By Ibrahim Dan-Halilu
Is Anambra God-chosen or a man-made specimen
for testing the waters of our failed democratic experiment? The Anambrians
will see the recent attack on the institutions or rather symbols of
democracy in the state as a shameful act of the devil. But I see it in a
positive light. It reminds me of the children of Israel in the Koran and Old
Testament who were delivered against Pharaoh by Moses only to turn around
and blaspheme.
Anambra state may not be an Israel or a
microcosm of it but more than any other state in Nigeria , it has provided a
looking glass into how our democratic system operates. It has provided a
classical case of how those in government houses tend to manipulate public
institutions to serve their personal whims and caprices. On the other hand,
it has given a glimmer of the implication of executive rascality and
manipulation that has become the stock-in-trade of the current dispensation.
The Anambra experiment or rather result of experiment started with Ngige�s
deposition by a party chieftain in collaboration with political
heavy-weights taking refuge in Abuja . The poor man is still struggling to
grow his wisdom teeth when the recent crisis erupted. This time he was
trying to manipulate the local council elections for his favourite
candidates. The consequences were great. His official residence, his
deputy�s office, the state legislature and the state electoral commission
headquarters were all set ablaze by irate youth.
The reaction by Anambra youth is only a
preliminary. Other states will soon experience a repeat of it because the
issues in Anambra are a reflection of what is happening in all other states.
There are cases of electoral fraud, imposition of candidates by governors
and party chairmen, subversion of people�s will by state legislature whose
members have sold their conscience to the executive arm. There is no longer
a genuine debate on bills as was witnessed in previous legislatures. All
that a governor needs do is to take his bill in one hand and a Ghana-Must-Go
in another and ask for endorsement, which he gets outrightly. Bills are no
longer given the chance to be debated so that superior argument will
prevail.
Even on a simple issue of appointment of
ministers and heads of government parastatals the governors and party
chieftains are literally in conflict. Each person wanted his candidate
appointed. The consequences is that states do not get good representation
because those nominated are in most cases incompetent to do the job. The sum
of all these frustrations is what we saw on our television screens few weeks
ago: the desecration of key symbols of our democracy. The people are
speaking with one voice that the caricature of democracy is enough. They are
saying loud and clear that they will no longer tolerate a bastardised
democracy.
Lesson for other States
Should other states take the Anambra crises for
what the state Governor and state electoral commissioner described it: an
act of violence by misguided hooligans or they should allow the institutions
of democracy to take firm roots so that people will have a say in their
governance? It is an understatement and misleading assessment of the Anambra
crises to assume that the violence is the handiwork of miscreants. I see it
as a wake up call on all democratic elements in our country to fight the
injustice unleashed on the electorate by the political thugs occupying
government houses. It is a call for rescuing our democracy from the fangs of
civilian dictators and their cohorts that hide under democracy to unleash
terror on the electorate.
My fear is that neither the civil society nor
the judiciary can save the situation. The only option left for the
electorate is what the people of Anambra did recently. When a small child is
bullied by his senior the only weapon he has at his disposal is his sharp
teeth unless a stone is within reach. It is the same scenario that plays
itself out when the weak is pushed to the wall. This time the weak does not
use the teeth but they employ confrontation to free themselves from
oppression. The people of Anambra state did exactly that but those in power
wanted us to believe otherwise.
I don�t see the Anambra debacle as something
President Obasanjo can solve. It is beyond his powers to change the
behaviour of the state governors. He can only advise them. But the
fundamental issue is that the governors should either accept democracy with
all its institutional checks and balances or they quit the stage because
sooner or later the electorate will enforce their rights of having a say in
the way they are governed. I do not rule out the use of violence to force
any chief executive of state that manipulates the electoral commission to
impose himself or his candidates on the people to accept the will of the
people. I see us matching in that direction unless some divine intervention
convinces the state governors and other party chieftains like Chris Uba to
give democracy a chance.
This brings us to the issue of godfathers in
Nigerian politics. As the Anambra case has amply demonstrated the days of
political godfathers are numbered. If any idiot thinks he can use ill-gotten
wealth to impose a candidate on the electorate so that after election the
former will recoup his investment, it is time they begin to reflect on what
happened in Awka. It would be a battle to finish because the choice will be
either the elected candidate rebel against his godfather and serve the
electorate he swear an oath to serve or he will be forced to leave the seat
of power prematurely. Governor Chris Ngige has been faced with these options
since his election in April 2003. And he seemed to have chosen the former
though not with our dire consequences. He has rebelled against Chris Uba but
is paying for it in various measures.
The federal government that sponsored his
humiliation has withdrawn the security offered him by the Nigeria Police. As
a result of the amazing revelations about his romance with Uba he seemed to
have lacked the moral courage to govern with firmness and decisiveness much
as most power brokers in the state regard him as a lame duck governor. This
is the price he has to pay for trying to cut corners to get to the Anambra
Government House.
Ibrahim Dan-Halilu 10 Alkali Road Badarawa -
Kaduna
