Bootleg Patriots

ARE these the final days? Senators of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), want to do Nigeria a favour: save her from squandering her fortune on them.

How? The party's senators-80 of them-argue, in effect, that if they were spared the indignity of going before voters in 2011, Nigeria will develop. Early this month, they sent David Mark, who is currently the President of the Senate, to make the case that their seats be declared unavailable for electoral contest.

The Senators did not identify a personal benefit for themselves. None, apparently. Their concern, they said, is for their beloved country, which should not be denied the benefit of their wealth of experience in the house.

Trying to justify the phenomenon, which is now being publicly referred to as "automatic ticket," Mr. Mark said, "After every four years, after an election, people begin to clamour for their own local government to produce the next Senator...It should be the turn of the local governments who are represented here now to produce the same people in 2011." The man is a genius.

Mark, who was speaking before the party's bigwigs, led by its Chairman, Mr. Vincent Ogbuluafor, described the legislature as central to democracy, and needing the experience of the current class of Senators. He said his group was further recommended by the "harmonious" relationship between them and the Executive arm of government.

Mark was publicly supported a few days later by Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President who had just survived a spirited legal challenge of his Enugu West District seat. "What we are trying to copy is the best practices," he told journalists he had dragged to his home to hear his voice. "In America, from where we drew the bulk of the provisions of our constitution, you don't just change parliamentarians...because a lot is spent on training these people. Nigeria has the highest turnover of parliamentarians. And when you send people to seminars, trainings, workshops and they sit in parliament from year to year and at the end of the day, they don't return, those monies are wasted..."

Ekweremadu, it seems, watches the United States only on CNN, with the sound turned off. He may be a Senator, but he does not give the impression of someone who understands the American political system. Otherwise, he is a dishonest man hampered by a very poor memory.

His self-serving argument does not tell Nigerians that nowhere-repeat, Mr. Ekweremadu, nowhere- in the United States would a legislator dare whisper (certainly not in the presence of self-respecting journalists) any words that may be mistaken to mean that he is willing to subvert constitutionally-mandated elections in order to stay in office. That would be the political equivalent of having a coconut broken over your own skull: you cannot possibly partake of it.

None of the journalists before whom he spoke at the press conference in his own home sufficiently challenged the Senator. Maybe the buffet he put before them came with certain conditions, or concoctions. It certainly seems Mr. Ekweremadu believes that the people of his constituency are idiots, but the historic challenge to his seat by Uzo Onyeama proves they are not.

That challenge also provides a strong indication that Mr. Ekweremadu is not eager to go back so soon before the voters to test his popularity. We already know that Mr. Mark, whose "election" in Benue State legislator was similarly questioned all the way through the Electoral Appeals process, does not look forward to having to revalidate himself.

The problem here is the same as we have always had: politicians seeking seeking Ghana-Must-Go sinecures, not responsibility. Under Messrs Mark and Ekweremadu, the Nigerian Senate has not become famous for diligence or achievement. It is not known for its commitment to principle or excellence. If anything, the Senate is the pepper-soup plaza of Nigerian governance. For most Senators, the Upper House is a holiday resort where work is not a requirement, and accountability to constituents not a necessity. The Senate, particularly the PDP Senate, is the national address for self-importance. The PDP Senators clamour for easy and illegal passage to four years on Easy Street is proof. I do not know a single Nigerian who believes that PDP Senators hankering after automatic tickets do so for Nigeria, not self. They are bootleg patriots.

Where are these sub-tenanted Senators when lack of transparency at the highest levels, including in the executive and the legislature, is ruining Nigeria? What are these Senators doing when education, health, anti-poverty and infrastructure schemes are boldly moving forward in many developing countries while Nigeria races backwards?

What have these Senators done about our corruption conundrum? Put that another way, does Ekweremadu care about the widely-advertised corruption allegations against Senator David Mark? What do both men think about the fact that both President Yar'Adua and Vice-President Jonathan are powerfully "fighting" corruption with weapons made of cotton wool, while the wife of the VP, Patience Jonathan-among many privileged others-sit on heinous corruption and money-laundering charges?

What have these Senators done about the blood oath and voodoo penetration of Nigerian politics? Where were they on Okija?

Where were they in the recent Ekiti governorship re-run elections that reconfirmed, before the entire world, that their party abhors change?

Exactly what have these PDP Senators done to move Nigeria forward? Where is the Freedom of Information Act?

My point is that any elected office holder ought to be calculating his re-election chances on the basis of his performance profile, not rigging, which is what this automatic ticket nonsense is. Although PDP officials have said they do not support the idea, Nigerians know that the PDP has no honour. As a concept, the PDP is a contradiction. They will try to find a way to achieve what would be, in effect, the civilian equivalent of a coup: a political party's open-air subversion of the process.

I hope the people of Nigeria, liberating themselves from their innocence, will ensure that those tickets are for the one-way trip away from office for those Senators. It is remarkable that Senator Ekweremadu argues that institutional memory is good for Nigeria. I support that, but constitutional memory, which is the right of the people to decide their representatives at the polls, is even more important. It is the right of the people-subject to the machinations and manipulations of the PDP-to determine whether to send a carpenter or a commercial motorcycle transporter.

True, new Senators may lack training and experience. But they would have something that most of the current crop of PDP legislators do not offer: hope.

Robot  # 1 | 26.07.2009 07:47

Bootleg Patriots ARE these the final days? Senators of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), want to do Nigeria a favour: save her from squandering her fortune on them. How? The party's senators-80 of them-argue, in effect, that if they were spared the indignity of going before voters in 2011, Nigeria will develop. Early this month, they sent David Mark, who is currently the President of the Senate, to make the case that their seats be declared unavailable for electoral contest. The Senators did not identify a personal benefit for themselves. None, apparently. Their concern, they said, is for their beloved country, which should not be denied the benefit of their wealth of experience in the house. Trying to justify the phenomenon, which is now being publicly referred to as "automatic ticket," Mr. Mark said, "After every four years, after an election, people begin to clamour for their own local gover...Read the full article.

akuluouno  # 2 | 26.07.2009 08:45

The Rt Hon SO, Esteemed Villagers, I bring you the grace and love of the name above all names OLPS Jesus Christ on this glorious Sunday:biggrin: What else does one say. Nigeria lost it long time ago. The tintinabulations of these distinguished SIN - ATORS are mere symptoms of a deep malaise that overtook the Nigerian space since 1960. No more comments:twisted: Reminds of the story of a 6yr old boy who lost his father and later his mother wanted to remarry. After negotiations over the dowry and everything, the precocious young man raised up his hand to address the party of his future step father and said, " Hmmmm, I am not against any man coming to marry my motheroooooo, hmmmmmm, all I am saying is that let whomever the prospective man is, be dignified enough for me to be proud to call him fatherooooo, hmmmmmm, I know that I may not have word on this matteroooo, hmmm, but I want to say it out loud and clear, because any man lacking the dignity to be called a father by me should not marry my mother:D:D After losing her colonial husband in 1960, the Nigerian widow remarried an animal in human cloth and we the sons of the soil have collectively become severely diminished because of it:frown:

changenigeriamovement  # 3 | 26.07.2009 10:02

Most of our politicians, including the senators are clowns. They refer to the United States when it suits their purpose but ignore it when it does not. Ike Ekweremadu talks about an experienced U.S. Congress but criminally ignores the fact that the lawmakers were returned by the voters who approved of the jobs they were doing. They were not forcibly hoisted on the people by their parties. Ekweremadu fogets that the average Nigerian Senator earns three-four times more than a U.S. senator earns and their ability to loot the treasury while hiding under the constitution is limited. Ekweremadu ignores the fact that a Senator from a U.S. city or district that has not had electricity or water for weeks will not even dare to participate in the primaries, lest he meets his immidiate waterloo. But Ekweremadu wants the Senators returned to office for doing nothing but guaranteeing darkness, diseases, poverty and participating in the looting of our resources. Eweremadu conveniently forgets that Americans have access to and monitor their government through the Freedom of Information Act. Ekweremadu, I dare you to continue with the comparison and give us an FOI bill so that your dirty laundry can we washed in public. Ekweremadu, in his delusions of political grandeur and conceited self-evaluation would want the world to believe that the ideal standard of measurement for Nigerian democracy is the United States. However, I cannot understand why the manager of a Variety Store should be entitled to the same renumeration as the manager of a fortune 500 company. Nigerian politicians, including Ekweremadu, are variety store politicians running a political variety store and their renumeration should so reflect. Judging by their conduct and pilferig from the variety store, achievingthe status of a fortune 500 will take forever unless they are dismissed and better hands brought in. Mr. Ekweremadu, do not be deceived,the reason people like you and your colleagues exist and find yourselves in the Senate is because of the corrupt system in place. You guys will be politically anahilated in a decent society. Otherwise, how do you explain a Senate that is made up of retired and still practising 419's, corrupt ex-governors and a senate president with allegiance to another country. Mr. Ekweremadu, can these things happen in the United States?

Careman001  # 4 | 26.07.2009 23:14

Let us all agree: The answer to nigeria's politicians robbery and greed is MEND. Please let me know their centres for recruitment. I can bring a couple of young folks to enlist. I will bring my own bazooka and camouflage uniforms. Too much grammar cannot stop these thieves you call politicians. We can leave the grammar work for Reuben, Sonala and CO., every other naija man and woman must be told where the camps are and how to launch the next rockets.

ocnus  # 5 | 27.07.2009 02:34

Perhaps you would get a much wider appeal for your cause if you dropped the final 'D' from MEND.

Abraxas  # 6 | 27.07.2009 03:14

Hi, folks! =ocnus;375840>Perhaps you would get a much wider appeal for your cause if you dropped the final 'D' from MEND. The undisputed, (even if not yet so obvious) truth is that M.E.N.D is a precursor to MEN: Movement for the Emancipation of NIGERIA! Nigeria badly needs MEN, with balls, who can bark and also bite when necessary, in order to mend the damage done so far, since 1914! ... By the way, woMEN are not exempted. But then, where are the MEN? Muchas gracias, mi amigo, Senor Ocnus. Don Juan-Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

ariteni  # 7 | 27.07.2009 05:13

In the Village Square!

papas  # 8 | 27.07.2009 05:50

Dear SO, Thanks for this article, it's always very compelling to read your articles. They are essential ingredients for Nation building. On this particular issue, you went far in identifying the inherent dangers of what our so called distinguished senators are asking for, but without pointing out the way forward to the germane issues raised by the self-vaunted distinguished Senators. Our democracy and indeed national development cannot afford a scenario where every four years, we have almost a complete turnover of Law makers, but the solution our Senators proposed is lacking in intellectual rigour. The real solution lies in the Constitution and Electoral Laws. We will need to tinker with both documents in such a way that we can have staggered elections into slots in the national asembly every two years as practised in the US. So that every two years, only half of the slots will be vied for in an election. How will this be achieved???? I believe very strongly that some sacrifices will have to be borne by the Nigerian people to allow some of this current morons remain for two extra years for it to happen. How will we determine the people that will stay for two extra years??? I suggest through a ballot system, maybe there are other better and logical methods. This will ensure that during mid-term elections, the potential remains for the national assembly to continue to function effectively during and after the elections, with the so called experienced people whose elections are not being vied for.