By Godwin
Onyeacholem
For the genuinely selective compatriots
as well as foreign observers who are immune to delusion, the painful hint of a
far-reaching implosion is building up to its climax. All impartial submissions
on Nigeria’s destiny over the past couple of years have repeatedly come up with
a forecast that holds out terror and fear, instead of promise and optimism.
Of course, it has to be pointed out
that a string of hopeless governments – military and civilian – which has
exhibited nothing but acute leadership emptiness should be held responsible for
this frightening profile.
Consequently, more than ever before, this
period calls for a deep pause within the circle that is truly concerned about
the fate of this rotten nation so as to re-strategise in favour of a concerted
crusade against the false mantra of “things are getting better” being forced upon
a hapless people by a useless ruling class and their misguided supporters. In
the envisaged campaign, no effort should be spared to discourage the gullible
from embracing this fraudulent catch phrase.
The victims already include our fathers
and mothers, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunties, friends, colleagues and
children, who may currently be doubtful of the certitude of the chorus of
“things are getting better” but who, indeed, are hopeful that as the years roll
by and with the status quo firmly in place, things will surely get better.
But they miss it completely. The sooner
they grasp this the better for them: Nothing is ever going to get better, and
the 2015 elections will likely consume Nigeria by altering its present
configuration as long as those who control the levers of power revel in silly
arrogance in the manner they have persistently turned down legitimate demands
from well-meaning Nigerians for a national conference and a people’s constitution.
The Nigerian people are not asking for
something unusual. The constitution that the National Assembly has wilfully set
itself the task of amending or reviewing as it may wish to delude itself does
not belong to the people; it’s not a people’s constitution.
To that extent, it is not democratic.
Therefore, all that the people want is a chance, before any talk of elections,
to convene a conference of the nationalities and ethnic groups comprised in
Nigeria so as to give them the opportunity to exercise their inherent right to
determine democratically for themselves the constitution by which they wish to
be governed in one united Nigeria. In other words, for once, Nigerians are
asking for a long-denied opportunity to build a new country of their dream. No
more, no less.
Beginning from the mid 80s, many great
concerned Nigerians like Alao Aka-Bashorun, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Gani
Fawehinmi to mention just a few, have shouted themselves hoarse on this matter
but the mandarins in power chose to block their ears to this valid demand. Nothing
can be more condescending.
In fact many would recall that at the
height of the cold contempt displayed by the authorities, Beko, in the
characteristic bluntness of the Ransome-Kuti family, plainly foretold a Nigeria
that would “continue to go round and round,” unless a sovereign national
conference was convened to spell out the terms of co-existence among the
various ethnic nationalities.
The three (Aka-Bashorun, Beko and Gani)
have since taken a glorious exit without seeing a functional Nigeria they had
hoped to create. In a certain
realistic way, it can be argued in some quarters that it is that
disappointment, the colossal frustration resulting from the crass unresponsiveness
of the so-called leaders, which bred the weariness that fostered the ailments
that speeded up the death of these remarkable gentlemen.
However, today Beko stands vindicated.
True to his prophetic statement, the country has been going “round and round,”
and so dangerously so under this fake democracy like a drunken man who cannot
find his bearing after drowning himself in drums of Ogogoro.
Still, in the midst of the feasting and fiddling while the
country is literally on fire, the leaders, merrymakers more appropriately, want
the people to join them to sing “things are getting better” or “I can see
everything turning around....” No way. A countervailing melody of equal
measure, if not more potent, has to be invented. As much as possible, true
agents of change should open the ears of the people to the lie in that song.
Meanwhile, The Patriots, a group of
highly credible Nigerians whose leading light is the erudite legal luminary and
veteran of constitutional law, Professor Ben Nwabueze, have since the 2001 been
making a lot of critical moves re-echoing the imperative of a conference. What
this group is calling on this government to do now is to organise a national
conference which will be convened and held under the authority of a law passed
by the National Assembly and assented to by the incumbent President, so will a
referendum to approve the constitution after it has been debated and agreed
upon at the conference.
The process for the selection or election of delegates,
quorum at the conference, conduct of proceedings and so on is contained in a
National Conference and Referendum Bill dated October 14, 2001. The executive
and the legislature at federal and state levels and several private
organisations have copies of the bill.
Thus, the Presidency and the National
Assembly are already presented with a golden opportunity to fall in line and be
part of the process as the circumstances now seem right for a properly guided
conference. On no account should they be dissuaded by the fear that some
rabble-rousers might use the conference to destabilise the country.
A greater risk of destabilising the
country no doubt exits in refusing to hold the conference. With the right
political will the conference can be concluded inside one year. Republic of
Benin did it in 12 months. Until this vital bridge is crossed, the next
presidential election in Nigeria should be put in abeyance. Otherwise, the
country would be courting disaster.
It is no longer news that the country
is already fractured along a myriad fault lines. Make no mistake, 2015 election
is bound to be governed by the same crude factors that attended previous
elections except that of June 12, 1993. The election would be decided mainly on
the basis of ethnicity, religion and geo-political considerations, and there
are clear signals that whatever the outcome is would be bitterly contested on
all fronts by those who find themselves on the losing side.
Indeed, 2015 will make or unmake
Nigeria as it has the greatest potential ever to tear the country to pieces depending
on the road taken. At worst, it’s a chilling scenario. It is for this reason
that a national conference is a necessity before the election to resolve some
fundamental issues in a re-designed superstructure (constitution). That is the
only way to save Nigeria and avoid a looming catastrophe.
Godwin
Onyeacholem is a journalist based in Abuja; can be reached on
gonyeacholem@gmail.com
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