Ndume: N/Assembly as metaphor for our democracy
Assuming the wishes of Nigerians really count, the National Assembly would have by now reinstated Senator Ali Ndume, considering the unprecedented solidarity he received from all walks of life following his suspension by the Senate.
If definition is anything to go by, democracy is said to be a form of government where the supremacy is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under free and fair electoral system; it is the state of people characterized by equality of rights and privileges.
In such arrangement, people are free to express their views in any situation. One has every latitude to speak on whatever he sees as wrong or right. Showing accusing fingers at someone whom one deems as going astray or pervasive, is not a crime to my outlook, even if the accuser is proved wrong. Therefore, democracy, is antonym to aristocracy. I am not explaining this because our distinguished senators do not know the meaning of the word, but just that it seems to me that, they don’t want to actualize it or put it into practice.
The decision taken by the Senators against our cherished and dignified Senator Ali Ndume is to say the least, harsh. This is my opinion and the opinion of millions of Nigerians who listened and read commentaries in the media. The electorate are not in support of such decision.
Senator Ndume’s action was to clear his colleagues from many unfavourable comments thrown at them and he acted based on the privileges provided by the Senate rules and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
And if the constitution that guarantees freedom of expression is sacred, why then will Ali Ndume be crucified? If the Senate President and Deno Malaye were found to be innocent, this should be a welcome development rather than unwarranted suspension of Ali Ndume.
Many senators had raised a point of order on controversial issues that necessitated the Senate to carry out investigation and at the end of the day, the issues were resolved and life continued. It is very common to see senators lifting newspapers at plenary and calling on the Senate to take action. This was exactly what Ndume did.
President Muhammadu Buhari himself was accused of many malicious and malignant accusations during the last unpopular administration and we knew the role played by the NTA in deliberately disseminating mean, unaccommodating and slanderous propaganda against him. The late Senator Ahmad Zanna from Borno State was accused of aiding Boko Haram. Presently, Senator Jibrin Barau Maliya of Kano State was accused of smuggling vehicles. The Secretary to the Federal Government was also accused for embezzlement. Another senator was accused of hoarding bags of rice. Some of the cases are still under investigation, if not for anything, just to clear the air even though many of the allegations are clearly spurious.
Senator Ali Ndume, who I term audacious, bold, patriotic and nationalist, has suffered a lot. To me, his fault is because he always stood by the masses.
He was at a time accused of being a Boko Haram member during the Goodluck administration, simply because he was against the formulation of some
He also opposed the intention of the government to introduce new plate numbers for vehicles costing N30,000 which was outrageous. He stood against government’s intention to increase fuel price. He opined that the paupers were not in need of plate numbers, but wanted to see food on their table.
That is why I always maintain thathe is among our National Assembly members that are the right-minded, moralistic and the ethical ones. But they might not be the majority and hence, they are always overwhelmed. It seems Senator Ndume’s flaw is his stringent stand for Magu’s confirmation by the Senate. Ali Ndume is not a former governor, therefore, his views will not be popular on the floor of the Senate.
I will like to draw the attention of our distinguished senators to the fact that people in this country are not interested in wearing uniforms, suspension of colleagues, rejection of nominees and quarrel or altercation among themselves and with the executive. Their desires are to see the senators contributing to the development of this country, physically, politically and socially.
Let the senators’ debates focus on how to industrialize this country, how to alleviate poverty, how to extricate us from economic recession, how to improve the agricultural programme of the present government, how to deliver qualitative education and so on and so forth. Rather than discussing mundane issues, our senators should be discussing the rising prices in our markets; we want to see democracy in action but not to strangulate it.
I have no iota of doubt that many of our senators are capable of doing all that I mentioned and they should please just do that in this our trying moments.
The suspension of Ndume is a great disservice to millions of people, not only in Borno or the North East but Nigeria at large.
The Senate should listen to the voices of wisdom as many lawyers, civil society groups and the down trodden have all rose in his defence. This goes to show that the punishment was overstretched.
The likes of Ndume should be encouraged to stamp out corruption in the polity. This is the time for the Senate to reinvent itself.