Tinubu, Fayemi: Re-engaging the national question

Asiwaju Tinubu and Dr. Fayemi

 

Almost 52 years after independence, Nigeria is still grappling with the dearth of visionary and exemplary leadership. Besides, there are salient national questions begging for answers. EMMANUEL OLADESU and AUGUSTINE AVWODE present the views of two eminent Nigerians, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, on the way out.

Questions abound on the future of Nigeria’s fledging federalism. Many stakeholders contend that, central to peaceful co-existence, stability of the country and consolidation of democracy is the resolution of the national question.

Is the country not ripe for restructuring? Should the power-loaded distant federal government devolve power to the state? Why should governors who are chief security officers depend on the Inspector General of Police for security of their states? How should the 1999 Constitution be reviewed? What is the basis for a national conference?

These fundamental questions resonated at the launch of a book: ‘The Nigerian Political Turf: Polity, Politics and Politicians’, written by the Group Political Editor of ‘The Nation’, Mr. Mobalade Omonijo. Eminent Nigerians who spoke at the ceremony, which held at Muson Center, Lagos, including the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Senator Bola Tinubu, Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, Senator Olufemi Lanlehin and Senator Ganiyu Solomon, lamented that the non-resolution of the fundamental issues germane to national unity and stability constituted a drawback.

“Nigeria needs fixing and this fixing is a task for both the leaders and followers”, intoned Tinubu, who was represented by former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Leke Pitan. “Nigeria is fast becoming a country of lamentations. Lamenting about our condition will not bring about change. Only action will”.

Fayemi, who delivered a lecture titled: ‘The Nigerian polity, politics and politicians: Moving from transactional to transformational leadership’, faulted the leadership recruitment procedure in the country, noting that many in the corridor of power are political traders. He said the resolution of these problems is being delayed or postponed because Nigerians are docile.

The governor observed that the country cannot afford to avoid conditions that can accord it the status of a nation-state. “Many of the internal contradictions of the Nigerian state have been sharpened to a point that the bare bones are now visible. The failure to address the national or nationality questions in an inclusive manner is evident in the varied responses across the country to conflicts over identity, nationality, self-determination and autonomy”, Fayemi added.

These puzzles, in his view, are tied to the question of what type of federalism to adopt. Fayemi observed that, unlike in the past when the government decreed issues, including religion, autonomy and resource control as constitutional “no-go areas”, Nigerians are now openly debating them, thereby putting to test the hitherto authoritarian might of the ‘federal centre’.

“What is the nation called Nigeria?, What does it mean to be a Nigerian?, How do we manage diversity and difference in a multi-ethnic, multi-faith polity? These are some of the questions that we avoided in the events leading up to May 29, 1999, in the desperation for anything but the military”, he added.

Many core issues captured by the book and re-echoed by Tinubu have shaped the perception and direction of response to the political milieu by aggrieved ethnic nationalities. They include the continuous controversy over the 1999 Constitution, lack of true federalism, unending battle for control and power by politicians, elections and electoral reforms, fuel hike and corruption.

Taking a swipe at the monopolisation of power, privileges and resources by a tiny political class, Tinubu said Nigeria has become a country where everything is politicised and where, unless you are in politics or connected to someone in politics, you are not likely to make headway.

More worrisome to the former governor is the growing insecurity in the land. “The present state of insecurity and bombings is symptomatic of a free fall. The government must act quickly and intelligently to curtail the situation before Nigerians resort to self-help”, he said. But he quickly added that that the solution is not beyond reach. Noting that the debate over state or community policing is long overdue, Tinubu emphasised that “Nigeria needs to decentralise its policing system in line with universal policing trends”.

In the pre-1999 period, the resolution of the national question was on the agenda of pro-democracy activists. However, when democracy was restored, power landed on the palms of retired soldiers who compounded the nation’s woes during the long period of military rule. “We ended up with a democracy with pseudo-democrats”, Fayemi said, pointing out that these emergency democrats have created strains and international contradictions threatening the flawed system.

“Nowhere are the limits of the democratic project in Nigeria more apparent than in the question of creating appropriate institutional arrangements for the political accomodation and management of social diversities and differences”, he stressed.

The consequence is national crisis of ethnic nature. As Fayemi put it, the lethality of many of these conflicts has been transformed in score and intensity with the unrestricted availability of small arms and unemployed youths. “At the core of the crisis either in the Niger Delta or in the North is the failure of politics to allocate authority, legitimise it, and use it to achieve the social and economic ends conducive to wellbeing”, he said.

Fayemi called for state or community police. But he also said that in its drive for security, leaders should also focus on ‘human security’, which includes access to the means of life, provision of good roads, sustainable environment and democratic freedoms.

The governor canvassed “a new political and economic framework, guaranteed by a new federal constitution, that would transfer power, and with it, the control of economic resources, to local people; allowing them in turn to pay appropriate taxes to federal coffers”.

Also, Fayemi hammered on good governance, saying that it is better to take politics beyond political parties. “The immediate challenge for all of us is to concentrate on how to rescue our people from bad governance”, he added.

The sure path to resolving the leadership question in the country, according to Tinubu and Fayemi is mass participation in the process of governance. At the event, they canvassed vehemently in their separate presentations, an end to the passive attitude which many Nigerians elite have displayed all along. 

Tinubu warned that “Nigeria is right now at a sorry pass and no one needs a soothsayer to reveal that Nigeria is almost at the tipping point”. He warned that except all join hand and speak out, and jointly find a solution now, no one will be spared.

He told the story of a German protestant pastor, Martin Niemoller, during the Nazi rule to illustrate his point.  He adopted a passive attitude when the powers that be came for those who were involved, thinking that he would be spared but how wrong he was. 

According to Tinubu, “But we cannot continue like this. That we are where we are today is because the politicians, in whatever garb, have turned politics into zero sum game. Winner-take-all. Some kind of booty game. 

“A rat race where you must gobble up as much as you can in the shortest time possible. Nigeria is prostrate because we have taken the morality out of politics and replaced it completely with enlightened self interest. 

“The resounding message from Omonijo is that unless we speak up, unless we mobilize for action, unless the people wake up from the slumber, a Moses will not emerge, a revolution will not happen and Nigeria will remain in the auto-repair section”, he stated.

He listed the consequences of maintaining a passive disposition. In his words: “When we refuse to speak up against injustice against our fellow citizen. When we fail to rise up in defence of our rights and freedoms; when we slumber and sleep rather than line the streets to make our case and demand that those who misrule us be pushed out; when we behave like we are a sadistic people who enjoy pains being inflicted on us by those elected to protect us, we open ourselves up to abuse, exploitation and pauperization. As Nigerians, we must learn to walk the talk, we must band together to demand from our leaders that our country is better governed and we must not relent until we witness the changes we so much desire. Else, darkness will descend. And no man, either from Sokoto to Samunaka, or from kontagora to kaduna, or from Ibadan to Imo, or from Delta to Plateau will be spared”, he warned. 

He insisted that “Nigerians have a right to demand to be governed properly”, saying the Arab spring protests and the near revolutionary process that it continues to unleash remains most instructive in the Nigeria situation of today.

Fayemi explores what he described as “citizens’ engagement in democracy”. He argued that  “ the issue should not be one for politicians or non-politicians, but the extent to which we are able to achieve citizen participation in our democracy.   The issue of leadership – particularly, how we conceptualise leadership is central to the discourse.

“In my view, our discussion should really focus more on the making of leaders and citizens in a good society because without direct citizen participation, the legitimacy of our political institutions will continue to decline. It is for this reason that I strongly believe that leaders – be they politicians or non-politicians should worry because their ability to lead effectively is being seriously undermined by the desertion of average citizens from the public space, deepening the crisis of legitimacy in the country. 

“Yet, this lack of legitimacy cuts both ways.  When we the people withdraw our trust in leaders or discountenance politicians, we make our democratic institutions less effective and risk making ourselves ungovernable.   

“For the majority of our citizens – democracy was supposed to bring the end of military dictatorship in form and content; they hoped that it would bring greater involvement of ordinary people in politics, whether in the federal, state and local institutions or even in civil society ones.  “They hoped for real and immediate dividends in employment, clean water, affordable shelter, accessible health care, improved education, reliable and consistent power supply, rehabilitated roads and food on the table. If democracy is not capable of wiping out poverty, curbing corruption, guaranteeing transparency and improving people’s well being and quality of life, it is at best an empty concept, at worst a sham to many. 

“Poverty and despair, oppression and humiliation, economic and social insecurities are breeding grounds – even if not the only reasons – for violence and conflict. As much as Nigerians want democracy, they also want to see concrete evidence of democracy making a difference in their lives and not just in an instrumentalist sense of embracing freedom. 

“Understandably, if you make political discourse more negative as some do – you deliberately turn ordinary people off politics; more people grow cynical and stop paying any serious attention to politics.  This experience is not unique to us in Nigeria; in fact it is the crisis that democracy is experiencing all over the world, with low turn out at the polls and scant regard for political leaders. 

“Yet, if we as citizens choose not to play a part in this process of activism in our communities and our state, we will get the politicians we deserve, allow the hijack of the political realm by special interests, religious bigots and ethnic jingoists only keen in the promotion of their narrow agendas. So, being political is being patriotic and we all must be ready to leave our comfort zones to embrace active engagement”.

He argued that the field must not be left in the hands of those he described as ‘charlatans’. He insisted that when serious people turn away from participating in politics, those who have nothing to offer invariably take over.

“It is my belief that committed social activism must help provide the road map that people can employ to help undertake various empowerment projects that will give them control over their own destinies and lives. It is the belief that public office is too serious to be entrusted in the hands of charlatans and that when serious people turn away from politics, the field is left to those who have nothing to offer than crass opportunism and damage to our people’s well being. 

“We must – politicians and journalists alike - be determined to ensure that the State empowers rather than dictate, enables rather than control, pushes power down to the people and shares the responsibility of governing with them rather than turn them to supplicants at the table of power wielders”.  

This is a direct challenge to the Nigerians elite who often than not like to criticise and grumble aloud but would do nothing in the long run to effect a change. In essence, Tinubu and Fayemi are tasking Nigerians to dare to participate in the process of governance than adopt the now famous Sidon look attitude of the late former Attorney General and Minister of Justice Chief Bola Ige during the Gen Sani Abacha transition program.