Agbakoba calls for creation of a national order

Ahead of the 2015 general election slated for March 28 and April 11, Olisa Agbakoba, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has called for the creation of a national order, emphasising that that is the urgent need of the country at the moment. Agbakoba, who gave the advice while speaking with journalists in Lagos, took a swipe at leaders for disorderliness in the country.

He also warned that further postponement of the elections or sack of Attahiru Jega, chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), could engender more strife in society.

Addressing journalists in Lagos where he presented a statement he co-signed with Willy Mamah, a legal partner in Olisa Agbakoba and Legal (OAL), titled ‘National Order and 2015 Agenda’, Agbakoba noted: “Our basis is that although the problems of corruption, electricity and job creation are important issues, they can only be resolved in the context of an Order. Put differently, the fragility and chaos we experience in Nigeria, whether they appear in the forms of corruption, joblessness and other multiple denials of socio-economic and political imperatives are flashpoints of disorder. Whilst those who say it is electricity and jobs are viewing the big issue from the symptoms they can see, we are driven by the structural challenges that lie beneath these symptoms.”

The activist-lawyer, who illustrated the situation of Nigeria with the story of a polygamous rich man whose household was turned into a battle ground and as a result he was caught in-between taking some drastic actions and running away, but later decided to stay put to restore order, said Nigerian leaders have consistently and tragically failed to face the challenge of office.

According to him, “Unlike the rich man who took a decisive step to impose peace, Nigeria has been led by a turnover of leaders who seemed unperturbed by the urgency of the need for an order.

“The apathy of our leaders may not be unrelated to the fact that disorder seemed to have favoured narrow political calculation and establishment pattern of power and inequality.”

“Nigeria’s human and material wealth ought to have provided a platform for peaceful cohabitation, but the reverse has been the case, because the priorities of those at the top are in stark contradiction with that of those at the bottom. Everything rises and falls on leadership,” he said.

He further said in Nigerian politics, the failure to identify the correct configuration to sustain a strong political country and its diversity along linguistic, ethnic, religious lines which are major divisive elements is the major weakness of leadership.

“It is the reason you have wars across the world. So if APC and PDP are not addressing how they intend to handle Nigeria’s diversity, then I think that is a major failure. We will simply have an electoral cycle number five since 1999 and it will now repeat itself, and in 2019, you will be here to ask the same question, the same situation would remain. Can’t you see how foolish we are unable to look back at our problems and present them to solve today’s problems?”

Agbakoba urged “Nigerians to ask their leaders what future do they have for them, how are they are going to manage the resources to give the electorate good governance and take the country to a greater height.”

“At the structural level of Nigeria’s crises lies her persistent failure to manage her triple fault lines of ethnicity, religion and language. This failure created a fertile ground for the current distrust and consequent disorder. 2015, therefore, presents another opportunity for doing something different. Doing nothing is no longer an option because the state risks the ‘peace of vast graveyards’.  Action has to lead to the institutionalisation of the peace of reasoned redesign we call a National Order,” he further explained.

Agbakoba believes that “this Order modeled as a peace agreement of balance of power and equilibrium is needed as a matter of urgency. This Order, with multiplicity as its starting point, has the capacity to confront our multi-ethnicity, diversity and conflicting worldviews as never before. This Order would define and manage political and economic expectations, impose a long lasting peace and catalyze sustainable development.”

It is also his belief that “The current challenge of Boko Haram that threatens Nigeria’s survival was not accidental. It is an outcome of our failure to act and reverse patterns of inequality. What we seem to forget is that we created the environment that allowed Boko Haram to thrive. The ‘fundamentalists’ emerged because of the absence of Order. The Order vacuum in Nigeria is what Boko Haram is fighting to fill with their contraption of Order and they are not alone. Across the major ethnic groups in Nigeria, there is a gathering of forces aimed at imposing a fresh Order. It astonishes that at times like these that call for statesmanship; we have a political class that is only concerned about power and dominance.”

Agbakoba further noted that “Despite their best efforts, all the past presidents of Nigeria have failed, in varying degrees, to address the key challenges in Nigeria. The National Conference which was delivered under the watch of President Goodluck, though commendable as perhaps the first major opportunity for creating a workable framework for a National Order, failed because the conference was hijacked by ethnic libertarians. The conference was too unwieldy; many participants came to the roundtable, inflamed with preconceived ideas. Also the Conference failed to galvanise an intellectual arm that ought to have driven the process.”

In his suggestion, the legal practitioner said: “As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, the precedence that inspires hope is the European ‘Balance of Power and Equilibrium Order’. Nigeria needs statesmen that would be able to balance power in such a way that our so called fault lines become attributes of strengths and not weakness.”

“The late Bola Ige’s questions should set the agenda: ‘Do we want to remain as one country? If the answer is, yes, under what condition?’ It is our view that to answer these questions in the positive, we must revert back to the core issues of the national order that is ‘Balanced Federation’. To go this way, we must imbibe the following established principles of federalism: Federalism is best suited for nations with diversity, especially in relation to ethnic, language and religion. There is no supermodel of Federalism so there is no one size that fits all. The 28 countries in the world that are Federal are all different. Federalism unites diverse peoples, but supports assertion of distinct identities and recognises autonomy in certain matters. Federalism unites without eroding identity of distinct groups. Striking a balance and identifying a workable Federal Model that is inclusive is a challenge for every country.

“Therefore, National Order would need to resolve three key questions: What units are Federating Units? How are we to ensure fair fiscal Federalism/Revenue Sharing? How are we to ensure that powers are rotated to avoid massive fear and threats that election throws up every four years?”

On the call for the removal of Jega, Agbakoba said it would cause a serious trouble in society. He also dispelled rumours of further postponement.

“One thing that will happen that will not make them (elections) free and fair is another postponement, which cannot be taken; Nigeria will go down the precipice. Removing Jega now is sowing the seeds for a major crisis, the best thing is to allow Jega stay, and his tenure is ending, anyway, so, that is why these rumours are coming; but, allow Jega to conduct these elections within the framework of the constitution. Let both political parties stop all these twisting,” he said.

 

Zebulon Agomuo