December 8, 2008
Philosophers like Hobbes and Locke had suggested that free men would form governments as a bargain to ensure that one man’s freedom did not become another man’s tyranny; that they would sacrifice individual license to better preserve their liberty.
Drawing from these philosophers, I am compelled to stress that only a democracy is capable of fulfilling the need for both freedom and order; - a form of government in which those who are governed grant their consent and that the laws constraining liberty are uniform, predictable, and transparent; applying equally to the rulers and the ruled.
In this context therefore, I see seeds of anarchy and arbitrariness in the manner the Imo State House of Assembly (IMHA) is currently being ran; an intoxicating danger in the overwhelming dominance of the house by men who have little or no integrity and to whom public opinion or feelings seems to amount to nothing; for if it were not so, without the constraints of jousting of ideas or interplay of experience, good governance to say the least would have been our harvest in the state.
With the manner the IMHA bulldozes its way, there is every need to underscore that democracy must be more than what the majority insists upon or what the governor wishes. But if this continues, then people get further alienated and lose faith in the system.
I often wonder how many of our legislators ever organize town hall meetings or honor speaking invitations to possibly engage the public in discussions about their work. I also wonder how many of them read on continual basis seminal books that are relevant to the development challenges of the 21st century etc.
I also often wonder if IMHA as currently led by the ‘almighty’ Goodluck Opiah ever attempts to understand what happened in the house in years past, especially during the days of the eastern house of assembly in Enugu or during the days of Governor Mbakwe and even Governor Enwerem. Did they bother to circle back to the start, to the house’s earliest debates and founding documents, to trace how things had played out over time, and make judgments in light of subsequent history? I would be surprised if they did.
The average person in Imo State now quickly dismisses the legislators with a wave of the hand, and on further prompting, is of the opinion that sharing of money is the only business of the house these days. It is commonly insinuated all over the state that whatever happens in the house particularly between the house and the governor has a lucre price tag attached to it. Let the executive just play ball and its wishes are carried out.
If the notion of lawmaking is understood by an average lawmaker to mean ’’my pocket’’ or ‘‘how much I get’’; then responsible leadership would ever remain illusory while our hope of ever building our state or achieving a state that coheres will forever remain slippery?
Imo people are not asking for too much from the IMHA other than for the house to recognize the need for consistency, predictability and coherence. As Imo people, we want the rules governing our lives to be FAIR and SIMPLE.
One of the issues that facilitated this article is the extant ENTRACO environmental law that lacked public participation in its making, but which was quickly passed into law by the house and quickly assented to by the Governor, and which is today constricting our freedom in a democracy.
How can an environmental law amongst various competing demands place priority on mandatory routine painting and repainting of houses by landlords? Does this not expose the emptiness of the law makers? In its stead we rather need are statutory provisions to support mortgage or to enable housing facilities for the millions of the poor in our midst. Is mere painting and re-painting of houses all that is needed to transform Owerri? This is not only ridiculous but simply idiotic!
Simple courage and good judgment should have informed a better environmental law; and this would have started with an insistence that the executive provides facilities like sanitary landfills, basic access to clean drinking water, free-flowing drains and job opportunities for waste vendors etc.
The prosecution of hawkers and land lords are mere tactics that are not sustainable. The painting of houses was primarily designed to enrich only those who designed the paint purchase scheme. The fact remains that the houses being mandatorily painted have greater need for clean drinking water for its residents than the so called painting. Why not legislate mandatory provision of water by government for all Owerri houses?
Perhaps Governor Ohakim and his ‘Yes Men’ in the IMHA need to know that without clean drinking water, public health remains threatened and that the white washing of houses through whatever paintings would never sustain environmental well being . Those who support these thinking and put them into law were simply mischievous.
Again, it is sad to note that while Governor Ikedi Ohakim is yet to justify the use of, or account for all the resources so far made available to him since coming to power eighteen months ago, the Imo House of Assembly without blinking an eyelid approved his request for loans totaling over N60 billion to carry out dubious projects.
Despite the outcries that greeted the whopping 90 billion Naira 2008 Budget of Great Opportunities announced by the Governor in February this year; the IMHA with just 31 days to end the year, has gone ahead to approve a 21 billion Naira supplementary budget for Governor Ohakim. You may ask, what is Ohakim doing with all this money, perhaps the stone throwing tactics he suggested at the Southeast economic summit would start with him!
In 1995 a year long serene wind of suspicion eventually led to the outburst of violence, giving rise to the massive burning and destruction of properties in Owerri over what has come to be known as the ‘Otokoto’ saga. Before that incident, Imo people particularly those resident in Owerri were unleashed with a new set of values alien to its tranquil nature as men of unknown pedigree and antecedent rode rough shoulders over every Tom and Dick. But one day, and like a spontaneous fire, Owerri residents rose in unison to reclaim their city from the usurpers. All it took was the death of one small boy, Ikechukwu Okonkwo. The cup ran full that day, and the ‘Otokoto’ saga entered into history as the limit of a people’s tolerance of evil.
Then, you were either a 419 or a nonentity. They rode rough on our roads, bullied their way through, and even kidnapped and killed people. The connection here is that today, politician are playing the roles of the 419 only differing with the government legality garb.
I see that incident happening once again. I see it happening very soon if the current 419 governance currently going on in Imo State continues. I see Imo people rising to reclaim their affairs from this group of political hawks who seem irrevocable in their resolve to turn us into servitude in our own land.
The IMHA can do better by helping to organize the way by which we go about building our future in this state. All its opportunities, privileges and rights, I believe were duly designed to enable it to engage all of us in “a constructive democracy”; in which all citizens would be required to engage their political leaders in a process of testing their ideas against an external reality, persuading others of their point of view, and building shifting alliances of consent for today’s progress and tomorrow’s sustainability.
Such a context would naturally challenge us to examine our motives and our interests constantly, and suggests if our individual and collective judgments’ are at once legitimate and highly fallible. As lawmakers, the members of the IMHA should enable the drafting of a road map by which we marry passion to reason, the ideal of individual freedom to the demands of community.
Democracy would not only survive, but thrive in Imo if our law makers insist on adhering to the rules and doing the right thing.
Next Week: IROMA and Oguta wonder lakes projects are all smoke screens!
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