Talking Nigeria, by Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
“Only the thing for which you have struggled will last” — African proverb
Two groups invited Nigerians to a? wide-ranging summit in Abuja last week on a new constitution which may address some of the most basic problems we face as a nation. The Nigeria Political Summit Group and the Patriots joined their intimidating profiles to remind Nigeria that it will remain basically deficient in legitimacy and effectiveness unless its constitution, its basic structures, systems and processes are re-born through the most inclusive of all endorsements: a free endorsement by citizens, either directly or through genuine representation.
You could argue with the fairly worn-out idea that Nigeria’s ‘illegitimate’ status is the source of all its contemporary failures. You may even quarrel with the idea that a new constitution is what we need to rid the country of multi-dimentional challenges and threats today. Still, a group of eminent Nigerians who have lived in and with the best of Nigeria, and are now trapped in a nation tragically captured by its past insist we must never give up on our country. That faith that it is possible to fix Nigeria drew a huge crowd and sundry interests, majority linking on line to participate. It is possible that the Summit served as a learning opportunity for those who will not give up to dig deeper, change tactics or give up.
I am humbled by my membership of the Patriots,Nigerians who have served our nation without reservations, and are still on their feet. We may appear to be isolated and even accused of fronting for hostile interests ranged against some parts of the country, but in many ways we genuinely represent Nigeria. Like fellow Nigerians, we argue intensely over great and small issues, and we know there are no simple or direct answers to our problems. Words and phrases like ‘restructuring’, ‘true federalism’ and ‘peoples’ constitution’ are loud in a lot of discussions around Nigeria’s future. They have acquired huge political baggage and divisive tendencies, such that in many circles, it would be more helpful to use alternative phraseology. Yet, you will have people who will make every argument that they have both meaning and utility, and only people opposed to real and justifiable change in Nigeria will pretend not to understand them or support them.
? Every constitutional conference organized since the creation of Nigeria has had to deal with tough matters around management of pluralism which a complex and diverse country like Nigeria must resolve or accommodate. The British put the colony through a number of discussions and negotiations, many of which reinforced the grip of ethnic elites in a country groomed to believe that its greatest challenge is its cultural and ethnic diversity. They bequeathed a huge country with massive fault lines papered-over by a governing elite substantially defined by a philosophy that it represented fractions? of a country, and its job was to police internal boundaries and compete against other.
Hierarchies of rights and privileges were built into a system that equated group size with power and access to resources. Constitutions and anthems spoke of tribes and natives and faith and location, not of the rights of the citizen that must supersede identity or location. The military fought a war to retrieve the country from the end game of an elite engrossed with deepening divisions, but failed to improve cohesion by adopting a political engineering style which fragmented the country further, multiplying the very problems which challenged unity and the chances that the citizen could be repository of power and target of all development.
All recent conferences raised huge hopes that Nigerians can give themselves a constitution that resolves the most contentious quarrels over co-existence, restoring hope that we can put to rest matters of structure and lay foundations for achieving substance and mission of the Nigerian state. They produced huge volumes and nothing more. Those who convened them had their own motives, or lacked the will or the credibility to convert passionate debates into coherent and real inputs into new constitutions. These attempts and failures have provided ample stimulus for those who insist that governments cannot, and should not get involved in influencing the emergence of a constitution that addresses all the basic challenges which have made our country captive. There is a sharp division here between those who believe it is both desirable and possible for citizens to ignore government and initiate and conclude the crafting of an entirely new constitution, and others who see a role for the status quo in creating a new constitution, even if it threatens interests that exercise power at the moment.
It is not lost on anyone that the National Assembly has triggered another ritual of engaging citizens on what needs changing in our constitution. Predictably, it has virtually been about creating more states in all parts of the country. The Summit’s ambition went beyond this regular, expensive charade, although it has to acknowledge channels that will demonstrate its respect for existing authority and buy it some goodwill. In any case, the output of the Summit is now available to Nigerians. Given the calibre of the leadership of the two groups, it will not serve government’s interests to decline to receive the Summit’s observations and recommendations. But this is only a small part of the problem.
It is not our current leaders who stand to lose the most by any gesture beyond the periodic, sterile reviews that should worry the Patriots and NPSG, but registered indifference, cynicism and hostility of many citizens and groups towards the idea that this elite can speak for all Nigeria and represent interests from Yobe to Lagos. There is deep suspicion in much of the North that the language and the substance of the Summits’ communique do not speak for it. The East will be content with an additional State as evidence that real progress has been made in addressing injustice, a flaw regularly thrown at the current federal system. Ethnic minorities are unlikely to put much faith in larger identities agreeing to erase advantages acquired over a century ago. Parts of the country with advantages will be reluctant to even discuss giving them up. Politicians who have cornered the country will not commit group suicide by agreeing to radical changes which will deprive them of their grip over a bleeding nation.
The most serious criticism related the seeming emphasis on changing structures and systems at the expense of massive improvements in the quality of leadership. It has been pointed out times without number that a bad leader will run the best system aground in no time. We cannot fault the argument that this nation deserves a much better quality of political elite that the current one which holds it captive. We have been told that if we spent half the time we devote on ‘restructuring’ on how to improve the quality of leaders who run all levels and institutions in the country; if we can find solutions to the vulnerability of vital institutions of governance to corruption and abuse;if we can give every Nigerian child equal opportunities to grow into a responsible, productive adult; if we can see the values of our cultures and diversities as reinforcements to a democratic system, rather than a threat to it, we will run an African democracy we will be proud of.
We are in danger in being addicted to a damaging complacency, a situation which suggests that we know many things are seriously wrong with our country, but are comfortable with the thought that the problem will find its own solution. Nigeria’s rate of decline in all spheres suggest that we are running out of time to fix it. There are generations growing in ignorance of our situation or hoping we can help them build a better country. We can, but only if we get involved with the search for solutions.
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Talking Nigeria, by Hakeem Baba-Ahmed
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