Less than two months to the general election, it is painfully obvious that there is so little time left for the Jonathan administration to implement the 2014 National Conference report. Though the implications of this grand deceit may be lost now to a government that has always been oblivious of the looming chaos facing the country, other stakeholders should ensure the report is not eventually discarded into the trash can of history.
The primary objective of the conference was to work out a new constitutional structure for the transfer of powers from the central government to the constituent authorities. But right from the outset, many Nigerians had doubted the capacity, sincerity and courage of President Goodluck Jonathan to undertake this arduous national challenge. From the time he set up the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Proposed National Conference to another presidential committee to study the conference report, doubters had always argued that the President’s mission was to buy time. All said and done, they have been proved right.
When the National Conference was inaugurated on March 17, this newspaper enjoined Nigerians to do everything not to squander another chance to build a socially just, democratically stable and economically strong system. We also advised the people not to allow cynics’ narrative of failure to become an excuse for despair. Others, including some of the 492 delegates, that saw in the conference a ray of hope to launch a new Nigeria, took up the national assignment with all seriousness.
Many Nigerians had also been encouraged by the President’s assurances that the dialogue offered a unique opportunity for Nigeria to deepen its democracy and strengthen the nation, rather than to destroy or weaken its union. He had told the Femi Okurounmu-led committee that its report marked “another milestone in our march towards building a better and more cohesive society for us and our children.”
After five months of intense bickering and horse-trading among delegates and heated national debates, the 22-volume report of the conference, which includes over 600 draft proposals to amend the 1999 Constitution, was eventually submitted to Jonathan on August 21. An enthusiastic Jonathan, who had promised that the work of the conferees would not be a waste of time and resources, then declared that “it is a new dawn in Nigeria and a new nation is at the door.”Again, in his October 1 broadcast, the President told Nigerians that he would keep his promise. “Every promise I make, God willing, I will see to its fulfilment. I assure you, we shall implement the report.”
And just before that, the President had set up another committee to study the report, articulate the recommendations therein and develop appropriate strategies for its implementation. The committee was also required to advise government on all matters necessary for the effective implementation of the report.
Now, the President has reneged on all counts. The conference recommendations that require constitutional amendments have not been sent to the National Assembly. Deputy House Majority Leader, Leo Ogor, said there was no such report before the House. And a whole lot of the recommendations, including government’s sponsorship of Christian and Muslim pilgrimages that requires just executive actions, have been ignored. Jonathan is still comfortable with his bloated cabinet in spite of the conference recommendation of a lean central administration.
But the loser in this chicanery is not only the President who failed to etch his name in Nigeria’s political history, but also our society that may remain trapped in a political system that can neither secure life and property nor deliver sustainable development.
And the signs are getting more ominous. Today, Nigeria is farther from a new nation more than at any other time in its chaotic history. In the last 15 years, we have completely missed our national goals to build a tolerant, free, liberal, democratic and pluralistic society. Security of life and property, which is the most fundamental purpose of any government, has virtually collapsed. In many parts of the country, felons, including terrorists, armed robbers and kidnappers, now question the authority of the state, brazenly killing fellow citizens. A large part of the North-East zone is bleeding from a brutal siege by Boko Haram terrorists.
Even when countries that are historically unitary, especially the United Kingdom, are rapidly devolving powers to their constituent units and cities for rapid economic development, our own economy is locked down by an overbearing centre. Following major constitutional shake-ups in 1997 and 1998, the UK central government gave certain powers to governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, so that they could make decisions for their own areas.
The perilous times call for vision and courage. Other stakeholders, including opposition political parties, should not allow the report to end up in the national archives. The tiny strings that bind Nigeria together are gradually coming apart in jolts. How do we create a political structure where Christians and Muslims, as well as people from a smattering of other sects, especially in the North, live side by side in peace? As a newspaper, we will remain relentless in demanding the restructuring of our skewed and defective federalism because that is the only viable way to go in ensuring long-term political stability, enduring social order and sustained economic growth.
