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  • Coups: What African presidents should do, by Oyebode, Keshi, Ogunsanwo

    Coups: What African presidents should do, by Oyebode, Keshi, Ogunsanwo

    Former Nigerian Ambassador to the United States (U.S.), Joe Keshi, a one-time Ambassador to Belgium, Prof. Alaba Ogunsanwo and a renowned professor of International Law and Jurisprudence Akin Oyebode, have urged African leaders to look inwards on the incursion of military into power in Africa.

    The leaders must tell themselves to go by the rules of democracy.

    According to them, if politicians are being elected for a specific duration of years or terms, they should respect the term limits and vacate the government houses for others who win.

    In separate interviews, following the global outcry against the coup in Gabon, they said the consequence of what is happening in the Central African country was the desire of some politician to perpetrate themselves in power.

    Keshi said: “When ECOWAS was making noise about Niger. I said coup could happen anywhere in the next few weeks. Will ECOWAS invade?

    “So, what will happen now? What will the AU say about Ali Bongo, who has been sick, and has been in power and can’t even walk very well, and now stood up for another election… His father spent 40 years and handed over to him. Why could he not prepare to hand over to his son, if that’s the best the country can get?

    “Yes, there is poverty in the land, but the economy of Gabon is doing very well, because it’s really a rich country itself. But, in the absence of democracy, people are making a choice.

    “You go and rig an election to perpetrate yourself in power; this is the consequence of it all. If a coup happens in Zimbabwe tomorrow, would anybody be surprised? The man in Zimbabwe is above 80 years. Why doesn’t he just take another military man and say: ‘Look! Stand for the party’? And everybody will say at least there is an element of democracy. They want to selfishly perpetrate themselves in office, they want to continue to live in the palace; they want to continue their corrupt practices.

    Read Also: Palliatives: Why we delayed distribution – Makinde

    “This is the consequence of the refusal of African leaders today, to allow democracy to flourish, to allow the people to make the decision about who they want to lead them.

    “In 1991, after election in Namibia, I went to see the leader of opposition in Namibia, as the results were announced, the second day. We had a conversation, and I said, how do you guys feel?’ He said, ‘We feel very happy that there will be no problem.’ And I said, ‘are you sure?

    “What are we going to protest? The system of election is very fair, and there’s nothing to complain about. So, we have no reason to quarrel. It was not rigged, people were allowed to vote, and the voting was done very well, because the United Nations (UN) conducted the elections.’ So, when you conduct a peaceful credible election, nobody contests the election, and the country will go on.

    “So, we must hold African leaders, irrespective of who they are, responsible. The leaders of our country are responsible for all our problems. People say followers. Followers mirror what the leaders do.

    Ogunsanwo, who explained that military coups are not peculiar to Africa, said: “Bongo is someone disgracing us abroad. He is incapacitated, and his people cannot do anything about it.

    “He went to meet President Emmanuel Macron recently. Macron had to hold him when they met, otherwise he would fall. He had to be carried up, otherwise he would have fallen. If he was in his right senses, he should have told the people to pick someone else. Incapacitated, instead he changed the constitution and wanted to win again.

    “He went back home and changed the constitution to say he wanted a third term; of course, he violated everything which was a civilian coup.

    “The soldiers are saying the man should go and rest. He has made a broadcast to say he is inside the presidential palace. His wife and son are somewhere else and that people should shout so that they will not kill him.

    “China has said that he should be treated well. Apart from him being close to France, he is also close to China in the sense that he goes to visit and they don’t ask what is going on in his territory. All of which is out in the media. Each country has its own problem, which must be seen from that angle.

    “How many leaders have we seen like that going abroad and disgracing their country and coming back to say he wants to be president for life.

    “We are told that Nigeria should intervene because he is from Nigeria, because during the civil war he was one of the people from the Southeast that went to Gabon. Gabon recognised Biafara then. He was adopted by a family.

    “It is at this point that he began to climb up! Even if it is so, it was a story that came out in 2015 and not today. The story is also online. Even if he is from Nigeria, he has not identified with Nigeria in any way.

    “My position is that once we deal with a particular issue, we should look at the aspects of the whole issue. There are many African countries that have never seen a coup. In terms of Gabon, let the Gabonese sort themselves out, which they will do. Gabon is a member of Economic Committee of Central African States. In Cameron, the president has been on seat for over 40 years and no one is talking and it is going to be on and on there.”

    Prof. Oyebode described the situation as “an unhappy one”.

    He recommended good governance and observance of the tenets of democracy as some of the way to curb such occurrence.

    The professor of Law said: “It’s an unhappy one. Look at the one in Gabon. The family had held the country to ransom for almost 50 years, passing from father to son. The military people are opportunists. They see the opportunity to seize power.

    “The antidote is good governance and observance of the principles of democratic world. That’s the only way you can avoid possible takeover of government and there’s no shortcut for it.

    “Every country should advance the course of democracy and good governance to avoid adventurists taking over governments. Where there’s good governance and there’s observance of democracy, it becomes difficult for military adventurists to possibly take over power.”

  • Civil society groups’ role in credible polls, by Oyebode, others

    As the general elections open on February 16, with the presidential and National Assembly polls,all eyes are on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a credible exercise. Will the electoral umpire live up to expectations? Discussants at the 15th Chief Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture held in Lagos looked at INEC’s role in elections vis-a-vis its independence. ADEBISI ONANUGA was there.

    FOR the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), January 15 of every year has become a date with history. The late Gani Fawehinmi was a staunch member of the branch. He was called to the Bar on January 15, 1965. The branch has been having an annual lecture on that date to mark his call to Bar since 2004, five years before his death in 2009.

    On Tuesday, discussants gathered in Lagos for the 15th in the series of the lectures. It was titled: Securing the independence of INEC – A panacea for a free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.

    At the event were law teachers, lawyers, members of civil society organisations (CSOs), students and traditional rulers.

    It was chaired by Justice Habeeb Abiru of the Court of Appeal, Jos division.

    The Issues

    In less than four weeks, the country will again go to polls to elect candidates for the office of the president and the National Assembly.

    The general election will hold at a time that the country is experiencing a lot of political interplays between the ruling political party and the opposition. For instance, the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the Electoral Act amended by the Senate is considered suspect by the opposition; the attempt by the Senate to fix time table for the elections is seen as interference in the powers and duties of INEC to organise credible elections.

    Only a few days ago, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnonghen was accused of alleged false asset declaration, threatening his continued stay in office and the independence of the judiciary.

    According to Professor of International law, Akin Oyebode, these are “truly enduring perilous times in the political life of the nation when unprecedented accusations, counter-accusations and incriminations are shaking Nigeria to its very foundations all because of the internecine struggle for political power through elections which should, as in other climes, be a joyous occasion and celebration of democracy, unaccompanied by threats and self-doubt threatening the vitality of the electoral process”.

    It was against this background that the role and place of the electoral umpire – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the attainment of free, fair and credible elections, though, a testy issue in the politics of the country, came under discussion.

    INEC’s role in credible polls

    Prof Oyebode, the guest lecturer, noted that in a fledgling democracy such as ours, the electoral umpire is often “an object of recriminations, brick-bats, accusations and counter-accusations.

    “This is because the political gladiators usually mistake the wood for the trees and would stop at nothing to secure a larger size of the pie.

    “For many of them, the contestation for power is a fight to finish, a bitter internecine war where the first casualty is, more often than not, the truth.

    “This do-or-die mentality spares no-one and the electoral umpire is often caught in the cross-fire of the opposing political parties so much so that in the final analysis, a lot of heat is generated with little or no light”.

    Oyebode advised that it was necessary for all concerned to bear in mind that INEC is a creature of law and, therefore, should always evince strict compliance with the country’s laws and Constitution.

    He added: “In constituting its membership, the appointing authority should exercise due diligence and ensure compliance with both its constituent law as well as the Constitution in order to obviate the hue and cry as was recently seen regarding the pedigree of one of the National Commissioners.”

    When an INEC official should step aside

    According to the scholar, once the integrity of any member of the commission has been impugned, he should step aside, emphasising that nothing should be done to make it look as if the stage was being manipulated.

    Akinbode said: “All of INEC’s functionaries should be above board and if and when found to have compromised their status, should be immediately disciplined and, or have their services dispensed with. A situation should not be allowed where there is distrust or mistrust between it and stakeholders”.

    He said: “INEC is empowered to issue necessary and proper guidelines to facilitate its activities”. However, INEC’s power should be exercised with discretion in order not to cause suspicion. For example, the registration of 91 political parties however well-intentioned, is today reminiscent of a case of the medicine being worse than the disease! INEC is well advised to remember the dictum that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and, therefore, in the application of laws, it should not wreak greater injury on the polity.

    “In the same vein, INEC should cease and desist from anticipatory implementation of laws. For example, while the use of smart card readers or electronic transmission of election results might appear justifiable on account of their enhancement of the electoral process, it is untenable to do so without an effective legislation thereto. There should be a clear distinction between law de lege lata and de lege ferenda”, he said.

    How to secure INEC’s independence

    Prof Oyebode suggested that for INEC to be independent to conduct a free, fair and credible election, civil society organisations must insulate it from interference by the executive arm and  political elites.

    “The independence of the body must be safeguarded and guaranteed by a conscious and vigorous civil society, in a position to defend it from any and all attempts to whittle down its ability to function without let or hindrance”, he said.

    Oyebode noted that the necessity for a nexus between INEC and civil society in order to enhance its independence is pretty obvious. He said that in its quest for independence, INEC has few to turn to other than civil society. He said civil society should enlist in the vanguard of sentinels for the independence of INEC in the overall interest of the polity.

    He noted, for instance, that the executive arm could influence INEC proceedings by delaying or withholding budget allocations to it.

    He said: “INEC should be able to solicit the assistance of civil society organisations, professional groups and the people generally to bring pressure to bear on the executive to compel it do the needful in order not to impede or frustrate INEC activities”.

    ‘An unbiased electoral body does not drop from the sky’

    According to Oyebode, it would be pretty difficult if not impossible actually to attain a free, fair and credible election.

    He said the task for attaining this should not be that of INEC but also that of the rest of the population which he said has a greater role to play in achieving this objective.

    He noted that the parties in contention in the coming elections “would wish they had INEC on a leash but then, they should have an alert and vigorous civil society to contend with.

    “However, the question we have to answer now is, is civil society ready and willing to stand up for and with INEC in the face of a clear and present danger to its very existence and optimal functioning?”, he asked.

    The erudite professor said, “Where and when the independence of the electoral body cannot be taken for granted, one can as well bid goodbye to free, fair, credible and transparent elections.

    “An unbiased and non-partisan electoral body does not drop from the sky. It has to be created and nurtured by law and driven by men and women of unimpeachable character and the right disposition for it to effectively perform its ascribed role”.

    ‘INEC can’t be umpire and player’

    He noted again that INEC as the electoral umpire, cannot act as both a player or participant in the coming contest as well as rule enforcer in the game of political power, hence the necessity to insulate it from the rumble and tumble of electioneering and struggle for attainment of political power.

    “For as long as democracy entails equality of access to political competition, there remains a felt need for an independent body to ensure a level playing field, fairness and equity among competing rivals. If this was not the case, then the entire exercise becomes a charade and pre-determined game of musical chairs where the winner is, more often than not, predictable”, he said.

    Oyebode observed that true electoral democracy lie in the sanctity of the laws governing the process and untrammeled fidelity to laws guaranteed by a fearless and decisive umpire who enjoys the confidence of the population, without which he said “things can very easily descend into chaos, street riots, murder and mayhem, perpetrated through self-help arising from loss of faith and confidence in the system and perceived injustice by those who believe they have been done in and are holding the wrong end of the stick of political and social injustice”.

    He, therefore, urged the ruling class to demonstrate fidelity to the laws guiding the electoral process and abide by the injunctions of the electoral umpire “if the political leadership does not intend to pull down the roof down on themselves”.

    He also advised INEC to exercise its powers to issue necessary and proper guidelines to facilitate its activities with discretion in order not to bring the roof down on everyone.

    “It is not enough that INEC has done justice to all the parties, that fact must be placed squarely in the public domain and perhaps the best instrumentality for effecting this is civil society. It is totally unacceptable as is currently alleged for INEC to be taken hostage and made an object of blackmail by political forces and vested interests in a rabid bid to interfere in its activities and bend it in order for it to see things their own way.

    “While there is tremendous foreboding across the land for the next elections and, especially the aftermath thereof, it is important that we keep hope alive and insist on what is right “, Oyebode advised.

    Senior lawyers’ role

    Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) and lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and suggested that for INEC to be independent, senior lawyers must assist the commission to conduct a free and fair elections.

    Alegeh stressed the need for the political elites to allow INEC to work freely and independently to ensure success of the elections saying, “if we don’t, we would be living in a fool’s paradise.

    “INEC must remain independent and we as lawyers must keep fighting to ensure that INEC remains independent”, he said, adding that it is the constitutional duty of INEC to produce the rules for the election.

    “It is wrong to attempt to fix the dates for election for INEC. It is against the constitution. By attempting to do that, we are reducing the constitution to mere books”, he said.

    Alegeh added: “all issues of election should be left to INEC and to put in place electoral guidelines for us as dictated by the law”.

    Falana said appointment of chairman and members of INEC must come by advertisement as stipulated by the law in order for the commission to be free from interference.

    Falana blamed lawyers for initiating election petitions, explaining that some lawyers often would approach those who have lost elections that they can handle their petitions for them.

    He advised that once an election petitioner has lost at the tribunal, lawyers should stop encouraging them to appeal such decisions.

    He said some lawyers don’t write briefs but only appear in courts for the purpose of reaching out to judges.

    He said every President must be made to swear to oath to comply with Chapter 2 of the constitution in order not to turn the country to a fascist state.

    ‘Keep amended Electoral Act out of polls’

    Dele Adesina (SAN) advised INEC not to incorporate any part of the amended Electoral Act in the guidelines for the elections since the bill was not sign into law by the President. He said the refusal of the president to sign the amended Electoral Act is a good step in the right direction.

    He emphasised the need for the political elites to start trusting all those appointed into INEC to midwife the election saying, “INEC would not be composed of angels but human beings”.

    How prepared is INEC for the elections?

    The Akwa Ibom Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mike Ighini, assured that INEC was ready to conduct credible elections in the country. He said the issue of delay of election materials and other logistics that causes delay in the past elections had been taken care of.

    He said INEC vision is to end the election tribunal in the country. According to him, INEC is one of the federal executive bodies created under Section 153 of the Constitution and given power to organise, undertake and to conduct election to those offices listed in the constitution.

    “But we missed the presidential democracy with parliamentary system in this part of the world. Under democracy, when the law of the land creates an institution, they are given power to do certain things. Section 160 gives powers to INEC to make rule and regulation and imposed duties on any person in the discharge of their duties”, he said.

    Iginni reiterated that INEC would make use of card readers for elections, noting that is supported by the law.

    “The use of card readers, PVC constitute to procedures. Section 73 of the Electoral Act combines the set of the tools for INEC to make rules and regulation for the conduct of elections. Some people are saying that INEC do not have power to use card readers. Regrettably, the judgment of the Supreme Court after the 2015 election on the use of card readers was neither here nor there. Section 49 (1) (2) of the Electoral Act dwells more of the issue, go and read it. .

    “The use of card reader is to cure, to bring remedy and credibility to the voters accreditation. And by so, we are satisfied to determine the credibility of election. A rigged election is tantamount to shooting the hip of democracy.

    “So, in 2019 elections, we are using the card reader and there will be no incident form this time.  INEC has not breached any provision of the constitution. If votes do not count, people will lose faith in the ballot system and election democracy”, he said.

    Ighini blamed the political elites for the various problems militating against the conduct of free and fair elections.

    To him, “the problem of INEC is not that of independence but that of political elites. The elites are the most dangerous people that have continued to destroy the independence of INEC”.

    Ighini said that in spite of all constitutional safe guards, the political elites are planning to undermine everything they are doing in INEC.

    “When they found out we are planning to register voters, they took steps to undermine it. Whereas,  a credible register is the foundation of any credible election”.

    He lamented that politicians are now collecting phone numbers and account numbers of the electorate and making deposits into them preparatory to elections as part of their road-blocks for the coming elections.

    “Buying of votes is a debasement of the ballot. INEC would do what it needs to do and give purpose to the ballots in the coming elections”, he assured.

    He emphasised that credible election cannot happen in Nigeria unless INEC does its ‘midwifery’ role well and sanitise the electoral system, noting that that is why securing the independence of INEC is imperative.

    Honour for Gani

    Earlier, Justice  Abiru said he learnt a lot from the late Fawehinmi in the course of his numerous legal battles in the courtroom stressing that he owed much of his successes to  the late human rights activist.

    Though he never had any tutelage under  Gani, Justice Abiru recalled that he used to go to any court where Gani was to appear and watched how he handled his cases.

    Abiru urged young lawyers to imbibe exemplary courtroom and legal practice conduct of senior colleagues.

    He said: “I was to have been back in Jos but I took permission to stay back in Lagos because I have agreed to chair this lecture so that I can share the virtues I learnt from Chief Gani Fawehinmi. He taught me that in order to have a successful practice, you had to invest in your practice. He had one of the best law libraries in the country and he was also a very courteous person’

    “I did not work in his chambers but this was what I learnt from going to court to listen to and watch Gani Fawehinmi. I hope young lawyers today will imbibe this trait, if there is a senior you will like to replicate, go to court and watch them.Gani Fawehinmi was my light in my darkness of legal practice and I thank him today,” Justice Abiru said.

    Presentation of cash prizes

    The occasion also marked the presentation of  a cash prize of N200,000 to the best graduating student at the 2018 Bar Final examination of the Nigerian Law School, Naomi Ekob.

    A graduate of Afe Babalola University and the first recipient of the award, Ekob graduated as the best out of the 161 students who bagged a First Class and received 13 awards during her Call to Bar ceremony.

    Mr Dele Oloke, the Chairman of the NBA Ikeja Branch while presenting the award to Ekob, said the kind-hearted nature of Fawehinmi had prompted the branch to establish the award and institutionalise the annual scholarship to encourage and reward academic excellence at the Nigerian Law School.

    “This scholarship award attracts a cash processing of N200,000 and the first of such award will be given today,” Oloke said.

    He revealed that some senior lawyers who were members of the branch had promised to sponsor some editions of the scholarship.

    “Mr Patrick Olumide-Fusika (SAN) undertook to fund the first to third edition of the award while Dele Adesina (SAN) equally announced that he would fund the fourth to the sixth edition of the award.

    “In following the philanthropic attributes of Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), Mr Olukayode Enitan has also graciously announced his willingness to fund the seventh to ninth edition of the scholarship award,” he said.

    Earlier, in his address of welcome, Monday Ubani, the Chairman of the Gani Fawehinmi Annual Lecture Planning Committee emphasised the role the late human rights activist and SAN played in the development of politics in Nigeria.

    “You and I are aware of the role played by Late Gani Fawehinmi in the development of our political space especially when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to register some political parties in Nigeria.

    “He pursued that matter in the judiciary to a logical conclusion and got a reprieve that opened the space for other parties. ”For that singular act, most of these ‘Not Too Young To Run’ have found home on some of them to emerge as presidential candidates,” he said.

    Ubani stated that in fulfilling Fawehinmi’s desire to move the country forward, a position paper of the lecture will be sent by the Planning Committee to the government and INEC.

    The event had in attendance Mohammed, son of Gani Fawhinmi, Justice Oyindamola Ogala who represented the Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Opeyemi Oke,  Adegboruwa of Igbogbo Kingdom, Ikorodu, King Semiudeen Kasali while the Ooni of Ife, King Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi was represented by Oba Adekunle Adebowale, Agbalu of Agbaje, Ife. Others are former Lagos State Solicitor General, Lawal Pedro, former Welfare Officer of the NBA, Adesina Adegbite, President Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights (CDHR),  Malachy Ugwummadu among others.

  • Oyebode, Basorun and restructuring

    As far as he is concerned, the subsisting 1999 constitution that provides the legal framework for the country’s socio-economic, political, spiritual, secular and moral life, is utterly, irredeemably defective and should be discarded altogether for the country to make progress rather than “going round in circles in a manner reminiscent of the potter’s will – all motion, no movement”. The proponent of this revolutionary view is none other than the respected, radical scholar of international law and jurisprudence, Professor Akin Oyebode.

    Delivering a lecture titled “The Nigerian Conundrum and the way forward” at an event organized by the Oriwu Club, Ikorodu in Lagos, the distinguished scholar averred that “The necessity for what the lawyers call an autochthonous constitution goes without saying. We cannot continue living a lie by calling a military decree, which propagates an untruth against itself, the country’s constitution. More importantly, the military-imposed constitution is lopsided, inequitable and dysfunctional and it should be jettisoned and replaced with a more acceptable instrument which adheres with the tenets of true federalism”.

    Continuing the distinguished scholar argued that “The existing division of powers needs to be reworked such that the Federal Government would shed its bloated powers and the constituent units would exercise more powers in a re-configured federal system. Luckily, there is already in existence a draft constitution elaborated by the National Conference of 2014 in the event that some would argue that the country does not require yet another constitutional conference…A new constitution is a condition sine qua non for the rebirth of this country”.

    Now, is it strictly true that the extant 1999 constitution is nothing but an imposed ‘military decree’ that ‘propagates an untruth against itself’? I don’t think so. The reality is more complex than that simplification. This column has had cause in the past to trace the trajectory of the 1999 constitution to the 1979 constitution, which was drawn up by 59 of some of the country’s brightest and most accomplished lawyers, intellectuals, diplomats and public administrators albeit under the aegis of the Murtala/Obasanjo military administration’s political transition programme.

    The draft constitution was later debated and ratified by an elected Constituent Assembly before being signed into law by the Supreme Military Council (SMC), which made some insertions that could easily have been expunged had the succeeding civilian political elite summoned the will to do so. There is no significant difference between the current constitution and that of 1979 that provided the legal basis for the defunct second republic (1979-1983). It is thus not correct to create the impression that the 1999 constitution is wholly an illegitimate jurisprudential child of military arbitrariness utterly delinked from the country’s political history.

    In any case, how did the military come to play a supervening role in the country’s political and constitution making process? Was the military intervention of 1966 not a function of the virtual breakdown of the essentially regional and parliamentary constitution of 1963 just as the failure of the 1979 presidential constitution resulted in the collapse of civilian rule in the second republic? Under the now highly romanticized first republic constitution, law and order had broken down in a large swathe of the country. In the Western Region, a legitimate and very popular government had been illegally removed by the centre in collusion with bitterly detested minority elements in the region.

    The badly rigged 1965 regional elections in the West spawned a reign of anarchy and total breakdown of governmental authority with daily blood- letting across the region when the masses rose up in the famous ‘operation wetie’ revolt. The first Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and some of his associates were unjustly incarcerated on trumped up and farcical charges of treasonable felony while it was an open secret that the NPC and its NNDP allies in control of the centre were planning a full scale military clamp down on the opposition before the preemptive majors’ bloody coup of January 1966.

    Both the federal and regional governments devised ingenious schemes through which public funds were diverted to enrich those in control of state power and their allies though not on the current industrial scale of corruption in contemporary Nigeria. In the North, a brutal military repression had been unleashed on the minorities particularly the Tiv who were demanding political autonomy from perceived Hausa-Fulani domination. Why then must anybody create the absolutely erroneous impression that the first republic was an era of idyllic governance disrupted for no reason by the military, which then went ahead to replace a thriving  and stable four-regional structure with the current centralized multi-polar state structure?

    Hadn’t leading politicians from the south including Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe been advocating the creation of more regions in the country because they saw the existing regional structure of the first republic as unjust and unsustainable being overly skewed in favour of Northern Nigeria? What exactly does Professor Oyebode mean by terms like ‘autochthonous constitution’ or ‘a re-configured Nigeria”? Reconfigured according to whose definition and imagination? Does he mean a return to the discredited regional structure of the first republic as advocated by some? Is it not instructive that the 2014 National Conference’s draft constitution to which the professor approvingly alludes actually recommended an increase in the number of states in the country to no less than 54?

    Yes, hardly anyone disagrees with the fact that structural adjustments to strengthen democracy, deepen federalism, accelerate socio-economic development and enhance security in Nigeria are long overdue. But this can be done within the subsisting constitutional context rather than pulling down the entire existing structure and embarking on the ultimately illusory expedition of crafting a new, supposedly perfect constitution, emerging magically from a tabula rasa.

    Perhaps the most practical, realistic and achievable suggestions for restructuring Nigeria I have come across are those articulated by Chief Olorunfunmi Basorun and popularized in Dr. Femi Orebe’s column in The Nation of Sunday, October 14, 2017. Lawyer, former Deputy Director of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Secretary to the State Government in the high achieving Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande administration and now leading member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, the highly regarded Chief Basorun certainly has the experience to speak authoritatively on the issue.

    In his memo to the APC restructuring committee, Basorun advocates that items such as electricity generation, transmission and distribution, minimum wage, labour matters and industrial relations, fingerprint identification and criminal records, tourism as well as federal roads should be moved from the exclusive to the concurrent list “to enable the states, and by extension the local governments, have more responsibilities”. He also offers concrete and detailed suggestions on a new revenue allocation formula to enable the lower levels of government meet their new responsibilities.

    Chief Basorun’s brutal frankness on the issue of going back to regionalism illustrates the formidable political and emotional obstacles to attaining that objective. Femi Orebe summarizes his views thus: “For instance, he asks: in the Northwest, will the man from Sokoto or Kebbi, or the one from Zamfara want to come and report in Kaduna, his new regional hub? We, in Lagos, he says emphatically, will never like to go to Ibadan nor would people in Ogun, Ekiti or Ondo. When you go to the East, he continues, are you saying those in Abakaliki will now go to Enugu, or Benin to go and report at Port Harcourt; states in the North East to all head to Maiduguri and those in North-central to go and report in Jos? Regionalism, he concluded, will just not work. Rather, the six geopolitical zones should be included in the constitution to serve as units of sharing preferment”.

    Again, Orebe captures the sheer originality and audacity of Chief Basorun’s thinking specifically here on enhancing the financial viability of states and local governments: “It is his considered view that with the huge amounts daily going to owners of oil blocks in the country, and with every oil block making a minimum of N4 billion daily according to a former senator of the Federal Republic, government should embark upon a complete redistribution of oil blocks such that one each goes to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Specific functions, he suggested, must be set for the revenue accruing from these, just as there should be an agency, domiciled in the office of the Vice President, to monitor and oversee compliance. Also, 10 per cent of the funds must go to the local governments to energize them and rapidly increase economic activities at the local government level”.

    Incidentally, radical human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), has also consistently advocated the allocation of oil blocks to the states rather than individuals in the interest of justice and equity as well as to enhance fiscal capacity at the levels of governance closest to the people. With creative thinking and the requisite political will, remarkable progress can be achieved under the present constitution without incinerating the valuable experiences – good and bad- of the last nearly two decades of slowly but steadily deepening practice of democracy and federalism in Nigeria.

  • Nigeria must restructure or die, says Oyebode

    Professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, Akin Oyebode, yesterday proffered a solution to the nation’s perennial political and economic challenges: competent leadership, restructuring and enactment of a people’s constitution.

    The eminent scholar warned that the country may not withstand much longer the “corruption, misrule, disease, disillusionment and general underdevelopment” that have plagued it for decades, unless it acted fast.

    Oyebode, who spoke at a lecture, titled: The Nigerian Conundrum and the Way Forward, organised by Oriwu Club, Ikorodu, blamed Nigeria’s “failed” or “failing state” on the political class.

    He lashed out at legislators for their “greed” and the “power elite” for their failure to find home-grown solutions to the country’s challenges.

    Oyebode said: “Even where something as banal as the building of the National Assembly is, as if that was not enough, the greed of our legislators, in terms of their perquisites, sloth and penchant for pork-barrel politics is, quite frankly, confounding and unparalleled.”

    According to him, the late writer, Chinua Achebe, was right when he said “the Achilles heel of the country was indeed its poor leadership”.

    He urged the country to reject the military-imposed 1999 Constitution and enact another that will grant more powers to states, rather than the Federal Government, in the spirit of true federalism.

    Oyebode said: “The necessity for what the lawyers call an autochthonous constitution goes without saying. We cannot continue living a lie by calling a military decree, which propagates an untruth against itself, the country’s constitution.

    “More importantly, the military-imposed constitution is lopsided, inequitable and dysfunctional. It should be jettisoned and replaced by a more acceptable instrument which adheres with the tenets of true federalism.”

    The eminent scholar argued that “except, until and unless this misbegotten contraption is totally overhauled by way of restructuring, the country would only be going round in circles in a manner reminiscent of the potter’s wheel, all motion, no movement”.

    He added: “The existing division of powers needs to be reworked such that the Federal Government would shed its bloated powers and the constituent units would exercise more powers in a re-configured federal system.

    “Luckily, there is already in existence a draft constitution elaborated by the National Conference of 2014, in the event that some would argue that the country does not require yet another constitutional conference.

    “The plain truth is that no number of amendments or panel-beating can cure the infelicities of the Abdulsalami Abubakar constitution.”

    The eminent sscholar argued that unless this is done, the country would die.

     

  • Sagay, Oyebode disagree on Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku

    Two eminent jurists, Prof.  Itse Sagay (SAN) and Prof. Akin Oyebode yesterday expressed divergent views on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of his one-time deputy, Atiku Abubakar, for president.

    In separate telephone interviews, Sagay, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman, said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was of no electoral value.

    Obasanjo and Atiku, he claimed, performed woefully while in power.

    But Oyebode, a retired professor of International Law and Jurisprudence, said President Muhammadu Buhari, who is Atiku’s main rival in next year’s election, was overrated, having “underperformed”.

    He said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was a welcome development, adding that it would increase the former vice president’s chances of winning the election.

    Sagay said: “The endorsement will make absolutely no impact, absolutely no impact on the election. The value is not more than the announcement. It won’t add one extra vote to Atiku. It’s just a waste of time. Obasanjo has no following whatsoever, so I don’t know what all the talk is about.

    “He can say anything. When he was there for eight years, the economy was grounded all along and he left it grounded. So if they knew the difference between handling the economy well and not handling it well, why didn’t they demonstrate it?

    “So, the man just talks, and because he is a former head of state, people listen to him. He does not add a single value to Atiku’s election prospects. It’s just rhetoric.”

    But Oyebode said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku was not unexpected, adding: “This is a man who was his vice president and he knows him inside-out. Obasanjo had said that Buhari was a non-starter. So, if Buhari is a non-starter, then Atiku might get the edge, because they’re the frontrunners.

    “Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku by necessary implication negates the prospects of Buhari. Buhari has been a big disappointment. He has underperformed. He’s overrated. People have seen through him that he would face a very hard task to get re-elected.

    “I think Obasanjo, in supporting Atiku, is saying: ‘Better the devil you know than the angel you’re yet to meet’. That is what happened.”

    National Chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP) Chekwas Okorie said the endorsement had no electoral value.

    He said: “It is good to forgive people who have offended you. So, it is a good thing to forgive. I have also forgiven so many people who have offended me. Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku as far as I am concerned is merely symbolic. I don’t think the former president can influence many votes anyway. He has not been able to show that he is in charge of the place; the Southwest in terms of votes. When the PDP won several times, Nigerians know what happened.

    “Don’t forget that the military tactically foisted Obasanjo on Nigeria and thereafter, the PDP continued to rig elections, until God decided that their time was up.

    “His endorsement of Atiku has no electoral value and this is what I call political somersault which does no credit to him.

    “Obasanjo did not only point out all the weaknesses of Atiku but went ahead to put them in his book. To now turn around to start saying a different thing means those he accused in his book may not have been done in good faith. This does not portray the former president in good light.

    “In fact, this is what I call political somersault and it does a lot of discredit to the person of Obasanjo”.

    All Progressives Congress (APC) National Vice Chairman Southsouth, Utufam Hilliard Eta said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Atiku would not affect the party’s fortunes in the 2019 election.

    He told reporters that “Obasanjo will be dimistified.”

    Eta said: “His (Obasanjo) endorsement has nothing to do with our (APC) victory in 2015. I know that politics is more of deception but I tell you that Obasanjo’s electoral value is little to nothing.

    “Remember that Obasanjo in all the elections lost from his ward level to everywhere. Obasanjo is more loved away than at home and like I said earlier, Obasanjo will be demystified.”

    On the presence of some religious leaders in Obasanjo’s home during the endorsement, he said: “One of the political wings of the PDP is one organisation called Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), so one is not surprised that CAN can do all they can do.”

     

  • Why insecurity persists, by Malami, Oyebode, Apata

    •Attorneys-General, others plan strategic legal approach to tackling challenge

    Minister of JustIce and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, Professor of Law Akin Oyebode and Solicitor General of the Federation (SGF) Dayo Apata have identified factors behind the seeming intractable security challenge in the country.

    Malami blamed the mounting trend of insecurity on the rising tempo of political activities and activities of looters of public treasury, who were uncomfortable with the present administration’s anti-corruption efforts.

    Oyebode blamed the problem on inadequate action on the part of the government and its relevant agencies.

    Apata called for a collaborative effort of all stakeholders to address the security challenge plaguing the country.

    They spoke in Abuja yesterday at an event tagged: “An emergency high level dialogue on law, justice and security in Nigeria,” put together by Federal Ministry of Justice.

    The two-day event, being attended by states’ Attorneys-General and other stakeholders in the nation’s legal circle, according to Malami, is meant to among others, design a more potent legal response to the country’s present security challenges.

    The AGF regretted the negative effect of the incessant killings on the government’s effort to engender peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.

    The AGF said: “As we are all aware, these horrendous incidents in Plateau State were not isolated events but followed a pattern in some other states, notably Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and Adamawa states, which has become a deep source of concern to the Federal and state authorities.

    “The statistics of deaths and displacement in these incidents involving various communities are depressing and alarming and appear designed to challenge our common humanity and claims to civilisation in the 21st Century.

    “From an informed assessment of the situation, permit me to first situate the apparent upsurge in these incidents to the advent of another political season of elections and the fierce contestation for power, which appears to now over-shadow all pretensions to patriotism and respect for human lives, in certain quarters.

    “You will recall that when this administration came to power in 2015, it made security of lives and property a cardinal principle of its governance.

    “Tremendous successes were achieved, particularly in decimating and degrading the Boko Haram terrorist group.

    “As we approach another general election in 2019, it is easy to see the hands of corrupt politicians with contrary positions in our present security problems as they desperately attempt to discredit all the gains made by this administration, for pure political gain. We must resist these negative tendencies.”

    As a solution, Malami suggested firm application of laws in cases of identified infractions and cautioned against adding religious colouration to the security problem being experienced.

    Oyebode, who gave the keynote address, noted that the main duty of a government is to provide adequate security for the citizens. He urged the Federal Government to play its part effectively in ensuring adequate security in the land.

    The law teacher, who spoke on the theme: “Law, justice and security in Nigeria: A plea for good governance,” noted that “where and when the sanctity of the lives of citizens cannot be guaranteed, the mortality of the state looms in the horizon”.

    Apata explained that the gathering was part of government’s efforts to address the mounting challenge of insecurity.

    He urged participants to be frank because every “contribution is very important to finding solution to the problem confronting us”.

     

     

     

  • Why insecurity persists, by Malami, Oyebode, Apata

    The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, Professor of Law, Akin Oyebode and the Solicitor General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, on Thursday identified factors behind the intractable security challenges in the country.

    Malami attributed the problem to the rising political activities in the country and activities of treasury looters, who are uncomfortable with the current administration’s anti-corruption efforts.

    Oyebode blamed the problem on inadequate inaction of government and its agencies.

    Apata called for a collaborative effort of all stakeholders to address the security challenges plaguing the country.

    They spoke at an event tagged: “An emergency high level dialogue on law, justice and security in Nigeria,” put together by Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja.

    The two-day event being attended by states’ Attorneys-General and other stakeholders in the nation’s legal circle, according to Malami, is designed to ensure a more potent legal response to the country’s present security challenges.

    The AGF regretted the negative effect of the incessant killings on the government’s effort to engender peaceful coexistence among Nigerians.

    The AGF said: “As we are all aware, these horrendous incidents in Plateau State were not isolated events but followed a pattern in some other states, notably Benue, Taraba, Zamfara and Adamawa States which has become a deep source of concern to the Federal and State authorities.

    “The statistics of deaths and displacement in these incidents involving various communities are depressing and alarming and appear designed to challenge our common humanity and claims to civilization in the 21st Century.

    “From an informed assessment of the situation, permit me to first situate the apparent upsurge in these incidents to the advent of another political season of elections and the fierce contestation for power which appears to now over-shadow all pretensions to patriotism and respect for human lives, in certain quarters.

    “You will recall that when this administration came to power in 2015, it made security of lives and property a cardinal principle of its governance.

    “Tremendous successes were achieved, particularly in decimating and degrading the Boko Haram terrorist group.

    “As we approach another general election in 2019, it is easy to see the hands of corrupt politicians with contrary positions in our present security problems as they desperately attempt to discredit all the gains made by this administration, for pure political gain. We must resist these negative tendencies.

    “The greater danger to our collective survival remains the fact that we are not fully out of the grip of this corrupt, privileged class, despite the best intentions and efforts of the Buhari administration.”

     

  • Abiola’s, Gani’s posthumous awards in order, say Sagay, Oyebode, Falana

    Senior lawyers yesterday disagreed with a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Alfa Belgore, that President Muhammadu Buhari broke the law by awarding Nigeria’s highest national honour to the late Chief Moshood Abiola and Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN).

    Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), Professor of International Law at the University of Lagos, Prof. Akin Oyebode, rights activist Femi Falana and a former National Secretary of Labour Party, Kayode Ajulo, said the awards were in order.

    President Buhari on Wednesday evening named Abiola, winner of 1993 presidential election that was annulled by former dictator Ibrahim Babangida, a holder of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR), 20 years after his death in 1998.

    Gani Fawehinmi, a rights advocate and icon of the June 12 struggle, who died in 2009 aged 71, was also posthumously conferred with the Grand Commander of Nigeria (GCON), while Democracy Day would be celebrated on June 12, rather than May 29, to further honour Abiola’s  memory.

    But Justice Belgore, CJN from 2006 to 2007, told online newspaper Premium Times that the national honours could not be awarded posthumously.

    According to him, under the 1964 National Honours Act, only soldiers or other servicemen could be awarded posthumous medals for their bravery.

    Section 3 of the law states the requirements for awarding national honours to a Nigerian as follows:

    “The President shall by notice in the Federal Gazette signify his intention of appointing a person to a particular rank of an Order.

    “Subject to the next following paragraph of this article, a person shall be appointed to a particular rank of an Order when he receives from the President in person, at an investiture held for the purpose- the insignia appropriate for that rank; and an instrument under the hand of the President and the public seal of the Federation declaring him to be appointed to that rank.

    “If in the case of any person it appears to the President expedient to dispense with the requirements of paragraph (2) of this article, he may direct that that person shall be appointed to the rank in question in such a manner as may be specified in the direction.”

    But Sagay noted although he had not read the particular provision relied on by the ex CJN, he urged Nigerians to “look at the big picture.”

    He said: “Was there injustice done on June 12? Yes, to both Nigerians and to Abiola, a very great injustice which almost destroyed this country. Is it therefore good that this injustice should be removed and justice done? The answer is yes. Has what Buhari done, not restored justice to the situation and poured balm into the hearts of those who were hurt? The answer is yes.

    “So, why should we be looking for legal arguments to overturn justice that has been done? These are some of the things that I cannot understand about Nigerians.”

    He implored critics to stop pouring “cold water on the happiness of the people on positive things that elevate this country. They want to pour cold water on it with very technical, narrow-minded and, I may even say evil arguments.

    “Some people are even saying the awards were conferred with a political motive. Again, I ask, what is achieved by the conferment of the awards, is it a positive or negative thing? Is the act something to be happy about? Is it something that resolves a major problem and brings relief to the country? The answer is yes.

    “So, what does it matter, even if there’s a political motive?

    According to Sagay, the awards were “the right thing to do, it’s a big solution to a long-standing problem that has been festering. It brings relief and joy to the country. I think Buhari needs to be congratulated heartily and I so congratulate him.”

    Oyebode observed that the conferment on the awards on Abiola and Gani were special cases. He cautioned Nigerians against trying to thwart that honour through legalism.

    Oyebode said: “We should be clear that the awards are honorific in nature and should not be hamstrung by legal gymnastics. Agreed, awards are usually for the living but that Abiola case is a special one which should not be vitiated by crass legalism, more so as the enabling Act grants the President as the awarding authority a wide discretion on the matter.”

    Falana, relying on the Act and Public Holidays Act, submitted that there was nothing illegal in what the President did.

    Falana said: “With profound respect to the Honourable Justice Alfa Belgore, the National Honours Act has not prohibited or restricted the powers of the President to confer national honours on deserving Nigerian citizens, dead or alive.

    “No doubt, paragraph 2 of the Honours Warrant made pursuant to the National Honours Act provides that ‘a person shall be appointed to a particular rank of an Order when he receives from the President in person, at an investiture held for the purpose…’

    “But paragraph 3 thereof has given the President the unqualified discretion “to dispense with the requirement of paragraph 2 in such manner as may be specified in the direction.

    “Therefore, since the national awards conferred on Chief Abiola and Chief Fawehinmi cannot be received by them in person the President may permit their family members to receive same on their behalf.

    “Furthermore, Section 2 (1) of the Public Holidays Act stipulates that in addition to the holidays mentioned in the Schedule to the Act, the President may appoint a special day to be kept as a public holiday either throughout Nigeria or in any part thereof.”

    According to him, “It is crystal clear that the President is not required by law to seek and obtain the approval of the National Assembly before declaring a public holiday in the country.”

    Falana argued that in view of the combined effect of the National Honours Act and the Public Holidays Act “the legal validity of the well deserved awards and the historic holiday has not been impugned in any manner whatsoever.”

    Ajulo argued that “since S.3(3) of the Honours Warrant states that the procedure under S.3(2) may be dispensed only by the president where it becomes expedient, thus honouring MKO Abiola posthumous is dispensing with him having to collect his award in person under S.3(2) because its expedient for the president  to do so under S.3(3) by reason of his death.

    “In respect of this, it could be said that the act of the President to award the late MKO Abiola and late Chief Gani Fawehinmi is a laudable feat set to celebrate their struggles for the nation. And just like the National Anthem rightly puts; that the ‘labours of our heros past shall never be in vain.’ This the President has achieved.”

  • Nation-building a collective task, say Oyebode, Utomi, others

    Can Nigeria ever attain its political and economic goals?

    How can citizens realise the country of their dreams? What is the role of lawyers?

    These and more were some of the issues discussed at the professional development seminar and colloquium of the National Association of Catholic Lawyers (NACL) in Lagos.

    The seminar had the theme: Exploring emerging areas of law practice, while the colloquium had the theme: The Nigeria its people desire, deserve and demand: Citizens and government’s collective task of building a sustainable, responsive and accountable new Nigeria.

    Retired professor of international law Akin Oyebode, who spoke on A people’s Constitution as an instrument of growth and development in a new Nigeria, said until it gets to a point where citizens begin to interrogate the law, the country would not make progress.

    He urged lawyers to do more in holding the government accountable, adding that there was the need for a review of the Constitution to make it truly people oriented.

    Oyebode regretted that corruption was “very much” part of legal practice, indicating that it was a reason he chose not to practice.

    “You have to sacrifice your principles in order to get the job done. Some clients want lawyers who can see the judge. The jury is still out on the role of lawyer in fighting corruption,” he said.

    He warned that Nigeria was sitting on keg of gunpowder by not addressing the issues that cause crises and lead to insecurity.

    “We’ve lost our sense of values and we’re no longer shockable,” he said.

    A political economist and founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof Pat Utomi, said Nigeria’s biggest challenge was that the government’s legitimacy level was low.

    He said government finds it difficult to implement policies because the people do not believe it is in their interest.

    “No government can be effective without a certain level of legitimacy,” he said.

    He said a government’s legitimacy is shaped by perceptions of fairness, competence and care for the people.

    He said most governments don’t know how to make themselves legitimate, which he said remained a challenge.

    On how Nigeria can rise again, Utomi said it required shared national vision, strategy and values.

    He called for strong participation and representation through ideas and values anchored by political parties that meticulously recruits, socialise and develop their members.

    NACL National President Senator Mike Ajaegbo, while reacting to Prof Oyebode’s views, said the Constitution was still the law despite its imperfections.

    He said what Nigeria needs most is a “moral re-armament”, adding that organised religion should begin to push its people into politics, especially those who can do the job when elected.

    Ajaegbo noted that political parties no longer focus on implementing their manifestoes, adding that the All Progressives Congress (APC) members instead quarrel among themselves.

    “I don’t know the President’s economic policy,” he said, adding that the organised religion must act.

    Speaking on the Youth as agents in restructuring of Nigeria, a professor of International Relations at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife, Charles Ukeje, noted that the youth were sadly still outside or at the fringes of the ongoing discourse on the future of the country.

    He urged the youth to get more actively involved in politics.

    “Nigerian youths can no longer afford to distance or completely distance themselves from the political space; whether they are demanding accountability or seeking representational offices.

    “For as long as they distance themselves from politics at every level for so long will the concerns, yearnings and aspirations of young people be met with contempt and forlorn hope,” Ukeje said.

    Dominican University Vice Chancellor, Prof Anthony Akinwale,who spoke on Pseudo religion and ethnicity: A bane to accountability and transparent leadership in Nigeria, noted that sometimes religion and ethnicity are abused.

    “Religious and ethnic sentiments are whipped up to win votes, to grab power and to remain in power.  But on closer examination, the intention is not to be at the service of men and women of my religious or ethnic communities, the intention is to use them to service my ego and my addiction to power.

    “That explains why the fact that a member of my ethnic or religious community is in power does not translate into improved standard of living for members of my ethnic or religious communities. Rather, it translates into his or her living an affluent life while members of the ethnic or religious community of the power holding man or woman live in penury.

    “A public servant who abuses his or her office, acting in ways that are inimical to the common good, evokes the sympathy of his or her ethnic or religious community by simply claiming that he or she is being sanctioned just for being the son or daughter of the ethnic or religious community.

    “Ethnic and religious communities are thus used as den of criminals.  That is why it is my submission that the problem is neither religion nor ethnicity but egotism and power addiction,” he said.

    Akinwale called for a re-envisioned Nigeria that avoids a collapse of distinction which he said has characterised political discourse and behavior.

    “In a re-envisioned Nigeria, the relationship between the citizen and the state needs to be redefined such that the state and its functionaries are transparent and accountable to the citizen.  This redefined relationship will be reflected in a new constitution, and the provisions of the constitution will reflect the ways we address four sets of fundamental questions.

    “What ought to be the relationship between the state and the citizen? What ought to be the relationship between the institutions established by the constitution for the protection of the citizens?  Related to that question is the question of relationship between the different tiers of government in the federation.  And what ought to be the relationship between a citizen and a fellow citizen, that is, the rights and duties of citizen-members of the association among themselves?

    “It takes a constitution that adequately addresses these fundamental questions to protect the citizen’s rights from being violated, either by the state or by his or her fellow citizen, on the grounds of religious, ethnic or gender affiliation.

    “While I associate myself with the school of thought that we need strong institutions, I believe we also need strong individuals to run these institutions.  By strong individuals, I do not mean despotic rulers and overbearing officials of state.

    “I mean leaders of multiple competence; leaders who are intellectually, morally and technically competent to govern the affairs of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious entity such as Nigeria.  For when it comes to leadership, intellectual competence is necessary but insufficient, moral competence is necessary but insufficient, and technical competence is necessary but insufficient.

    “Whether or not we will enjoy the benefits of transparent and accountable leadership in Nigeria is contingent on whether or not we are willing and able to seek and to find such leaders of multiple competence.  It takes good education to form such leaders, and good education is itself a tripod: a tripod of intellectual formation, ethical formation and technical formation,” he said.

  • Feeding bottle federalism stunts growth, development, says Oyebode

    Feeding bottle federalism stunts growth, development, says Oyebode

    It is simply indefensible and unacceptable that nearly 60 years after independence, Nigeria remains in the quagmire of underperformance and stasis, Prof Akin Oyebode has said. In his lecture entitled: “Re-thinking the Nigerian nation: Issues and challenges” at the first year anniversary of Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the constitutional lawyer says the ball is back in the people’s court to change the narrative by voting the right people into power.

    Nigeria is today at a crossroads. The multifarious ethnic nationalities, culture areas and linguistic groups hitched together by British imperialism are almost totally dissatisfied, if not actually disillusioned by the arrangement foisted on them. So high is the distaste of many for the framework for their co-habitation that loud voices are heard across the land for a reconsideration and necessity for refashioning a more equitable and fruitful paradigm.

    In the present atmosphere of irredentism, beggar-thy-neighbour policies and naked quest for ethnocentric supremacist tendencies by the powers-that-be, the disillusionment and intention of the malcontents and discomfited to go for broke in their search for alternatives become quite understandable.

    A people accustomed to the niceties of liberal democracy, self-esteem, freedom for all and life more abundant would naturally be uncomfortable with diabolical efforts to render them comatose and transform them into slaves or, at best, second class citizens in their fatherland.

    A people steeped in meritocratic values cannot but be aghast at the diktat of khakistocrats presumably intent on painting the country in their hue with the inexorable consequence of social conflagration and national atrophy. Whether wittingly, or unwittingly, the country is being nudged towards crises and perdition.

    It is within this ominous conjuncture that we are being called upon today to contemplate the unfolding scenario in our dear country with a view to charting possible ways out of the threatening catastrophe.

    Indeed, we are being asked to re-examine Nigeria’s nationhood and justify the essence of our being and justify our claim to membership of the universal family of nations.

    Accordingly, it is intended to begin by postulating the determinants of nationhood before uncovering the problematique of the Nigerian state as well as the successes and failures of successive administrations in the task of grappling with the contradictions of the polity which, it must be stated, had proven nearly overwhelming and created the oxymoron claiming to be making considerable progress in welding together the multifarious components of Nigeria while accelerating and intensifying the underdevelopment of the country.

    Finally, an attempt would be made to construct a prognosis of what can be done to lighten the burden of co-habitation among the disparate people that constitute the country’s population.

     

    When is a Nation?

     

    I am sure this august audience would readily recall the inimitable way in which our inimitable Nobel laureate had posed the national question a few years ago in a bid to dramatise the predicament of the Nigerian nation-state as currently constituted. While no prizes are on offer for unravelling the inadequacies of the Nigerian nation-state, it seems apposite to re-visit the indicia of statehood under international law in order to adumbrate the indeterminacy of Nigeria’s claim to nationhood.

    Accordingly, only entities possessing a defined territory, stable or fixed population, effective government and capacity to enter into relations with other States are considered States.

    Nevertheless, it needs be emphasized that possession of the stated indicia does not ipso facto translate into nationhood. Allegiance by the population to a central authority or common flag and national anthem, commonality of values which underpin co-habitation, guarantee of protection by the state against aggression or arbitrariness by other members of society number among the desiderata of a nation. A people bereft of these elements are little more than a rabble.

    Although Chief Awolowo’s restatement of Metternich’s formulation regarding countries and peoples who are a “geographical expression,” in comparison with nations has attained the status of conventional wisdom, the riposte that nearly every country or people had started off as a geographical expression could indeed exercise some heuristic value. The fact, however, bears re-stating that any country that intends to command the respect and loyalty of its people must exercise the reciprocal duty of protection toward them.

    For, if a people are denied due protection by their government, it becomes very difficult, if not, in fact, impossible to expect their allegiance to the state of which the government is merely a personification.

    A conscious people can be expected to withhold allegiance and support for an uncaring or tyrannical regime. The social contract is a dual carriage way and the rights of the people are a definite correlative duty which ultimately collapses where and when the government feels free to abandon its responsibilities to the people. The consequence of this is the metamorphosis of the natural right of the people to their right to rebel against an oppressive, tyrannical government.

     

    Nigeria’s fault lines

     

    The yoking together of the various people inhabiting Nigeria through what has been described as “the mistake of 1914” has continued to pose serious challenges to many of them who barely have very little in common with others.

    Today, Nigeria is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious conglomeration ostensibly at war with itself in the quixotic and frenetic quest for nationhood. Whereas there ought to have been strength in diversity, the removal of the scaffolding that held the people together during colonial rule merely accentuated fissiparous, centrifugal and dysfunctional tendencies which colonialism had generally masked.

    Can we forget that things had boiled over to the extent that the country had endured a fratricidal 30-month civil war, which we had pretended ended with “no victor and no vanquished”?

    The militariat which had dismantled the federal arrangement of our founding fathers and foisted a quasi-unitary constitutional framework on the people ensured that Nigeria remained a work in progress so much so that the component units of our unique federation are compelled to go cap in hand to Abuja every month for their sustenance. The “feeding bottle” federalism has effectively stunted Nigeria’s growth and development as the country nudges more and more toward perdition.

    It is indisputable that no-one has a say on where and to whom one is born or his ethnic nationality. Accordingly, a far-sighted government should blunt the rough edges of ethnic and religious idiosyncracies by putting in place policies based on equality of status and opportunity in furtherance of self-actualisation of every citizen. But what do we see today? Increasing emphasis is being placed on ethnic origin, native language and religious persuasion which is not only dysfunctional and counter-productive but also seriously flawed and inimical to the corporate needs and interests of the country as well as national unity, social well-being and collective progress. Until and unless the forces of reaction and ethnocentricity are effectively combated, the country would continue to make progress only in a negative and reverse direction.

     

    Grappling with contradictions

     

    As stated above, Nigeria is chafing under the stranglehold of severe contradictions. Granted that nation-building is everywhere a continuous and laborious project, the situation in Nigeria would seem to have been complicated by a dearth of patriotic and insightful leaders possessing a well thought-out strategic plan to change the country for the better.

    The multiplicity of ethnic nationalities numbering over 400, it must be conceded, makes the task of governance a forbidden one. Yet, ways need to be devised and necessary adjustments made to infuse the people with a sense of belonging and collective stake in Nigeria incorporated.

    It might well be wishful thinking to canvass downplaying the state of origin of key players on the country’s political or security chessboard in deference to competence and meritocracy. Nevertheless, there is a felt need for social engineering and endearment of the various constituencies in the polity in order to carry along as many people possible through socially relevant and just5ifiable socio-economic and political programmes and policies.

    The experience of other countries with regard to socio-economic and political transformation within a reasonable timeline is enough to teach us requisite strategies and tactics for our own transition from the third world to the first.

    We are all Africans even if our native languages are not the same. Accordingly, it is not too much to ask that we de-emphasize our differences in the overall interest of our collective need and national progress. It needs be brought home to all concerned that there are immense benefits to be derived from harnessing our endowments in the larger interest of Nigeria.

    As the world’s largest concentration of black people, we have a historical mandate to actualise our dreams and aspirations, unencumbered by parochial and self-serving nuances. Undue emphasis on ethnicity and religion should be seen as an unnecessary and avoidable hindrance to achieving the utilitarian hopes and aspirations of our people.

     

    Reconciling and resolving divisive and divergent tendencies in contemporary Nigeria

     

    The push and pull factors in relation to nation-building in Nigeria exert tremendous influence on the country’s growth and development. While there are forces wedded to the status quo, there also exist forces ranged towards radical or revolutionary change in the scheme of things. The interplay or clash of these forces can be best grasped through an understanding of the ratio and balance of class forces within the polity.

    To the extent that the dominant ideas of every epoch are those of the ruling class, to that extent can it be said that the outlook and consciousness of the ruling class have a bearing on its capacity to come to grips with the contradictions in the society. In other words, solutions to problems prevalent in the society depend largely on the existing power equation and the perception of the political leadership and how any resolution or reconciliation impinges on the existing power equation and perceived threats to the ruling class.

    Where and when by act or omission, the state is unable to exterminate threats to its existence, the extinction of the state must be deemed imminent. This is why no effort must be spared to ensure the elimination of threats to the survival of Nigeria.

    The pernicious and callous aggression by Fulani herdsmen across the country should serve as a wake-up call to all men and women of goodwill and humanitarian disposition on the necessity for peaceful co-habitation among Nigerians.

    A situation which hampers reciprocal love, respect and trust for fellow human beings is, quite frankly, antithetical to peace, order and good government and should be unequivocally and strongly condemned by all who wish Nigeria well.

     

    Where do we go from here?

     

    These are indeed harrowing times for Nigeria and Nigerians when majority of our young ones have lost faith and confidence in the Nigeria project. They are ready to vote with their feet at the slightest opportunity in order to pursue their dreams elsewhere. They no longer have heroes here and seek succor in foreign football teams, foreign music and foreign dressing.

    The middle-aged and elderly are also generally dispirited but find it a little more difficult to jump ship on account of existential demands. So, they are condemned to live out the rest of their lives under the threat of armed robbers, kidnappers and hired assassins.

    This leads me to the question, what is to be done and how do we emerge from the labyrinth of crying poverty, underdevelopment and inexorable descent into the hobbesian state of nature?

    It would seem that there is a felt necessity to re-invent the country and re-create the basic values which had helped hold the country together – love and mutual respect, fairness in inter-personal relationships, good neighborliness, etc. In an age of collective self-doubt and general despondency, the powers-that-be must evince a resolve to effect a turnaround in our affairs and create the pre-conditions for a better tomorrow.

    In addition, we need to enlist credible protagonists and believers in the Nigeria project in order to re-kindle confidence and hope in the Nigerian dream. They should be in the vanguard of the crusade for a kinder and gentler country which would make life worth living again.

    There is need for a moral re-armament in order to advocate the benefits of one nation and one people not through hackneyed programmes such as the NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) but innovative policies that would fire the imagination of our youth, de-emphasizing state of origin, ethnicity, religious and cultural orientation in favour of a broad national ethos and love for and commitment to a united Nigeria.

    For far too long have we allowed the country to drift and be rudderless like a ship at sea without a compass. We have not tapped sufficiently into the transient patriotism witnessed whenever the Super Eagles are engaging foreign teams arising largely from failure to provide “democracy dividends” to the preponderant majority of the population. What is called for now is a recovery mission on a national scale aimed at inculcating integrative nationalistic values.

    Regrettably, this cannot come to pass automatically. There first has to be an awareness by the nation’s political leadership of the acuity of the situation. Next, well elaborated programmes and policies must be put in place as a blueprint of national goals and objectives.

    It is simply indefensible and unacceptable that nearly 60 years after the country’s political independence, we are still in the quagmire of underperformance and stasis. Therefore, a consensus has to be forged among opinion leaders across the country regarding the country’s vision and mission with in-built timelines of the roadmap for Nigeria’s transformation.

    Disparate, uncoordinated efforts would need to be substituted with harmonized plans which put Nigeria first. Venal politicking, ethnocentricity, influence-peddling and racketeering must be immediately jettisoned in favour of pan-Nigeria endeavours and attitudes such that whoever falls below expectation is expeditiously sanctioned irrespective of his state of origin, religious persuasion or circumstances of his birth and any other consideration.

    It is only when law is applied without distinction that the country can be said to be making progress on its journey towards nationhood. Double standards, sacred cows and a hominem application of laws should no longer find a place in our national experience.

    In the final analysis, Nigeria’s journey to nationhood would be considerably shortened if politically correct public office-holders are brought to power. We need to constantly remember the sentiments of Joseph d’ Maistre to the effect that a people get the government they deserve.

    So, the ball is back in the court of the people who must always ensure that the right people are voted into power.