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Is It Time To Sack The Nigerian National Assembly? By Nwike (S) Ojukwu

November 27, 2013

The call for a Nigerian National Conference has generated a lot of enthusiasm across the nation. The local media is inundated with Nigerians expressing their concerns over the proposed conference. From the pulse of our people, it would be safe to conclude that the conference has considerable support. However, as with every issue, a section of the polity is strident in its opposition to the conference. There are also the ambivalent, those in the middle of the argument, who are neither in support nor in opposition to the conference. They are unimpressed with the present situation, but they are apathetic to social change. Each side makes compelling argument to bolster its position. At the end, one thing that we can agree on is that there is need for Nigerians to congregate and agree on an arrangement that reflects their peculiar history and the future they envision for themselves. 

The call for a Nigerian National Conference has generated a lot of enthusiasm across the nation. The local media is inundated with Nigerians expressing their concerns over the proposed conference. From the pulse of our people, it would be safe to conclude that the conference has considerable support. However, as with every issue, a section of the polity is strident in its opposition to the conference. There are also the ambivalent, those in the middle of the argument, who are neither in support nor in opposition to the conference. They are unimpressed with the present situation, but they are apathetic to social change. Each side makes compelling argument to bolster its position. At the end, one thing that we can agree on is that there is need for Nigerians to congregate and agree on an arrangement that reflects their peculiar history and the future they envision for themselves. 

It is common knowledge that the British Colonial Office did not intend to establish a nation when it engaged the former parts of Western Sudan and Lower Niger. This is demonstrated by its divergent administrative policies for the former protectorates. The Colonial Office encouraged the native administration in the North, but placed itself in the middle of native authority’s engagement with the outside world. The same system was not replicated elsewhere in the country. In fact, when the “warrant chiefs” were given extensive powers in the East to collect taxes and other levies, the consequence was the “Aba Women’s Riot” of 1929. It was also the colonial government’s policy to block the infiltration of Christianity in the North. Islam had provided the stability they needed to pillage the indigenous people’s resources. However, the obstinate South needed conversion to Christianity. Thus, the Colonial Office used Christianity as an instrument of conquest of the more unpredictable South. In addition to that, Nigeria was strategically structured to benefit the North to the detriment of the other component units. Such a lopsided arrangement needed rectification. 

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The call for a National Conference raises important questions that will lead to its either success or failure. For instance, what should be the role of the National Assembly about the conference? Should it pass a law convening the Conference?  Should the National Assembly exercise their powers to censor the recommendations of the conference? What happens if the National Assembly fails to pass a law convening the conference? Again, what happens should the National Assembly throw out the recommendations of the conference? All these are possibilities that could potentially change the dynamics of Nigeria. The sincerity or otherwise of the government in convening the conference pales in light of the obvious possibilities. The ultimate question then is whether Nigerians could sack their National Assembly. 

The National Assembly has been variously accused of insensitivity and self-centeredness in the payment of jumbo salaries to its members amongst other things. Yet we sit on our hands and do nothing because we lack the courage to demand accountability from our elected representatives. Let us be realistic, the National Assembly is composed of men and women who would not sit idly by and watch their jobs and livelihood threatened.  Convening a National Conference renders that body irrelevant and redundant.  That is why most of the members of that body are suspicious of the conference and have consistently argued against its convocation. If the recommendations of the conference should be subjected to the censorship of the National Assembly, chances are that it would be scuttled. The majority of the representatives in the Assembly are products of the lopsided system that gives the North the numerical advantage. With the Northern majority and the support of the political elites from the South who would be rendered jobless by the conference, its recommendations are sure to be stifled. It is common sense.

Besides that, the 1999 Constitution remains our law. The suggestion that the National Assembly should be sidestepped because “the people” have the powers to call the shots is bereft of a legal foundation. Inasmuch as sovereignty resides with “the people”, we have transferred most of our powers to our representatives, whether elected or selected through our Constitution. We play on emotions when we insist that because we placed them in the National Assembly, we could reassert our powers and organize a conference outside their purview. That would be courting constitutional crises and I do not think that Nigerians are ready for such engagements. 
 
One argument against the conference that has been of concern to some Nigerians is the fear that it could lead to a break-up of the country, assuming that Nigeria is currently united. Such an argument is spurious and a superficial alibi for shirking our responsibility to confront the fierce urgency of making tough choices.  We cannot afford to defer such an important matter to our children. It could only get worse. The need to deal with the scourge of corruption, unemployment, high morbidity, insecurity, and underdevelopment cannot wait anymore. The rest of the world is not waiting for us to organize and join the global community, and our kids deserve to be prepared to compete in that marketplace just like every other kid in the world. I do not understand why a Nigerian should be scared to talk to another Nigerian. Bishop Peter Adebiyi’s matter-of-fact position on the so-called break-up of the country generated tremendous dissension on my blog. (See http://nationalconfererncengr.wordpress.com) Someone even questioned his clerical credentials for exercising his constitutional right to free speech. 

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It is against this background that Nigerians should brace up to face the reality of a confrontation with their elected representatives if they truly demand the conference. Apart from recourse to the National Assembly, another viable way out of the various possibilities that could unfold is a “Nigerian Spring.” Historically, those who wield power do not give it up easily. What Franz Fanon said over fifty years ago is still relevant today, “violence is man re-creating himself.” Building a nation is not a gift; it comes with a sacrifice both in blood and in sweat. We have kicked the can down the road for too long, hoping that somehow our fragile republic would reinvent itself. Unfortunately, the chicken is coming home to roost sooner than we expected. 

Would Nigerians be willing to commit to rebuilding their nation? If the answer is in the affirmative, Nigerians must also be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. While I am not an advocate of violent revolution, certain things are inexorable. The Christian Bible said that from the time of John the Baptist, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violence takes it by force. If we are genuinely disposed to rebuilding our nation, all options must be on the table, including but not limited to violent confrontation. This is a historical truth. Even if this conference ultimately fails, we have started a fire that would be difficult to extinguish. My suggestion is that we must not allow this occasion to slip through our fingers. Let us make hay while the sun shines because it is cost-effective. President John F. Kennedy’s famous line sounds true when he said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” I should add that the flesh of those who stand in the way of peaceful revolution would feed the inferno of violent revolution. 

Nwike (S) Ojukwu
Doctor of Laws (Cand), The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.
http://nationalconfererncengr.wordpress.com

 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

 

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