Observations On The New Constitution

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The vast majority of Nigerians are looking forward to the final report with interest including the new proposed Constitution that will end all bickering about some very fundamental political questions in Nigeria. If we are to move forward in a peaceful tolerant and democratic society then these fundamental political questions must be thrashed out once and for all.

For me some of the issues are Presidential/Parliamentary System, Presidential Term, Rotational Presidency, Immunity Clause for the Executive, Banning ex Military Rulers, which I will deal with in Observations On The New Constitution I.

In Observations On The New Constitution II, I will cover Resource Control, Sharia, Control of Local Government, Federating Units of the Nigerian Federation, Religion, Control of the Police and Traditional Rulers.

Presidential / Parliamentary System

The Presidential system for all its ills is still by far the best system for Nigeria in my view. WE would have a crisis greater than the standoff between OBJ and the Lion and Tiger led HoR between 1999-2003. The executive would not be able to govern and governance would come to a standstill if we revert back to the Parliamentary System. Would the President be directly elected or appointed from the leader of the majority party in the NA. Would the President be a ceremonial figure like Zik was or are we going to have an all- powerful Prime Minister. Where is the real separation of powers and where would the checks and balances be.   It has never worked for us in the past and is definitely inappropriate in today’s Nigeria. We generally lack a sense of patriotism and the Nigerian identity is not as strong as it should be. Politically, we see ourselves first as Hausa, Edo, Kanuri, Ijaw, Yoruba, Igbo, Idoma, Tiv, etc before we see ourselves as Nigerians with the consequences we have all seen in the last 40 years. Nigeria needs a strong not a weak centre to encourage a sense of national identity and common focus for all Nigerians. The President of the Federation represents that to most Nigerians. So do our national sporting heroes, our national free press, our musical and cultural heroes and our armed forces. A strong centre is the ultimate guarantor of Nigeria’s Unity and should not be tampered with.

Presidential / Executive Term

I have always argued that a single fixed term executive tenure is probably the most practical and least expensive system for Nigeria at this stage in our development. I have always said single six or seven years is best. I would probably prefer seven. It reduces the need on the part of our leaders to amass billions for re-election.  It allows the President and governors to concentrate on governance and delivering the economic dividends of democracy without the pressure of preparing for re-election. It puts the emphasis on economics rather than politics. It will help in rotating the Presidency between the six geo-political zones and the Igbos, Middle Belt and the Niger Delta people will have a better chance of the Presidency with this option. It would be the best option for now, in my view.

We need elections for the Presidency and State Governors at different times. So that if we have elections for the President in 2007, we can have elections for the NA in say 2008 and state governors in 2009.  We need to stager our elections to avoid some of the problems of the past and to prevent or minimize the band- wagon effect. How this is worked out is up to the Architects of the New Order.

Rotational Presidency

The Presidency is the most sought after and emotionally charged political office in Nigeria, followed by Minister for Petroleum, I should imagine. The Igbos of the South East say it is their turn. Some say they have never properly been given the chance to rule Nigeria to see what difference an Igbo man would make ( Zik was a ceremonial President, Ironsi was assassinated shortly after taking power). Others argue that since the Civil war Nigeria has never fully accepted or trusted or integrated the Igbo into the heart of her power structures. We in the Niger Delta say it is our turn. We have the oil that sustains Nigeria and without our oil Nigeria would starve. And besides, we have never had a Niger Delta person rule Nigeria for one day in 45 years of independence. The Middle Belt say it is their turn. I have always thought that Gowon, IBB, Abdulsalm are all from the Middle Belt. The Far North say it is their turn. That Nigeria still comprises of North and South and after 8 yrs in the South it should go back to ‘the North’.

To be fair, only the Yorubas have not said it is their turn. But if they are to really argue the case they can say that between 1999-2003 OBJ was never their man as they never voted for him or wanted him as President. That he was the North’s man, not theirs.  The average Yoruba man can legitimately argue that 2003-2007 is really their first chance if we want to reduce the Presidential tenure to tribe. I think it is ridiculous personally. I personally have never viewed or seen OBJ as a Yoruba or Southern or Christian President. I have always viewed him as a Nationalist. A Nigerian President. A patriot. He has attempted to please all and especially those who feel threatened. He has sometimes bent over back wards to please the powers that be in the Far North just to avoid being accused of favouritism and worse.

Proponents argue that a Rotational Presidency will put an end to this perennial problem. That if we have a system of rotational Presidency at least every tribe and tongue will have its turn to rule and the famous cry will at least be muted. The arguments can go on and on

I have issues with this because instinctively I am against zoning of the Presidency or any other political office for that matter. For I believe that the best person should emerge and be elected for the job. If political parties want to make private arrangements or enter into a gentleman’s agreement, that is up to them. But I am not too sure about making it a constitutional provision. I don’t think that any of the spurious reasons given why it is ‘our turn’ is a strong enough reason for the rest of Nigeria to accept a candidate from my zone or any zone for that matter. No one speaks about economics and policies for tackling poverty and helping us get away from the League of the Poor to the League of Middle Income Developing Nations. Politics is in my view a slave to economics and we all seem to be missing the point on this highly emotionally charged subject of the Presidency. I don’t think a President from the Niger Delta in 2007 will necessarily make my family and I richer or better off. I don’t think so.

Can any one truly say that because OBJ is President that the average Yoruba man who like most Nigerians lives on less than US$300 per year is better off today. Well, go and ask them in Lagos, Ibadan, Akure, Abeokuta , Oshogbo, etc. Ask the average man in the street.  I don’t think so. Again, I am not talking about the elites.  It is virtually impossible in a democratic setting for a President to be openly developing his area or tribe to the detriment of the rest of the nation. We all saw what happened recently over the appointment of officers to the NPRC.

Having a President from your tribe in a democratic setting serves more of an emotional/ sentimental value than of any practical economic significance. A northern president will not make the majority of northerners who probably live on less than USD300 per year better off. After all Balewa, Gowon, Murtala, Shagari, Buhari, IBB, Abacha, Abdulsalam were all from ‘the north’ -if you like. Can any Nigerian sincerely tell me that the average northerner is economically better off than the average southerner because of this. I would say a categorical NO. I would probably argue that the poverty in the old north is probably greater than in the south. I would even go further and say that even when we had northern military rulers (most of our political history) who could do whatever they liked and get away with it, the average northerner was still no better off than the average southerner. I am not talking about the political, cultural and military elites.

Yes, if you have your tribesman as Mr President you feel a stake in the country and feel if he can be so can you and your children. Yes, if you have your tribesman as President a few of you will become millionaires and get government appointments and contracts. Yes, if your tribesman becomes president a few good roads or federal roads and other infrastructural projects will be constructed in your town or village or state.  But in the general scheme of things does it really change anything for the average man or woman from your tribe, town, village or state or geo-political zone? Well, you know my answer. So why all the emotional hullabaloo about a Northern, Igbo, Middle Belt or Niger Delta President.

Can any economists or statistician or academic out there please tell me what the average life expectancy, infant mortality, gdp per capital, proper housing per thousand, car per thousand, TV per thousand, schools per thousand, hospitals per thousand, doctors per thousand, those with Junior School Cert or SSC per thousand, teachers per thousand, water per thousand, electricity per thousand, graduates per thousand, jobs per thousand, millionaires per thousand, those living below the poverty line per thousand etc is between the north and the south. Is life better for the average northerner because out of 45 years of independence the north has ruled for the best part of 34 years. We all know the answer. Northern leaders know the answer. Let us stop the shadow boxing. ‘It is all about the economy, stupid’  as someone once said to George Bush, Sr. It is all about fighting poverty in our case.

There is another issue I want to take up on this rotational presidency business. The idea that the Presidency Must Go Back to the North in 2007 or else trouble. The idea that Nigeria is still divided on North and South lines. Firstly, before I begin, I have nothing against the North or a president of Northern extraction for Nigeria when the time is right. I think because of the cooperative and collegiate nature of northern leadership psychology they tend to make good administrators. My paternal grandmother is from Bida so I can claim to be a bit of a Northerner myself.

Do we still really have ‘the North’ and South in the way it was under the British in the early 1900s. Even at Independence in 1960 we had three mega regions based on Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo hegemony.  The problems of marginalization led to cries for the Mid-West, Middle Belt and Eastern Minorities for their own regions. Only the Mid-West succeeded until Gowon broke up the super regions and created 12 states in 1967. Subsequent governments carved out smaller ethic states out of these to the point we are at today.

Today the political reality is that we have a predominantly Moslem Far North as represented by the NW and NE with emotional, religious and cultural ties to the Islamic world of old Eastern civilization. Today we have separate and proud middle belt states with their own political identity, culture, hopes and dreams. Their political and cultural aspirations is closer to those of the Western looking states south of the river Niger than to the Islamic looking states of the Far North. I therefore find it amazing that some leaders in the Far North are still speaking of the North as if Nigeria is still divided into North and South. I keep saying to them which North? The North of 1912, 1918 or the North of the late Sardauna of Sokoto in the 50s and 60s. It does not exist anymore in my view and they need to be told that if they don’t know so already. They are living in the past and need to understand the political changes that have taken place in Nigeria over the last 45 years. So when they speak of the North they are speaking of a political entity that does not exist. There is no more a political North. And there is no more a political South- if there ever was one to begin with, that is.  What the Brits once used for administrative convenience has now become a political albatross around our necks.

Since when did the Igbo and Yoruba become one political region. Since when can you lump all the Yorubas, Edos, Igbos, Urhobos, Ijaws, Itsekiris, Efik, Ibibio, and say you are all one political South. We have all matured and have our own sense of political identity. To now speak of you Southerners or the South is just as misguided and naïve as to speak of the North and Northerners. Today, if you tell an Edo man he is Yoruba, he will say you are crazy. He will even tell you that the entire Yoruba race originated from the Old Benin Empire. How dear you?  If you tell an Ibibio or Ikwerre man he is Igbo, he will say you are mad. That you should please disabuse yourself of that notion. If you tell an Idoma, Nupe or Tiv man he is Hausa, he will say you are ignorant and stupid. Am I lying? So where is the North and South they are talking about. They are living out of tune with current political realities.

On what basis therefore should the Presidency be rotated on a North- South basis when we do not have a North- South as such any more?  We do not see ourselves as Northerners and Southerners in political terms. Ask the average man in Benin who he is, he will tell you I am an Edo man. He will not first say I am a Southern Nigeria. Ask the Tivman, he will probably tell you he is Tiv or from Plateau or Benue before he says I am a Northerner. Ask the Efik or Ikwerreman. Ask Nigerians generally. The Nigerian people don’t feel that way. We do not have a North/ South anywhere in our current constitution. So why are certain leaders trying to impose this historic anomaly as current political reality. It is not.

 I don’t think there is any immediate and urgent need for rotation in the sense that is being put forward by its advocates.

Some people have said to me what about fairness, justice and live and let live? Fairness to me means fairness to the majority of Nigerians living on less than $300 per year. Not to those who think they are Born To Rule. We should be fair to them and have a President that gears all his energies, resources, powers and will to helping them move into the comfort zones less than 10% of us enjoy today. That is what fairness means to me. It does not mean passing the Presidency to someone from my home- town or the East or Far North just because it is ‘our turn’. I don’t buy that.

Justice to me means justice to 90% of Nigerians who when they are sick cannot afford to be flown abroad for expensive medical treatment. Justice to me means justice to 90% of Nigerians who cannot afford to send their Children to expensive prestige colleges and universities in Europe and North America. Justice to mean means justice to our poor doctors, teachers, civil servants who are not paid their salaries for months. Justice to me means these things. Any president who can put himself in the shoes of 90% of Nigerians and feel their pain and suffering and commits all his human, constitutional and political powers to tackling them is my President. He is the just and fair President for Nigeria. 

Whilst instinctively I am against zoning, I can understand why the call for a Rotational Presidency.  If we have to rotate the Presidency then it should be on the basis of the six geo-political zones not the Mythical North and South. In the new Constitution we should rename the North Central the Middle Belt geo political zone and the South-South the Niger Delta zone. The rest can remain the way they are. I think the Niger Delta and Middle Belt people should fight for this. It is more than symbolic.

Immunity Clause

Not a bad idea in itself as it enables elected governors and the President to conduct the business of government without constant fear of litigation and prosecution. But in Nigeria today some of our Governors have interpreted the Constitutional Immunity to mean licence to steal and steal and steal. If a Governor commits murder or conspires with his henchmen to assassinate an opponent or steals state funds whilst in office why should he be immune from prosecution.  If he has committed a criminal act whilst in office he should face the full force of the law whilst still in office like those he governs over. The IC should be revised in its current form or abolished. It is not working. It is a licence to rob and steal and worse.

Banning All Ex Military Leaders

I hear there are delegates calling for the banning of all ex military leaders or rulers from contesting future democratic elections in Nigeria. Why? Is it because they have in the past obtained power via the barrel of the gun? Is it because they are all corrupt and have stolen and stashed away billions of dollars of our poor country’s money in Swiss, London, US and German banks and any where else that would hide the loot? Is it because no honest civilian can financially compete in a free and fair election? Is it because by their training and instinct they are undemocratic? Is it to set an example to future coup plotters?  If we are banning ex military rulers why stop at just those who have ruled as Head of State or Military President or Head of the SMC?

A Military Head of State does not rule alone. He rules with Ministers, State Governors, Commissioners, Civil Servants, Political Advisers, Justices of the Supreme Court, Police, Security and Intelligence Chiefs. If we are banning all ex military rulers then we must also ban all those who have aided and abetted military dictatorships in Nigeria. We must ban them all also. We must ban them by logical extension because they were fellow travellers and co-workers in the Dictatorship. We are all guilty.

I think it would be unfair and unjust for the new Constitution to ban all past Military leaders from seeking elective offices in a Democratic Nigeria. It would be against their human rights. It would be punishing people for serving in the Nigerian armed forces. It would be wrong. We need to move forward not back.

In 2007 political terms we are really and truly talking about OBJ, IBB and Buhari. If any Nigerian has evidence that any of the above have stolen Nigeria’s money or committed any other act that disqualifies them from election into the Presidency, they should produce the evidence. Not innuendos, gossip and unfounded allegations. Otherwise they should be free to exercise their constitutional rights to vote and be voted for in any free and fair election.

In fact, being a man more concerned about the economic and poverty condition of Nigeria than politics per se, I would go further and say instead of banning anyone we should encourage all those ex Military Rulers, Admirals, Generals, Air Marshals, business and political leaders who know where Nigeria’s missing billions are should help repatriate the money back to Nigeria to help develop our poor economy and provide basic facilities for our poor suffering population. We need the money back in Nigeria more than we need to ban anyone. Especially now that the DMO is saying Nigeria cannot pay her foreign debt and soon may not be able to service them.

Putting Proper Democratic Structures in Place

What we need to ensure is that OBJ and future leaders put in place civil, military, security, intelligence, political and constitutional mechanisms, checks and systems that will weed out politically ambitious officers and keep the armed forces where they constitutional belong- in the barracks. Not in Aso Rock, Government House, Minister’s Office or Board Chairman’s Office. OBJ needs to continue the massive re orientation and conditioning of our armed forces as to their constitutional duty. And continue improving working environment and welfare of our soldiers. Any serving officer who wants to be President or Governor or Minister or Chairman of the Board must resign his commission and join Civvy Street. Any serving officer who wants to be a billionaire or own a house in London, NYC or Paris should resign his commission and go into private business. There are loads of opportunities for retired officers in the Telecoms, Banking , Oil and other sectors.

And if the UN, Ecowas, AU, EU and the major powers are serious about promoting democracy and the rule of law in Africa, a robust and firm common line on military incursion into governance whenever it occurs can have a massive impact as was recently illustrated in Togo

Just Some Observations on the New Constitution. See part two on state finance, resource control, regionalism, the Police, traditional rulers and sharia.

J.E. Iyobhebhe

iyobhebhe@hotmail.com