Beyond a national conference
By
THERE is hope that at last a consensus would eventually emerge whereby all and sundry would send representatives to a national conference to thrash out contentious issues bordering the polity and consequently fashion out an acceptable constitution for Nigeria. Statesmen, opinion leaders, professionals, NGOs and legislators at various levels of governance would have an input and assist in repairing the system of federalism already damaged and bastardised by the military. It is assumed that the stakeholders of the Nigerian federation, to avoid a rancorous meeting, would draw up an agenda for discussion which might be a choice between the parliamentary and presidential systems of government, implementation of fiscal federalism, resource control, pattern of derivation, how to eradicate poverty and package a vision for economic recovery and various other issues bothering Nigeria. Let it be emphasised however that political, economic and social problems afflicting a dynamic polity like Nigeria never receive finite solution; just like you solve some, others will sprout up. It is therefore not surprising that even after 200 years of American independence, the constitution continues to be amended from time to time. Therefore, no generation however versatile or well-informed is capable of providing adequate or permanent solutions to the political problems of future generations, rather, the present generation should be contended in laying a good foundation on which succeeding generations can build upon, especially as the problems of the past leave a lot of consequences behind them. This explains why the mess left behind by Babangida between 1986-1993 during an era of political experimentation with Nigeria would not easily be forgotten. It is therefore sheer foolhardiness and arrant illusion for some of our leaders to arrogate too much wisdom to themselves hoping that a national conference is a cure to all the political problems of Nigeria. This write-up will therefore look beyond items that may not surface at the conference but which are critical to the political stability of Nigeria. The contention here is that a national conference may not provide a finite panacea for the worrisome in-stability of Nigeria, only attitudinal change, understanding and co-operation can.
Nigeria has fiddled with a number of constitutions in the past. For example the 1960 independence constitution, the 1963 republican constitutions and the other variant of the 1992, 1999 and so forth. It must therefore be stressed that all these constitution are not incurably bad in themselves. Evidence abound that Nigerians themselves need attitudinal adjustments, tolerance and understanding to make each constitution work, no matter how bad it is. The earlier constitutions practiced in this country are by no means imperfect documents, but if honestly and faithfully implemented, the problems afflicting this nation ought not to have assumed the present unfortunate dimensions. The point needs to be stressed that no matter the level of perfection of any constitution, if the attitude of intolerance, self interest, ethnic jingoism, religious fanaticism, corruption, selfishness, parochialism and favouratism persist, such a constitution will surely come to nought. The corollary of the above is that no matter how imperfect any constitution is, if there is goodwill, tolerance and understanding, the opportunity and enabling environment for amendment without rancour and bitterness, there will be progress and development.
The truism of Nigeria today is that all ethnic and sub-ethnic nationalities including Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa-Fulani, Ibibio, Ijaw, Tiv, Ogoni, Edo among others, all complain of marginalisation in form of cheating, gross injustice and insensitivity to the plight of the minorities. If therefore a national conference can lay down adequate guidelines and principles in respect of the unity and relationship of the federating units, by perfecting and streamlining power and resource sharing and correcting the mistake of 1914 amalgamation, how do we change the attitude of the people in respect of religious fanaticism resulting in intolerance, chieftaincy wranglings, boundary disputes necessitating serious communal conflicts? How do we end the rising of ethnic militias and live like a big happy family? Many of the dangerous flash points today exist within homogenous ethnic groupings, adjacent villages within the same sub-ethnic groupings. If the errors of amalgamation are corrected, that is deals with inter-ethnic feuds and misunderstandings, how do we deal with intra-ethnic ones, like chieftaincy and land disputes which have wreaked havoc in communities like Tiv and Jukun in Benue State, Ife and Modakeke in Osun State, Owo Community, Ilaje and Ijaw, Ikare community in Ondo State, Aguleri and Umuleri in Anambra State, the religious riots which break out after every Friday prayers by Muslims in the North who destroy the properties of the Christians and citizens of Nigeria who belong to different nationalities? The mere fact that we now have democracy should not give room for the flaring up of bottled emotions accumulated from the military era now resulting in murder, arson and the destruction of innocent souls.
The various tiers of government must unite to deal with the problems of instability confronting the nation. The Nigerian elite in every nationality and in every community remain the unseen hands manipulating the militias, the hoodlums and urchins who hijack all peaceful protests to cause mayhem throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria. An appeal would have to be made to them to have a re-think and choose the path of dialogue for a peaceful resolution and solution to all the problems in the polity. People who organise protest must be made to bear the responsibility for the consequences of their action. Every protest must receive a police permit and guidance. There is need to improve the confidence people have in the courts, the cost of legal redress should be brought down and there must be speedy justice. Many people shun the courts and take the laws into their hands bearing in mind that they can remain in the courts for years and at the end be denied justice. So if the process and procedures of the court are streamlined, chieftaincy disputes, boundary disagreements and other social and political misunderstandings can be more speedily redressed this might reduce the crisis in the country. Therefore all statesmen should rise up to participate in confidence building and the improvement of justice delivery. Many people in position of authority shun the pronouncement of courts. Examples abound all over the country particularly in Ondo State where recently rulings in respect of the struggle for local government chairmanship were ignored. The losers even had the effrontery to go on state Radio and Television to ignore such rulings. Whatever improvements are needed should be embarked upon to make the judiciary fulfill its role such as the provision of more courts and end the unnecessary delays.
The three tiers of government must embark upon fence mending between feuding societies, all religious bodies, NGOs and traditional leaders and the political elites should be involved in the deliberate attempt at re-orientating and de-briefing communities and the entire society in general from the path of destructive tendencies to that of fence mending and confidence building. Strenuous efforts should be made to revamp the economy, provide gainful employment for all able-bodied youths.
The rainbow coalition of ethnic nationalities, the prevalence of interwoven relationship of people in trade and businesses living in settlements with people of diverse cultures and the inter-marriages between nationalities in Nigeria should be exploited to the benefit of Nigerians and their unity. We must emulate the United States of America, which has built its strength on the diversity of her people. No matter the type of constitution enacted by Nigerians, we need some attitudinal changes in our relationship with one another. We must exercise more tolerance and understanding, we must appreciate the fact that there is only one God, only the mode of worship differs.
December 2001