The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Political culture

  • Political culture, legality and terrorism

    The    spirit   and  practice of the laws governing  various  political  systems  as well  as the reaction of constitutional  institutions to  each other  in the interplay  of politics,  arrest  our  attention today. Whether  it is in the refusal of the  Nigerian Customs  boss to appear  before the  nation’s law  makers  or the judge stopping US President  Donald  Trump  from  carrying out his executive  orders on the ban on Muslim  majority  nation’s  citizens  entering the US   I   state  categorically  that the two  issues  are birds of the same feather even though they  occur  in different locations  but  are tempered  by the political  culture  of such environment. The  same  can  be said  of the very  British  approach  in terms of law  and order in the handling of this  week’s  lone terrorist crushing  of pedestrians on Westminster  Bridge and the stabbing of  a police  officer  on the premises of the oldest  Parliament of Democracy in the world in London. As well  as the testimony of the FBI  boss  James  Comey  in the US  Congress  that the  Russians  were loud  about  their cyber  hacking to influence  the  US  2016  presidential  elections  because  the Russian  president  hated Hillary Clinton  so much  and wanted her opponent  to  win  that election.

    Let  me  now usurp  as it were the much  respected powers of any  Supreme  Court  to announce judgments and give reasons or  whys  and wherefores  later,    by    stating   my stand  on these   issues   and    minimizing    your  suspense,   by   giving my reasons    later.

    Starting with  the Nigerian  Customs  boss I  postulate   that   it is  unthinkable  to  have a    boss  of a para military  establishment    like    the  Customs unwilling  to appear anywhere,  not even  before the Senate, without  his  uniform.  Next, the  legal  obstacles  that the new US president  faces are more  political than legal  and  cannot  stand in the face of unpredictable and unexpected security threats   such   as the US  lap  top ban  on    some  airways, joined  by the  UK where the latest  macabre terrorist attack  took place this week. That   attack  which  closed  the House  of Commons albeit  for  one day showed  the  clear   difference between the cool and calculating  way  the British  handle terrorism in sharp contrast to the noisy way  the Americans  do  similar  things   on  the excuse  of transparency  and freedom  of expression  at  the expense of security . Lastly   I  think  the  US FBI  boss  Comey   has spoken inadvertently  from  both  sides  of  his  mouth   and  in  the process  shaken  the credibility  of the US intelligence community and  made  it a laughing stock for  the Russian  president  Vladmir   Putin ,who was a spy, a  career KBG agent  in the former  USSR  before he became President  of  Russia. Let  me  now  proceed  with my analysis  of these events regardless  of how welcome or  annoying  my verdicts  on them  appear  to you  for  now.

    Starting  with  the refusal  of the Nigerian  Customs boss  to  appear in  uniform before the Nigerian  Senate, I  see  a clear  case of  abuse  of  office on the part of the Custom  boss  and a clean case of lack  of  respect for  revenue  collection  and border  monitoring  on the part  of government that  appointed  him. Customs  job  has always  been a uniform wearing profession that is paramilitary  because the personnel  bear arms  to desist  and arrest smugglers,  real and potential.  Such  a para military  force should not be led by a man with disdain and contempt  for their uniform  which  should be a source of pride for such men under  arms. To  seek  refuge now in a court  case is not only  funny  and   handy  for   not appearing in uniform   before  constituted   authority    and  indeed  as a matter  of courtesy  for the highest  office  in the Customs    profession,    it is also a clear case  of making not only an  ass of the law  but a   very  mischievous   and dubious monkey  of it. It  is very serious  breach  of public  discipline and mode of public  appointments and government should  find a way    to  regain   public respect and trust which  this event  has shaken  very  badly.  I recall  that  even in  the military regime when  M D Yusuf    was appointed the Inspector  General  of  Police  from  being head of the CID  where  he dressed in  mufti, a police  uniform  was found for him at  Dodan  Barracks  before  he  was sworn in  as the   new IGP   then  . How  come then that the head  of  Customs does  not only not have a uniform  but  is refusing to don one to appear  before an institution of the same state  with the requisite authority  to  make that very  warranted  request ? It  is quite unbelievable.

    We  go now  to  the legal  battles  to prevent the new US president  from carrying out his executive  orders on  the migrants  ban on some majority  Muslim  nations. It  is my  contention that the US president  is best placed to make a decision on  such  matters based on intelligence reports  as   he cannot operate in a vacuum. To use the law to stop him is to prevent him from carrying out his official  responsibility  on American  security. His  opponents should know  that the buck  stops on his table with regard to security  of  all Americans  and such  opponents should know that  their  freedom ends where  his nose  begins   on US  security  and  they should  know  where  politics ends  and  security  of their  nation begins.  The  fact  that both  the US  and  UK  are  collaborating on the lap top ban shows  that security   is a collective  responsibility  amongst  even  nations  not to talk of  citizens within  the  same nation  like the US .The  British  government, the people  and the news  media  showed  the Americans the way  to  deal  with  terrorism in the way the MPs  in Parliament,  and    the   British  government allowed  the Police to deal  with the latest  act of terror on  Westminster in Bridge  and Parliament ground  by  following Police statements  and directives  to  the letter  and  not allowing any speculation on the name and identity  of the culprit  until  the  Police officially  did so. All  the way the  British  government right  up to the PM  and  even the Queen,   a ceremonial  head of state ,  were full  of praises  for the capacity, real  or potential,  of the Metropolitan  Police  to handle  the situation. This   lone wolf  terrorist  action  brought out  the trust  and confidence the Britons   have  in their  security  apparatus   and is a far  cry  from  the way  the US opposition  establishment  is doing its utmost legally  to thwart  even  the capacity  or will  of  their new president to make laws  to protect  Americans as  he promised  before  he was elected  on the basis of such promise  to make  America  safe  again.

    Finally  the  revelation by the  FBI boss  Comey  that  Russian  President Vladmir  Putin hated Hillary  Clinton so  much  he wanted her  opponent  to  win is  so  trifle    and   laughable. That  is casting aspersion on the  victory  and legitimacy  of the newly  elected  US president. That   surely  is not the role of an intelligence outfit  like  the FBI.  For  now the FBI  boss  has  done more havoc to  US politics  and political  stability  than any  past  FBI  boss including  the  first   FBI   boss J Edgar   Hoover  who was  said  to use intelligence  to blackmail politicians  and top  government  officials including  the  Kennedys in  those  days.  To  most  democrats in the US the timing of the announcement on  Hillary ‘s emails’  fresh investigation   by  the  FBI    boss  cost  her the last US  presidential  elections . Now the same FBI boss  who  is to be seen and not heard  has  turned  himself  to an oracle  on  US  elections and  has used state intelligence publicly to  show  he is transparent  when  the protocol  and laws  governing his office are  those    of secrecy  and respect  for state  security. Now  the   FBI  boss  in the US has turned his office into  that of a political and security  clown and entertainer such  that the Russian  president  described the US intelligence  apparatus as amateurish nowadays  in spite of its deep  history of brilliance during the Cold War  when  even  the  Russian KGB  played  second  fiddle to it  on all  fronts. Surely  one  can say  or  lament   on  the state    of US intelligence  and  leadership   today  by  saying – How are  the mighty  fallen!. Once  again  long live  the Federal   Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • Obasanjo and political culture

    Obasanjo and political culture

    EVEN though he spent his eight years in government repudiating his own private counsel and knowledge of how democracy works, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo used the occasion of the visit of the factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, to rhapsodise the beauty of democracy. Senator Sheriff, a former Borno State governor, had in early September visited the former president to draw him into intervening in the fierce dispute stymieing the progress of the former ruling party. He would not intervene, the former president said with a sneer. He then went on to describe the PDP as soulless and dying, and the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) as enervated. Chief Obasanjo’s democratic credentials may be suspect, but his characterisation of the PDP and APC appears unimpeachable.
    With a strong hint of condescension, the former president had said: “I was once the leader, for eight years. I was the leader of PDP, but the PDP that I was the leader of is not the PDP of today. The PDP of today, if you can talk of a party again as PDP, its soul has been taken out of it, and those who allowed that to happen are, unfortunately, either in the country or out of the country unperturbed about the fate of the party and indeed the fate of the country. For our democracy to thrive, we need strong political party in government and strong political party in opposition, for it to be strong and dynamic.”
    He continued: “Today, PDP cannot claim to be a strong party in opposition, I don’t know if APC can claim, at the national level, to be a strong party in government either. Now, that is part of the misfortune of this country today. It must be the concern of all Nigerians that the present democratic dispensation must not be allowed to be derailed and for it not to be derailed, we must have a strong political party in government and a strong political party in opposition.”
    The PDP may bristle at being described as a dying party, and the APC, which has done its best to pander to Chief Obasanjo’s whims may be shocked by the ex-president’s betrayal, but the truth is that there is simply no way to nurture democracy if the opposition is in disarray and the ruling party is devoid of conviction and principles. Indeed, at the moment, there is no settling the precedence between the two parties in terms of their irrelevance to the country’s democracy and progress. Chief Obasanjo says the PDP has lost its soul, almost as if it was a recent thing. It is not a new thing. The PDP’s soul began to wither when Chief Obasanjo assumed office and in characteristic military fashion launched fearsome attacks on the true founders of the party and custodians of its values. The war was so brutal and the outcome so unequivocal that many years later, after he was through with his numerous self-serving battles to burnish his depleted image, founding leaders of the PDP had been completely emasculated, and budding second tier leaders of the party in the National Assembly had been defanged.
    Chief Obasanjo worsened the party’s woes when he castrated the party’s electoral organs shortly before his second term in office ended, and barred them from producing strong and competent successors. By the time the inexperienced and irresolute ex-president Goodluck Jonathan assumed office in 2010, the PDP had not only become a soulless party wanting in every virtue possible, it had transformed into probably the most predatory political machine ever, a party completely dedicated to feasting hungrily and angrily on the commonwealth and promoting vice on a scale that beggars belief. Now, Chief Obasanjo is snickering at the party that gave him nurture, when in fact he was the architect of its misfortune. Had he promoted internal democracy in the party when he was president, and had he left a great legacy worthy of emulation in leadership recruitment, political culture and responsible and transparent governance, the stranglehold the party initially had on the polity would be as strong as ever.
    Chief Obasanjo dates the party’s woes insinuatingly to his exit from the party. It is not true. He kick-started the process, midwifed it, and waited long enough to see the edifice poised to crash before hastening indecently, half clad to the door. Rather than mock them, and knowing what he now preaches with splendid foresight about the indispensability of a strong opposition, he should encourage the party to halt its self-destructive intraparty battles. Chief Obasanjo has a long and illustrious culture of profiting from other people’s misfortune, as the civil war and coups and various tragedies of his enemies show. He will probably let the PDP stew in its juice since he sees nothing to profit from its remake. He is too old to re-enter politics on the scope and magnitude he is used to; and he is too ideologically sterile to impart great ideas on the party with the passion and conviction the moment calls for. He will, therefore, stay aloof. More, he will rail at them and get them to grovel before him like Senator Sheriff did on September 3.
    But Chief Obasanjo is right that Nigeria needs a strong opposition, especially in view of the APC’s incredible vacuity, a weakness worsened by its amazing insularity. For the sake of democracy, Nigeria must encourage the PDP to get it right and regain its unity, if not its fragile ideas. Senator Sheriff cannot lead the party, but he needs to be pacified. His nuisance value is so strong that rather than the eminent persons in the party’s leadership, the fate of the party seems annoyingly to rest on him. How to mollify his rage is the great challenge. If they still have enough intelligent people in the party, some of those who have not migrated to the APC for both succour and sustenance, perhaps they can find the formula to unlock Senator Sheriff’s adamant heart.
    The greater worry, however, is the ruling party which Chief Obasanjo accurately, but with a smirk, described as weak. It is an indisputable fact that the APC has neither seemed nor acted like a party, not to talk of a ruling party. Its core is brittle and incoherent; and its exterior full of scaly and hostile attributes. It has put whatever ideology it claimed to have during the campaigns in abeyance. And its functionaries, many of whom are emotionally disconnected from the virtues and beliefs of the party, see their loyalty not to the party or the country, but to the president. Loyalty is a virtue, but if only it is located within the wider context of the party, its culture, its ideology, and its broad and engaging vision.
    Worse for the APC, its leaders have fought like Kilkenny cats, both at the party and National Assembly levels. The executive has on its own managed to stunningly disengage from the fray, hoping it would be untouched by the frenzy, intrigues and animosities tearing the party apart. It got off on a wrong foot with its leaders’ incomprehensible and antiquated ideas of politics, economics and society. Now, with a recession in hand, and a growing and alienated populace getting too angry to be placated, the party is desperately shopping for ideas from those it has scorned. It is also feebly trying to correct its leaders’ many misconceptions, and reverse the woolly thinking and mindset they initially eulogised and promoted.
    It is clear the PDP has realised its folly, but is at a loss how to correct itself. It is unfortunately not clear the APC has reached that epiphanic moment when it is struck by its own shortcomings and mortifying feeling of littleness. For democracy to survive, the country’s political and existential software must be re-engineered to promote healing, inner confidence and conviction. If both the APC and the PDP do not cotton on to these ideas and needs, they will end up floundering, and the country itself endangered.

  • Political culture and inconclusive polls

    If there is one lesson that the political class must learn from the recent Kogi State governorship election, it is that there is no more easy pass for impunity in the Nigerian electoral process. That is the design of election administration presently, and that is what the inconclusive outcome of the election penultimate weekend proves. Although 22 political parties contested the election, the scoreline of collated results – not unexpectedly – showed the poll to have been a two-horse race between the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket, which led with 240, 867 votes, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that trailed with 199, 514 votes. No winner was declared by the Returning Officer, who ruled the election inconclusive because the difference of 41, 353 votes between the leading candidate and the runner-up fell short of the 49, 953 registered voters in 91 polling units across the state where elections were cancelled or didn’t hold at all due to violence and sundry irregularities. By existing electoral regulations, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will have to conduct a supplementary poll in those 91 polling units to determine the election winner.

    A tragedy has since complicated the equation, with the sudden death of the APC flag bearer, Prince Abubakar Audu. Lawyers are at odds, as always, over the legally correct way to unravel the constitutional tangle, but INEC has already taken the decision to allow APC to replace its deceased candidate and has scheduled the supplementary poll for 5th December. In a rare (I am not certain if sincere) show of like-mindedness, politicians across partisan divides mourned the late Audu – apparently in recognition of the fickleness of the human species. After all, the American rapper and songwriter famously called ‘Eminem’ said: “The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.” But then, there is nothing else on which you would find any semblance of accord between the two leading parties. Whereas the PDP seemed initially comfortable with the declaration of the election as inconclusive, the APC took fierce exception. Now, APC seems reconciled with the idea of concluding the election through a supplementary, and with a substitute for its deceased candidate, but the PDP is pushing vigorously for a fresh poll.

    One quick point: Neither the demand to summarily use results from the 21st November election in declaring a winner, nor the evidently opportunistic angling for a fresh poll is borne out by the strict provisions of electoral laws and regulations as well as precedence. And INEC, as we should all desire for the good health of our bourgeoning democracy, must stick by those. By its decisions so far, the electoral commission, in my view, is discharging its onus as a dispassionate and neutral umpire amidst competing interests. Contrary to a common notion, inconclusive elections do not evidence poor preparation or defective performance by INEC. Rather, they result from wilful breaches of the voting process by unruly partisan supporters, who snatch ballot papers and ballot boxes, stuff ballots, disrupt voting and foment violence as well as other irregularities that make it impossible for the electoral commission to conduct the process conclusively.

    There are 2, 548 polling units in Kogi State, 91 of which experienced such irregularities during the 21st November election. The rule that the Commission has in place is that where such incidents happen, results get cancelled, or elections are stepped down altogether in places where the breaches are serious enough to hinder lawful voters from coming out. The challenge in certain polling units was over-voting, and some people have wondered why over-voting occured despite the use of Smart Card Readers by INEC. But the fact is, this technological tool does not in itself eliminate the human agency that perpetrates over-voting; what it does is to expose the misdeed by storing records that could show the ballot papers cast as being in excess of the number of persons accredited if there was over-voting.

    The other aspect of the rule that is contended in the Kogi case is the relevance of the margin of difference between the two leading candidates, compared to the number of registered voters in the polling units without results. One argument that has gained traction is that the Kogi election shouldn’t have been inconclusive since the APC was leading by about 41, 000 votes; and even though there are some 49,000 registered voters in the 91 polling units without results, barely half of that number have collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and they will not redirect the final outcome even if they all come out to vote – which is most improbable – and if they all vote for the runner-up candidate.

    I have not checked the PVC collection figures in the specific polling units to confirm the statistics being cited. But simply, the argument runs foul of existing regulations and precedence. INEC’s regulations have the force of law, and a Commission with integrity cannot apply them whimsically. Besides, this was the same rule that was applied in the Anambra Central senatorial constituency supplementary election in 2011, the Imo State governorship supplementary election in 2011 and the Anambra State governorship supplementary election in 2013, among others. If it was okay to apply the rule in past elections, with the Commission being indifferent to who benefits, what would be the justification to tweak it now? Actually, if the electoral commission were to do as canvassed, Nigerians should be very worried about the integrity of an INEC that would apply a rule in past elections, and alter that rule now to fast-track the outcome of the Kogi election.

    The moral here is that INEC is striving to institutionalise its process design for credible elections, it remains for the political class and those supporters who perpetrate irregularities to get the message that voyages in impunity will end up nowhere other than a dead end. Just think of it: Why do we seem unable to rise above a political culture that locates us in the backwaters of human civilisation, which many countries have succeeded in weaning themselves from? It is bad enough that elections in our jurisdiction entail security lockdowns that translate to huge economic losses for the country, it is worse that these lockdowns are not sufficient to stop the breaches that yet occur. We need an urgent reorientation of the political culture.

  • Political culture, morality and globalisation

    I watched a CNN program anchored by well known Iranian American Amanpor this week in which she interviewed a self- confessed Nigerian gay man and I was amused by the way the famous CNN presenter was trying to literally cuddle the views of the gay Nigerian while ignoring the expressed, happiness of some Nigerians over the passing of the gay bill punishing homosexuality and its public display in Nigeria. The bias and patronage for the gay Nigerian was palpable and most patronising and must have been provocative to Nigerians who do not share the western perception and understanding of homosexuality. To me however the issue is not one to be annoyed over, but it is an issue which creates an urgent need for an enlightenment campaign, which this time is to flow in the opposite direction of the usual flow of global communication occasioned by the current drift of globalisation, well represented by the global pervasiveness and reportage of western media like CNN and BBC. This reverse enlightenment campaign is necessary if the rest of the world is not to drift into a second phase of cultural and mental colonisation occasioned by the internet and information technology and the use that western nations led by the US seem determined to make of the two awesome instruments, in achieving a new cultural domination of the world as we know it today. I call this cultural manipulation very active in Amanpor’s interview of the Nigeria gay man, a new mind colonisation based on the usage of the internet and IT and today I will dissect its threat and lay bare its strategy as well as start a campaign on this page to make sure it does not fly. Aside from Nigeria whose leadership inertia has been wrongly diagnosed as the reason for the passing of the anti gay laws in Nigeria, I intend to look at the plight of the French President Francois Hollande and his romantic affair in France and use that to some advantage in showing that global political culture is relative and may have little or no effect on global civilisation except in a relevant context. I will also look at the refusal of the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to sign the anti gay law in his nation into law and his language in not doing it, as well as his foray into the war in South Sudan. Let me start by acknowledging a similarity between the French political culture on adultery especially by political leaders and the attitude of the average Nigerian to homosexuality. The French are not bothered by the romantic or extra marital, affairs of their leaders unlike the British and Americans and according to reports the French people are mute on the Hollande affair. With Nigerians homosexuality is a sexual aberration and even the two major religions in Nigeria- Christianity and Islam – are united in its condemnation totally and nationally. Let me now treat the issue of France before Nigeria. In France, the present president has a partner, a lady, not a wife, as his First Lady and the lady Valerie Trierweiler is hospitalised now over the affair of the French president with an actress, which a French newspaper reported has been on for two years. Before his election as president of France, Francois Hollande had a partner who had four children for him and that was Segolene Royal who lost the presidential election to former President Nicholas Sarkozy who was later defeated last year by Hollande to become president of France. Obviously Hollande did not take Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children to the Elysee Palace as First Lady, but took a new partner Valerie now sick over his new affair with an actress named Julie Gayet. In addition, thousands demonstrated in France when gay marriage was legalised under the new Hollande presidency, but it was too late , because the Socialist Party of President Hollande which won the presidential election had included it in its manifesto that it would legalise gay marriages on getting elected. This is definitely unlike Britain where the Conservatives and Liberal Party coalition in power never went through parliament before legalising gay marriages in Britain, while later threatening to cut aid to African nations with anti gay laws. In the Amanpor interview and anti Nigerian propaganda on the anti gay laws on the internet, the impression was given that the Nigerian president had popularity problems over his re election in 2015 that was why the anti homo laws were passed. Nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, the president had problems of defection in his party and the Boko Haram issue but both are unrelated to the passing of the anti homo laws which were expected as normal and in place. To show he was in charge the president changed his security chiefs and his embattled party chairman in one week and both actions had not made him more popular just as the passing of the anti homo law has not changed anything in his low popularity rating because he did the expected by not rocking the boat of expectation on the matter .More importantly even Britain which has threatened poor African nations like Malawi and Botswana over the anti gay laws has announced it would do nothing to Nigeria over the matter . Which shows that Nigeria’s stature in the comity of nations is to be respected on the matter. In Uganda however the situation is different even though the Ugandan president had used very denunciatory language to describe homosexuals and lesbians by saying that they should be rescued from their aberration and not killed or imprisoned. Ugandan parliamentarians have however pledged to pass the bill weather their president signed it or not . Again , Uganda is land locked and needs western aid to fight its many regional wars especially the new one it is getting into in South Sudan. With that new military involvement in South Sudan however Museveni has shown his solidarity with S Sudan’s leaders just as he showed his disdain for the homos and lesbians in his nation while calling for their rescue. This type of regional intervention is what Nigeria should have initiated in Central African Republic where Christians and Muslims are killing each other so ferociously that a UN official has said that the UN and France have underrated the degree of hate between the two religions in the area. This to me should provide food for thought for Nigeria which has lost regional leadership to Chad which hosted a conference of neighboring states in the area that asked the last interim president of CAR to resign and proceed to exile in Benin Republic. As in Mali, France under President Francois Hollande and through Chad , Nigeria’s neighbour , is dictating the pace of returning normality to CAR just as it did in Mali while ECOWAS and Nigeria were dithering and prevaricating on supplies and logistics. Nigeria should emulate the strong actions of the two leaders of France and Uganda on regional control and security. Especially now that the Nigerian president has changed his security chiefs. For now Boko Haram is limited to the North of the nation. But the South west of Nigeria is a mixture of Christians and Muslims and if Nigerians from the S.East are fleeing CAR because they are being killed by Muslims the Nigerian government should send a strong regional signal that the two religions should accommodate each other. This is in the best interest of regional peace and security and Nigeria should be ready to foot the bill as a way of guaranteeing regional peace as we once did in Liberia and Sierra Leone under the aegis of the well respected ECOMOG led by Nigeria. Complacency pussyfooting on CAR and concentrating on party issues or local election matters while confusion, murder and mayhem pervade our borders with our neighbours, may turn out to be a dangerous distraction in the short run if we do not strike while the iron is hot in putting out small, potentially contagious, diplomatic bush fires, early enough. Lastly, let me roundly disagree with those Nigerians who have said that the government should concentrate on fighting corruption rather that chasing Homosexuals and lesbians. I think they have really missed the point. Both issues involve cultural values and integrity as well as the maintenance of morality and the rule of law. This is because the laws of a society stem from its customs and traditions which must be maintained and sustained for the society to grow in the right direction in consonance with the wishes and aspirations of its people. To maintain peace and stability in any society social deviants as well as corrupt people need to be under watch and scrutiny so as not to destroy the moral fibre of the larger society. Indeed, on both scores eternal vigilance is the real and expensive price of cultural, political and moral liberty.