It is being asserted that Nigeria faces great and severe challenges in her march to nationhood. some of the challenges include poor leadership, corruption, poverty in the midst of plenty, insecurity, defective federal structure etc.
Nigeria should change their political structure this New Year in order to allow democracy to grow. In the U.S which we like to copy so much, immediately after the election the loser steps aside and allow the winner an opportunity to at least rule. In Nigeria, opposition and politics continue until the next election. So it is politics and ‘opposition’ for the next four years and as a result governance is seriously affected.
Not many people take notice that a serious problem facing this country is the so called ‘opposition’ and armchair critics. In Nigeria, immediately after the elections or a new government is set, opposition emerges. One easily gets confused whether the opposition is in good faith or not. Having started with the parliamentary system, the ‘opposition’ culture particularly in Western part of the country does not seem to have left our politicians.
Consequently, immediately government is set up at the Federal level, those who lost the election will immediately set up the ‘opposition’ and ensure that government does not have peace or does not work until the next election. The late President Yar Adua faced the same situation. Few months after he took over government, they described him in the Nigerian press as ‘Baba Go Slow’. Suprisingly however, it was this Baba-Go-Slow who sorted out the Niger Delta militancy in a classical manner and brought peace to the Niger Delta, a crisis that almost destroyed the Nigerian economy. Surely it was not the strong man of ODI that brought peace to the Niger Delta but the Baba-Go-Slow.
President Goodluck Jonathan successor to Late President Yar Adua has been the worst victim of Nigeria’s armchair critics. President Jonathan’s case is worse in the sense that immediately after the election results were announced and Jonathan was declared winner, opponents took to the streets destroying lives and properties. He therefore started on a sour note. No sooner than he was sworn in than opposition started. Nothing that he did or said was right. In recent times, attacks have become mostly personal against Jonathan. From perverse criticism the attacks have turned to abuses.
He has become not only the most criticized but the most abused and insulted President in the world. The tragedy is that if he loses power, it could turn out that he was innocent and that all what he critics wanted was to get him out of power no matter the reforms he wants to bring to the country.
Those who are old in Nigeria know that this is the tactics used to bring down governments over the years and if military coup was fashionable now, the military wold have taken over, the important thing is for the government to fail no matter the consequences on the nation. In fact the present defections could still be regarded as a coup.
Media bashing of Nigerian leaders did not of course start today. Media bashing encouraged the military to sack the Abubakar government of the 1st Republic on allegations of corruption. But when they were overthrown most of the stakeholders did not have a house of their own. Sir Abubakar is not known to have had a house anywhere. Government of Yakubu Gowon was also toppled on grounds of corruption after series of media bashing. When they were overthrown, most of the Governors returned home as paupers. Late Governor Esuene who ruled South Eastern State for nine years did not have a plot of land in the State capital or anywhere apart from his country home built on bank loan. Gowon himself is not known to have built a house during this period. Most of the infracstructures they built are still being used till today.
Another victim of media bashing was Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He was accused of being weak and his Lieutenants corrupt. As usual, the process was being prepared for him to be overthrown by those who lost the election and he was accordingly overthrown. Shehu Shagari was not known to be corrupt. He was a great and acceptable leader. Today he could travel to any part of the country without security. Although the politicians were jailed hundreds of years by the military junta, there were no serious cases of corruption against them. Dr. Joesph Wayas, Senate President (as he then was) returned to Calabar his State no a rich man. Compared to what is happening now they were angels. When the Shagari government was overthrown, the military was welcomed and celebrated but the honeymoon did not last long as the media attack continued particularly when journalist were jailed and the reforms Buhari & Idiagbon tried to bring was aborted by the Babangida coup. Many people believe that if Buhari’s reforms were allowed to grow, Nigeria would have been a better place. Though dictatorial, he tried to discipline the country which is what Nigeria needs even till today.
Our fellow countrymen should not get us wrong, we do not condone poor and corrupt leadership but there is a trend in the country that if a set of politicians loose elections, they join forces with the enemies of the regime and ensure that it will not have peace and be able to implement its programmes. Such regimes are not even given the chance to announce the policies when the attacks start coming. We should try to drop this political structure to allow the country to progress. President Jonathan has not even been given the the chance to implement his policies. The implication of this media bashing is that one does not know whether the criticisms are in good faith or not.
The irony is that even the ruling party men join in attacking their government than even the opposition. This is strange and can only happen in Nigeria. Nigerian politicians do not have or show class in what they do. Top members of the PDP attack their government and get away with it. This is the genesis of the crisis in the PDP – INDISCIPLINE. A situation where an immediate past president and immediate past chairman of the Board of Trustees who left the government barely years ago join in attacking the government that he set up, who then do we hold accountable for the wrongs of the government. The open letter written to President Jonathan by his predecessor and his earlier newspaper criticisms is AB INITIO wrong, if not for anything but under the general principle of ‘COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY’. Even a card carrying member of a political party should not openly criticize the government set up by his party because of this principle not to talk of high ranking officers. Political parties should insist on discipline of party members. That is why for example, the APC should not jubilate too much over its recent political fortunes because the APC is now dominated by by the nPDP and if care is not taken they might bring the culture of indiscipline to the new party. With due respect to the politicians, it is not act of impunity that is affecting the fortunes of the PDP but indiscipline. it is hoped that whoever takes over in 2015 will be given opportunity to rule without distractions.
Finally, on the issue of corruption and insecurity, the National Assembly should play less politics. They should grant some emergency powers (subject to check an balances) to the President to deal with severe cases of corruption and those who perpetually cry for bloodshed or those who instigate insurrection against the government all in the name of politics. Without emergency powers, there is not much the President can do. It is difficult to investigate most corrupt cases and most security breaches without Emergency Powers.
Ita Akwaowo, is a lawyer.
