AN OPEN LETTER TO:

 

THE PRESIDENT & COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE NIGERIA ARMED FORCES,

PRESIDENT OF THE  SENATE,

HON. SPEAKER – HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA - ABUJA

 

Dear Sir,

 

EXECUTIVE VERSUS LEGISLATURE: A CALL TO REASON

 

“The man who does not take far view, will have near troubles – Confucius, Chinese Philosopher.”

 

The National Interest Group (NIG) is an association of Nigerian Professional men and women from both within and outside the country that is non-profit making, non-governmental, non-religious, non-sectional, but men and women who had made a mark in their chosen professional careers.  Our aims and objectives among others include the provision of professional input to governments on critical social, economic and other related issues towards promoting national integration, good governance and responsible citizenship.

 

Through our professional contributions to governments we intend to create a strong, national think tank to serve as a source of informed analysis and meaningful recommendations on national issues for a well informed and effective decision making.

 

We note with great concern the widening gulf between the Executive and Legislative arms of government.  What began as a routine disagreement between both institutions of government few weeks ago is now snowballing into major crisis, the outcome of which appears too scary yet to even contemplate.

 

Cutting short its vacation on August 13, the House of Representatives had in an unanimous resolution issued the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a two-weeks ultimatum to resign or be impeached.  To justify this unprecedented move, the House has listed nine actions of the president perceived to be unconstitutional.  In the intervening period, the presidency, however, described the allegations as unfounded and, therefore, dismissed the impeachment threat as unwarranted.

 

Spokespersons for the presidency moved further to allege that the course of action being under-taken by the lawmakers was prompted by motives that were selfish than nationalistic.

 

Worried by this development, not a few stakeholders in the polity including the organized labour (Nigerian Labour Congress), members of the political class, statesmen, non-governmental organizations, have responded. Quite naturally, the messages were varied in nuisances and temperaments.  But from all, one thing surely runs through: concern for the nation’s young democracy.

 

Predictably, the leadership of the ruling party swung into action by initiating series of meetings to contain the situation.  Such move was no doubt prompted by the strategic reasoning that since the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has a comfortable majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, the challenge of brokering a truce would be easier.  But those who nursed such optimism must have been disappointed by the decision of the House last week to press ahead with the impeachment move at the expiration of the ultimatum.  Clearly, what this suggests is the failure of the peace moves by the leadership of the ruling party.

 

Rather than abate, the crisis, on the contrary, seems to have festered the more, given that the senate has also joined the fray, in fact, towing a hard-line against the president.  This is clearly a food for thought, considering that until now, the upper legislative chamber had always played the moderating role in the relations between the presidency and the House which, even at the best of times, had always been fragile. 

 

For the purpose of its present engagement, the legislative arm of government readily invokes the spirit of its statutory power as an institution conceived to be a counter-veiling force to the executive.  In theory, no one can controvert that.  For, ever since Frenchman, Baron de Monteseque, propounded the theory of Separation of Power that has been accepted as a settled question in the art of governance.

 

While we do not dispute the foregoing, we, however, wish to sue for caution in the present face-off between both arms of government in sober awareness of the tortuous journey the nation has endured to this point in our history.  To continue to encourage acts capable of heating up the polity is to assume that what we have is durable.  But to hold such assumption is to forget the lessons of our own yesterday.  The truth of the matter is that ours is a democracy that is still evolving.

 

We will be deceiving ourselves if we assume that both arms of government have not erred since the return to democracy in 1999.  If we stretch the logic further, it follows therefore, that whoever seeks equity must do so with clean hands.  But the failings so far demonstrated on both sides, we believe, are excusable in the over-riding awareness that we are still in the “learning process”.

 

Often, it is said that the greatest challenge confronting the political class is the capacity to exercise caution precipitated the political crisis that eventually coagulated to the military incursion of January 15, 1966.  With the benefit of hindsight, it is agreed today that unfortunate event was the precursor to the Civil War that broke out in 1967 and lasted till January 1970, inflicting incalculable damage on the nation both in human and material terms.

 

History, as a thinker once said, has a way of repeating itself: First as tragedy and later as Comedy.  Events of 1983 certainly confirmed that immortal saying, as the immaturity of the political class would drag the nation back to the 1963 scenario.  The nation quaked in pains as arson, murder and allegations of rigging marred the general elections of that year.  Of course, that opened the door for the military adventurists to bounce back to power, returning the nation to the Stone Age for the next fifteen years.

 

In a curious turn of history, the nation was again dragged to the precipice precisely a decade later (1993) with the annulment of the June 12 presidential elections.  With the benefit of hindsight, we can say that, save for the sad episode of the Civil War, no other event has pushed the nation to the verge of disintegration as the unfortunate development of 1993.  Indeed, the wounds so inflicted cannot be said to have healed fully up till this moment.

 

Given the pattern of these developments, many have been tempted to resort to political superstition.  Their fear being that the nation is doomed to suffer calamities at an interval of every decade.  And now, we are on the threshold of 2003!

 

This is why we, therefore, urge both the executive and legislature to be a little bit circumspect and exercise a little bit of self-restraint at this trying moment of our political history.  It would amount to self-delusion to assume that the commencement of impeachment process at this juncture will not have dire consequences for the nation.  If we are to be honest with ourselves, we will admit that it is a process that is usually long-drawn.  The next general election is barely five months away.  If that course of action is to be pursued to its logical conclusion now, there is no way it will not derail the coming elections, thereby subjecting the polity to a constitutional crisis.

 

This is why we sue for caution and maturity at this point.  For emphasis, we stress that compromise in this particular circumstance will not be a sign of weakness but a mark of statesmanship.  The leaders should seek to disabuse the mind of those who cling to the superstition that the action is fated to political pestilence at the interval of ten years, 2003 being the next “harvest”.  We challenge them to hearken to the words of a sage that: Statesmen think of the next generation while the politicians think of the next election.  This is our message. 

 

We have the faith that those at the barricades now will sheath their swords and get back to task of building our nation.

 

Nigeria has over the last three years or so gained wide recognition and acceptance at the regional, continental and at the international level, anyone therefore that may truncate this nascent democracy from either the executive or the legislative arm of government will derail the expected benefits the country will derive from such developments. Substantial gains are expected from the Africa Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) 2000, the new Enterprise for African Development (NEPAD) 2001 and other multilateral and bilateral arrangements so far entered since the inception of this administration.

 

As concerned professionals, both within and outside the country, we are calling on both the executive and the legislative arms of government to please resolve this impasse in a mutual way for the benefit of this great nation and in the best interest of our dear motherland.

 

Sustainable economic development cannot be achieved in an era of chaos and disagreements.  The much-awaited dividends of democracy can only be achieved when there is peace and harmony between all arms of government.

 

A word is enough for the wise!

 

Yours faithfully,

pp: NIGERIA INTEREST GROUP

 

 

 

 

S. B. SAMAILA (DR)                           O. A. JOKOSENUMI (ENGR.)

PRESIDENT                                              SECRETARY

 

NATIONAL INTEREST GROUP

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