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The Problems Of Democracy And Constitution-Making By Anthony A. Akinola
One
definition of democracy which has become universal and unambiguous is that
provided by Abraham Lincoln as “the government of the people, by the
people, for the people”. Democracy itself, as a culture, originated from
Greece where it was the practice in those days for people to assemble in
public places and arrive at decisions through popular acclamation.
However, democracy has gone through evolution as society and the
governmental process have become all the more complex.
Principally because
Nigeria is a federal nation whose current constitution is patterned after
the American presidential/congressional system, a brief excursion into the
constitutional history of the United States
The point one is trying to make here is that America has had only one constitutional convention in its entire history and produced only one constitution which has enjoyed a few amendments over the years as it continues to adapt to modern changes, whereas the history of Nigeria is littered with periodic constitutional conferences and constitution-making. The Clifford Constitution of 1922, the Richards Constitution of 1945, the Lyttleton Constitution of 1953, were some of the constitutions that celebrated the era of British colonialists in the pre-independence era. Since independence in 1960, we have had a catalogue of constitutions and constitutional conferences. There was the 1963 constitution which met its untimely death in the military c oup d’etat of January 1966. Since that unfortunate episode, most military dictators had dished one constitution or the other in commemoration of their rule. The Nigerian law-makers are currently working on what could be a new constitution and their invention may not be the last if the sole intention is to achieve a transient, selfish ambition of a “third term” for the incumbent President of the Federal Republic.
The main problem with constitution-making in Nigeria is one that derives from the structure of the society itself. If the definition of a nation as an entity that comprises a people with common ancestry, common culture and a common language is anything to go by, then Nigeria does not qualify to be called a nation. However, Nigeria is a country that owes its origin to British empire-builders who, for their own designs, amalgamated nations of different peoples into a single entity. The story of constitution-making in Nigeria has therefore been the story of a post-colonial nation searching for a bearing.
What many nations of the world have, which we do not have in Nigeria, is what can be called a “common destiny”. The style and approach of British administration and governance has its own portion of the blame. But it must be said that since independence in 1960, the ambition of one group to predominate over other(s) has been a major clog in the wheel of nation-building. Issues of state creation and census, which, ordinarily, would have advanced the cause of national unity, national integration and development, were viewed from the prisms of ethnic advantage. The most recent constitutional conference, the 2005 Olusegun Obasanjo-sponsored National Political Reform Conference, further testifies to the fact that even contemporary Nigerians have not weaned themselves off petty ethnic jealousies. Maybe it is an incontrovertible political fact that ethnic groups are in perpetual conflict with one another, as one group tends to measure its progress in society against those of others. Even the small matter of presidential tenure split the Nigerian constitutionalists along the historic North versus South divide.
However, the optimism that Nigeria will survive its ordeals and transform into a great African nation with immense global influence is not unfounded. The nation may be driving at a snail’s pace but it has not been static. There is one piece of good news and that is that most Nigerians believe in the future of their society. It cannot but be noticed that quality opposition to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third term scheming has been coming from his own ethnic background. Th eir respect for constitutionality and lack of ambition for ethnic hold on political power should provide all of us with the important lesson that federalism after all is about “give and take”.
The problem of democracy cannot be divorced from that of constitution-making, as there is also the attitudinal or behavioural element to the endemic corruption and the culture of election rigging which have not aided the cause of democracy anywhere in the world. Even when the mission is to establish their own greed, it is on record that the soldiers who terminated democratic rules in the past had attempted to explain their actions by the corruption of politicians and their failure to respect the electoral verdict of the people. Most of Nigeria’s elected politicians fear life outside political office and defeat at the polls is one “disgrace” they find difficult to contemplate.
Greedy politicians feed on mass illiteracy and societal poverty. The level of political education and participation in Nigeria is rather low, even when its press is arguabl y one of the most vibrant in the world. Not many are aware of the bills being debated in the various legislative houses, talk less of wanting to influence their outcome by putting pressure on their elected representatives. A member of the Federal House of Representatives when asked why legislators were demanding increased constituency allowances, said each time they visited their constituencies the people expected to be fed. He went on to enumerate the market prices of a ram and that of a bag of rice and that, itself, speaks volumes about the Nigerian society.
But it must be quickly warned that democracy is a late developer, a culture that requires sufficient time before it can take root. The one thing Nigerians must be determined not to permit is another interruption by the military. With time, Nigerians will be proud to say “ours is a truly democratic nation”.
*Text of a keynote address presented to the PRONACO group (Europe branch) in London on 25th March 2006
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