Put out the fire, Mr. President

Dear Mr. President:

Please take a common sense approach to the current situation in the house called Nigeria before it falls apart. The current violent situations in the country did not come as a surprise to people of vision, which include the leadership of National Conscience Party (NCP) because they had predicted all of the events right from the beginning of the transition program that put you in office.

In 1998 after the death of the Military ruler General Sani Abacha and Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, the NCP and JACON told the General Abubakar Abdulsalami administration and leaders of the various ethnic nationalities in Nigeria that the best transition program is a government of National Unity. The National Unity government was to organize and administer the Sovereign National Conference (SNC), the purpose of which was to address all the ills and inequities in our society and fashion a way forward through a constitution for all Nigerians. All the politicians and most of the leaders of various ethnic nationalities turned deaf ears to this request due to their selfish personal interests. We then had a rushed transition resulting in a civil government that is being mistaken as democratic.

You assumed the leadership of this country over 18 months ago and to date you have failed to address the ills and inequities in our society, instead you have continued on the destructive unitary path started by the military of which you are part and parcel. There have been no programs at either Federal or State level to address the common needs of the masses in the country. The corruption of politicians and civil servants at all level of affairs has reached a new high and left unchecked. Known rouges are parading as honorable members of the various State and National assemblies, occupying ministerial and advisory positions. In the cry to keep Nigeria one, you have continued to allow the northern oligarchy, which included the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) to continue dictating the affairs of the country to the detriment of the masses. You have also identified with some visionless leaders and rouges from the other groups such as Afenifere and Ohaneze-Indigbo to continue the choke hold on the Nigeria masses. As part of this effort, you destroyed an entire village, ODI, you ordered the security agents to shoot at sight all Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) members. 

During the latest communal clashes in Lagos, you ordered the arrest of all OPC members, and your Vice President Atiku Abubakar went on BBC Hausa radio to assure the Northerners that all OPC members are being arrested for prosecution to the full extent of the law. How do you expect the Yoruba and Ijaws to feel about one Nigeria when you are not handling down justice evenly? More importantly, Mr. President, we do not recall you declaring a state of emergency in the Northern States, and calling for the arrest and destruction of Arewa Peoples Congress (APC) and its members during the mayhem that accompanied Sharia in the North. Currently, you are keeping silent on another brewing problem in Kano, where single women are being ejected from their abode and businesses belonging to southerners are forced to close down all in the name of Sharia.

 It is events like this, that send bad messages to the rest of the nation that you care for one group more than the others. You have blamed every socio-militia organization in the country except the APC for your problems. These socio-militia organizations are mere smoke of the fire you have created that may burn Nigeria down. They are not your problem and please stop fighting the symptoms of the illness called inequity and corruption.

Mr. President, to keep Nigeria One is a very simple task if there is honesty of purpose to do right by all Nigerians, not some Nigerians and other foreign powers at the expense of all Nigerians. The following recommendations may help you stop the fire and put the house in order. Just remember the saying, where there is no fire there is no smoke.

Stop all overseas trips of your administration and encourage the State executives, and State and National assemblies to follow suit (no use of force please, this is supposed to be democracy). Nigerians can see through these lies about looking for foreign investors and debt forgiveness. It is very simple and common sense dictates that investors will not come until there is massive investment in infrastructures and safety of life and property. Mr. President, a stadium at Abuja costing at least 38 billion Naira does not constitute an infrastructure. Please scrap the contract and tell Julius Berger enough is enough. Let us start worrying about the flight of capital from Nigeria through corruption, unreasonable allowances, and other costs from all these foreign trips.

Divulge power to the State and Local governments to immediately bring needed services to the masses. Monies should be provided to the State and Local governments to improve roads, supply of electricity, water, and telecommunication. Most of the services must be provided through local labor pool and local contractors (if you put everybody to work, there will be no time for APC, OPC, BB, EB). Let the State and Local governments start implementing the following ten socio-economic care programs: 1) Food Care; 2) Health Care; 3) Job Care; 4) Shelter care; 5) Education Care; 6) Water Care; 7) Electricity Care; 8) Transportation Care; 9) Communication Care; 10) Safety Care (security of lives and property).

Reconstitute your cabinet and advisors. What you have right now is not getting the job done because they are incompetent at best. It is time to discriminate against those that have served before in government if you truly want to keep Nigeria One. Just like you did with the military (only this time be very honest with the process), stay out anybody that has served any previous administration either as a cabinet minister or advisor, if these people are so good why are we here? Forget about National character pick only competent Nigerians (you will be amazed how truly national character will be reflected). Cut down on the size of your cabinet and advisors (the more they are the more nonsense they will feed you). Have a defined mission statement for each ministry (please no poverty alleviation ministry).

Begin to truly fight corruption within your administration (remember charity begins at home). First, you appoint an Auditor General (AuG) to be confirmed by the National Assembly to serve a six-year term (remember you can’t fire this person, if the AuG abuses the office he/she will face prosecution). The AuG should have investigative powers over all accounts and government operations (that include award of contracts). Second, you appoint an Attorney General (AG) (not Bola Ige, remember not competent at best above) to prosecute all offenses at the federal level including referral from the AuG (this way we are sure the likes of Chuka Okadigbo and Salisu Buhari will pay for their crimes). Third, scrap all the panels of inquiry you have established to look into corruption (you may not believe this, that is corruption itself). Fourth, declare your assets and publish your tax papers for the last three years. Ask your VP and cabinet ministers and advisors and permanent secretaries to follow suit. Require explanation for all assets acquired since inception of your administration. Then let the Auditor General and Attorney General do their jobs.

Detach yourself from the selfish interest of ACF, Afenifere and Ohaneze-Indigbo. These groups, separately or collectively, do not represent the interest of all Nigerians. As you may recall the mayhem, bloodletting, maiming and destruction of property, communal clashes, incessant assassinations, all occasioned by Sharia started in the North during the unjustifiable cry of marginalization by the ACF. What did Afenifere and Ohaneze-Indigbo do to counter ACF, more ridiculous rhetoric to exacerbate the ethnic and religious divide. The individuals in these organizations at one time or another were at the helm of affairs in the country and did nothing to improve the welfare of Nigerian. All they did was corrupt the people through handouts from their loot of the government treasury. Now that their access to the treasury is somehow curtailed, they return to the old tactics of ethnic and religious intolerance to become relevant again. ACF, Afenifere and Ohaneze-Indigbo are political machines for the interest of the politicians in those regions, they will never wish you well because they want your job pure and simple.

Now let’s talk about bringing democracy to Nigeria to totally put out the fire burning. As previously stated, your administration and those of the other elected officers in the nation are elected by the minority since majority of the people stayed away from the polls during the transition program of General Abubakar Abdulsalam. The reason why most people stayed away from the polls was because of the regimentation and monetisation of the election process. This should be avoided in any by-election or other elections scheduled to begin in year 2002. To accomplish this, there should be ease of formation of political parties, there should be no regulation that requires parties to be national to be recognized as political parties by INEC. Parties should not be required to have offices in two-third of the states and headquartered in Abuja. Labor organization, civil servants, student unions, religious organizations, and other professional and civic organizations should be allowed to participate in the electioneering process. Keeping these groups out will keep the fire burning because they are the disenchanted masses. Two party system is a mess, please don’t believe the hype. Most developed democracies have more than two parties, and that include America that you are trying to model our democracy after.

Finally, Mr. President you have another opportunity here to make history. The choice is definitely yours to make. You can be the last President of Nigeria or the President that brings democracy to Nigeria. Please do right by all Nigerians put out the fire and stop chasing the smoke.

Best Regards,

Adewunmi Lateef Abassi

Director of Policy, NCP-Washington, DC