Too many things are agitating the minds of Nigerians right now. While some citizens are daily being crushed by excruciating hunger, some are being mauled down by bandits and other insurgents. Some privileged Nigerians are bothered by faulty constitution, and despite his controversial eight years on the power stool, Muhammadu Buhari is not in a haste to detach himself from the psyche of Nigerians. He was at the Council of State meeting the other day. But why?
‘The Patriots’ and cry for new Constitution
Last Friday, a group of eminent Nigerians, led by Emeka Anyaoku, were at the Presidential Villa to make a number of requests. Top on their list was the need for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently convene a National Constituent Assembly to produce a people’s democratic constitution for the country.
The visit was born out of a genuine desire to enthrone a new Nigeria. The distinguished group had watched as the country’s fault lines continued to expand. They feared that if nothing was done urgently, Nigeria may cease to exist as an entity someday.
Citing the cases of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, which have since gone their separate ways after existing as an entity for over 100 years, the Patriots believed that a new constitution could save the day for Nigeria.
While a new constitution is desirable considering the inconsistencies and the oft-repeated allegation that it is not the people’s document, the major challenge that has bedevilled the country is the inability of those who operate the document to adhere to those positive aspects that could lead to the growth and development of the country.
It has been said that a bad constitution could produce desirable and profitable outcomes if well deployed by a good leader, while a good constitution in the hands of a bad leader could be a disaster.
Many Nigerians strongly believe that the crop of leaders the country has produced since 1999 has not got the mindset of doing the right thing and that for this reason they are quick to blame the constitution.
Read also: Constitutional reform imperative to reposition Nigeria – Moghalu
Nigerians have watched in amazement how politicians, even the arms that make the law, interpret it and execute it, flagrantly sidestep the constitutional provisions with impunity.
Before the last general election, the National Assembly had passed an extensive new Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which was also assented to by then President Muhammadu Buhari. The expectation was that the development was going to change the electoral process in the country. But alas, despite the time wasted and the huge financial commitment, the country was taken 10 years back in its experience in conducting elections.
In situations where the judiciary that interprets the laws is divided on the real interpretation of some sections of the constitution, perhaps for certain extraneous reasons, it becomes very clear that the problem is not about who crafted the document or the things that are missing therein, but the inability of those whose work revolves around it to properly apply it irrespective of whose ox is gone.
Take another instance. After a very long battle, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was signed into law by Buhari in August 2021. The question is, has it been implemented as enshrined in the law? If the answer is yes, there would not have been the preponderance of complaints flying about that it is not celebration time yet.
In Nigeria, where leaders do not see every citizen as co-owner of the country; where it is all about “we and them,” it is unlikely that provisions will be made in the constitution to favour one and all.
Perhaps, just perhaps, the beautiful ones that will enthrone a better and workable constitution are not yet born!
The audacity of President Buhari
Since May 29, 2023, when he left office, Nigeria has been writhing in pain on all fronts. The economy has been the hardest hit as the current administration battles to steady it. Most of the challenges the country is contending with today were either birthed or exacerbated by the immediate past administration of Buhari. For instance, in that situation, the country became more divided than ever and got worse after the general election in 2023. The ethno-religious division and hate were elevated to statecraft, so bad that the Presidency at that time openly acknowledged that it deliberately sidelined certain parts of the country in its programmes. While Buhari presided over the country, many Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps were established across the country following the escalation of unprovoked attacks by invading killer herdsmen and bandits who chased away many Nigerians from their native homes. The actions and inactions of the Federal Government at that time, popularly referred to as “body language,” tended towards tacit support of the bloody campaign. For this reason, former governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State severally accused the then chief occupant of the Aso Rock Villa of providing support for those killing his (Ortom’s) people.
Since he left office, the current administration has continued to point fingers at him directly and indirectly as being the primary cause of the economic malaise the country is grappling with.
Not long ago, Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, said that the Tinubu administration inherited a very bad economy from Buhari, with inflation at 24 percent.
Read also: Obj, IBB absent as Gowon, Buhari, others pass confidence vote on Tinubu
By the same token, Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), had said that the current administration inherited a bankrupt country from Buhari.
Many Nigerians speak in tandem that the Buhari administration dealt the country an unkindest cut.
Despite the clear evidence that he left Nigeria bruised at all sides, he is still being seen as a statesman, even by those in power who blame him for plunging the country into the abyss of a socio-economic quagmire.
While the majority of the Nigerian people are lamenting the effect of his bad governance and colossal waste of eight years in the power saddle, the man still found the conscience to join others at the Council of State meeting Tuesday.
The question that many Nigerians are asking is: what useful contribution was Buhari expected to make at that August meeting that could move Nigeria forward better than what he did in eight years?
Well, inasmuch as it was not in any Nigerian power to stop him from attending such events by virtue of his being a former Head of State and civilian president, it is, however, convenient to point out that as long as Nigeria continues on this trajectory, the needed salvation may take a long time to come.
This sore toe called insecurity
In the last few days, many Nigerians have been murdered, abducted, and injured by various categories of criminal groups, particularly in parts of the North.
Last Sunday, bandits were said to have killed four soldiers and set two military operational vehicles ablaze in the Gudu Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
Up until the time of writing this piece, the military has not made any public statement on the attack and what it is doing to rein in the murderers.
The next day, Monday, gunmen reportedly killed six people, including the driver of a commercial vehicle along the Takum-Wukari highway in Taraba. The commercial vehicle was said to have been ambushed in a village near Sai in neighbouring Benue State.
Read also: Nigeria now 2nd among countries facing food insecurity in the world
It is worrisome that Nigerians are being slaughtered like chickens in a country that has professionally trained security agents. That non-state actors seem to have taken over the nation’s highways, killing and abducting innocent citizens at will is lamentable.
Only last week, all the security agencies were at their best, threatening fire and brimstone against those who were planning to protest against hunger. Several rounds of meetings were held to checkmate the march. Many Nigerians said if a fraction of the energy deployed to ensure the protest did not hold was spared at fashioning out ways to end the needless killings across the country, Nigeria would have been free from the terror enclave it has descended into.
It has also become necessary to advise the military and Borno State government to trade softly in throwing the doors open to welcome the so-called “repentant” members of the Islamist group, Boko Haram.
A few days ago, reports had it that since 2021, about 200,000 terrorists had claimed to have repented from their evil ways.
It must be pointed out clearly that there may be some among this lot who were forced to repent because they were sore-pressed by the military. Since their repentance was not genuine, the likelihood of their being spies and moles cannot be wished away.
The Federal Government must begin to critically think about how to permanently end the insecurity scourge.
Its impact on the people and economy is felt on a daily basis, meaning that, in all honesty, Nigerians cannot afford to co-exist with it!
