Have You Heard The News?

By

Douglas Akunia

Ogo0708@sbcglobal.net

 

There is always a lot going on in the news in Nigeria and around the world.  In the news in the past few weeks or so, a few items stand out to be worthy of commentary here.  First is the interview that was given by a former head of state, Rtd. General Ibrahim Babangida.  That is what just about every Nigerian is talking about.  In that interview he mentioned the possibility of his candidacy and willingness to run when times comes for the president of Nigeria for 2007.  That to me was good news, not because I endorse him as a president, I don’t, but because it threw a monkey wrench in the third term agenda of the current administration. 

 

What stood out in that interview to me that I am going to talk about was his admission of the godfather role he played in selecting Chief Obasanjo as president in 1999.  His reason for choosing Obasanjo was that he wanted someone who could keep the country together.  In order words a strong and patriotic person possibly with military credentials.  More important to them than anything else, was keeping Nigeria together. But the problem is that a strong leader is not necessarily a good leader. It will take a good leader to keep a country like today’s Nigeria together and move it forward.  Common sense and wisdom and not brute force are what are required at this point in our history.  Brute force when people are disenchanted only sweeps problems under the rug for later.  The late Abacha comes to mind here. 

 

It also gives credence to a rumor that the military had decided to rule the country for the next 50 years, albeit in civilian clothes.  It was also rumored that Obasanjo and Babagida had an agreement that he Babangida would replace him, even though he now feels that this third term thing is a betrayal of that.  This also would probably explain why the president never wanted his vice president to replace him despite whatever understanding he might have had with the PDM.  It is noteworthy to remember that their problem started in 2003 when vice president Atiku decided to run.  Also remember Atiku saved the former governor of Anambra, Dr. Chris Ngige's life when he was kidnapped in 2003.  The kidnappers were Obasanjo boys.   

 

Talking about Atiku, I am pleased that he has also decided to announce his intentions to run as well.  This is not an endorsement of him either but it also throws a monkey wrench in the third term thing.  He has a lot of support in the PDP some of whom are willing to change their mind against the third term and encourage some pro third term governors to come out and change their minds as well like governor Peter Odili of River state who recently reportedly called the third term thing ‘crazy’.  Unbelievable knowing where he stood only a few weeks ago.  Now we hear he is denying it.  Flip flopper.  The good thing about Atiku’s declaration is that he gave moral support and courage to the anti third term campaigners.  His outburst is on point and he should not have to resign as vice president if he doesn't want to because that will destroy the anti third term movement.  Plus the EFCC will then go after him but that is a personal problem. 

 

In addition to Atiku, we have governors Orji Uzo Kalu of Abia and Ahmed Sani of Zamfara State running as well in the race. Ahmed Sani is of course running under the ANPP.  We need more people to gather the courage and come out.  I will support people like Senator Chukwumerije of Abia state for his courage and demonstrated leadership and Chief Anyaoku for his experience.  There are others.  It is unknown if Rtd. Gen. Buhari who nearly won the popular vote last time will run again. I would have considered endorsing him based on his leadership and resilience. I would support him if it must be a former military person.  Rtd. Gen. Marwa who was earlier on running now says he was never running but that he might run.  The flip-flop and chicken thing due to EFCC harassment is not good for his credibility.  I would have considered endorsing him as well based on his work as military governor.  

 

The greatest problem with the third term campaign of Obasanjo sycophants besides creating political tensions in the country, hijacking and wasting a great opportunity to fix our system through constitutional amendment and the terrible precedence it sets, is that credible candidates have not been able to come out with enough time to build the machineries needed for running such a campaign. By now candidates should be making themselves and their intentions known so voters will have enough time to evaluate them. 

 

I think it is dishonest and disingenuous when the Obasanjo sycophants keep saying that he never said he was going for a third term.  Hello, who do these people think they are talking to.  We are not all stupid.  Obasanjo said that he will not run if the constitution does not allow it and he would not manipulate the process but that seems to be what is happening.  He is forcing the constitution to allow it so that he will run.

 

The PDP machine with Dr. Ahmadu Ali, Tony Anenih and other government officials and other drum- beaters are pushing this thing full steam ahead. They are arm twisting, reportedly threatening ministers with termination, governors with no automatic reelection (in a democracy?), reportedly bribing senators and members of representatives, this is corruption that EFCC needs to investigate where all that money is coming from. They smuggled this provision into the constitutional amendment improperly, scuttled the debate on it, lied that it was the wish of the people while in fact 90 % of the population reportedly are against it and using the power of the state to clamp down on dissent.

 

The police in Abuja beat up a whole member of the national assembly of the federal republic, Mr. Francis Amadiegwu who is still in a hospital fighting for his life, all for what?  The president lets these things happen and we are told that he has not told any one he was running.  This thing is consuming the whole polity of the country so that the president will ‘finish his work’ he started in 2003 and after all these trouble he doesn’t run?  The question will be what was all the trouble for.  Just so that he will get their support, the president then tells the royal chiefs that there will be provision for them in the new constitution.  How would he know that if he were not the one writing it?  Then Atiku is accused of going against his boss, but the president  has not said he is running.  What am I missing?  These people must really take Nigerians for fools.    Just imagine, one person changing the constitution just so that he can sit tight. An African syndrome.

 

Fortunately, some of governors who have been conspicuously quiet these days are reportedly having change of minds because they can’t get the immunity clause kept in the constitution.  How selfish can it be toying with the future of an entire people. Immunity clause means they are all for it. What are they afraid of? I wonder.

  

The president then went to Washington  after selling out Charles Taylor to appease the Americans. The issue of the third term did not come up, we were told.  Now it is our internal affair.  Ok they are right and I respect that but the Americans and others who are saying that will have to remember that when Nigerians start revolting against it.  I thought Mr. Bush and his democracy around the world talk would have just given some simple advice to Obasanjo on the issue.   The problem it seems is that the big corporations in America don't care as long as there is stability in Nigeria with an Obasanjo guarantee that oil will keep flowing, Coke will continue selling their products and Halliburton will keep doing their business in Nigeria.  Some say Obasanjo is telling them that he will not hand over to a notherner because it will not be save from extremists.  True or not but I think they will support anyone that is a secularist and not a nationalist, they never do.

 

INEC is reportedly registering as many parties as possible.  The reason is so that everyone not with the PDP will be divided amongst many ways.  I wonder if some of these parties are actually qualified.  This is at a time when these parties should be coming together anyway to be more formidable against the PDP.  Most of the parties in Nigeria including the PDP don't represent anything anyway because they don't have ideologies. The Institute of International Finance Incorporated wont even call the PDP a political party but a platform for access to the national resources.  Same goes for most of them.

 

Another piece in the news that caught my attention was the interview given by former president, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.  He explained why as a member of the constituent assembly of 1978, they chose the American style executive system of government.  That charter was actually brought back in 1999 by the Abubakar government. His reason was that part of the problems of the 1960's was that the parliamentary system could not produce a national leader. It only produced regional leaders and they wanted to correct that.  Ok, I give that to him even though I have questions because it didn't seem they thought it through. I thought it was a time in Nigerian history that our culture was shifting from English influence to that of American and it reflected in the constitution that they produced.  They simply copied the American constitution without realizing that it did not fit our background and makeup.  It created it's own problem and still does.

 

He also talked about the level of corruption today.  That is right, it is too much but it has been progressive ever since.  The Shagari government also represented a level of corruption.  I remember when the chairman of NPN celebrated his first million.  Umaru Dikko was in the Guinness book of world record with such an achievement as having the world's most expensive bathtub of all things in his London home and then they burnt the NET building in a very suspicious circumstance.  Talk about corruption.

 

Also in the news is the on going PRONACO convention.  This caught my attention because I have written several times on the need for this.  I have seen some of what they are proposing and some of them I agree with because they make sense.  They are proposing going back to true federal structure with the zones as the federating units, I agree and every region seems to agree with this.  I think we should go back to the 1960 and 1963 charters and start from there and reflect on where we are today.  They talked about fiscal federalism, devolution of powers, settler and indigenes' rights, and security forces. I agree with much of their recommendation but I will comment on a couple. 

We have long realized that we have problems with the charter we have and it is in our interest to make one that will work for us knowing who we are, where we are, where we have been and where we are going as a people.  I think that on resource control, they should peg it at 25% to the producing areas like I said before and not necessarily to the entire zone, this will only be fair and it will be an easier sell to everyone including the ossified in the North who will never accept 50%.  I think that the actual percentage should be honestly negotiated like it was done in the 1950’s.   Note that the balance will go to the national purse and not just to the federal government. The entire country should benefit from the development from the resources, whatever it is or wherever it comes from, today or in the future.

I think that on issue of settler and indigene rights, everyone is from their father's ancestral hometown, that is our culture and tradition.  Residency however should be where one is born or resides and has lived, works and pays taxes for a period of time say five years. The residency should be used for rights including voting, enshrined in and protected by the constitution.  They can choose either there or their ancestral home, not both to register for census and contest for elections. If they choose their ancestral home to contest, they have to live there for a specified amount of time as well.  This includes those that live abroad and I know some of them don't like that.  This is because one has to understand the culture and the needs of the people before they can truly and honestly contest for an election there.

I know of someone in the US that is campaigning for the senate there for Onitsha senatorial zone.  He is talking about building all kinds of things as a senator including a sea port at Onitsha.  I don't know what kind of magic he will use to do that as a senator.  I have never seen a sea port on a river anywhere in the world.  This guy doesn't even understand the needs of the people and what is within the realm of possibility. I suggest that he first move to Onitsha and then understand what is going on on the ground there and what is possible and what a senator can or can not do.

The freedom of worship and to earn a living without fear should also be protected.  If a zone wants sharia or native or whatever laws, it should be up to them but people that  don’t want to participate should be able to opt out and abide by a federal alternative and that should be protected by the constitution. 

For the presidency, only ancestral home should be used as part of the qualification to contest. I think both Shagari and Babangida are right on this to an extent.  We need a strong leader that is national. So instead of what have failed us in the past we try some thing new. I think we should have a parliamentary system but with a strong president like they have in France. The presidency should be rotational, as I have explained before in other writings.  It should be for a single term of six years or so. There should be one vice president from the same zone as the president.

Let us elect a president with defined roles including national leadership role from the zone whose turn it is.  All the interested candidates from that particular zone will campaign nationwide within their party.  The whole country will elect him or her  and that will make them a national leader.  He sets the agenda on where he wants the country to go.  He then appoints a prime minister from anywhere in the country to run the government under him to avoid mediocrity, renewable every two years and subject to approval of the legislators.  This means selecting the best and most qualified if the president wants to leave a good legacy.  The north that are against the devolution of power, insisting on what we have now should accept it and it will be Ok with those of us that think the presidency is too powerful, too expensive to operate and prone to abuse like what is going on with the Obasanjo presidency or even the American presidency for that matter.

The north will not accept what they are proposing at the conference and I agree with them on that.  I don't think we want a completely weak president and the president and prime minister will be fighting for power. In the 1960’s, we had a weak ceremonial office of the president and prime minister who was just a regional leader. It was a problem. It could be difficult and messy having the winning party in the house form a government and appoint a prime minister. 

In the PRONACO conference, some people are calling for a confederation and even disintegration.  This is actually unwise for Nigeria because it will not be accepted in today’s Nigeria.  Except of course if Obasanjo continues on the part he is going or if the Niger delta situation is not satisfied.  We are so intertwined as a country and Babangida and others in the North will fight it.  We should be talking about how best to make what we have work fairly for everyone and leave a better future for our kids. 

They also proposed taking the whole thing to the people for a referendum.  That is good and I have suggested that before.  That will make it truly from the people assuming that it is credibly done.  If the powers that be then refuse to accept what the people want as opposed to this third term charade, then we should take a leaf from the mass protest going on in France and in the US that we see in the news till we get their attention. It is said that people get the government they deserve and we deserve better but we have to work for it.

Please refer to my previous writings on more of these suggestions. Most responders to my last article had good things to say and I thank all of them and every one that took time to read it.  But two people actually called it ‘utopian’.  I had no problem with that because it means that the ideas were good except they thought they were unrealistic and would not be implemented.  That means that if they are considered, we might get a country of our dreams and then we could truly be some of the happiest people on earth as opposed to the ‘suffering and smiling' people we are now.

I also read the interview by Iyabo Obasanjo and I was impressed by her, really.  I wish she would advice her father a bit more.  I wish everyone a happy Easter and may God continue to help us all. 

 

Douglas Akunia

California, USA