The PIB Bill just assented to as an Act of Parliament by President Muhammadu Buhari, is a mere ruse, a monstrosity, an artifice and device, carefully crafted, incubated and delivered, to actually do irretrievable violence to Nigeria’s progress and juris corpus. The Act constitutes a direct assault on age-long cherished principles of federalism and the doctrine of separation of powers, most ably propounded in 1748 by Baron de Montesquie, a great French philosopher.
The PIB Act seeks to frontally attack the provisions of section 162 of the 1999 Constitution, which state that all revenues accruing to the Federation shall be paid into a Federation account from which sharing shall be made amongst the three tiers of government – the federal, government, the 36 states and the 774 Local Government Areas of Nigeria. No expenditure can be made by the Federal Government outside the provisions of section 162. Nor can any monies be expended without going through an Appropriation Bill through submission of budgetary proposals. See sections 80- 84 of the Constitution. To the extent that the Act seeks to redesign the provisions of the Constitution (the fons et origo, grundnorm, Oba, Eze and Emir of all our laws), to that extent is the Act unconstitutional. It must therefore be struck down with the constitutional sledge hammer of section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
In a sane clime, Nigeria’s only surviving cash cow, the NNPC, ought to be totally unbundled , to make it more viable, productive, transparent and accountable to the Nigerian people. But, alas, most curiously, the Act has further strengthened NNPC’s hand of non-accountability and non-responsibility. How can the federal government alone have shares in the only viable milk industry of Nigeria, to the total exclusion of the other three tiers of government, major stakeholders, oil-bearing communities and the long-suffering people of the Niger Delta? How can an Act of Parliament, rather than assuage and ameliorate the sufferings of a beleaguered people, further compound them by reaffirming the people’s perilous status as slavish hewers of wood, drawers of water, masseurs of ego and sideline onlookers in the exploitation and use of their God-given wealth through their natural resources? The Act is nothing but a mere totalitarian and draconian piece of legislation designed to rob Peter to pay Paul.
The Act is a deliberate design by state captors to further their egoist and bachanalian self-interests. It was never designed to reform an institution such as the NNPC, nor passed to advance the principles of federalism or doctrine of separation of powers. It is most egregrious, expropriatory and unfair to States, Local government Areas and the suffering masses of the oil- bearing communities of the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The panacea? Simple. The 36 States Attorneys- General should IMMEDIATELY approach the Supreme Court and challenge this latest Federal Government’s impunity and the outrageous acts of executive lawlessness and legislative rascality we are beholding , by invoking the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction under section 233(1) of the 1999 Constitution. That is the way to go. Allowing the Act to stay will further cement the present misguided unitary system of government that Nigeria is currently operating, under our thinly garnished disguise of a pseudo-federalism.
All isn’t looking well with the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, as the words of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu might seems not to be having any hold on the leadership of the organisation.
This recent situation might have been exposed by the now suspended sit-at-home order by the IPOB which saw a lot of back and forth before its suspension was formally announced by Directorate of State and re-echoed by Emma Powerful- their Spokesperson.
Simon Ekpa, one of the dedicated followers of Nnamdi Kanu who calls himself “Nnamdi Kanu’s disciple,” said the first ever sit-at-home was in total disobedience to the directive of their leader and that was when the chain of command was breached.
Ekpa, who was appointed to replace Kanu on radio Biafra and was removed less than one week after that appointment in a tweet on Thursday, said Kanu’s order was disobeyed even and that’s the source of this whole confusion caused by the sit-at-home.
MNK’s order to stop/suspend the sit at home was disobeyed in the first place, even before the first sit at home was observed.
That was when the COMMAND and CONTROL was breached! You have no reason whatsoever to have continued, these whole confusion would’ve been avoided. Focus!”
Jounalist101 recalls that the group called for sit-at-home in South East and some parts of South South in solidarity to their leader.
The sit-at-home, IPOB said will now be observed anyday Kanu will be appearing in court for the continuation of his trial.
An IPOB media representative who goes by the name Austin Okonkwo who has led so many IPOB rallies in Amsterdam as you can see below. He is also an IPOB broadcaster as u can see one of his broadcast flyer and him broadcasting below.
He has come out today being the 17th of August 2021 to say the majority of the sit at home violators are the keke riders and okada riders and this time around no mercy. Austin Okonkwo further said any keke driver who wants to live long shouldn’t come out on their sit at home as they will be killed.
Rivers State House of Assembly has passed into law the bill prohibiting open rearing and grazing of livestock in the state.
The bill, which was captioned “Rivers State Prohibition of Open Rearing and Grazing Bill, 2021”, was passed yesterday, following a committee report presented by the House Committee Chairman on Agriculture, Ansalem Ogwugwo.
Majority Leader of the House, Martin Amaewhule, who led the debate, said the bill would address the issues of encroachment of farm produce and unlawful killings of farmers in the state.
Some lawmakers during debate supported the bill after extensive arguments on the bill.
The Speaker of the House, Ikuinyi-Owaji Ibani, in his submission, said said the bill would address challenges emanating from open rearing and grazing of livestock in Rivers.
In a related development, the State House of Assembly has also enacted the “Rivers State Residents Registration Agency Bill, 2021.
Speaker Ibani, in his resolution after Committee of the Whole, said the bill came to cure some anomalies and also ensure government did not face further expenses in the dwindling economy.
He said the content of the bill would enable the state enhance effective service delivery.
The Text of the Press Statement, as read by Obaseki on behalf of the Chairman of NINAS, Professor Banji Akintoye, and made available to the Media by NINAS’S Ag. Director of Communications, Mr. Maxwell is presented below:
*NIGERIAN UNION DISPUTE EMANATING FROM GRAVE CONSTITUTIONAL GRIEVANCES : A MILESTONE REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECEMBER 16, 2020 CONSTITUTIONAL FORCE MAJEURE AND DIRECTION FOR THE FUTURE (Being the Text of the Statement at a World Press Conference, August 17, 2021 by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination NINAS at the Expiration of the 120-Day Period of Consultations commenced April 17, 2021).*
The Theme of this Milestone Report is:
*TAKING BACK OUR SOVEREIGNTY: A DECLARATION OF VICTORY OVER THE FRAUD OF 1999.*
PROTOCOLS.
Gentlemen of the Press.
(1) As we come to the close of the 120-Day Period of Consultations which commenced on the 17th Day of April, 2021 in the Measured Implementation of the Constitutional Force Majeure, we invited you here today to update our People and the Global Community on the tremendous progress that has been made in giving effect to the Will of the Peoples of Nigeria which had for so long been suppressed by the Forces of Oppression and Retrogression.
(2) Recall that following the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation, a Sovereignty Dispute was Declared by the Nigerian Indigenous Nationalities Alliance for Self-Determination (NINAS) on Grounds of Grave Constitutional Grievances and a Five-Point Demand was made on the Federal Government of Nigeria, with a 90-Day Period of Notice for the Commencement of Irreversible Steps towards the Remediation of the said Grievances. (Full Text of the Proclamation was Published as an Advertorial in the January 20, 2021 Edition of the Guardian Newspaper at pages 38,39,40 & 41).
(3) For ease of Reference, let us recall that the Five Points of Demand in the December 16, 2020 Proclamation are:
(i). A Formal Announcement by the Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledging the Constitutional Grievances and Sovereignty Dispute now Declared by the Peoples of South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria.
(ii).A Formal Commitment by Federal Government of Nigeria to the wholesale Decommissioning and Jettisoning of the 1999 Constitution as the Basis of the Federation of Nigeria as was done by the Government of Apartheid-Era South Africa in 1990, to commence the process by which the Apartheid Constitution of the then South Africa was eased out.
(iii).A Formal Announcement by the Federal Government of Nigeria suspending further General Elections under the Disputed 1999 Constitution since winners of such Elections will Swear to, and Govern by that Constitution.
(iiii).A Formal Invitation to the Peoples of the South and Middle-Belt of Nigeria which Shall work out and emplace a Transitional Authority, and which shall specify the Modalities for the Transitioning Process including the Composition and Mandate of the Transitional Authority as well as the Time-frame for the Transitioning and other Ancillary Matters.
(iiiii). A Formal Initiation of a Time-Bound Transitioning Process to midwife the emergence of Fresh Constitutional Protocols by a Two-Stage Process in which the Constituent Regional Blocs will at the first stage, Distill and Ratify their various Constitutions by Referendums and Plebiscites and in the second stage, Negotiate the Terms of Federating afresh as may be dictated by the outcomes of Referendum and Plebiscites.
(4) Recall also that at the Expiration of the 90-Day Period, NINAS Addressed a World Press Conference in Ibadan March 17, 2021 at which it Announced a 30-Day Period of Consultations with Governors and other Elected Officials of the NINAS Alliance Territory, which expired April 16, 2021.
(5) Recall that on the 17th day of April 2021, NINAS Announced the commencement of another Period of 120-Days of Consultations with the Peoples of Nigeria as well as the Critical Stakeholder-segment of the International Community which period came to a close August 16, 2021.
(6) We are glad to report to you, our People and the International Community today, August 17, 2021, the Spectacular Success of the Joint Multi-Regional Constitutional Force Majeure in its Main Objective of Defeating and Peacefully Easing Out the Imposed, Toxic and Fraudulent 1999 Constitution upon which the Distressed Federation of Nigeria is presently Constructed. This Victory over the Fraud of 1999 is the first major step towards the Recovery and Reinstatement of the Sovereignty of the Constituent Components of the Defunct Federation of Nigeria trapped in the Unitary Union of Death Nigeria has become for all under that Defeated 1999 Unitary Constitution.
(7) In order to understand the Victory we Have Just Declared over the Toxic 1999 Constitution, and for the benefit of those who may not have followed developments in the Nigerian Polity since the December 16, 2020 Activation of the Constitutional Force Majeure,
It is significant to note that :
(i) In the 90-Day Period of Notice to Federal Government Nigeria, the attempt to resort to the back-door route of Constitution-Amendments as response to the Sovereignty Dispute Raised by NINAS, was rejected Countrywide as NINAS and Other Major Stakeholders including some Governors, insisted that the 1999 Constitution was a Total Fraud that could not be cured by Amendments and more importantly, that the Legislative Mandate of the National Assembly is Law-Making and does not extend to Constitution-Making. That botched Attempt is by itself an acknowledgement of the Incurable Foundational Flaw of the 1999 Constitution.
(ii) In the 30-Day Period of Consultations for Governors and other Elected Officials in the Alliance Territory, the Governors of the Southern States of Nigeria, in an unprecedented move, met in Asaba to declare that Open Grazing would be banned in all the States of Southern Nigeria. This Decision effectively brought the Governors to the side of the Propositions of NINAS Constitutional Force Majeure as that decision in the Asaba Declaration cannot be effectively carried out without the Decommissioning of the 1999 Constitution and its Federal Exclusive Legislative List which currently prohibit the States from issuing Firearms to enforce such a ban.
(iii) In the 120-Day Period of Consultations with the Peoples of Nigeria and the International Community, the Indigenous Nationalities of Nigeria from all parts of the South and Middle-Belt, in embrace of the NINAS Grand Propositions, marched out to the Streets in their Homelands and in Capital Cities of the World including Washington DC, New York and London, to loudly Assert their Right to Self-Determination and their Rejection of the UNITARY Union of Death Nigeria has become for their People under the Fraudulent 1999 Constitution. In particular, the Yoruba took their Self-Determination Campaign to the UN, leading the rest of the NINAS Alliance, to the point that the CNN reported this growing push for exit from the Failed Lugardian Experiment of 1914 by the Yoruba, joining the long-standing exit campaign from the Eastern flank, framed by its Proponents as “Biafra Agitation”.
(iv) On the International Circuit, between April 28, 2021 and April 30, 2021, key Global Powers including the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, acted in concert to point Nigeria to the Key Prescriptions of the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure and asking the Rulers or Nigeria to put guns aside and initiate a Dialogue of the Peoples of Nigeria to Distill a Fresh Legal Instrument (Constitution).
We recall that the United Nations, through its Special Rapporteur on Nigeria, had in September of 2019, declared the current Constitutional Arrangements of Nigeria as a PRESSURE- COOKER FOR INJUSTICE and that Nigeria under the current 1999 Constitution, is now a danger to Global Peace Security as Nigeria could snap and cause an unprecedented global refugee crisis in which Nigeria’s 200million Citizens would be seeking escape from death, at a time the Global Terror Networks including ISIS and Al-Quaeda are already converging in Nigeria.
(v) Inside this 120-Day Period, a Global Caveat by NINAS on Reckless Foreign Loans by the current Federal Government of Nigerian, saw China cancelling a loan of $1 Billion on Nigeria for Construction of a Gas Pipeline, while the US cancelled an order for Attack Helicopters on Nigeria and the US Congress followed up with the ban of Sale of Weapons to Nigeria following request for such a ban by NINAS amidst US concerns about gross human rights abuse by the regime in Nigeria.
(vi) It is significant to note that in what seems like a sudden realization and a dawning reality on the Caliphate’ North, the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, which had since the 2017 Igbo-Quit-Notice-from-the-North, gained notoriety for its belligerence, suddenly realigned its position to the NINAS Propositions and Prescriptions regarding the Nigerian Question as encapsulated by the NINAS Proclamation of December 16, 2020, accepting:
(a) That the Nigerian Union has Collapsed;
(b) That we do not have a Constitution at the moment since the imposed 1999 Constitution has been repudiated and is being rejected Countrywide.
(c) That the National Assembly cannot by Amendments, cure the Fraud called the 1999 Constitution and so must stop it’s present pretense that all is well with the Nigerian Union ; that the National Assembly must halt the current Constitution Amendment Exercise and genuinely join the search for solutions to the dying Nigerian Union.
(d) That a Grand Meeting of the Constituent Component Nationalities has become inevitable and that the Constituent Components of Nigeria must at such a Meeting, first agree to form a Union (ie Federate), before undertaking the task of setting the Terms of the Union. These sober and profound postulations were made in a recent BBC Interview by the Spokesman of the CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman. (here is the link to video of that interview
https://youtu.be/hnq6-sudrZU )
Baring the Obduracy of the Ultra-Conservative lot, it could be said that the postulations of CNG clearly indicate that a Countrywide Consensus regarding the VIABLE OPTIONS for the Dismantling and Grand Reconfiguration of current unworkable Unitary Union of Nigeria, has emerged.
Happily, the Comprehensive Framework for Undertaking the well-articulated Prescriptions of the CNG in the aforementioned BBC Interview are contained in the December 16, 2020 Constitutional Force Majeure Proclamation.
THE DEFEAT AND IMPENDING DEMISE OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION SETS THE BASIS FOR THE LIBERATION OF ALL WHO WERE TRAPPED IN THE BONDAGE CALLED NIGERIA
(A) It is no longer a matter for Debate that the 1999 Constitution is a Fraud and a Forgery that is directly responsible for practically all the Miseries tormenting Nigerians including the Killings, Mass Poverty, Gross Insecurity and General Hopelessness, now leading to the Demise of the Nigerian Union itself. It does not matter therefore which Political Party or which individual wins Power, that Constitution Guarantees the Evils we Lament Day in, Day out.
(B) It is no longer a matter for Debate that the Peoples of Nigeria have Repudiated and Rejected the 1999 Constitution, and that the Main People clinging tenaciously to that Constitution are the Caliphate elements and their surrogates who imposed it and for whom the Rogue Document is a Title Deed by which they hold almost exclusively, the vast Piece of Estate called “Nigeria” while the only other People clinging to that 1999 instrument of Death are the Political Merchants whose humongous benefits flow from that Evil Constitution even as Mass Poverty grind the rest of the Populace they pretend to lead.
(D) It is no longer a matter for Debate that Elections are the mechanism by which the life of the 1999 Constitution is renewed once every four years. It follows therefore that those who are tormented by that Constitution but who nevertheless accept to go to another round of National Elections under that Constitution are the ones renewing and reinforcing their own Damnation, Bondage and Enslavement. It is now therefore a matter of choice whether we want to Renew the Source of our Miseries once again in 2023 or we want to Free Ourselves by Rejecting NOW (inside 2021), the Invitation to join in the Preparation for another round of National Elections in 2023. These Cycles of Renewal Must be Broken if we Must Be Free.
(E) The Key to Breaking the Cycle of Renewal of the Life of the 1999 Constitution lies in Knowing that ONLY Political Parties Contest Elections and ALL Political Parties in Nigeria subscribe to the Evil 1999 Constitution and so, whichever Party wins any Election, that winner will Swear to Uphold and Defend the 1999 Constitution. It follows that Political Parties are SOLELY Responsible for leading the rest of us to the Self-Damnation of Renewing the Life of that 1999 Constitution every four Years. The Political Parties have in this regard become the Judas Goat that routinely leads us all to Slaughter. The Key to Taking Down the 1999 Constitution is in IMMEDIATELY Halting the Political Parties from Dragging us to another Round of National Elections in 2023. This is not a call to boycott the 2023 Elections but to halt the preparations for 2023 inside 2021. Political Parties must now be persuaded to Close Shop forthwith.
(F) With the Defeat of the 1999 Constitution by the Joint Multi-Regional Action of the NINAS Alliance, the Sharia Caliphate that imposed and holds tightly to that Constitution as it’s Title Deed, to Own and To Control Nigeria, is now confronted by the Sudden Demise of their Title Deed, (ie the 1999 Constitution) and is now on a desperate MISSION TO RECONQUER the rest of Nigeria in order to Re-establish Ownership and Control by Conquest outside that Defeated Title Deed. However, to be able to drive through this all-important Conquest Mission, the Caliphate needs more time In the saddle of Nigeria’s Political Leadership, wielding the Authoritarian Powers conferred upon them by the All-Powerful 1999 Constitution. The only way the Caliphate can get that CRITICALLY Required Time-In-Power-Saddle is IF the Caliphate can drag us to the Voyage of another Round of National Elections in 2023.
On the other hand, If we halt the Voyage to 2023 inside 2021, the 1999 Constitution will lose its life inside 2021, and we will IMMEDIATELY get into a Transitioning and therefore on the way to Regional REFERENDUMS for Self-Determination. This is the safe route to FREEDOM for all Constituent Blocs that are fed up with the Toxic Nigerian Union.
(G) Amidst the Massive Enlightenment Campaign going on amongst Peoples of the Alliance Territory Globally concerning the correlation between the 1999 Constitution, our Miseries, Elections and Political Parties, more of our People now know that going to General Elections in 2023 under the 1999 Constitution will spell Unmitigated Disaster, while halting the Preparations by Political Parties for 2023 is guarantee for their escape to freedom.
Accordingly, the choice is entirely in our hands.
(H). On the side of Government, let it be known that it is the spectre of 2023 Elections that distorts and inhibits most of what would have been appropriate and commonsense solutions to the multitudes of seemingly intractable problems of Nigeria. So let it be sounded loud and clear that the immediate suspension of preparations towards General Elections in 2023 is the most urgently required First Aid to the Nigeria that is currently bleeding profusely from all sides. And for every single day this Emergency First Aid is delayed, the risk of catastrophic implosion of Nigeria is exponentially increased.
NINAS CALL TO ACTION:
(1) Knowledge is Power. The first task before us all, in the Period commencing today August 17, 2021 is to Help Spread this Information as well as other related information on the Constitutional Force Majeure amongst the Peoples of the NINAS alliance Territory wherever they are on the face of the earth.
(2) NINAS directs the Regional Blocs to Advance the Processing and Ratification of their Regional Constitutions and CHARTERS in readiness for UN-Backed Regional Self-Determination STAY or LEAVE Referendums from the Distressed Federation of Nigeria.
(3) NINAS Requests you to help intensify the Signing of the Ongoing NINAS Referendum Petition by which the NINAS December 16, 2020 CFM Proclamation is Addressed to the United Nations Security Council and also support and where possible, partake in the March at the 76th UN General Assembly, September 2021.
4) In this same Period commencing August 17, 2021, Let the Campaign to Persuade the Political Parties to Close-Shop forthwith for the reasons outlined hereinbefore, be intensified. This will bring us to Domino-2 and the Transitioning Threshold, precipitating the Referendums we seek.
(5) With the Defeat of the 1999 Constitution and in the Spirit of the Transitioning prescribed in the December 16, 2020 NINAS CFM Proclamation, All Governments in the Alliance Territories are invited to brace up, take charge, and assume responsibility for the Safety and Economic Welfare of their People, Making Appropriate Legislations and Regulations to step into roles previously denied them or prohibited by the Fraudulent and now Disputes 1999 Constitution, especially via the 68-Item Federal Exclusive Legislative List in that Constitution pending when formal Transitional Mechanisms are worked out.
6. We urge all the people of the South and Middle Belt of Nigeria living in the United States of America and Canada to troop out in Solidarity within their oppressed people in the Homeland to participate in the One Million March we have organised to hold in front of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) commencing from September 14th to 24th, 2021 in New York, United States. The March was put together to let the world know what we are going through in the Nigeria’s quasi and expired Federation. It is going to be an epoch-making event which we hope to be used to draw the attention of the world amd global leaders to all that we have highlighted above.
POWER BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE!
Thank you for your Attention.
PROF. BANJI AKINTOYE
Chairman, NINAS
August 17, 2021.
I am greatly honored to have been asked to deliver the 10th Emeka Anyaoku Lecture. The Emeka Anyaoku Lecture Series honors a uniquely and globally distinguished elder statesman, a great Nigerian, a great son of Anambra State, and a world leader that I am proud to call a mentor and friend. As the Secretary-General of the 54 member-State Commonwealth of Nations from 1990-2000, and for two decades earlier as Deputy Secretary-General, Assistant Secretary- General, and Director of International Affairs of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku led The Commonwealth’s diplomatic, political and economic support to its member nations in Africa, Asia, Australia, North America, and the Caribbean with great success over a period of 34 years.
The organizers of this lecture event asked me to speak on any topic related to good governance, a very popular phrase and aspiration. I decide to step back a bit and dwell on the real foundation for the good governance and development that continues to elude Nigeria after 60 years of independence. My goal in this lecture, therefore, is to establish clearly in our minds why and how visionary, capable leadership is the secret but often overlooked sauce without which Nigeria simply cannot achieve the more popular aspirations of good governance.
I will also make suggestions on how we can successfully develop a culture of leadership in and outside government in order to achieve development. We have spent five decades including our 22 years of democracy since 1999 chasing shadows because we have failed or neglected to focus on the question of leadership.
This failure of leadership, largely because of our importance to understand and prioritize leadership and what it means, is why we have politics without governance, and why politics is the biggest business in our country while real businesses and the economy are being steadily destroyed by leadership failure and incompetence. It is why Nigeria, with 200 million people, has only 5,000 megawatts of electricity after 60 years of independence while South-Africa with 50 million people has 60,000 megawatts and Brazil with 210 million has 120,000 megawatts.
The Nexus of Leadership and Good Governance
Leadership is the ability to influence a group of people or unit to actions that achieve goals and by doing so, create progress. True leaders have the ability to envision, to inspire, to motivate, and to mobilize people or institutions for action. A leader must also be able to take calculated risks. In short, a leader’s task is to take societies, family units, organizations or institutions from A to Z or whatever point in the 26 alphabets is relevant, necessary and possible. It is not, as we often misunderstand it in Nigeria, about merely holding positions of power or deploying authority mainly for self-serving purposes.
True leadership requires a kind of character that emphasizes and upholds core values, a sense of sacrifice to consciously forgo opportunities to advance self or other interests, and the competence to bring these values to bear in a manner that creates change and sustains social progress. Dr. Michael Okpara, former Premier of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, was one of the greatest examples of true, transformational leadership
Among the top qualities of leadership, or leadership competences, are high ethical and moral standards, communication, the ability to create a feeling of succeeding or failing together, and helping others grow into next-generation leaders.
For economic, political, institutional development to happen, effective leadership must be backed up by good governance. This is the process by which government and public institutions conduct public life and manage public resources. What is good governance? I believe it can be measured or assessed by its elements. These are:
A. Effectiveness: this means that the government must govern. A government must deliver on the promises it has made or deliverables that are essential for effective governance. These deliverables include, at their most basic, security of lives and property on the one hand, and economic development-human development indices such as health care, education, and potable water supply. This is what the Nigerian Constitution requires in section 14(2)(b) where it states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Effectiveness is the most important component of good governance.
A government cannot be effective if the fundamental requirement of leadership capacity is absent. If leadership is weak or absent, it is wishful thinking to expect good governance that is anchored on the primary plank of effectiveness. Leadership in this context includes not just innate abilities to vision, inspire and motivate, but also subject matter competence in public policy and the ability to select, appoint, organize and supervise a competent leadership and management team.
Leadership includes the ability to accept responsibility. “The buck stops here” was a favorite plaque on the desk of former American Presiden Harry Truman. There is no place for the phrase we hear in Nigeria: “The President or The Governor means well but…(fill in the blanks).
Effective governance requires more than good intentions. Meritocracy is an important component of effective governance. Competent individuals must be selected to positions of public trust. Merit cannot be sacrificed in the alter of the Federal Character principle, because we know we have competent and skilled Nigerians from every part of our country.
B. Transparency: governance process, in particular decision-making should be easily visible and open to monitoring by other arms of government, citizens,civil society or the private sector. Transparency in government builds trust between citizens and also helps curb corruption. It is in fact the most effective and preventive anti-corruption mechanism.
C. Accountability: governments should be accountable to their citizens and constituencies, but governments in Nigeria overwhelmingly are not accountable. Especially in a democratic system of governance, Nigerian citizens need to wake up to their power and turn it into a culture of accountability.
D. Rule of Law: This is what differentiates a real democracy from despotism. Government decisions must follow and respect legal norms and due process.
E. Inclusion and Participation: all relevant stakeholders and citizens more broadly, must be included and participate in the government decision process. Inclusion also requires, in a diverse polity such as NIgeria , that citizens of all ethnic nationalities and religious affiliations should be part of government decision-making. Where some groups are excluded, trust between the government and excluded groups breaks down. This works against the achievement of national unity and in extreme cases can breed political and even armed conflict, e.g. the secessionist agitations we are experiencing in our country today.
F. Efficiency: This has two dimensions; First, the efficiency of processes , which influences governance effectiveness, and second, the resources consumed by the government itself relative to results achieved. The second decision is commonly referred to as the cost of governance. The waste created, and efficiencies destroyed by the huge costs of governance in Nigeria across the board, at the levels of both federal and state governments, is a predominant aspect of bad governance in Nigeria.
In all these dimensions of good governance, we see an intrinsic link between that concept and that of leadership. Without the ability to envision, inspire, mobilize, motivate and take calculated, managed risks to achieve a destination, it is impossible for anyone in a position of authority, especially through elective office, to run an effective, transparent, accountable, inclusive and rule-of-law abiding governance unit, whether a local government area, a state, or Nigeria as a country.
Nigeria’s Development Challenge- What Leadership Must Deliver
Our quest for competent and capable leadership for a 21st century Nigeria must begin with an understanding of what such leadership must deliver. This requires us to understand what political theorists term “political order formation”, how the formation of political order in Nigeria was subverted, first by colonialism, then by military rule, by the foundationally ethnic underpinnings of the contests for political power in Nigeria, by the role of culture, all of which has resulted in the inability of a visionary leadership to emerge in Nigeria.
A political order means the political system, structure, arrangement and norms that have governed human societies from ancient to modern times. These arrangements, structures and norms evolve over time. The American political economist Francis Fukuyama has argued in two powerful books. “The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution” (2011) and “Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to The Present Day” (2014) that the three components of a functional modern political order are (a) state building , (b) rule of law, (c) accountable government. Fukuyama wrote on how these components were developed in different countries and parts of the world, and argues that different geographies developed these components in a different order of emergence in different ways and to different degrees.
How is all these relevant to NIgeria’s challenge of development and the role of leadership in fixing it? Nigeria still lacks a modern and strong state with strong, independent institutions and the rule of law. Our eyes are assaulted daily by numerous examples such the extra judicial killings by security forces of the government without consequence, as happened with the shootings of peaceful protesters of the EmdSARS movement at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos in October 2020, and the refusal of the Federal Government of NIgeria to obey the orders of competent courts on several occasions including the case of the Shiite leader El Zakzaky and the trial of the Biafra secessionist agitator Nnamdi Kanu. These examples establish clearly that the rule of law is weak or absent and real accountability as a characteristic of governance simply does not exist. If there was any iota of accountability in governance in Nigeria, we would not have the humongous levels of corruption we have in our country. Although we are meant to be a democracy, we are in reality a pseudo-democracy.
Nigeria today utterly lacks state capacity which signifies a strong modern state as identified by Fukuyama as the first component of political order. State capacity means the capacity of the state and its government to secure its territory and its citizens, to extract resources for development through efficient and effective taxation, and to provide administrative services efficiently and effectively (service delivery).
The evolution of political order in Nigeria was short circuited by the colonial experience which prevented the development of endogenous systems of societal organization and governance, which is necessarily unique to every society. Second, the British amalgamated the northern and southern protectorates in 1914, and ultimately gave Nigeria independence on the basis of an arrangement that, for selfish reasons, deliberately favoured a part of the country with political dominance over the others, thus sowing the seeds of political instability. The weak foundation of political order formation in Nigeria has created political and armed conflict ever since. It has also contributed to preventing the emergence of transformative leadership in over 60 years of independence. The result is that it sometimes appears as if Nigeria today is going backwards in time or is stuck in a time warp.
There is also another aspect of political order formation that affects Nigeria’s development. This is the “sexual political order”. In a recent book, “The First Political Order: How Sex Shapes Governance and National Security Worldwide”. The American scholars Donna Lee Bowen, Perpetua Lynne Nietsen and Valerie Hudson have argued that the first political order is the sexual political order established between men and women in the household.
The character of the relationship between the sexes determines the strength of governance and national security, as the authors demonstrate convincingly. Countries where women are subjugated, denied property rights and resources and are subjected to gender based violence, tend to witness political instability and armed conflict. We can see how Nigeria provides a live demonstration of this theory with the terrorism and armed conflict in the Northeast and Northwest regions and the targeting of female school children by terrorist kidnappers to perform sex slavery and other related functions in terrorist enclaves.
All of this means that the leadership Nigeria needs now and in the near future is one that has a clear understanding of how the weak — nay deformed political order formation in Nigeria is the fundamental development challenge that confronts us, and has a clear vision and plan to address it. Such leadership, which must transcend mere politics, must therefore deliver the following outcomes:
a. Nationhood: a united and capable state with the capacity to secure its territory and citizens;
b. Human development, economic growth and structural economic transformation;
c. Restoration of Nigeria’s standing in the world.
We have many examples from other countries of the fundamental reality that it is leadership, which is not just about electoral politics — that creates political and economic transformation and global technological, military and economic power and relevance. The founding fathers of the United States, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin were visionary leaders of men, and also were men of profound philosophical ideas that created a democartic system of governance which has profoundly shaped the world. Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore was a politician and intellectual who took his country from Third World to First, he titled his well known book.
Dr Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysi was a visionary leader, as well as a politician who drove the transformation of Malaysia from a resource-dependent country to one with a diversified industrial economy. Sheikh Al Maktoum took Dubai from a primitive dessert kingdom that once looked up to Nigeria to a modern world wonder that has recently waived visa requirements for visitors from Ghana but not for Nigeria.
Sir Seretse Khama and subsequent leaders of Botswana took their country from the world’s poorest in 1966 to a prosperous upper middle income country today. Kemal Atartuk of Turkey modernized Turkey, including by making it a secular state, during his time. Closer home, our multiple founding fathers Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello and Obafemi Awolowo and the great second premier of the Eastern Region, Michael Okpara took Nigeria forward on a strong path of economic development, but failed to manage successfully the demons of Nigeria’s domestic politics of ethnic domination. The military interventions of 1966 onward, initially cast as solutions to political crisis, further weakened Nigerian political order formation.
Nigeria’s Leadership Conundrum
Nigeria’s leadership challenge is complex, but is reflected in three conundrums. These three conundrums are:
The Us versus Them, the Power versus Responsibility syndrome and the Loyalty vs Competence syndrome.
Us versus Them:
This is the problem of the ethnic, religious or other atomistic identity that defines the acquisition and exercise of political power in African States that are largely artificial creations from colonisation. An extreme attachment to primordial identities creates factions and mitigates against building a modern state. Political power obtained on the basis of this kind of primordial worldview can hardly be deployed to broad transformative purposes. To be fair, this problem also exists in mature democracies such as the United States, Belgium, Spain, Canada`and the United Kingdom, resulting in some instances in demands for self-determination. The difference is that these countries have achieved advanced stages of economic transformation as well as advanced political maturity, and so the problem is better managed in the wider national interest.
Power/Authority versus Responsibility:
In NIgeria, as in many other African countries during pre-colonial rule, the power of traditional kings was absolute. This cultural reality has not adapted well to concepts of modern statehood, democracy, and the checks and balances therefore offered by the separation of powers between executive, legislative and judicial arms of government. This is an outcome of the short-circuiting of political order formation by both colonialism and military rule. Political leadership is thus often perceived in NIgeria as authority rather than service, as raw power rather than responsibility. This is why accountability for non-performance by leaders is often weak.
This power/responsibility conundrum is also reflected in the widespread culture of sycophancy in political leadership and governance in Nigeria. Few aides or government officials can provide objective independent minded advice to their bosses and superiors in government. The culture of sycophancy creates a strong incentive for leadership failure because many NIgerian political leaders have delusions of absolute power and grandeur. A culture of impunity is the result.
Loyalty versus Competence:
The Us versus Them instinct, combined with a sense of absolute power and a psychological need to retain such power for as long as possible, often leads Nigerian leaders to place personal loyalty over competence in the appointment of aides and senior government officials. This leadership failure weakens the prospects for good governance. On the contrary, Nigerian leaders who have been able to place a strong premium on competence at least in key strategic appointments, such as President Olusegun Obasanjo during his civilian presidency, recorded significantly transformative outcomes from such decisions.
Solutions and Recommendations
1. Given Nigeria’s challenge of development, but also the limitations of a democratic or pseudo-democratic political system in which political leadership emerges through elections, political parties in their internal democracy must now begin to prioritize leadership vision and governance capacity in the selection of their candidates for electoral office. This means that we must get beyond the current dominance of politics without governance, to politics that takes good governance as its purpose, as a priority of electoral platforms and candidates. For example, candidate selection by parties for the presidential elections should prioritize aspirants who are versed in the economy, nation building and international relations and foreign policy.
2. We need to focus on the political education of citizens to know what they should be looking for in order to make informed voting decisions. This is a necessary part of a shift in emphasis from mere politics to elections as a democratic search in real leadership without which good governance will remain a mirage. Political education is a function for INEC, primarily, but also for political parties and civil society actors.
3. Non-partisan actors such as elder statesmen including Nigerian’s living former heads of state and government, as well as clergy, traditional rulers, civil society and professional bodies must now begin to play a more robust role in leadership selection in Nigeria. They can do this through public statements, endorsements, or quiet recommendations. Every country must fashion its democracy to its unique environment. Politics is too important to be left to politicians alone. A recent positive example of the potential role of elder statesmen is the recent intervention by former military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangiida on the profile of a potential future president of Nigeria in a media interview to mark his 80th birthday.
4. Leadership and governance training and education should be formally instituted in political parties and in the institutions of government across the board at leadership levels. A reading culture should be encouraged amongst officials in leadership roles in the public sector and politics.
5. The constitutional reordering of Nigeria, returning the country to true federalism including the devolution of powers to regions, will improve leadership and governance by bringing governance accountability closer to Nigerian citizens.
Conclusion
Nigeria’s development failures after 60 years of independence , with our country ranking at or near the bottom in every index of corruption, healthcare, education and human capital development , policing, state fragility and others, can no longer be casually shrugged off or explained away with excuses. The Asian developmental states were also colonized at similar points in history but are today strong, capable as stable states.
With countries like Malaysia and South Korea that were at par with in the early 1960s now far ahead of Nigeria in economic and technological development, and with 100 million Nigerians living in extreme poverty, we face an urgent leadership crisis that we must confront.
Politics as usual will not do the job. We must accept that our democratic politics of the past 22 years since 1999 has not yielded, cumulatively, any significant dividends of democracy in terms of economic and political development. We must therefore return to the fundamentals: Leadership, not just politics, is the main driver of the progress of human societies. We must as a nation move from divisive politics that is making us poorer and weaker collectively, and now turn our politics into a search for real leadership that can unify our country and take it to prosperity.Thank you.
Enugu:A criminal syndicate allegedly responsible for the spate of attacks on private citizens and security personnel in the Southeast has been busted.
One of the suspected masterminds of UGM, PRNigeria gathered, is one Tochukwu Okeke alias Owo, who was apprehended by troops of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army in Enugu following a tip-off.
A military source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, disclosed that Okeke was a Special Assistant to one of the governors in the South-East.
The criminal syndicate, according to the source, is well-structured and armed with sophisticated weapons, which it uses in targeting security agencies including policemen, soldiers and civilians.
It was learnt that several of them were ex-soldiers.
Before the arrest of some of their leaders and the recent destruction of some of their camps, the group had attacked police and military facilities within Enugu including Adani Police Division, a military checkpoint along Adani-Omoh road, Ezeagu Police Division, military Checkpoint along Oji River-Udi road, military checkpoint along Enugu Abakaliki Road and a host of others.
The criminal group which was described as “merciless and brutal” usually steal firearms from the security agents they attacked.
The source told Newsmen that one of their camps was raided at Akpawfu-Amangwunze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, where several arms, ammunition, cars and charms were recovered.
It was learnt that the arrested gang leader is still in the custody of the military in Enugu at the time of filing this report.
Former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Prof Charles Soludo on Saturday received a chieftaincy title of “Dike Udo Isuofia” which means strong man of peace in Isuofia, Anambra State.
He was conferred with the title by the traditional rulers of the six communities of Isuofia clan at the community’s New Yam Festival in Aguata Local Government Area held at Isuofia Civic Center.
Soludo is the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) for the November 6 poll in Anambra.
Elated by the recognition, Soludo said that what Isuofia people did was opposite of a popular saying that a prophet was with honour except in his community.
“I must first thank God, Gov. Willie Obiano and his wife Ebelechukwu, the six communities that make up Isuofia and numerous diginatires that gathered here for today’s New Yam Festival.
“My people have demonstrated that I have honour and this is in addition to the honour the leader and entire membership our party, APGA, accorded me by electing me the governorship candidate for the November 6 poll.
“My promise is that I will not fail you and the state, but all my appeal today is that every body must support this governorship project by ensuring that we get our INEC voters cards,” he said.
Earlier in a welcome address, president general of Isuofia People’s Assembly Jude Okeke said the community used this year’s New Yam Festival to bestow honour on Soludo due to his roles in resolving crisis that had adversely affected the town.
Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano said that Soludo was the best person to succeed him as the next governor of the state.
Two persons lost their lives and several others sustained varying degrees of injuries when a fuel tanker exploded in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was gathered that 14 buses and other properties worth millions of naira were also burnt in the fire incident that occurred around the popular International Building Materials Market, Ogidi.
Witnesses said the incident happened on Sunday evening after the tanker fell into a ditch and its content spilled into a drainage.
A resident, Uche Michael, said the tanker was stationed when another articulated truck rammed into it.
He said, “Several luxury buses parked around the area immediately went up in flames. Shops and buildings within the area were also not left out too. The fire was too much that it was difficult for fire service officers to battle.”
Confirming the incident, Chief Fire Service in the state, Martin Agbili, said two persons died while 14 buses and properties worth millions were lost.
He, however, said the fire could have spread to other parts of the area if not for the quick arrival of his men and assistance from other stations, including the one inside the market.
“Immediately we were alerted, I deployed my men who stormed the scene with five fire trucks to battle the fire which lasted for several hours.
The buses affected in the incident were those within the area. We thank God we were able to contain the fire,” he said.
Police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, who also confirmed the incident, said policemen immediately rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area to avoid hoodlums taking advantage of the fire to loot.
