Grappling with threats to the nation's democracy
By Kodilinye Obiagwu and Clifford Ndujihe
DELIVERING a lecture "Democracy and Democratisation" recently, former Chairman of the defunct Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan stated that the survival of democracy in the country would be an illusion without a strong economy. He noted that a weak economic base could imperil the essentials of democracy.
Other factors have been noted as threats to the nation's civil rule. The constitution, on which democratic institutions draw their essence, is one such factor. Others include insecurity, and ethnic nationalism.
Dr. Frederick Faseun, the founder and president of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), said that the greatest threats to civil rule are illiteracy and poverty.
According to Chief Meshack Umeike, a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), bad governance is the greatest threat to the nation's democracy.
"This polity has to be restructured. Unless this is done, we are on the verge of going over the precipice. In restructuring the polity, the essence of good leadership will be spelt out to everybody and we can only enthrone a true leader and jettison mediocrity," he said.
There are speculations about a five or six-year single term for the President and state governors, considered a major threat because it affronts the Constitution.
The five or six-year single term issue.
Obasanjo and some of his aides have had to deny over again that the President has no intention to succeed himself. Recently, some human rights crusaders alleged that the President was courting the friendship of key members of the National Assembly to prepare the grounds towards amending the constitution.
Under Section 135 (2) the 1999 Constitution states: "Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date, when (a) in the case of a person first elected as President under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office."
The process of amending the constitution seems to have started in the National Assembly where the Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu, heads the joint Committee for the Review of the Constitution (CRC). Besides the recommendations of the CRC, it would require two thirds or 24 of the 36 states Houses of Assembly to ratify it.
There are speculations that a committee called the Wednesday Group, which meets in Abuja over the five or six-year single term project. Part of the alleged plan is for the President to kick it off by 2007.
Denials of the move by the presidency have not doused the speculations.
Insecurity and ethnic nationalism.
Chairman of the Commission for Ethnic Harmony in Nigeria (CEHN), Mr. Allen Onyema, believes that ethnicity is the bane of the country.
"To be honest with you, ethnicity is the bane of development in Nigeria. It breeds all sort of vices. For example, if you have a bad leader you cannot criticise him because he will start beating ethnic drums and singing ethnic tunes, and gets allegiance from people of his ethnic stock.
"The late Gen. Sani Abacha succeeded because the whole country did not rise up with one voice against him. It was only the South West and the South. The North didn't do much, because of ethnicity. Ethnicity is being encouraged and fuelled by politicians and the elite, the poor man on the street does not really care," he said.
To tackle the problem, Onyema said his group would be holding a ceremony in Abuja on December 12 where 18 traditional rulers would denounce ethnicity.
"The idea is to establish in every Nigerian, a new consciousness of nationalism. We want them to be able to imbibe nationalistic positions like the Americans who wear their badges, and gowns and are proud to say, they are Americans, not I'm Jewish American, Anglo-American or Indo-American. We want Nigerians to be proud to say they are Nigerians.
So our work now is to re-orientate Nigerians," he said.
According to him, the 18 traditional rulers include the Sultan of Sokoto, the Etsu Nupe and Emir of Kano (from the North-West). In the North Central, are Sulu Gambari, Emir of Zaria, and Gwom Jos. From the South-West, we have the Ooni of Ife, Oba of Lagos, Osile of Oke-Ona, Oba Tejuosho and Eze Igbo of Lagos among others. In the South-South: We have invited the Oba of Benin, Olu of Itsekiri, Ovie of Ughelli, and the Oredje-elect of Okpe. The Obi of Onitsha will lead monarchs from the South-East.
Two days to the event, Onyema said they would organise a seminar for all local council chairmen in the country on "Ethnic Crisis In Nigeria: The Role of The Local Government.
"Since they are very close to the people," he said, "you cannot solve ethnic problems without involving them. If local council chairmen do not know what role and how they are supposed to play their roles, we can never solve these ethnic problems."
He continued: "Again, you cannot fight ethnicity at the grassroots without taking care of the elite. There is no other way to deal with the problem of the elite than to encourage those elite in Nigeria who have done exceptional things towards encouraging and promoting harmonious co-existence among the divergent ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. If they are not encouraged, others will continue with their trade in stock."
One way of encouraging such elite is through national awards, which he said the CEHN would do.
Deputy chairman of the House of Representatives Human Rights Committee, Abdul Oroh, said that resolving the issue of restructuring the federation, poverty, abrogation of death penalty and recurring ethno-religious crises need to be urgently addressed.
He feels members of the National Assembly should be engaged rather than vilified to strengthen democracy. "I think we have to look at where we are, try to get a new perspective and see how we can engage the process that we have now.
"Most of the things that happened during the military era are still happening, many people are still being killed through extra-judicial means. The killings in Odi and the Zaki-Biam are examples."
The Human Rights Committee, he said visited the Nigerian Refugee Commission recently and the National Commissioner said that there were about one million internally displaced Nigerians in various camps in the country.
"All of them are as a result of ethno-religious conflicts and other problems. If you add the figure of the Maroko people who were driven out of their abode, and those living under the bridges in Lagos and other places then we probably have about 10 million Nigerians running from one internal strive or the other.
"Some good things will come if we engage the National Assembly. When you talk of the Sovereign National Conference (SNC), they believe 'yes, we are here, we have been elected. What mandate do you have? If we are going to have another election now for SNC, we will still be the ones to contest and the ones to win.' That is the dominant thing in the National Assembly. So you have to engage them and explain to them. I think if we explain we will get results.
"We should agitate for the alleviation of poverty because if you are poor, freedom of expression, or the freedom of information means nothing," he said.
The lawmaker said he would want a situation where "we don't have to shout and complain after an election has been rigged. I want us to prevent it. With technology, we can catch up with election riggers. So, the journey has just started."
He also sought abrogation of the death penalty. "I recall one day when I was with President Olusegun Obasanjo and some people from Italy who were trying to campaign for abrogation of death penalty. Obasanjo told a story that almost drove me to tears. He said if he could not abolish death penalty in Nigeria during his tenure, he will use the remaining days of his life to fight for it. He talked about how he would have been used for breakfast by Abacha."
Oroh lamented that Nigeria was yet to appreciate the need to do away with death penalty, which he believed was a dominant opinion in the country.
"The other day, I was in Geneva for the human rights conference and there was this vote on whether or not to quash the moratorium and capital punishment etc. Nigeria, United States of America (U.S.A), Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cuba, Iran, China voted for capital punishment. The whole European Union and other countries like India, voted against it," he disclosed.
Onyema said that the sit-at-home order by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) would have taken place long before August 26, but the group's re-orientation efforts in the East disrupted it. "It should have taken place in May," he claimed.
"The Federal Government has a time bomb on its hand; they did not know the threat constituted by MASSOB yet. Our German affiliate reported to us that people were contributing 50 Euro per head in Germany for MASSOB.
"We got to the East, our people in the East called us and said people in the area believe that MASSOB has been granted the leadership of the incoming Biafran Government, that there will be Biafra before December, that the UN has approved it. We travelled round to disabuse the minds of the people that there is no Biafra and the UN does not have it on its agenda.
"We are treating the issue with kid gloves. Go to the grassroots in the East, they believe that Biafra is coming by December 31. They have already started struggling for positions. We cross checked at the UN, and there is nothing like Biafra on their agenda. I challenge anybody to prove it," he added.
For Chief Meshack Umeike, a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), delay in having the SNC could torpedo the country.
We are having conquering masters of our own with our money and uniform restructuring what used to be a true federal Nigeria to a unitary system of doing things. Until we sit down and discuss it, this nation is heading to perdition," he said.
Mr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the Secretary of the United Action for Democracy (UAD), a coalition of 36 pro-democracy and civil society groups thinks the threat to democracy was its faulty foundation.
"At the moment, the question is whether or not Nigeria has democracy. The civil rule we have now was not built on democracy. So it cannot be threatened. The only thing that needs to be done is to go back to the drawing board. The issue of the SNC must be addressed. We need to have a people-oriented constitution derived through the participation of the public. What we have now is military imposition. Until these basic issues that touch the lives of Nigerians are addressed, we will continue to move around in this vicious circle," he stated.
The Igbo People's Movement (IPM) feels the ethnic nationalities should not be stopped from seeking self-determination.
The deputy President General, Chinedu Orabuchi noted that IPM's support for the actualisation of freedom, resource control and self-determination of the people of Niger Delta was hinged on government's ag-long deprivation, dehumanisation and denials of the people. "You cannot tap the resources of a given people at their impoverishment."
IPM believes that for government to undertake meaningful development of the region, a large percentage of revenue must be budgeted, disbursed and transparently expended on crucial development projects, which must impact positively on the Niger Delta people.
While commending the Federal Government for seeking peace in the Niger Delta, it cautioned President Obasanjo against playing politics with the peace efforts as doing that "will only accelerate the cause of the NDPVF in achieving self-rule."
The group said the time to redefine the status of ethnicity in Nigeria wherein resources rather than demography would determine the rating as majority or minority to give meaning to true federalism had come.
In the spirit of reconciliation, the IPM called on the Federal Government to meet and negotiate with the leader of MASSOB, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, "to assuage the bitterness, frustrations and agitation of the Igbo nation."
"If the government can take the step of meeting a violent group, which aided by illegal arms, has destroyed lives and property of immeasurable value, common sense demands that a peaceful group as MASSOB should be given audience," it stated.`
