Time was, when the world was ruled by Kings and Queens. It was a period in the history of mankind when powerful mortals reigned supreme over the affairs of empires and domains. It was a time when subjects saw their Kings or Queens as deities and only after God. The words of such men and women were law and their actions were the law. Their decrees were absolute and royal seals unchangeable. The monarchs and royal thrones were glitz and paraphernalia laden with grace, beauty, and power. The great emperors of yore ruled over their subjects with deft wisdom and left indelible marks and footprints in the sands of time. Their stories, like myths are still being told till this day with pride and gusto by their people. This space will fail me to list names of such human deities. Something for another day perhaps.
Fast forward to the modern day and empires have given way to nation states. The world has gone republic and the monarchical system of rulership is no longer the norm. Only a handful of absolute monarchies remains in the world today. National Leadership is now achieved via a system called Democracy. Although, there are varied forms of it, the fundamental framework is the same across the globe. Ascension to leadership is now demanded for, it is no longer bestowed on individuals by progenitor or selection by family tree. Nations of the world now have structures to churn out men and women within them to steer their ship of state and chart their course of fate.
Nigeria is therefore not an exception in the comity of nations. Although it has taken us ‘donkey’ years to join the ‘groove’ of democratic nations, we are sliding and gliding on ’bekebeke’ (slowly, with waddling-gait) like the Edo tribe in Nigeria will say. Again, the reason(s) why it took us so long to join the `train of democracy` is a matter for another day. The crux of the matter is that we are on the train but the question on the mind of well-meaning Nigerians is the ‘nature and model’ of the ‘democratic train’ we have boarded. Some say it is a locomotive, a speed train, and many say we are yet to even board the train and only standing on the queue at the train station ruminating on which direction or destination to go.
A cursory look at the past twenty-two years of the current democratic rule in Nigeria leaves so much bile in the mouth. It has effectively been a case of Brownian-motion without directional movement. Nigeria seems to have stagnated and/or is stagnating. Hope has disappeared from the horizon, the generality of citizens are bemused, beaten, dehumanised, and impoverished beyond comprehension by a demonic, satanic political class/elite. As a nation, Nigeria has a penchant for the surreal. We have a nasty subtle way of dismantling the norm. The sobriquet, ‘the Nigerian factor’ is not a happen chance. It was very well thought out by the fellow who coined it. God bless him or her for the ingenuity and word craftsmanship. The year 2023 will be Nigeria’s 7th successive democratic general elections. A first in our chequered history but the signs and symptoms are certainly not looking good. Our political parties are not evolving or growing, and our politicians have learnt nothing from the mistakes of their forebears. There are no clear-cut ideologies, and no patterns of thought. The strategy of how to move the country, sorry `contri` forward from point A to point B is non-existent. The three arms of government – Executive, Legislature and Judiciary are bereft of ideas. The latter is doing its best to steady the ship but is weighed down heavily by subterranean forces and has been set on its own self-destruct trajectory by some bad eggs within the fold.
The Judiciary, a key arm of any democracy has been shackled and the legislature has become mere appendages of the Executive arm of government. The expected democratic outcomes of an independent Judicial and Legislative arms of government have long turned into a mirage in Nigeria’s case. As the last hope of the common man (a term I loathe so much and seldom use), the Judiciary is supposedly a bastion of hope. It should be the ‘Temple of Justice’ that must preserve its sanctity amidst the raging storm generated by the dare-devil political class. The Judiciary must clean its Aegean stable and weed out the bad eggs within its fold. In any society, enforced deterrents are the major panacea for crime and criminality. A society where there are no sacred cows and Law is the Law, will ever remain civil. Be you a President, Company Director, Religious leader, Traditional ruler, or whatever, the full weight of the law must be upheld without fear or favour. The rule of law should and must not be circumvented on the altar of greed. The absence of the rule of law is the reason for the disjointed and collapsed foundation of the moral fabric of the Nigerian society today. The Nigerian people are daily, losing faith in the Judicial system and very many are beginning to take the law into their own hands. Reminiscent of the jungle, isn`t it?
The legislature is a powerful limb in the tripod stand of democracy. No ifs, no buts. As the elected representatives, it behoves our legislators to be the arms, legs, and mouthpiece of the people they represent at local government, state, and federal levels. It is a privilege for legislators to represent and serve the people and not for the people to serve and worship the legislators. How many of our House of Assembly men and women, federal representatives and senators know that their job is to be the servant of the people and that they are not to be deified. Gratifyingly, I give credit to a few legislators who are truly `honourable` in the true sense of the word. They are rare breeds who are just a handful in number. The majority are there, just to line their pockets with the jumbo pay, allowances, perks, and largess attached to the offices. Any attempt to make our legislative role part time or pay as you sit, would see many of the current legislators run out faster than former Olympic champion, Usain Bolt. They will zap off like lightening. Our legislators in Nigeria must realise that every Nigerian cannot sit in the hallowed chambers of State Houses of Assemblies, and the red or green chambers of the National Assembly in Abuja. These folks must realise that the `doors of democracy` are `hinged` firmly on them. Along with the Judiciary, the legislature must realise the monumental position it occupies and that it is meant to be held in trust for the people. Both arms of government – Legislature and Judiciary must create the necessary checks and balances to keep the Executive arm of government at bay. In his famed letter to Anglican Bishop Mandell Creighton on 5th April 1887, Lord Acton penned the evergreen words, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. These golden words on marble are truer now than it could ever be in today`s Nigerian context. If the current insanity, impunity, and profligacy prevailing in our polity is not reversed, we could all say `good night` and bid our `contri` (not country) farewell. Our nation is drifting, not just drifting but on a cliff hanger.
We move to the big elephant – the Executive arm, which is led by His Imperial Majesty, the one that sits in the office of the King of Nigeria. The President, the Executive President (emphasis mine) of the Federal Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. What about it, some may ask? I beg to say there is a lot about it. Since our independence in 1960, only 13 men have had the privilege of leading Nigeria, Military or Civilian and irrespective of the titles they used – Prime Minister, President, Head of State. Nigeria also has the fortune of having two Presidents who got a second coming in office – Olusegun Obasanjo (1976 -1979 and 1999 – 2007) and the Muhammadu Buhari (1984 – 1985 and 2015 – date). In the last two democratic dispensations, 1979 – 1983 and especially since 1999 – date, the office of President of Nigeria (PON) like that of the President of the United States (POTUS) is Executive. It is laden with `super` Executive Powers to do and undo. In the case of Nigeria however, what we see, is that the Office of the President is transmuting to that of a King on a throne as in medieval times when Emperors held sway. Some antagonists may argue about this transmutation, but the facts are glaring for all to see. How else can you explain the way citizens (sycophants) throw themselves at the President and do obeisance to him in a democracy? How do we explain the way the legislators `kowtow` and `bow` without any dignified resistance to the whims and caprices of the President like subjects to a King? Even great Kings of the past who reigned supreme over empires had consuls they listened to as they superintended over the people. Let it be clear that this scenario is not just descriptive of the current occupant of the throne in Aso Rock. It has been the norm in previous administrations although the practice has now been elevated to super numeric levels and statecraft during this administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
The debate rages on that irrespective of who emerges the King (President) of Nigeria in 2023, it is going to be the same old, same old tale of woe for the Nigeria people. Proponents of this thought like this writer believes that our current system of governance is flawed and programmed to fail. The cost of running our government is humongous and the system is not only bogus but also overloaded at the centre. More items in the exclusive legislative list MUST be devolved to the federating units (states) in the concurrent list. The legislative list in the Nigerian Constitution provides for the distribution of powers: items in the exclusive legislative list are assigned to the federal government; the concurrent legislative list is assigned to both federal and state governments and defines areas in which both can legislate; and the residual legislative list is assigned to the states. The exclusive legislative list has 68 items, while the concurrent legislative list has 12. You wonder why our `contri` is where it is? A state government in Nigeria cannot go into Electricity (Power) generation and distribution, railway, airports, mining and minerals, policing, security, national revenue collection, taxation, to mention but a few. The hand of the federal government is in too many areas leading to a bloated bureaucracy, incompetence, and a lack of innovation and creativity across the land. It is hard to really pin the 36 state governments down to anything. As a result, many State Governors do nothing other than gallivant around as demi-gods who are not responsible for anything. ‘Tin gods’ with no sense of time or direction, feeding their vanity at the expense of the slavery of the minds of their people. Wielding their potent drug of ‘civil sedation’ that is corruption, they immune themselves with the regular `vaccine` of `it is the federal government`, and they always point accusing fingers at the `President` whoever that is, every 4- or 8-years cycle.
The recent constitutional amendment on the exclusive and concurrent lists by the National Assembly is commendable but it is not far-reaching. The rot in the Nigerian system requires a wholistic revolutionary approach and not a ‘cosmetics brushing’ in the face technique. The world is moving at a fast pace and Nigeria is lagging behind. The dynamics of our social, political, and economic strategy should be fast-tracked so that we can catch up with the rest of the world. We have lost so much ground already and time is of essence. We are a people highly endowed with human capital. The task of resetting our country is urgent. Relying on periodic change of ‘the King’ in Aso Rock every eight years will do us no good. I believe very firmly that until and unless the current bogus system in the operation of governance is overhauled to breed competition and comparative advantage in the federating units (states), Nigeria will remain in a state of perpetual inertia or worse still, random Brownian-motion without forward directional movement. The system overhaul will be a catalyst to reboot an organic mindset reset of the Nigerian people and propagate our national rebirth. Yes, We Can!
Dr Agbons is founder of the Institute of Good Governance @www.twin2.org