By Dr Uma Eleazu
The way the President Buhari-led APC government is going, this country will be completely ruined by 2023. Suing the President alone as the conclave of Elders have done is simply postponing the evil day. I think in addition to the suit in the courts, we need to engage the National Assembly to do the needful. There are still some legislators who are worried about what is going on, even from the President’s party. I am proposing below an initiative which can be backed by people power if need be. It will require a non-partisan motion in the NASS.
What is to be done?
Many people have spoken about Restructuring the country’s geopolitics. In saying that, some have emphasized either the landmass or the distribution of powers among the different tiers of government. I think Restructuring must encompass more that that. We must also take into consideration, the demography as well as the economic history and geography of the country. Right now a lot of what held this country together has been destroyed – what I may call the pax –Britannica, psycho-social fabric, infrastructural installations, public services, (the bureaucracy, military, police etc) and not the least, the constitutional framework. Therefore any attempt at restructuring the country has to be holistic in approach.
Current Reality:
- We have to acknowledge the fact that we are a poor country. The rate of growth of the population is faster than the rate of growth in the GDP. It is estimated that unless something is done now, by 2030, the population will reach 300 million while our GDP per capita will depreciate to about 80% of current level (my own projections, based on World Bank figures). It follows therefore that we cannot afford to maintain the expensive structure of governance which we currently have. (One Executive President; 36 Executive Governors, two legislative Assemblies at the centre , 36 Houses of Assembly, and 774 Executive chairmen of LGAs — some have no councils to chair). The total recurrent expenditure of maintaining the host of public functionaries together with their satraps takes up more than 60% of the combined budgets of the federation. This does not take into account leakages and wastages in the process of implementing the balance of 40%. The cost of governance, we must admit , is simply too huge and we must design a less expensive system.
- There is currently a lack of unifying national identity. Ethnic identity is very strong. Neither Islam nor Christianity has been able to override ethnicity. The brief history above shows the depth of the chasms that divide us. In addition to this we have the cultural norms and values underlying how we perceive issues and interpret events. Attempts at creating socializing mechanisms to weld future generations together – unity schools, National Youth Service Corps, federal character principle, etc., have been desultorily implemented or even abandoned. Thus the last 70 years have not produced a Nigerian identity .
- On the political level, because of our inability to conduct credible elections, people tend to lose interest in things political, leaders are seen as economic predators that swoop down every four years, scatter palm fronds and the electorate, like sheep follow the man carrying the palm fronds. No one cares about their qualification, educational or otherwise. Concepts like integrity, responsibility, political competence, past experience and track record in community affairs are not considered. Only money matters. (Nigerian lives don’t matter).
When elections are not credible, and people know that the result announced does not reflect the wishes of the people as expressed in their vote, people see the government as illegitimate, and they in turn are ready to use illegitimate means to acquire their own “bit of the action” – origin of criminality.
When an illegitimate government is unable to govern, cannot provide the very basic needs – health facilities, educational resources, roads, transport etc, people resort to self help which is costly. Occasionally, the politicians ”donate” moneys to communities to buy their loyalty while at the same time building up a war chest for the next election.
In a democracy, political recruitment is through elections and leadership selection is through the same process, but where money determines who can run for office, there is no way the process can produce good leaders. As it is now, in Nigeria the social contract between people and government has broken down because of series of corrupted electoral process and illegitimate governments at all levels. People do not trust that government will do anything for them. So they turn to those local Palm Fronds carriers, otherwise known as political OGA; our Nigerian version of the Russian OLIGARCHS
The Nigerian Oligarchs have lots of money and influence. The source of their wealth is either prebends acquired during the military regimes or crime (drugs, oil subsidy, predatory banking and “419”). Any wonder quite a number of our legislators are on FBI’s wanted list, or being chased about by EFCC and CCB. They end up dominating the political arena. They own “political structures” which they loan to candidates running for elective office. They are the political entrepreneurs. They fight tooth and nail for their candidate to win. If the candidate wins, he is held captive by the oligarchs to turn over the treasury to them. Since the security apparatus of the country started collapsing, some of these oligarchs have recruited and trained their own militia. Boko haram started when their oligarch refused to play up. The AK47 wielding bandits were originally recruited by an oligarch who refused to pay after the election. The ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND PROCESS NEEDS TO BE RESTRUCTURED
After the oligarchs have taken their cut, government has little money for infrastructure, basic needs of housing, education , transportation or to repair the decaying infrastructure left by colonial officers, so they turn to World Bank, IMF, AfDB and even Sukkuk financial institutions to borrow.. As of now, the per capita debt of Nigerians is more than the Per capita income (i.e. GDP divided by population). The collapse of the economy will lead to political disintegration and each oligarch will call out its militia to protect himself and his wealth. From then on it will be civil crises and internal wars.
BEFORE THE DELUGE, LET US SIT AROUND A TABLE AND SORT OURSELVES OUT
Planning Without Facts : Since the British manipulated our census since 1951 and gave us a lopsided federal structure, we have been blindly basing every calculation – budget, national planning, creation of states, fiscal policy etc on wrong premise. How many people actually live in Nigeria? How many Tribes (or linguistic groups) exist in Nigeria, what land area did each occupy before, during and after colonialism? When we say REGION, what is the criteria for establishing a REGION? — cultural consanguinity; population clusters with economic viability; level of economic integration (existing or potential). Then the issue of NATIONALITY. A nation is a group of people who agree (or have agreed ) to live together under one government. How many nationalities existed in Nigeria pre-1900? How many nationalities exist now? Are such nationalities ready to join in a federation under one federated government?
How is the restructuring to be done? : The 1999 Constitution bad as it is, made provision for the NASS to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of Nigeria. Nigeria currently has no peace, there are all kinds of internal wars; law and order has broken down in almost all the states and the security apparatus is comatose; Nigeria today is being badly governed and the NASS is fiddling while the country burns – literally. It is necessary therefore to remind the NASS that it is high time they invoked their power under Article 4(2) to initiate procedure for restructuring the country and making a new constitution.. as is being demanded by a large majority of the people they represent. A lot of ground work needs to be done between now and 2022 otherwise by the time we get to 2023, Buhari led administration will have ruined the country beyond redemption.
STEP ONE The National Assembly should make a timetable for the Restructuring of the country to include the following activities:
Recognize in the constitution the existing geopolitical zones by deleting Article 2(1) and amending 2(2&3) to admit the existing geopolitical zones; each zone to have a zonal or Regional assembly made up of all presently elected senators and members of the House of Representatives, and an equal number from the houses of assembly within the zone; The Governors and Deputy Governors of the states in the Region. The Ranking senator from among the senators becomes the Speaker, and the Governors form the Executive Committee for the Zone/Region
Task : To conduct debates and decide on/or recommend a form of government for the region.
To decide the number of levels of government under a Regional arrangement. (Are there any group desirous to join another region other than where they currently are?
To conduct a census of households and population of the region.
To take a census of the personnel of each state civil service and state-owned companies;
Census of educational and Health facilities – both state and federal,
To draft a constitution for the Region. And prepare for a Regional referendum for it.
The Regional Assembly will have power to invite, co-opt or employ any person or body of persons to assist it in its work.
Budget to be provided by the Governors.
Time Frame: Six months
STEP TWO CONSTITUTIONAL DRAFTING COMMITTEE
Membership: Nigeria Bar Association; Retired Justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal ( 15)
Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce ,Industry and Agriculture (5)
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (5), Nigerian Institute of Director (3)
Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (5)
Nigerian Labour Congress (15) Academic Staff Union of Universities (10), Nigerian Union of Journalists (5) Nigerian Medical Association (5) FIDA (5) Women in Business (3)
National Association of Nigerian Students (15) ; Youths (20 from each of Arewa Consultative Union; Ohaneze Ndiigbo; Afenifere and Middle Belt Forum)
TASK: 1. To study and review the following background papers
i) Report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference.
ii) Oputa Commission Report
iii) Original Hicks Commission Report of Revenue Allocation
iv) The 1960/63 Constitution;
v) Aburi Report and Decree 8
vi) The 1979 Constitution
vii) Reports from the Regional Assemblies
2. To put up a draft constitution for the country incorporating recommendations from various regional/ Zonal Assemblies for the people to debate and propose Amendments.
STEP THREE: National Assembly reconvenes to debate the draft and frame/put the question(s) or Propositions to the public in a referendum.
STEP FOUR: Transitional Arrangements:
All these arrangements should start and finish before June 2022, so that Step four would be to put in place transitional arrangements following the results of the Referendum, e.g. unbundling the National Assembly and holding elections for the Presidency and the new NASS as may be recommended in the new Constitution.
Dr. Uma Eleazu, member of the committee that drafted the 1999 constitution and a presidential aspirant in 1993 on the platform of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP), wrote in from Lagos Island
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