EXPANDING THE FRONTIER OF DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE IN NIGERIA
Democratic governance is certainly having roots in Nigeria polity since the military junta relinquished power to civilians in 1999. Undoubtedly, it is a work in progress; the country is still bedeviled with so many social malaises which necessarily must be tackled for attainment of any meaningful growth and development which all Nigerians, nay, well-meaning Nigerians, desire.
As often noted, Nigeria has potentials in both human and natural resources, to be the envy of the world, but ironically, the country has not been fortunate to have much of great, selfless and visionary leadership. While it may be a truism that a society deserves its kind of leadership, it is strongly contended that leadership shapes the fate and fortune of an entity or society. A Yoruba proverb says a tori leja ti n baje, meaning, a fish does not start to rot from the tail, but from the head.
Evidence abounds to show that prosperity of nations have correlations to leadership. For instance, under Lee Kwan Yew, Singapore developed into one of the cleanest, safest, and most economically prosperous cities in Asia. Similarly, Mahathir Mohammad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia has the credit of transforming Malaysia into an Asian economic tiger. In United States, amongst its numerous great leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt stood out for successfully navigating America out of economic depression and through the Second World War. Prosperity and development attained in the Old Western region of Nigeria, under Chief Obafemi Awolowo, remains a point of reference, and yet unsurpassed by successive governments.
The foregoing may lead one to presuppose that it will take good leadership to move Nigeria to a greater and enviable height. Essentially, Nigeria needs a leader that will lead by example, have zero tolerance for corruption, diligently execute the laws without applying double standard, and strengthens public institutions. As have been noted by many observers, public institutions are weak; governance has become more of a personalized business where one needs to know someone in the government or its agencies to get things done. Sadly, the situation has really deteriorated to a point where public officials focused more on using their offices and positions for self-enrichment at the expense of the populace. Corruption and nepotism have become institutionalized and have eaten deep into the fabric of the each successive government administration in Nigeria. This unfortunate situation has over the year occasioned huge loss of revenue to the government, and has also make access to public services by common citizens, very frustrating. In a properly functioning society, one need not know anyone in power, or bribe government officials to get public services like obtaining international passport, drivers’ license, admission to public schools, and many other regular public services necessary for health, social, and economic well-being of the people.
The decadence in the Nigeria society pre-dates the present administration; it was a gradual decent over successive administrations. Each successive administration either contributed to the rot, complacent, or lacked total clue of what governance is all about. It is well understood that no society is immune from corruption and crimes. However, what differentiates the civilized and prosperous societies from banana republics is the seriousness and attention devoted to combating societal ills. Whereas, developed countries keep coming up with new innovations and development in their social justice system, to combat the ills of crimes, corruption and mismanagement, the dysfunctional societies, on the other hand, keep promoting mediocrity, cronyism, corruption, and lawlessness.
In many well organized and well run societies, crime and betrayal of public trust often attract condemnation and sanctions. In the United States, there is a common saying that if you can do the crime, you can do the time. Presently, a former Governor of the state of Illinois, George Ryan, is serving a 6 1/2-year prison term: He was convicted of corruption in 2006 for steering state contracts and leases to political insiders and helping cover up bribes paid in return for truck drivers licenses while he was secretary of state and then governor. Connecticut former Governor, John G. Rowland resigned as governor in 2004 and pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge. He admitted trading access to his office for more than One Hundred Thousand United State Dollars ($100,000.00) in vacations, charter airline trips and home repairs- He served 10 months in prison. In Australia, a Federal Court judge, Marcus Einfeld, was jailed for perjury and perverting the course of justice by lying to avoid a Seventy Seven Dollars ($77.00) speeding ticket.
Curiously, the general attitude in Nigeria is that laws are meant for the weak. The rich, elite, political office holders and high government officials often behave and are treated as being above the law. The Economics and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was formed by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo to fight the ills of corruption in the Nigerian society with particular attention to public office holder. However, its effectiveness in the area of prosecution of corrupt government official is next to zero. Many cases of palpable corruption, crime, and abuse of office instituted against past and present political office holders and government functionaries are often treated as “family affairs” and usually fizzle out with no appreciable result.
Where cases are eventually tried, the barest minimal sentences are usually meted out to the guilty party. A classic example was thee corruption trial of Chief Bode George who was tried and convicted for criminal charges bordering on abuse of public trust, contract splitting and financial misappropriation to the tune of One Hundred Billion Naira (N100,000,000,000.00) (about Six Hundred and Sixty Seven Million Dollars ($667,000,000.00) at the exchange rate of One US dollar= One Hundred and Fifty Naira (150 naira) - He was sentenced to a mere two years imprisonment. At the completion of his jail term, a grand reception party was organized for him with high powered Federal government delegation and prominent national political figures in attendance.
Amongst many other instances, Lucky Igbinedion, former governor of Edo State, was accused of embezzling millions of dollars belonging to his state; he entered into a questionable plea deal, and refunded a ridiculous paltry sum-No jail term. Yet, many are languishing in the prisons across the country for petty offenses and misdemeanors. In 2004, the writer represented two minors, pro bono. They were incarcerated in remand home for more than two years over allegations of petty theft. Shamefully, in one of the cases, the prosecutor opposed a bail application on the ground that investigation was ongoing. Happily, the hapless teenagers regained their freedom.
The import of this piece is not to beat down or disparage the Nigerian government, but to draw the attention of the leadership to what is obvious, and charge them to lead the change for a better Nigeria. It is not enough to make slogans about rule of law and fight against corruption, it is more important to have the will and sincerity to tackle the ills head long. It reeks of share hypocrisy for any government that wants to fight corruption to surround itself with people of questionable characters, indulge in ill thought activities, and phantom projects that serve as a conduit pipes to siphon public money, and benefit their cronies.
If we must progress as a united country, it is imperative we deepen our democratic values, and properly entrench rule of law. What truly distinguishes a civilized society from the non-civilized ones is the priority accorded rule of law. The law of the land should apply and be enforced equally to the citizens. Concerted effort must be made to ensure fairness in dealing with the masses. This calls for transparency in governance to ensuring that citizens are not taken for granted or taken undue advantage of. For instance, in our police stations, there are inscriptions “Police is your friend”, “bails is free,” but hardly would any arrested person leave the police custody without being extorted, and failure to cooperate might even earn the person involved additional problem. I am optimistic that the new Minister in charge of Police Affairs will turn things around for better in that department.
It is doubtful if there is any governmental ministry or agency where patrons pay the exact fee/ charges officially set by the government. To get things done, without much undue delay which are mostly artificial, one either needs to know someone in the establishment or pays through. Within the confines of the law, the civil service needs a critical and total overhaul, and it takes a purposeful, determined, and selfless leadership to achieve any meaningful success in an endeavour of this nature.
The quality of electioneering process largely determines quality of governance, and it is a notorious fact that he who pays the piper dictates the tune. A godfather that bankrolls or imposes a candidate can only be driven by selfish interest, and such would like to control the machinery of governance and decision making. In such situations, the people suffer because wealth of the commonwealth is amassed by a few greedy enemies of the state. Expectedly, imposed or rigged candidates owe allegiance to their godfathers and financiers; not to the electorate whose votes really do not count. This explains why political office holders often act recklessly and hold the citizens in contempt.
Notwithstanding its many flaws, the 2011 General Elections that brought in President Goodluck Jonathan, was substantially adjudged a sharp departure from the past shenanigans called elections (Professor Attairu Jega, the INEC Boss deserves special commendation in this regard). The achievement, howbeit little, must be built upon to strengthen our Democratic fundamentals and standing. Failure to have credible elections often creates legitimacy problems, and overall, negatively impacts a society’s socio-political and economic development. It is very doubtful that a beneficiary of a flawed and questionable electioneering process will have the rectitude to execute the duties and powers of his office, faithfully, and judiciously. With all emphasis, due attention must be given to improving Nigeria electioneering process- it is sine qua non for a sustainable democracy.
Entrenching the culture of democratic governance, orderliness and civility in the society requires combined efforts of the government (leadership) and the governed (citizens). Organized civil societies also have a vital role to play. Where there is a responsible government or leadership, overall public interest as against selfish and parochial interest gets priority. It is common place in Nigeria for elected officials to rule their political constituencies like conquered empires; jettisoning the rule of law, and plundering the resources of commonwealth without any sense of accountability. In decision making, and especially on issues affecting the lives, liberty, and properties of the people, due process must be accorded pride of place; ensuring fairness, equity and justice.
For government to properly function, the three branches of government (Legislature, Executive and Judiciary) must be alive to their primary responsibilities, and act as check and balance against the excesses of one another. There is an urgent need to raise the quality of our legislative process. Legislative chamber should not just be an arena for chorusing “yea and nay”, but for robust debates that will culminate in well-reasoned laws. The Executive must rise to the occasion and arrest the rot in the public service delivery. It is unacceptable for government’s business to be shrouded in secrecy; it is imperative that procedures and requirements for accessing any governmental services and benefits are well spelt out, backed with adequate public awareness to create a level playing field for all would be patrons, and discourage extortion practices. Nothing causes discontent in a society more than the government or its officials giving undue advantage to some citizens over or at the expense of others without any justification other than personal relationships or gratification. Unfortunately, there seems to be conspiracy among the three arms of the government against the masses. Corruption reeks everywhere.
Judiciary, the supposed last hope of common man is often alleged of corruption; dishing out justice to the highest bidder. The feud between the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the President of the Court of Appeal over allegation of corruption and impropriety, and the manner in which the Judicial Council Commission is handling the matter, has left no one in doubt that all is not well with the Judicial system. This ugly trend must be arrested to avoid total erosion of any good will that might be left in the supposed temple of justice. Any society that has a morally challenged and integrity-deficient Judiciary is on the precipice of collapse, and requires urgent intervention and overhaul. Undoubtedly, the Judiciary and the legal profession still parades men and women of integrity- they cannot resign to fate because what it takes evil to triumph is for the good men and women to be quiet. A virile, independent, and reliable judiciary is a must for democracy to have solid footing in our polity.
The citizens have a vital role to play in advancing democratic process and values. Oftentimes, elected officials and representatives act in dissonance to the interest of the people; it takes a watchful and informed followership to keep them in line or out through different means- Tunisia/ Egypt option is one of such. In civilized democracies, it is usually through the power of ballot, protest, civil disobedience, and legal challenges in court. The power of ballot presupposes the existence of a transparent and credible electioneering process, while the legal/court option presupposes the existence of a vibrant, independent, and incorrigible judiciary-Both suffer serious challenges in Nigeria. Notwithstanding all the challenges, the citizens and civil societies have a responsibility to keep demanding for accountability and transparency in government through the exercise of their freedom of speech and assembly. As posited by Wendell Phillips (1852)"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few. The hand entrusted with power becomes…the necessary enemy of the people. Only by continual oversight can the democrat in office be prevented from hardening into a despot…”
Finally, most of the problems bedeviling the Nigerian society do not require rocket science to get fixed; with sincerity of purpose, determination, and courage to do what is right, Nigeria’s problems will be 80 percent solved. The Senate probe of the activities of Bureau for Private Enterprises from 1999 clearly shows how complicit the past Nigerian leadership was in the failure of many initiatives carried out. Failure of many great ideas and public services that succeeded in other places can be traced to undue selfish interference from powers that be who were primarily interested in inordinate selfish gain for themselves and their cronies. This singular attitude is what contributed substantially to the weakening of governmental institutions, death of public corporations such as NITEL and Nigeria Railways, growth of sycophancy, and “do or die” politics.
For Nigeria to grow, for our democracy to thrive, we must review and depart from the usual ways of doing things that are not bringing the desired results. It is often said that doing same thing over and over, in the same manner, and expecting to get a different result is a trait of insanity. It is time we shift the paradigm. This is a clarion call to President Goodluck Jonathan and all the state Governors to lead in this direction of doing things right, for the glory and advancement of Nigeria. Sooner or later, the term of office for the President and the Governors will be over, and posterity will judge their actions and inactions. Now is the time for them to work in the direction of how they would love to be remembered, either as part of the statistics of Nigerian looters, or builders of a new Nigeria.
I remain very optimistic that Nigeria shall be great.
Written by Adebanji Dada, LLM, MBA. - Executive Director, Advocate of Rule of Law & Human Dignity, and Managing Attorney, Dignity International Law Firm.