

    He said: “We do not have to be like the United States, because our history, our cultures and our ambitions are different.”

    Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, Governor Rauf Aregbesola faulted the 1999 Constitution.

    He called for the review of the constitution which he said did not provide for the present democratic system.

    Aregbesola urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the process that would lead to a review of the constitution which will be devoid of the deficiencies inherent in the current one.

  • No true democracy in Nigeria – Belgore

    No true democracy in Nigeria – Belgore

    Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore (Rtd.), has decried the ubiquitous presence of infrastructural decay in all parts of the country, saying with the decay the country was yet to experience true democracy.

    The retired jurist, who on Thursday delivered the fourth Justice Bola Babalakin annual lecture organized by the Osogbo branch of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Osogbo, Osun State capital, said that it will take some time before Nigeria gets true democracy where people’s wish and what is good for the country shall prevail.

    In the lecture titled: “Nigeria Constitution: What is the future?” Justice Belgore, who is the Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, berated the political class for the nation’s infrastructural decay.

    He said it is preferable that Nigeria is called a federation rather than the federal republic.

    “I will like our country to be called federation of Nigeria rather than the federal Republic of Nigeria, because we are not a true republic as our culture does not reflect the republican tendency.

    “What type of republic is this that has traditional rulers – the Obas, the Obis, the Emirs and others? The truth is that we are a federation and not a republic. Whenever there is crisis in this country, these traditional rulers mobilize the populace for peaceful settlement. We cannot do without them.

    “I believe entirely in the united, peaceful and economically vibrant nation of Nigeria, but we have to have a rethink of the constitution without the interference of the military,” he said.

    He noted that from 1979 till date the country has only had constitutions that are irrelevant, difficult to practise and very expensive.

    He said: “We do not have to be like United States, because our history, our cultures and our ambitions are different from any of those so called advanced countries,”

    Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, the Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, faulted the 1999 Constitution.

    He called for the immediate review of the present constitution which, according to him, did not provide necessary provisions for the present democratic system.

     

  • Nigeria at 52: Pathways to sustainable democracy and rebirth

    Nigeria at 52: Pathways to sustainable democracy and rebirth

    It sounds strange biologically and indeed laughable, if not unfortunate, to speak of rebirth of a country at 52 still gappling with the intricacies of how to even leave together; but democracy and the rule of law is not a finished product that is graffated into society rather its an evolutionary process that grows with the growth of a society, a dynamic task in constant progress (or sometimes even regress). Adopting democracy ,therefore, has not been an easy task, especially for Africans given their cultures and societies often steeped in hierarchical traditions, patrilineal dogmas and deeply religious traditions. Besides, the challenge of dialectics of two publics ( see Eke primordial and civic realms) on account of colonization. wherein an African or a Nigerian belongs to both realm he is not governed by the same morality or value template due to greater attachment to the primordial realm, the civic public or governmental realm is where you are expected take from(or steal) to saturate the primordial realm unlike the Europeans that has loyalty only to the civic public. The orientation of successive leaders that took over from the generation of those who fought for and secured independence and left governace frameworks that were abandoned with atttendant crises that have made national unity, progress and development difficult if not impossible. The difficulty of the task is universal, for in truth when we consider that; “the process of democracy building took between 27 and 256 years in Britain, between 78 and 168 years in France, between 30 and 80 years in Germany, between 30 and 70 years in the USA, and about 50 years in Japan (Karl-Heinz Nassmacher, 2003), then we must not only dwell on our difficulties, but collectively identify and confer through election authority on those Nigerians that are ready to make the required sacrifices that would turn around our development trajectory because the only thing that has seperated Nigeria from the rest of the developed world is leadership.At 52 we should only take measured satisfaction on our collective current efforts and how to sustain them, that we are alive to inspire hope, courage, find solace and ponder upon the pathways for future progress.

    At such times like this,we must remind ourselves of our own history as a people that given that we have been brought together by the event of 1914 that was not an act of God but the action of a human being, Lord Lugard, we should be together as a country for mutually assured prosperity and not Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). While this may be easy to say, the task of development which brings about prosperity has not been fully defined globally, some have defined development strictly on the terms of economic growth, using indicators like the productivity, employment rate and similar ratios and averages, while others have criticized this narrow perception of development, insisting that such averages do not tell the full picture preferring social indices which show not only the summation of economic growth but also the relationship of the people in a country with themselves, the degree of satisfaction and happiness derived from living in the total environment, as well as the safety and security of the people who live and thrive within the country

    At the milestone of five decades and two years, we are afforded another opportunity to define for ourselves, what the value of development means to us as a country, is it prosperity for our individual selves and our close friends? Is it prosperity for our specific tribes, religious groups and gender, age group or club members at the expense of others? This understanding is a crucial building block for our wellbeing because, we may strive, fight and even go to war for the sake of prosperity but never attain it because even when we are prosperous we may never know except we have set a benchmark to remind ourselves that indeed we had a goal and we can recognize when we get there.

    To define the goals of development for our country, therefore, we need to define what we mean by development, agree upon basic rules and pathways to get there, accept that as human beings which do not always find similar satisfaction in the same things at all times and on the same occasion regarding each and every sphere of endevours, we are bound to have differences in appreciation and satisfaction on the pathways to get to our common goal of development, such agreements cannot come within one day, one year or even ten years, and as we have learnt in our national case, may even be difficult to achieve even after 52 years given the enclave and backward mentality of a few but powerful elites on account of power relations.

    More important, to reach the goal of a common understanding for our development, we have to cast our consensual agreements in plastic, so that we may be able to remind those who which to drag us all from that part of development that we have a common compact. I use the term casting in plastic rather than casting in stone, because in practice, laws even national compacts in the form of constitutions are made for the requirements of some time frames, and practices over time may prove some laws impracticable or we may find that the benefits of using such laws are not worth the cost to society, and therefore accept that they need to be changed, modified or scrapped, these are not unusual but important baby-steps in the journey to democratic consolidation.

    We are at the threshold of such a moment in our country, for having practiced democracy in bits and pieces for sometime before 1983 and briefly in 1992- 1993, we have learnt useful lessons ( and here I hope I speak for all of us) about what works and what is unhealthy for our national development, we are all agreed that the process of transition of power, how it empowers or dis-empowers voters who decide what type of leadership they want is at the heart of our development goals, because when the right people decide development policy and take the views and sensitivities of Nigerians into consideration, we are likely to find peaceful progress, but how we implement that agreement is still ongoing.

    Agreeing on common things is not often an easy exercise between people even people with similar backgrounds, let alone a country with very much diversity like Nigeria, this is why rather than agreement, people use words like consensus, rapprochement and understanding. And for this reason matters which affects us in common need not be a win-lose affair, to exemplify this type of mind-set, we have recently witnessed budget issues between the executive and legislative arms of government. while it is understandable that budgets are issues of allocation of funds to interests and priorities, at the core of the process is the matter of common development, hence trade-offs and understanding should inform such national issues that are fundamental to development. For a budget is actually a financial plan, a forecast of intentions and how funds should be allocated to them to attain progress, even though it is initiated by the executive, modified and approved by the legislature, and the Act interpreted by the judiciary in cases of legal uncertainty when necessary, the impacts and benefits of a budget are not confined to any of these three arms of governance, these impacts and benefits are intended for the whole country, so if there are losers and gainers, the Nigerian people and the Nigerian nation, their gains and loss should inform the decisions of the people in any of these arms of governance, which is why having a common understanding of the issue of what development means to all of us is crucial.

    Current discussions have been focused on how and what we accept as a compact on the pathways to such development through a constitutional review. At the stage of 52 years, we must therefore be able to diverge from the failed pathways of the past 51 years, including the use of methods which we have repeated often and which bore very little fruit by way of development, hence in the next 50 years, our focus should start with three priorities on the pathway to consolidating our democratic quest, one is to agree and return Nigeria to development framework of federalism with all its essential features as given to us by our forefathers , Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Zik and others whose periods of leadership remained the golden era of development in our history, a consensual definition and goal for development, we should find common grounds to reach an agreement on the basics of a constitutional arrangement to strengthen federalism without destroying the strengths of unity in diversity and finally is the need to settle ones and for all time the electoral mechanisms for peaceful transition of power starting with an accepted methodologies and severe sanction for violation of party primaries election of candidates internal democracy laws within the parties given that political parties are the building bricks of internalized democratic culture in a society. In settling the process of transition we must keep in mind that there are 812 executive positions and over 1000 legislative positions including state and local council legislative positions which are contested politically in Nigeria, therefore, no one position or office is worth destroying the whole superstructure in other to have and assert it for just a particular time-frame. May God bless and save Nigeria as we should work more and pray less because God almighty has given us what is required to be one of the greatest countries in the world but leadership is what seperates us and remained our challenge not absence of prayers.

     

    Igini is the REC, Cross River State.