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Shekarau: A Turning Point For The Rule Of Law (1) By Naseer Kura
Since the electoral perfidy of 14th April 2007, where Governor Shekarau successfully hijacked the electoral process, by means that cannot be Justified, to obtain his preferred outcome, the bad and the ugly folks in the All Nigeria People Party in Kano have, to our astonishment, been busy celebrating what they call their "conquests" at the ungovernatorial election held in Kano.
Apart from organizing lectures on democracy, where "warrant chiefs" are crowned to essentially praise the "smooth operation" and distort the history of Kano in all facets, colossal amounts of taxpayer's money are, every week, being committed to sponsoring apologists to Mecca for prayers, as they would won’t to do during the forthcoming Ramadan, to consolidate the "maimaici", while the people and the youth in particular remain objects of abject poverty, illiteracy and unemployment.
As the overextended celebration is of the same character and in tune with their political agenda in the state, a state now being held in contempt by the comity of states in the federation, a state where those in authority break every law with impunity, a state where' the government and the bureaucracy are eviscerated of any accountability and professionalism, a state where falsehood has been elevated to state policy, a state where governance has become a byword for deceit, a state where there has been a remarkable and unprecedented lack of basic infrastructure that tallies with accrued revenue, a state where the conventional system of choosing leaders, democratically or otherwise, has been bastardized, I can only assume that what I see and lament is what they see and celebrate with disgusting notoriety.
It is quite astonishing to observe that almost the entire cabal that alienated the Government from the wishes and aspirations of the people in the last tenure has, somehow, scandalously resurfaced in the second tenure cabinet against the expectations of the people. With this development, I am not sure that we have reached the "beginning of the end" in our quests for the departure of impunity in government. As a matter of fact, certain measures must therefore be taken to prepare and combat the perpetration of overwhelming transgressions over our rights and government obligations. We may have to shed tears, since phenomenal selective justice is likely to become a permanent feature in the polity as democrats and legal minds that live by the law will, most unfortunately, continue to shy away from the law.
Truth told, the last Shekarau tenure of supposedly democratic dispensation had been a paradox. It was a period in which we have had to contend with patronage that only served a multitude of political opportunists and religious turncoats that fed fat on the state and have, overnight, grown wealthy beyond their education, productive abilities or even community contributions/recognitions at the expense of social services and dilapidated infrastructure that constricted the socioeconomic being of the people. Much more serious and deplorable, however, is the fact that, despite the initial goodwill it enjoyed, no administration in the history of Kano has had as much contempt for the rule of law as that of Governor Shekarau. Simply put, there has never been an administration which so regularly proclaimed in the daylight its belief that it alone can decide which court judgment it would obey and which to ignore.
By now, our memories are so filled with such episodes of the administration's contempt for the rule of law, in one way or the other, that each new one pushes an old one out the back door of our minds. One of such bizarre cases is that of a very senior civil servant, Malam Bashir Abba who, along with one other person, was dismissed from the civil service. The two officers challenged their dismissals in the courts. In the year 2002, the courts declared their dismissals as unconstitutional, illegal, unfair, unjust, null, void and against natural justice, adding that they should be reinstated back into the civil service with all entitlements paid. The government appealed the judgments but failed to upturn them. Contemptuously, the government then went under and lodged a complaint before the police, who, after failure to establish the allegation reported, advised the government accordingly.
To date this officer has not been reinstated let alone be paid the entitlements as ordered by the court, even when his colleague, one Abdulmumini A. Yelwa, with whom he shared the allegation, the judgments and indeed the subsequent police, investigations, has since been reinstated and paid fully his outstanding salary arrears in line with the judgment. It is quite worrisome that this differential treatment of the two officers was made on the account of the preferred officer being a classmate to His Excellency at Kano Community Commercial College, who remained a long time' associate.
To the bewildered amazement of critics and monitors of human rights, this selective justice and unjustifiable pattern of justice administration antithetically negate the expectation that leaders are to govern by established laws, which are not to be varied in particular cases, for either the favourite at court or the countryman at plough. In a contradiction of monumental proportions, while the constitutional, legal and moral burden of this case weighs heavily on his shoulders, His Excellency appears willing, when the chips are down especially, to resort to seeking redress through the same judicial process that he, willingly, disparaged.
Few instances suffice here. First, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, it must be remembered, in concert with Haruna Danzago in the year 2003, run to the High Court to challenge the emergence of Ibrahim AI-Amin (little) as the winner of .ANPP gubernatorial primaries. That singular act was what paved the way for the emergence of Shekarau as the gubernatorial candidate of the party, that contested and won the governorship of kano in the year 2003.
Secondly, as a contestant seeking reelection this year, Shekarau filed a civil case against the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) at a kano High Court for shortlisting his "Excellent" name in the list of politicians that have been indicted by the Crime Commission. Thirdly the Shekarau government is, very rightly though, now in court with the American Drug Manufacturing Company (PFIZER) for the wicked and inhuman administration of untested drugs on unsuspecting kano citizens.
The test conducted by Pfizer is of course viewed as an act of injustice and therefore the resort to the court of law for a reprieve on behalf of the effected citizens and their relations is most welcome.
Although Malam appears to have the support of the people on at least the Pfizer case, a very large number are somehow skeptical about his sincerity about his new found respect for the rule of law. What we in the Human Right World see is a new and brazen shamelessness, as we wonder since when has the Malam begin to respect the sanctity of the judiciary, that he would seek redress through it. Could one seek equity with soiled hands? People ask, is this not one of the antics of the administration, to do what it is good at..pulling the wool over the citizen's eyes? Sociologists say that there is always a moment in the life ~f tyrants when they, consciously or unconsciously, take the gloves off in public; a moment when they have almost consolidated, or so they think, their power and influence and they have to demonstrate it. I wonder if this is our moment in kano. In this sense, I remember, after been sworn-in for his second tenure, Governor Shekarau told the good people of Kano that he was not going to promise them any thing but they should fatalistically keep faith in him that he would do what is right for them.
Most unfortunate as this statement was, the outcome, including the composition of the present cabinet, not long after, is everything but right for the "kanawa". Another thing that the people expected from the Governor at that inauguration was a simple Financial Statement in respect to the State account from 30th May 2003-29th May 2007, as done in all the States, for the purpose of records and smooth takeover or "maimaitawa", as they would rather prefer. True to type, Malam Shekarau, for reasons best known to him, skipped this important aspect at the colourful inauguration ceremony, which could have allowed the people to assess the health status of the State treasury.
Governor Shekarau and his advisers should be told that the concept of the rule of law is not a pious phrase that merely exists in individual minds. It is what stands between the citizens and the arbitrary exercise of power by the state. It is the safeguard of our liberties. If that understanding is lost or if it becomes seriously eroded, our democratic experiment and the freedom it guarantees are in Jeopardy; a tragedy that we can ill afford.
For now, a spectre is indeed hunting the people of Kano who have become victims of certain technocrats and dubious politicians, masquerading in righteous garb and proclaiming self righteousness when their actions proved the contrary, otherwise it does not have to take a publication in the Leadership Newspaper of Friday, 29th June 2007, to remind His Excellency of his obligation to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that he swore to defend and uphold and the sanctity of the Judiciary that real democrats cherish.
The victims of injustice, including Malam Bashir, are waiting, not in vain, for Your Excellency to keep your word on justice. They, like every other person, lament when words are used to mask inaction and notice when laws that should protect them are not applied.
As a human right activist, one of my lifelong quests is to promote the rule of law particularly in Kano, the one state I can only call my state. I believe that kano will be a better place if opacity is replaced by transparency, if arbitrariness is replaced by accountability, and if the rule of man is replaced by the rule of law. Like it is always said, there is wisdom in respecting judgments, particularly in this our times, times of uncertainties.
As no one is above the law, no one should be denied its protection. Since justice to one is justice to all, Governor Shekarau should not hesitate a minute further to reinstate Malam Bashir Abba and others with similar predicament into the civil service, as directed by a high court judgment, so as to serve as our "turning point for the Rule of Law" in kano. After all, President Umar Musa Yar' aduwa has, quite recently, set the pace by respecting court Judgments in respect to Lagos Local Government funds and Abuja demolitions among many others.
The President should be emulated not isolated in his drive to enhance democratic tendencies in the country. Only when that is done, can we claim to have reached the "beginning of the end" of impunity in the polity.
Naseer Kura is with Basic Rights Action
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