I will not be President-Abiola (II)

After many years of shouting match, South West politicians shifted ground to National Conference. Luckily, President Goodluck Jonathan obliged them. The Nigerian politicians made the conference a platform for ethnic, regional and religious grandstanding, WITH GOOD PAY.

As it is becoming obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari is not willing to implement the report of the conference, they created a new diversionary concept called Restructuring, which is bogus enough for ethnic, regional and religious groups to define and adopt to suit their interests. It is interesting that some people are calling for the scraping of either of the two chambers of the National Assembly (Senate or House of Representatives) to give room for a unicameral legislature to save cost. They are entitled to their views. And I hear them.

The truth of the matter is that there are few things that require constitutional amendments in Nigeria. The problem is the laziness and insincerity of Nigerian politicians .The constitution is federal enough for states to develop at their own pace. For example, Governor Ahmad Yarima utilized the provisions of the constitution to introduce Shariah in Zamfara State. Governor Samuel Ortom utilized the provisions to make laws on grazing reserve with a view to addressing the problem of herdsmen. A number of states utilized them to introduce death sentence for kidnapping and rape. Unfortunately, many Nigerian politicians are comfortable with the American slang: If you cannot dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit!

But even where constitutional amendment is required, like fiscal federalism, have the previous amendments especially the increase in derivation revenue for oil producing states to 13% served the purpose? What of the huge money allocated to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) managed by Niger Delta people, but executed few projects as a government investigation found out? Why should the people of Bayelsa and Delta states celebrate their former governors, Diepreye Alamieyeseigh and James Ibori, respectively, despite their convictions for corruption? The people of SouthEast agitating for Biafra because of perceived marginalization, have they been monitoring their governors to make sure that they transparently utilize the money sent to them from the federation account?

Of course, Nigeria cannot remain politically and structurally stagnant. However I prefer political development to restructuring which is tainted, subjective and narrow. The former is about continuous fine tuning of political institutions and policies with a view to promoting national development.

There is need to evolve a political culture that will help Nigerians to overcome the perception of threats, intimidation and violence as cornerstone of power. This is a backward culture. I met a European who told me that he was scared the first time he came to Nigeria and immediately their aircraft landed at Murtala Muhammad Airport Lagos somebody brought out his handset, made a call and started shouting at the person he was speaking with. “I quickly rushed to somebody and asked what the problem was. He laughed and said the man was calling his friend to inform him that he was back in the country. “That is how they talk”, he told me”.

The Senate President should rise to the occasion to save Nigeria from the grandstanding of political gladiators who are threatening the survival of the country. I suggest he establishes a POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT UNIT possibly under his Chief of Staff, Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, a brilliant political scientist and experienced technocrat. The unit is to be assigned two broad responsibilities (1) Identifying political areas that need improvement especially issues related to federalism, and producing blueprint of what should replace the existing practices (2) Networking with major stakeholders especially members of the national assembly, presidency, governors, state legislators, civil society, traditional and religious rulers to ensure that the desired reforms are achieved . The National Assembly is the best institution to do these because it is the hub around which major political reforms should revolve.

The political development unit should be strategic in its approach, going from simple to complex issues. For example, if issues related to fiscal federalism are likely to be volatile, the unit can start with reforms on education, agriculture, roads etc. Already, state governors are repairing federal roads in their states and claiming refund from the federal government, which makes a strong point that states should be in charge of all roads in their states. The federal government has no land; it is hanging in the air. The role of federal government in agriculture should not go beyond research and policies because environmental peculiarities place states in better position to promote agriculture in Nigeria. The requirements of Bayelsa state as a riverine area is different from those of Jigawa which is in the far north, threatened by desert encroachment.

For me, the songs of Jacksons in the 70s make more sense than the charade call restructuring. And my favourite track was “LETS GET SERIOUS”. Nigerians must “get serious”. The time has come when we should engage in a genuine reconciliation with a view to creating a prosperous and peaceful country. Blame game will not take us anywhere.