ISSUES FROM ‘THE PATRIOTS’ SUMMIT
The problem is not with the system, but with the absence of good governance
A non-partisan group of eminent Nigerians, ‘The Patriots’, last week held a two-day conference in Abuja, reiterating their position that the country must restructure or risk disintegration. Led by former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Emeka Anyaoku, the group said Nigeria’s pluralism needed to be properly addressed. “Experience all over the world has shown that pluralistic countries that have survived as political entities are those that operate truly federal constitutions,” said Anyaoku who called for a return to the 1963 constitution. “Those pluralistic countries that failed to operate truly federal constitutions have largely disintegrated.”
It is remarkable that former President Olusegun Obasanjo aligns with the position of this newspaper that the real problem in Nigeria is more with the operators than the system. “For me, no constitution can ever be regarded as perfect,” Obasanjo wrote in his message to the conference. “But whatever the strength or weakness of a constitution, the most important issue to my own understanding and experience are the operators of the constitution.”
Without prejudice to the position of different groups on the state of the nation, the challenge of democratic governance in Nigeria has nothing to do with the system of government or the constitution being operated. We agree with Obasanjo that the real problem is in the disposition of the political actors at all levels. Besides, there is nothing new in most of the ideas being floated by ‘The Patriots’ and some other groups. The same ideas have been mooted several times in the past. Under the current dispensation, there have been conferences that produced reports that were never implemented.
On the system of government, we must recall that Nigeria practised parliamentary system from the pre-independence era in 1954 until the post-independence coup d’etat of 1966. However, after 13 years of military interregnum, the military government opted to jettison the parliamentary system and adopted a presidential system of government for the Second Republic era which started in 1979. It was modelled after the American presidential system where power is separated among the three arms of government as against the parliamentary system where power is fused between the executive and the legislature. Successive attempts at democratisation have followed the same pattern.
It is difficult to fault the argument that the system is not working for most Nigerians. Unlike what obtains in other climes, where people seek elective positions to add value to the system and raise the living standard of their people, our politicians would rather preoccupy themselves with what they can benefit from the system. Therefore, we cannot blame the greed which often results in massive looting of our commonwealth by corrupt few to whatever may be the drawbacks in the presidential system. Nor can we blame it for the desperation for power, indiscipline, religious and ethnic bigotry, lack of vision, insight and foresight. If these factors continue to pervade our political scene, changing the system of government or rewriting the constitution will make no difference.
While those who seek public offices are expected to position their country for optimal growth and advancement, our own leaders have enthroned a system that is lacking in both transparency and accountability. Therefore, while we subscribe to the position that the current structure of Nigeria requires tinkering with, changing the system without changing the mindset of the operators will amount to an exercise in futility. We believe that the major problem we have in the country today is the absence of good governance at all levels of government. Merely changing from presidential to parliamentary system or holding another constitutional conference will not address that challenge.
