The economic hardship and bad governance protests and the challenge of political governance in Nigeria

This article draws inspiration from two major events that have taken place since the economic hardship and bad governance protests—the visit by the Patriots Group of eminent Nigerians to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday, August 9, 2024; and the meeting of the Council of State on Tuesday, August 13, 2024—and the BusinessDay Newspaper editorial of Monday, August 12, 2024.

The visit of the Patriots Group, led by the highly respected elder statesman and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, 91-year-old Chief Emeka Anyaoku, canvassed the need to convene a national constituent assembly with the mandate to produce a draft people’s democratic constitution, taking into consideration the diversity or pluralism of Nigeria and how best to manage and harness that diversity for national development. The proposed constituent assembly is to consider the 1960 and 1963 constitutions and the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, among other documents and recommendations. The resultant recommendations of the constituent assembly will then be put to a national referendum, and if approved, will be signed by the President.

Read also: A call for responsible protests amid economic hardship and bad governance

The second major event of the last fortnight was the meeting of the National Council of State, which met for the first time since President Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023. The Council, which understandably is an advisory organ without executive powers, comprises the President, Vice President, all former Presidents and all former heads of government of the Federation, all former Chief Justices of the Federation, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, all the governors of the Federation, and the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. The Council, at the end of its meeting, passed a vote of confidence in the President.

The BusinessDay editorial of Monday, August 12, 2024, was titled, “Can we stitch a fractured nation back together?” It considered six issues: 1). Bridging the north-south divide—a path to national cohesion; 2) Rethinking urban governance in Lagos and Abuja; 3) Addressing alienation in the Southeast: towards greater cohesion; 4) Rebuilding trust between government and citizens; 5) Reforming the Nigerian police: a step towards justice; and 6) Building a shared vision among Nigeria’s elites.

The common denominator of the three developments is governance, and they are all responses to the recent ‘end bad governance’ protests. Chief Emeka Anyaoku, arguably Nigeria’s preeminent public orator, spoke eloquently about the need for a new constitution, which is literally the silver bullet for Nigeria’s political, economic, social, and indeed, governance travails. If Nigeria can face up squarely and courageously with the urgent imperative for an inescapable reality of a new and truly legitimate and people’s democratic constitution, most of Nigeria’s governance problems will literally disappear into a sinkhole. The 1999 constitution, though produced by a group of Nigerians appointed by the Military Regime of General Abdusalam Abubakar, is neither a truly people’s constitution nor a truly democratic constitution. To that extent, its legitimacy is questionable. The military could not give what it did not have, not being a democratic institution, and a regime that was forced to beat a quick retreat from direct political governance within a short period of twelve months. It can reasonably be argued that the transition from military to democratic governance was done in bad faith and that what has largely been achieved so far is the transition from military to civilian governance, characterised by a low level or low quality of political accountability, which is the hallmark of military rule, and the primary cause of bad governance in the current political dispensation.

 “The resultant recommendations of the constituent assembly will then be put to a national referendum, and if approved, will be signed by the President.”

That low level of political accountability was evident in the terse statement at the end of the Council of State meeting by Governor Abulrahman Abdulrasaq of Kwara State, who stated that “…the high point of the meeting was the passage of a vote of confidence on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu…” Deliberate care was taken not to mention the context of the passage of the vote of confidence, which was the nationwide economic hardship and bad governance protests. The impression created was that that was probably the only item tabled for discussion. The evident lack of strategic communication was palpable. The ‘robust discussion’ should have led to a more informative and engaging communiqué—something like, “After a robust and heartbreaking review of the nationwide protest of the previous week, the Council commiserated with families who lost loved ones and acknowledged the right of Nigerian citizens to peaceful protests in a democracy. It also acknowledged the legitimate concerns of citizens about the cost of living hardship caused by the ongoing economic reforms as necessary as they may be and the need for improved political governance at both the national and sub-national levels. Council, however, after a thorough review of the economic management of the Federal Government under the prevailing economic circumstances, passed a unanimous vote of confidence on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while at the same time encouraging the Federal and State Governments to design urgent ways to bring down the cost of living as well as take urgent specific tangible steps to bring down the cost of governance.” That is the kind of communiqué that would have resonated with protesters and doused tension nationwide.

Read also: Address current economic hardship or face mass protests, varsity students tell FG

The six issues raised in the BusinessDay editorial are symptomatic of the absence of a clear visionary strategic political direction for Nigeria, which takes us back to a Nigerian ‘people’s’ democratic constitution.’ Without the political will for a truly people’s democratic constitution, most of the pleas of the editorial will certainly fall on deaf ears, especially in a governance system largely characterised by risk-free political behaviour.

Mr Igbinoba is Team Lead/CEO at ProServe Options Consulting, Lagos.