Tag: Rotimi Amaechi

Induction is that aspect of a theory of knowledge that is used to predict, with probability, the future, based on past experiences and events. It is one of the problems in the philosophy of science or logic and scientific method which has defied logical justification, i.e, justification with logical certainty. But in the absence of logical justification philosophers have come up with what is known as pragmatic justification which states that if anything will work, induction will. It is from this highly intellectual background and profound thinking that I place the controversial directive, which I shall call pragmatic directive, of the APC to its members in the National Assembly to block all executive or, more appropriately, tactically withdraw support for executive bills of President Jonathan which, unfortunately, includes the most talked about budget ritual.

What is known to all Nigerians and the international community is the reckless immunity going on in Rivers State as initiated, sponsored and repeatedly fuelled by the presidency and perfected by the law enforcement agencies through a certain Commissioner of Police called Joseph Mbu. Through him the people of Rivers State and Governor Rotimi Amaechi have been tortured to no end. Every meeting or rally organized by Amaechi and his supporters were always illegally and brutally disrupted by Mbu on orders from above, i.e, the presidency and a certain Nyeson Wike, the supervising Minister Education who, incidentally,  is gunning for the governorship seat in that state. On the other hand, the meetings and rallies organized by Wike was always supported by the presidency, the first lady and Mbu.

The situation was so bad that any rally or meeting organized by Governor Amaechi was always attacked and turned into violence by Mbu and his men. Even a Senator of the Federal Republic,Magnum Abe, was shot with rubber bullet at a rally in Port Harcourt. Senator Abe is now receiving treatment in a London hospital. All entreaties by Nigerians and joint resolution of the National Assembly to the presidency to either sack or at least remove Mbu from the scene fell on death  ears probably because Mbu had not accomplished his presidential directive which was to either break Amaechi’s bone or create so much crisis in Rivers that a state of emergency would be declared to allow Wike dislodge  Amaechi and his supporters from reckoning in the politics of Rivers state.

But thank God, the people of Rivers state and the APC stood firm in support of Amaechi. Unfortunately, the more the people of Rivers state and the APC reacted to the crisis being fuelled by Wike and the presidency, the more escalated the crisis became without any attempt by the presidency to call Mbu to order. In effect, Mbu became the chief executive of Rivers State from whom the elected governor must take orders.

Now that the APC thought that enough was enough, they have seized the window of opportunity available to them to fight back in a democratic manner rather than resort to violence which was what the presidency wanted to enable them to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State. That window of opportunity presented itself with the president’s bills that would go to the National Assembly for consideration. This window of opportunity provided the clincher. Having been dragged to the wall and without anyway to escape, the APC went for the jugular – a pragmatic consideration and approach which states that if anything will work, a threat of tactical withdrawal from consideration of the president’s bills will under the pressing circumstances. Within 48 hours of the threat, Nigerians witnessed what have never been witnessed before in Rivers story of crisis.

For the first time in over a year, Amaechi successfully held a rally in which the Inspector General of Police gave Amaechi police protection at the Bori rally, unlike a few weeks before when an order from above prevented similar outing in Port Harcourt. That peaceful rally showed that, if anything at all, it is the police intervention that always caused violence in any of Amaechi’s organized rallies in Rivers State. Wonders will never end, we may say, but this wonder came about by APC’s threat of blocking the president’s bills unless the impunity in Rivers state was stopped, and it was stopped to the admiration of the APC that used the threat to effectively checkmate the excesses of the presidency in Rivers State. It was a tit for tat affair that paid off effectively.

I have read and listened to various comments from some Nigerians on this matter. I admired people like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and now Prof. Wole Soyinka who would always take their time before they commented on national issues. And when they did, it was always a bombshell. This is the trait of what Justice Yinka Ayoola described as structured thinkers. While national publicity secretaries of various parties are obliged to respond quickly to statements by opposing parties, a few of them, by training and intellectual clout are capable of responding intelligently on the spot while the responses of others are devoid of reason and logic. In the case at hand, our rash commentators ought to have thought deeply and seen the APC’s pragmatic directive as probably the only move that could checkmate the president’s reign of impunity in Rivers state. Nigerians should have known that the situation in Rivers could be replicated in many other states, which means that, apart from the problem of Boko Haram, the crisis in Rivers and many other states were likely to create a revolution similar to the Arab Springs that would truncate our democracy and send the federal government, National and State Assemblies, Governors and other politicians packing. If this happens, then, we should say that nature has taken its sweet revenge! We would then be back to square one as a result of our inaction when the country was being set on fire by the presidency, and Mbu, the president’s errand boy.

In this case, the presidency, members of the National Assembly and politicians of all descriptions should thank the APC for introducing a pragmatic solution to a hitherto intractable problem.

If we critically subject the APC’s directive to a quasi scientific analysis as rooted in induction and experience, we would land at the altar of pragmatism, or a pragmatic theory of action. This is to say, in effect, that in order to curb the impunity in Rivers State and effectively checkmate the excesses of the presidency thereof, if anything will work the directive to block (a conditional directive) the president’s bills will. And this is the pragmatic justification for the APC’s well conceived directive. The country will be the better for it as never again will be PDP led government and the presidency enjoy their reign of sponsored impunity and violence, indiscriminate use of EFCC to arrest political opponents, doctored sequence of election from top to bottom instead of the usual bottom to top to forestall bandwagon effect, killing of forgotten pensioners slowly but surely, absolute disregard for the rule of law, corruption and bad governance.

Say what you like, Nigerians are now seeing true democracy at work in a two party system which was virtually non existent in our ugly and riotous past.

• Prof. Makinde, FNAL, is Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Awolowo Centre for Philosophy, Ideology and Good Governance, Osogbo, Osun State