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Nigeria at 40: Celebrate, Not. |
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ANNOUNCE THIS VIEWPOINT TO YOUR FRIENDS! |
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A few days ago, at their invitation, I attended a meeting of some Peace Corp alumni. These Americans, black and white, former Peace Corp members in Nigeria during the 60s and 70s, are forming an organization to raise money for a scholarship program for Nigerian girls. It is their payback to a country from where they learnt and gained so much. Across from me was this huge and detailed National Geographic map of Africa. I became engrossed by the size of Nigeria relative to other countries in Africa. The former Peace Corp members noticed my frown and decided to reflect on their service in Nigeria. They reminisced of good times in Nigeria and how much the service meant to them. They talked about a country so full of hope, a beautiful country blessed with human and natural resources unequalled in Africa. So pleasant was their experiences that some even rejected their government’s advice to leave when the Biafara war broke out. They wanted from me, the confirmation of the sordid current state of Nigerian affairs. I became depressed; Nigeria, gently sitting at the bottom of the map flashed in my mind, a giant cesspool of waste and corruption. I bowed my head, I wept inside. At that time, I decided against the Nigerian independent party to which I have been invited by the Nigerian embassy. I thought that they could celebrate, those that hope that a divine intervention would rescue Nigeria from its self-imposed blind rush to death. But those, like me, who consider the anniversary of birth, as the reminder of human mortality, would reflect on the impending demise of this “giant” of Africa. They may celebrate, those that will wake up on Monday to the shiny gleam of the sun bouncing off the expensive cars in their driveways. Those, who will have to trek miles under the burning sun, will reflect on their seemingly perpetual poverty. They will think of why their children must wade barefooted in open sewers, logging desks on their heads, to get to school. They will be reminded of the irascible power supply. The will think of the typhoid-infested water supply. The 60 percent unemployment rate will surely be on their minds. All in a country that has made an estimated $1,800,000,000,000,000 just in twenty years of oil production To those people and me, Nigeria is like a star that is rushing with the passage of time, towards a giant black hole. That black hole is invisible, but all the elements indicate its looming presence. Remember that everyday the bucket goes to the well, one day; its bottom will drop off. That reality seems to elude us so far. So, I wonder, would a woman throw a party at the inevitability of her child’s death? Would she not be desperate for an answer? Should our prime concern be the celebration of Nigeria’s age or the correction of its reputation as the number one corrupt nation on the planet? Many theories have been proffered to explain how Nigeria descended to its current state; thus, we have thrown our hopes at democracy, albeit one that is disabled by its enabling document, the Constitution. And is that gleam of hope real where a certain reputable learned economist still thinks his son is “foolish” for suggesting that the Senate ought not to concern itself with contract awards? Is Nigeria’s democracy a deceptive façade for the perpetuation of corruption by the “agbada” boys rather than the “khaki” boys? I was in Atlanta, at the “Dialogue with the President,” and there I listened at the “Committee on Sustenance of Democracy,” to many professors of political science, lawyers, and politicians argued over the need for a political structural adjustment. But for our illogical moderator, who, at my motion for his impeachment, refused to call me to speak, I would have pointed the Constitution to those who supported the Sovereign National Conference for sentimental reason and those who opposed it to exhibit a nonexistent nationalism. As an aside, the final accolades of the Dialogue would depend on its results. I believe that the Dialogue was not driven by political expediency, but I suspect that Obasanjo’s ambitious proposals surpass Nigeria’s political ability. I may be wrong. Enough that past efforts have failed to induce the contributions of Nigerians to their homeland. I would be least surprised if the Dialogue turned out to be another case. Therefore, sentiments and irrational nationalism apart, anyone who understands the Constitution would quickly conclude that in it resides the Nigeria’s obituary. Take it as you may, the survival of Nigeria under the current Constitution is comparable to that of a man living with cancer, terminable, and slowly eating his life away. Is it not the Constitution that divides the country by empowering the northern states (and any other states, yeah, right!) to adopt the Sharia as an alternative criminal code? Is it not the Constitution that provides for a Council of States as an advisory body to the President for several issues, including the Amaintenance of public order within the Federation or any part thereof and on such other matters as the President may direct." And who makes up the Council of States under this Constitution? The President, Vice-President, the Speaker, the Senate President, all former Chief Justices, all Governors, the Attorney-General, and, get this, Aall former Presidents of the Federation and all former Heads of Government of the Federation.” So Gowon, Shagari, Babangida, Buhari, Abubakar, and Abacha, except that he is dead - all who in another country at another time would be in jail, are all members of the current government, at least in an advisory capacity. There is your answer to why Obasanjo cannot probe Babangida or any of the former heads of government. Without realizing that the Constitution cannot be easily amended, suggested amendments filled up our submission at the Dialogue. Our doctors of political science missed the deliberate outrage against good governance present in the impossible amendment provisions of the Constitution. According to the amendment provisions, any legislation to amend the Constitution must be approved by at least a two-third majority of the National Assembly and must be ratified by at least two-third of states Houses of Assembly. The trouble is that there are 360 members in the House of Representative and 109 Senators. If ever we were able to agree on the mathematical determination of two-thirds of 469, without an Akinjide-like legal theatrics, the likelihood of success for amendments would be very presumptuous at best. With about 14 states in the north out of the 36 states, can you guess what would happen if there is an amendment to strike the Sharia out of the Constitution for example? And there is more. An amendment to the amendment provisions in section 9 of the Constitution or to section 8 which provides for the creation of states, the creation of local governments or the adjustment of political boundaries, must be ratified by four-fifths (99%) of the National Assembly and be ratified by two-thirds of the states. In these respects and others, the Constitution, I must say, spells death for Nigeria. So, as you decked up to celebrate the independence and the fake hope that the Nigerian-style democracy holds for your future, please don’t forget that each day of a man’s life only draws him nearer to his grave. Candidly, unless the political restructuring of the country is embarked upon first by adopting a better Constitution, the hope that Nigeria would survive another forty years would be an ephemeral illusion. 
Muyiwa Sobo, Esquire |
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