13 Feb 2008 |
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The last time I checked, Nigeria is still referred to in the global community and global sense as the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A republic is: a) a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch but usually a President in modern times; and b) a government in which supreme power resides in a body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by elected officers and representatives responsible to them and governing according to a set out constitution and guided by unequivocal rules of law. Having defined a republic, is Nigeria really a republic, a question we should ask ourselves? If truly a republic is as defined generally above, then, Nigeria is short of being a republic because our government is neither representative nor our politicians advocates for the generality of citizens. In a republic, the following statement by a discredited Governor of Kogi State cannot be benevolent to Kogi citizens nor could it be a proud statement representing thoughtfulness of a representative government. Hear ex-Governor, Alhaji Idris Abubakar chastising President Yar ‘Adua to dare ask him to following rule of law: “What kind of rule of law is that? What about you, what are you still doing in Aso Rock? Didn't we all rig the elections? As long as you are there in Aso Rock, I am going to remain in office in Lokoja too. No Jupiter can move me out of power.” Alhaji Idris Abubakar did not only accept rigging his election to office but made a bold repudiation of the president as being in the same boat. He is right because even the president has made his mea culpa known to the nation. This is also a direct indictment on Professor Maurice Iwu’s pick performance in conducting an election. If we all agree as it is becoming obvious that Nigeria is short of being a republic, are Nigerians ready to take on the emperors – the godfathers, the Governors, Senators and House of Representative members who are acting contrary to the Republic Nigeria represents? Is the next generation willing to do what it takes to straighten the path to a better Nigeria and give Nigerians limitless possibilities? All of us are privy to the political significance going on in America where a black man and a woman who have been kept at arms length by the imaginary glass ceiling are competing for the highest office. We learn about the unfolding changes taking place in the American political landscape. We watch it through global TV system. We read it through the news prints and we are connected to it via the Internet created with American ingenuity. What a fantastic country America is inspite of her shortcomings. In Nigeria, our republic is managed by those thieves strategically placed in office. Those who dare question the republic formula of sharing loots are often buffeted by the looters’ hatchet men. Our politics which is unraveling day-by-day is controlled by the largest political party in Africa, PDP. PDP is now better defined by a cocktail of self deceit, corruption and shenanigans exhibited by massive rigging. PDP needs to be dismantled. All honest Nigerians in PDP should regroup to form a credible political party based on sound political ideology and leave OBJ and the old hands holding on to the chairmanship of worthless party. Most current PDP stalwart are known kleptomaniac military officers and their civilian collaborators who are using stolen funds to destabilize the polity and controlling often unsuspecting, poor and ill-educated citizens. For me, PDP is now better referred to as People Deceiving People party by all counts. What then are the pressing jobs that can make Nigeria a true republic? In my humble opinion, a true republic should be measured by: 1. Provision of enabling social, political and sound financial policies; 2. Reduction in corruption so as to give an average Nigerian opportunity to interact with his foreign business counterpart with trust and performance. Now no Nigerian is safe from being labeled fraudulent because few Nigerians are. For example, in the BLCO sale, every Nigerian Seller is believed to be fraudulent but there are more honest Nigerians than there are fraudulent ones. Government must streamline this sector and prune fraudulent dealers while encouraging genuine ones; 3. Establishment of our unifying national interest; 4. Rebuilding all our infrastructures (education, energy, airlines, healthcare, transportation, Research and Development especially in science, Engineering and pharmaceutical, etc.). Nigeria must invest in science, Technology and promote innovation; 5. Putting confidence even in our cash cow sectors like oil & Gas and communication sectors while encouraging many Nigerians to go non oil sectors; 6. Creating a rapid deployment force that can diffuse troubles in Africa sub-Sahara rather than beckoning to external forces to aid helpless and backward Africans, the African like NATO; 7. Helping many Nigerian Oil & Gas companies enjoy the advantage of local content but demanding responsibility and accountability in doing so; 8. Recreating the middle class which the military destroyed and are now suffering the consequences of their actions; and 9. Making sure that the financial sector is viable and not subjected to greedy financial professionals as to expose Nigerians to the American type of sub-prime mortgage problem. Nigeria must be Africa’s power house. If any president fails in all of the above performance metrics, what then will he be office for other than to establish formula for sharing loots? From now on, the citizens of Nigeria must demand political honesty from their leaders, require service to the nation, and force leaders to shed the toga of imperialism and outright self established colonialism. No politician is a king. We must recognize then as our servants without compromise. Perhaps, anything less than service to our nation and to the citizens must be resisted by all Nigerians. Kenyans resisted an imposed government through violence. Nigerians, on the other hand, must resist imposition of terrible leaders through a win-win negotiation and only use violence as the last resort. Nigeria needs leaders that will bring bold and measurable changes. The world is changing and Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind. We want a nation where Igbos will again feel free to live in Yorubaland, Yoruba in Hausaland and Hausa in Igboland and still feel comfortable to develop, beautify and magnify wherever they find themselves within the contraption call Nigeria. Nigerian civil war has long been over; it is time to unity rather than find issues that separate us. For far too long, Nigerian citizens’ inaction has held our nation’s political system in abeyance. We must learn to look for a leader that can unify us not the ones that exemplify our differences and surely not one that has low self-esteem and willing to exploit our collective sensibilities to arrogate power he does not constitutionally own to himself. Our republic must not be dependent on an individual. Finally, a Nigerian leader like an American leader need not have a lot of experience. He must, however, have commonsense, love for his nation, ability to choose Ministers capable of giving him good advice but more importantly, must be a leaders that is capable of listening and filtering noises. If experience is what a nation needs, OBJ would have performed wonders and turned Nigeria into heaven on earth with the type of human, financial and natural resources at his disposal. Let me recognize here that OBJ tried his best to the limit of his own ability and personal greed. All a nation needs is a maverick contrarian who will put his personal prejudices aside for global development not one that thinks development is measured by how many Hummers he acquires without the capacity to understand how a hummer is built. Time for leaders with vision is now. The function of our republic is to serve the nation and build her industrial capacity.
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