 Published
March, 16th, 2010
Recent political developments in Nigeria have
unearthed the true depth of the underlying spirit of her
nationhood. It has also put to a simple test, the character
of our political leaders; who are supposed to be advocates
of sound democratic political culture. But as it is now, the
parochial interests of the nation’s political, tribal, and
religious leaders have made nonsense of the character of
sound political leadership as prescribed in every healthy
presidential democracy. It is most absurd to note that the
political class has shamelessly turned Nigeria’s democracy
on its head. This sad development is a clear demonstration
that the noble democratic culture of good governance has
been deliberately drowned in the pool of negative political
scheming.
A curious observation of unfolding events in the country
following the hospitalisation of President Musa Yar’Adua in
King Faisal Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia would lead one
to the bitter conclusion that Nigeria’s institutional
framework has become too weak and consequently unable to
carry the burden of Due Process and the Rule of Law. While
Transparency and Accountability are products of the culture
of Due Process, the Rule of Law promotes Justice and Fair
Play. These principles are unarguably the pillars of every
healthy society. Without them, political leadership will be
of no benefit to the masses. This should help explain why
Nigeria is still counted among the poorest countries in the
world despite the abundant human and material resources in
the country. It has also given a clue as to why Nigeria- the
sixth largest producer of crude oil in the world relies on
the importation of petrol and kerosene. Instead of this sad
reality posing a huge challenge to our political leaders;
they have with selfish intentions allowed the country to
drift far into the ocean of anarchy and disintegration.
Surprisingly, the political class is carrying on as if
Nigeria has nothing to lose, even when the contrary is
clearly the case.
Just like I have submitted in previous write-ups, Nigeria’s
greatest problem is tribalism. It is owing to the deep
rooted culture of tribalism that successive administrations
have not been able to effectively fight corruption in the
country. There is an unwritten law in Nigeria that forbids
citizens from exposing or prosecuting fellow tribesmen for
corrupt practices. That is the reason why public servants
that earns less than N12m annually will build mansions and
own fleet of exotic cars worth over N500m and still be
conferred with chieftaincy titles without verifying the
sources of the sudden wealth of their kinsmen and women.
Nigeria has been turned into a country where one must also
have his or her tribesperson in position of authority in
order to be employed, given a key appointment, or awarded a
big contract. This anomaly is hugely responsible for why the
issue of tribal lineage is regarded far above every other
factor in the Nigerian society. In a nutshell; tribalism can
only become rife in a country where there is no
transparency, accountability, justice, and fair play.
Furthermore, tribalism promotes national poverty. It compels
citizens to be lazy. In a tribal-induced bureaucracy, even
people that sow nothing can reap bountifully simply because
their tribesperson is in power. This is clearly against
natural principle. The more we promote tribal agenda above
constitutional provisions, the closer we get to the source
of our disintegration. Everybody professes “One Nigeria” but
is unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to unite the
various ethnic clusters in the country.
It is indeed a solid fact that the current political tension
in the country is mainly as a result of an avoidable clash
between forces of democracy and that of tribal interests.
The northern belt of the country believes that based on a
power sharing arrangement by the ruling PDP, the period
spanning between 2007 and 2015 is their turn to occupy the
Nigerian presidency. They therefore see the emergence of
Goodluck Jonathan as the substantive president as a rude
interruption of their political sail. This has forced quite
a number of them to disregard the spirit of the constitution
of the federal republic of Nigeria. They were forced by the
spirit of PDP to quickly forget that even the presidential
democracy has a character. Owing to all of these, most
individual and group opinions from the north became infected
with deep tribal sentiments. The consequence was the
emergence of an overheated polity. History is starring at
us; as we dance naked in the market square.
Power belongs to God. He gives power to whoever that pleases
Him. God also takes away power whenever it pleases Him. One
is therefore forced to wonder why people see and treat power
with a “do-or-die” attitude. Perhaps, one should emphasise
here that the basic aim of political power is to improve the
lives of man and society through quality leadership. If that
is the case, why all the fire and brimstone flying all over
the place? It points to the fact that many people seek
political power for reasons other than offering quality
leadership. That is why it is uncommon for public servants
in Nigeria to resign from office no matter the
circumstances.
Just as Nigeria is bigger than any one individual or
political party; the presidency is by far greater than a
president. Most times, both military and political leaders
are tempted to see themselves as sources of power. This
accounts for why many public officers use power as if it
were their personal property. Through this way, power is
most times abused by those in authority.
As the political drama in Nigeria continues to unfold, one
fact has emerged conspicuously. The northern belt of the
country has spoken in very clear and loud voice: They want
to secure their stake in PDP’s 2007-2015 power sharing
arrangement. As long as PDP remains in power, no one can
fault their position. No southerner is against a northerner
becoming the president of the federal republic of Nigeria in
2011. It should however be noted that the constitution of
the federal republic of Nigeria has collided with that of
the PDP. Is the north saying the constitution of the federal
republic of Nigeria should give way for that of PDP? It is
for this reason that this writer is of the opinion that no
section of this country should destroy our today in a bid to
their secure tomorrow. We do not need to be reminded that
tomorrow is the daughter of today. We all therefore need to
protect our today so that it would grow up and give birth to
both our sectional and collective tomorrow as the case may
be.
It is indeed most unfortunate that President Yar’Adua fell
sick. Everybody is concerned and has shown this by offering
prayers for his quick recovery. The actions and inactions of
a few persons have tended to create a false impression that
the southern belt of the country is happy about the
president’s poor health. This is not true. What has actually
created a sharp divide is in the way and manner some close
family members and aides of the Yar’Adua have handled the
president’s ill-health. They have refused to accept the fact
that a president is a public property. They have also
forgotten that Nigeria is a presidential democracy with an
operating constitution. Some sincere persons of northern
extraction too have openly condemned the actions of the
president’s family members and close aides.
More than that, the refusal of the president to activate
section 145 of the constitution of the federal republic of
Nigeria points to one direction: Those entrusted with the
wellbeing of the president during this period of his
ill-health are not in any way ready to trust any other
person with power despite the unforeseen circumstances that
has almost enveloped the country. Many are beginning to feel
that the north is not ready to make the required sacrifices
to enable this country move forward. The sacrifice is
conspicuously stipulated in section 145 of the constitution
of the federal republic of Nigeria. It was in recognition of
this fact that the National Assembly in its wisdom declared
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as the acting president and
Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the federal
republic of Nigeria. Ordinarily, it was President Yar’Adua,
and not the National Assembly that should have voluntarily
brought about making Jonathan the acting president.
Only God knows what would have become of Nigeria if the
National Assembly had not acted on time. To appreciate how
far men can go, some persons are still faulting the
intervention of the National Assembly. Their argument is
that the absence of President Yar’Adua from office did not
create any vacuum and therefore had no need to proclaim Vice
President Jonathan as the acting president. It is quite
ironical that those who claimed the absence of the president
did not create any vacuum were the same people that ferried
the 2009 Supplementary Budget to the convalescing President
Yar’Adua in Saudi Arabia for signing. It was also the same
set of people that asked a retiring Chief Judge of the
federation to swear-in his successor. Are we not aware that
federal permanent secretaries could not be sworn-in owing to
the absence of the president? Whom do they want to deceive?
KALI GWEGWE
2, Greenvilla-Customs Link Road,
Biogbolo-Epie,
Yenagoa-Bayelsa State.
0806 407 4810
kaligwegwe@yahoo.com
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