By Richard Odusanya
“Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; It represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny” -Aristotle
As our nation Nigerian bleeds profusely and gasps for breath to survive her imminent death, all patriotic Nigerians are called to the unconditional duty to bring her back to life from the continuously deteriorated coma she has fallen into for the past sixty years. It is never going to be an easy task; it requires a spirit charged by high intentions, sincere efforts and intelligent execution of the high intentions.
The survival and destiny of our nation Nigeria lie in the wise choices we continuously make out of the many alternatives, in the face of tyranny orchestrated by our unrepentant ‘oppressor’ and his light fingered associates, and not by chance.
In the race of life to success and greatness, an adult is required to look behind for the cause of his failure when he fails, while a child, on his own, is required to set his eyes ahead to check out for his missing steps.
At age sixty (60), our nation Nigeria is not only supposed to be referred to as an adult but also a responsible adult. But since the opposite is the case, it becomes extremely necessary to trace our steps backward to see where we got it all wrong. With Nigeria in the “emergency room and on oxygen support kits”, it becomes a taboo and grievous sin for any politically conscious son or daughter of this great nation to stand aloof to the happenings going on in the nation.
We got it right, even if not perfectly well, with our traditional system of governance. There was peace and tranquility among the people, a fair justice system, economic and political buoyancy and rewards for hard work and truthfulness. “Democracy, the world’s acclaimed best system of governance” was, however, introduced to our fore-fathers who were convinced to jettison our own system of leadership and governance.
Retrospectively, all the great feats achieved through our traditional system of governance have become a shadow of what they used to be. The question of how effective the adopted Democratic system of government is recurrently comes to mind.
“Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because when men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal” -Aristotle.
A wide range of studies have established the fact that the principles on which “Democracy” is established are working for those keeping to the principles and otherwise for those deviating from the principles. In a bid to tell one another the home truth, it is apt to say all we have been practising in Nigeria in the past sixty (60) years is nothing but “demonstration of craze” or “crazy demonstration”.
A democratic setting requires that the best of hands, minds and brains be allowed to rule and not the ones without requisite knowledge of modern world and technology; not touts and assassins; not the deaf and dumb to the concept of the rule of law on which democracy is built; not those that value the lives of cows than human beings; not those that bully and rule instead of leading or governing.
The seven (7) pillars of democracy; legitimacy, separation of powers , popular participation, checks and balances, periodic elections, rule of law and fundamental human rights, the lifelines of democracy, died on arrival in Nigeria. This has made us a people with no meaningful blueprint in terms of governance and proper conditions of living.
Since 1960 till date, hardly have we had a legitimate government in place in Nigeria; it has either been by coup or massive rigging of elections. The 1993 election, considered the best ever in the history of Nigeria was eventually annulled.
The process of election is supposed to create a moral certainty that electoral offices will seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications. Instead of “election” we have had a system of “selection” as our process of choosing those who govern us in Nigeria.
Voting is not just a right, but a civic engagement and responsibility, that should not be surrendered. The Nigerian electoral system, since 1960, has deprived the Nigerian masses from either using their votes as a means to protest against bad leadership or willingly surrender their rights to their desired leaderships.It has been all about forcefully rigging themselves into power and putting the voiceless masses in the condition of “a man without a vote is a man without protection”.
There has never been independent three (3) arms of government in the kind of self designed “Democracy” that we practise in Nigeria. The legislative and judicial arms at the local, state and federal levels are mere extensions of the executive arm at any of these levels. If not, how would a president declare that he reserved the right to either yield to the invitation of the lawmakers or not?! And to the surprise of all, the lawmakers we relinquish our powers to, to represent us politically, tender an “apology” to the president after the abuse of the constitution that supersedes all of us regardless of our status. Exactly, when would we see a judicial system that would take us away from a “demonstration of craze” to “Democracy?”
“I don’t want to talk about Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. I think it is best for my sanity just to avoid that overall question. I can take bits and pieces of Nigeria’s present predicament but I think for one’s sense of balance, one must forget the existence of the Buhari administration.”-Prof. Wole Soyinka
Nigeria is on auto-drive and it’s becoming suicidal talking about this hopeless administration. Almost all Nigerians are tired of speaking about Major General Muhammadu Buhari administration because the end result is depression. The Nigerian political gladiators have murdered the interest of the people in participating in electoral processes; an atmosphere of political apathy has been created since the people do not see their votes count. Knowing fully well that liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people who have a right and a desire to know, our political system has been abracadabrally mesmerized to keep the masses in mental chains and physical mess.
The Chairman of the Liars Association of Nigeria (LAN) and others in his league of manufactured lies have been solely engaged by the present leadership to keep brainwashing the Nigerian masses because they are fully in the know that the ballot is stronger than the bullet.
True Democratic settings are designed for the government to fear the people and not the other way round. In Nigeria, most especially under the leadership of Major General Muhammodu Buhari (rtd), both in 1983 and now, the people are politically remote and subjects of ridicule.
It is not a government by the majority but a government by the majority who participate; a government that sees governance as personal property and project. It is appalling that a so-called democratically elected government holds the belief of being greater and stronger than the citizens.
“A president cannot defend a nation if he is not held accountable to its laws”- Deschanne Stokes
These are the descriptions of the kinds of leaderships we have been enduring since independence.They come and go servicing their personal interests and rendering our laws continuously weakened and fragile because they are nothing but dictators.
Under their watch, a once lovely setting, has become an abode for terrorism, banditry and extreme wretchedness.It is glaring that leaders that cannot be held accountable by the laws are terrorists preparing more citizens to take to terrorism and unaccountable lifestyles.
“There is no greater threat to a free and democratic nation than a government that fails to protect its citizens freedom and liberty as aggressively as it pursues justice”-Bernard R. Kerik
Our leaderships and governments have always been constituted by people irritated by any slight audacity that calls for accountability. Lots of our finest have been taken down for asking questions or putting up resistance against abuse of power – Isaac Adaka Boro, Dele Giwa, Ken Saro-wiwa, Funsho Williams, Chief Bola Ige, Chief Alfred Rewane, Mrs. Bisoye Tejuoso, Dr. Shola Omosola, Admiral Olu Omotehinwa, Mrs. Suliat Adedeji, Admiral Tunde Elegbede and Toyin Onagoruwa. All happened under the watch of our military dictators, both in khaki and agbada.
As at present, we have lots of pro-democracy activists in detention across the nation, as symbolized by Omoyele Sowore which for sometime now, has been a target for elimination. His tenacity and consistency in sensitizing the citizens to stand up to the oppressors and free themselves from the claws of the despots we call leaders scare the hell out of them.
The arrest, abuse and frozen accounts of the #ENDSARS protesters and the unlimited lists of human right abuse cases that we have at the moment speak a volume on the kind of leadership we have in Nigeria; A Dracula leadership that has made breathing difficult for the people they lord themselves over.
“Remember, Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide”- John Adams.
In order to save a democratic system of government from murdering itself, a strong judicial system, freedom of speech art, free press, and active independent Legislative body are needed. These clearly, are the machineries of checks and balances. Without these machineries in place, the executive branch would grow too strong, the legislative arm too stupid and the judicial arm too arrogant.
The democratic flaws in Nigeria have always taken its root in a weak and corrupt judicial system which should have rather served as the sole protector of the rights of minority groups against the will of the popular majority. True freedom requires the rule of law and justice and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights of others.
However, what we have on ground is a caricature of what a judicial system should be; a judicial system with no credibility and a system that has been completely politicized. Little will one, then, wonder how any Tom, Dick or Harry finds a way into the sacred seats of leadership in Nigeria.
Our “corrupt” judicial system has so much lost credibility that the common man no longer sees hope in an arm that is supposed to be the last resort of hope for the common man and voiceless in any democratic setting. There is now a danger to our judicial independence because the masses no longer see how the judiciary fits in as the protector of the constitution scheme.
In 2019, the Malawi presidential election was marred by widespread systematic and grave irregularities. The result was overturned by a panel of five (5) court judges; Justice Healey Potani, Justice Ivy Kananga, Justice Redson Kapindu, Justice Dingiswayo Madise and Justice Michael Tembo, who ordered for a re-run within 150 days.
The situation was so tense and life threatening that these five (5) Malawian heroes arrived in court under heavily armed escort and wearing bulletproof vests. The re-run was eventually won by the then opposition.
Dr Robin Niblett, Director of Chatham House, said there could be no way to mark Chatham House’s centenary than by recognising the commitment of the brave Malawian five (5) to the cause of accountable governance and justice.
We wish that our nation, Nigeria, had “the Malawian five (5) spirit of justice and responsibility to protect our sacred political setting” that has been messed up by the prodigal sons and daughters we call leaders. It is very hard to clear the disgusting images of the nuisance ruling over us from the mind. It haunts beyond imaginations!
For how long are we going to wait to see our judges being honoured with prestigious awards of consolidating democracy, both locally and internationally? When would we wake to an era where our judicial system would prevent leaders with questionable characters and intellectual incompetence from taking up sensitive and sacred political posts in Nigeria? How long would we wait to see a judicial system that would set a good judicial precedence to eradicate electoral frauds from our system? Exactly when would we see a judicial system that would take us away from a “demonstration of craze” to “Democracy”.
The judicial branch in its finest hours, stood firmly on the side of individuals against those who would trample their rights. And a well-functioning judicial system is just as much part of the wealth of a nation as its roads, ports and factories.
To key into such a judicial system, every politically conscious Nigerian must work towards a judicial review which means nothing but a judicial restraint that does not allow everything.
“Unless there is a strong movement of citizens, who are the consumers of justice, we are hardly likely to see any serious judicial reforms in this country”!
Unwittingly, Omoyele Sowore has been unveiled as the true conscience of the nation; the face of hope and a prisoner of conscience.
Odusanya is Convener of Africa Covenant Rescue Initiative (ACRI).