Economic Eureka In Multiparty Ideas Across The Niger

By

Farouk Martins, Omo Aresa

faroukmartins@aim.com

 

Vigorous competition amongst various parties is not new in Nigeria. It was the time many of us like to reminiscent about. If you wonder why many young people have no attachment to our Country, it is because they never enjoyed regular flow of water, light, free flow of train and buses. Where? In Nigerian cities and beyond. When? Before your time. We had Federal and State Scholarships to universities or military college anywhere, beaucoup. A region had free primary education, another paid children to go to school. It is not a coincidence that only Armed Forces still enjoy full training and scholarship.

 

Who were the people who enjoyed all these? They are the same people who are denying our children what they enjoyed. All these without that mighty curse called oil or black gold that has devastated our brain power and economy. It has turned every State into a beggar, cap in hand matching to Abuja.

 

We have too much concentration of power in the center that influences bandwagon effect during elections because everybody wants to be conned. This creates an ideologue of a dictator whose obsession for power stifles creativity, ideas and innovations that can come from multiparty system. A dictator sees his shadow in uniformity across the Country like a mirror that reflects his whims and caprice.

 

Grassroots economic initiatives in the North can be credited to Mallam Aminu Kanu’s NEPU that gave the British hell and won most of the seats in the North before NPC came to light and had to compete for seats in the fifties. Most young people know very little of microeconomics of Aminu Kano, because he personally remained poor. Waziri Ibrahim later bolted from NPC and formed his own party of “Politics Without Bitterness” and so was Tarka who refused any party monopoly in the North. These coalitions came with mini regional economic power preventing even worse domination of the minorities.

 

Awolowo’s Action Group had to fight for its political life in the hands of Ibadan People’s Party in the West. Azikiwe’s NCNC never gave an inch in the West, they fought for, and at a point in time won more seats in the West than AG. It was a battle of which party could deliver economic and educational power to the people. Cooperatives were the key.

 

The East was in full speed booming with trade as championed by Onitsha Market. If you could not find anything at that Market, you can not find it in Nigeria. The Independents were wining more seats in the fifties than Zik’s NCNC. Indeed 11 out of 13 seats were won by them in Calabar. He had to convert a seat for himself in Onitsha, his hometown. It was in the days when people held parties to their economic policies in the campaigns.

 

O.K! Yes, it was the time of ten percent or “dash”. Compared to 120 percent bribe today.

 

What we are witnessing today may turn out to be a repeat of the fifties and sixties where multiparty competition can made a comeback. We can only hope that lessons learned from some of our dark periods, we would allow multiparty competition to work. There is no reason to fool ourselves that there are no regional parties today, but they know that any ethnic dominated party will not be attractive. So many of them have taken the required steps to make sure they are inclusive.

 

No matter how much promises he makes, some of us do not trust Buhari dictatorial tendencies, like most Generals – Obasanjo and Babangida who remain his nemesis. Buhari seems to be going around lining up parties across the Niger behind him while PDP gets over confident. He has promised moderation, State and community police. It’s an attractive proposal that can curb police corruption. That he is ready to yield power to the States by any inch remains a promise. In Nigeria, deals are made and deals are broken. Just ask about AD and Obasanjo agreement in 2003.

 

The competition of many parties in each region is the tendency to emerge strong enough to dilute the power at the center. As strong as the Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, was in Lagos in those days, there was no doubt that he reported to Ahmadu Bello in the regional North. It also worked very well for the West as Awolowo stayed back in the region while Akintola reported to him. Trouble started when he ventured out of the West.

 

Azikiwe was more powerful as Eastern Premier than he was as Nigeria figure head President. Most of his achievement in the East was left to Michael Okpara to carry on. People still talk of those landmarks up till today.

 

There were regions booming with economic activities and they were competing with the Federal Government. Roads, transportation, schools and economic initiatives were the major responsibility of regional and local governments. People were able to use their brain power and individual initiatives and entrepreneurship prevail. That is exactly what concentration of power in the center has destroyed. Greed breeds flirtatious behavior towards another State’s natural resources as if converting our neighbor’s wives.  

 

Of course it was not perfect in those days either as later events showed, but it created regional economic powers that were competing with one another. If the brains, power and policies were made at the regions, the central power could be tamed into competition.

 

Unfortunately, the power that could not be exercised against the region that control the center was abused against the region that did not control the center. We can fine tune all these by making sure Presidential candidates believe in Regional and Federal equality as the election beckons so that the four regions we have in Nigeria today is not dominated. 

 

Multiparty competition weakens dictatorial tendency at the center. Some may point to coalitions all over the world and its short life as in Israel or Italy. There has to be many wheeling and dealing before a central government is formed. Others may point to vote of no confidence by opposition to bring down a minority government as in the British or Canadian government of Pierre Trudeau that overthrew Joe Clark in the seventies.

 

Straight presidential system can also be fine tuned as different parties control the House of Representatives, the Senate and the Presidency. It does not have to spell impeachment if compromises prevail. That was how Otedola and Tinubu defied the trend and won in Lagos. More of that objectivity is needed in Nigeria.

 

It does not make sense for any of the parties to form coalition if they can not get economic autonomy for their people and reduce the almighty control of the purse of the Federal Government. It is then and only at that point will economic creativity starts.