A new government, a new Nigeria

The day Nigerians have waited for in the last twenty four years is around the corner. In two weeks, Nigerians would troop out once again to vote for a new President who would take over from General Muhammadu Buhari and set up a new government. The new government would no doubt inherit a lot of challenges from the out-going government. From the menace of kidnapping citizens for ransom from their homes and workplaces, students in their hundreds from their schools and even foreigners in the country, to raiding entire villages, churches and mosques, invading military and police establishments to armed robbery in banks and on the highways, gang fights that leave many dead, official corruption that has left the richer families in the country extremely rich and the poor families extremely poor; extrajudicial killings, money ritual killings, an empty treasury and all the other evils that the past lackadaisical leaderships across the country bred, the new government will have a full plate of problems on its hand to deal with. It could be quite scary for the politically uninitiated.

But perhaps it might mitigate the weight of the problems to be ersolved if the new government begins it tenure by getting the National Assembly to pass a bill to make every of the regions created by military President Ibrahim Babangida autonomous in every sense of the word. That is where to start from, to downsize the load of problems.

In the past twenty four years, Nigerians have watched first the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), and after that, the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) Party rule – many would say ruin – Nigeria. It would not be an understatement to say that rather than get better, the fortunes and even lives of the Nigerian people continued to get worse by the day in the last 24 years.

But before I am taken for granted, let me quickly add that practically every country of the world is feeling the same way. Every people have where the shoes keep pinching and circumstances are not getting any better. Seeing all is happening in Nigeria today, the massive daily killings across states, the invasion of entire villages in the north by bandits and terrorists, the rendering of millions of Nigerians refugees in their own country, the merciless killing of politicians in cold blood, the wanton kidnappings of citizens from their homes, workplaces, schools and worship places, the extrajudicial murders that have remained perpetually unresolved, armed robbery in banks and on the highways, ritual murders and the so many evils that have been ushered in by docile, clueless, incompetent, lackadaisical leaderships across the country, I dare say, the out-going government deserves our clap offering. They did their best. And every Nigerian knows their best because they felt the situation even in their marrow.

Today, as the election of a new Nigerian President who will take over the mantle of leadership from the incumbent heats up, we need once again to recollect the irony of that regrettable day, 15 January 1966, when the Nigerian army first struck and dislodged the fledgling democratic evolution of the country. It may have been a well-intentioned plan to knock common sense into the heads of the politicians of those days who had begun not only to ostentatiously display their wealth in public but also taken a do-or-die stance in the politics of the country especially at the Western House of Assembly.

Everyone who is old enough to know the story says the army meant well. The problem was that by training and orientation, the army is structured to always obey a hierarchical command. The army is like a one-party government. Strict orders are issued from head to bottom and every member of the organisation is expected to fall in line. No arguments are allowed with superior officers.

On the other hand, democracy demands a shared value by people who have the same perception. Issues are debated if people have divergent views or opinions, and the opinion of the majority carries the day. So, essentially, the military is not sufficiently equipped to manage pluralistic societies such as Nigeria because of their training and orientation. That is the fact, and it is a fact that should guide Nigerian voters when they go to the polls in two weeks.

After the army sacked the civilian government in 1966 and took over, it became difficult for them to return power to the civilians. They had tasted power. They had found it was ‘delicious and fulfilling’. To relinquish it became a problem. They had the guns, and that was important at the time. What they needed was the guts and then the impunity. And that they schemed their way to have all these with all the military interventions that disrupted what could have been a smooth development of democratic norms in the country.

That 1966 coup, when the military invaded the political arena and toppled the democratically elected government of the people was characterised by subsequent coups and countercoups that were spiced with a few years of civilian intervention here and there to cover up the grand design. It became difficult for Nigeria to have the real experience of true democratic evolution. By the army intervening in the political process, the voters who should always be the umpires for political parties and what they had to offer were denied the opportunity to exercise their franchise at the polls, to vote out the party that was not performing creditably and vote in a new party.

In his book “Witness to Justice”, Bishop Matthew Kukah suggests that we may never know the real reason for the military intervention of 1966 and beyond. But obviously, Nigerians do know. Even the bishop captured the reasons for that “ambitious” act of the military in 1966 in the same book.

The first was the lust for power on the part of the top military officers. The issue of being obsessed with absolute power has been dealt with by many writers. But in summary, when one is obsessed with the desire to acquire unbridled power, there are demands. First, the one becomes emotionally bereft. The quest for power first deprives one totally of any form of emotion, and later it denies one a conscience. At that point, one can do just about anything to remain “strong and relevant”. The second is the need to settle scores within military circles. The third and perhaps the most compelling is greed for material wealth. These are the main reasons the military has continuously found it “necessary” to wander from the barracks into the political forum.

As has been appropriately noted by many pundits, the taste of power is never relinquished without a fight. So, the moment the military tasted power in the political dispensation soon after the 1966 putsch, they felt the need to remain “relevant” in the scheme of things in the country. They institutionalized their form of rule from what they knew of British colonial administrative policies and their one-party type of military training, capitalizing on the vulnerability and inherent fears of indigenous communities.

That is why it seems that nothing is working in Nigeria today. That is why the government finds it difficult to call for a referendum so that Nigerians can decide for themselves whether or not they still want to live together as one huge, united country or if the component parts want to go their separate ways because things have fallen apart and the centre cannot hold anymore.

That is why the government has refused to address the lingering issue of resource control among federating states. That is why General Buhari says the unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable. In a proper democracy, it should be negotiable if any of the federating regions feels it is no longer comfortable with the social or political arrangement in its current context. And that is why General Babangida postulates that the only way to ensure that the blood of millions of Nigerians who died as a result of the Nigerian civil war was not shed in vain was to keep the country together.

Anyone can understand this veiled logic. Nigeria remains one as long as it is unitary in administrative practice like the one-party government the army is. Nigeria remains one as long as power resides in Abuja. If you are a governor and your people say you are not performing, you run to Abuja and get military support and by the time anyone knows it, the military is performing snake dance right on someone’s doorsteps, to forestall any action by the people by scaring them. That idea developed. At some point, the youths believed they cannot be made slaves in their ancestral homes. They took up arms ostensibly in self defence. They ambushed anyone in military uniform who came across their operations. They invaded police stations and stole their arms and ammunitions with which they made more troubles. The two opposing forces made the villages and towns hell for ordinary Nigerians and no region was excluded from this madness.

As Bishop Kukah also noted, the failure of the military to effectively get the country on a proper footing in the democratic process and the arduous journey towards nation building was not necessarily because the military had no such intentions. It was not that the policies they adopted were skewed. It was not that there were no competent men and women in the country to implement those policies. The fact, and that is the truth that even the military should accept if their intention in Nigeria is genuine, is that by its very nature, the military and its institutions were never designed to manage pluralistic societies.

Nigeria happens to be one, with over 250 ethnic groups and 250 languages. The military establishment as an institution deals with order and unquestioning obedience. It deals with strict hierarchy and command control. These are diametrically opposed to the demands of democracy. Democracy in a pluralistic society such as Nigeria demands dialogue, collaboration, consensus and shared values. These are the component parts that create the favourable condition for integration, and a common vision and mission, which in Nigeria’s case, is nation-building.

After the military drew up a “constitution” for Nigeria in 1999, they imposed the document on Nigerians and asked for “elections”. Several civilian governments have come and gone and none has had the impetus to map the road to true democracy in the country by abrogating the so-called constitution of 1999 and empowering the National Assembly to undertake the onerous duty of creating a proper constitution for the country, where federating regions are given complete autonomy over their resource control and development. They were afraid that the army could secretly gun them down and this has remained a major threat to the development of democracy in Nigeria.

But in all of this, let nobody forget that Nigeria is important to the world in many ways. They have produced so many special people – people like Adebayo Ogunlesi who bought three first-class airports in the UK, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who is a director in Twitter and currently the DG of World Trade Centre, the pediatric surgeon, Professor Olayinka Olutoye who made waves around the world after a successful rare surgery, and many more that no country can take Nigeria for granted.

And yet the citizens are complaining every day. Why?

The reason is that the influence of the military has yet to leave the political arena, to enable true democracy evolve in Nigeria. That influence of a one-party system of government is what informs the current situation where all power resides in Abuja and state governors carry their plates in hand to beg for Abuja allocation. Political leaders at state and local government levels are not encouraged to explore internally generated revenue sources for their development. It is the same idea of a one-party system, where all authority comes from the Abuja Command and trickles down the states and local councils of their choice. So, we discover that while we talk democracy with our mouths, we are in actual fact trapped in a cleverly woven military dictatorship that has long become a cabal of exploiters of the Nigerian economy masquerading as democratic leaders.

Even after the military has retired, they come into civilian life and vie for public offices. But as they say: “once a soldier, always a soldier” and “a leopard can never change the colour of its skin”. These ex-soldiers still have their mates in the military and they blend with those of them in agbada to keep influencing the status quo. While no one is underestimating the importance of the military in defending the country from external aggression, it must be made clear to the military that they have no business in “creating” conditions for democracy or moderating its evolutionary pace. Their business should be limited to the defence of the country from external aggression, full stop. The part of the 1999 military constitution that gives them a role in the internal affairs of Nigerians should be abrogated together with the entire constitution.

The police should be allowed to do their duty of maintaining peace and order internally. If the Inspector General does not have enough policemen to secure the place, more policemen and women should be recruited. Nigeria has enough young men and women, fresh from colleges and universities who would be more than interested in joining the police force. They should be given the opportunity to serve their country. The country has enough money to maintain a huge police force. But more importantly, surveillance cameras should also be put in place to deter criminal activities throughout the country.

This whole thing is so simple to fix if the new Nigerian leaders are not going to be the greedy type and if those who remotely manipulate the system, especially the civil servants who have inadvertently backed up the army and the army itself can for once sit down and think deeply about how they have succeeded in making Nigeria a failed state and one the international community is at a loss to recognize as progressive.

I think that no matter how far we have wandered into the wilderness of misunderstanding as civilians, it is never too late to come back home. In two weeks, a proper civilian, not military and not para-military president should be elected into office. He should summon the political will to call the top army officers and top civilians so that they can sit over this issue of army influence in the democratic evolution of the country. Should the army stay and influence the country internally or should they go and save the country only when there is an external aggression?

Nigerians must learn the ropes and work for true democracy as it is practised by those countries which were there before them. Nigerians must embrace the demands of true democracy and stop the impression they give to the world that they are a country at war with itself. Nigeria should be proud of what it has and what it can offer the world.

Not only is Nigeria endowed with huge forests and great rivers. As of today, there are many solid minerals in country that range from various stones to precious metals. There are such industrial minerals as barites, gypsum, kaolin and marble. Other natural resources in the country include iron ore, limestone, niobium, lead, zinc, feldspar, quartz, ball clay and arable land. There are opportunities to explore natural gas, bitumen, coal, tin, columbite, gold, silver, silica sands, clay, asbestos and graphite among others, either for local use or for exportation. The country's agricultural products include groundnuts, palm oil, cocoa, coconut, citrus fruits, maize, millet, cassava, yams and sugar cane. Nigeria also has a booming leather and textile market, with industries located in Aba, Abeokuta, Kano, Lagos and Onitsha.

Much of these natural endowments are yet to be explored. Both the state and federal governments know full well that, compared with the extent of deposits found in the country, the level of exploration of these minerals is very low indeed. For instance, the abundant coal and tin deposits in various parts of the country are yet to be fully explored. Why the leadership of the country has bluntly refused to curtail oil production as its primary foreign exchange earner in order to develop other equally important sectors of the economy is what observers do not know.

Obviously, there are tremendous opportunities for investments in the solid mineral sector in Nigeria. Otherwise, the federal ministry of solid minerals would not be issuing licenses to both local and foreign prospective investors to participate in the exploration of the vast mineral resources in the country. But the ministry in the new government needs to do more. It needs to evolve aggressive mechanisms or policies that will scout for prospective investors in the solid minerals sector of the national economy, as a deliberate measure to checkmate the excessive use of crude oil as the nation's principal foreign exchange earner. Already, the federal government has given the impression that one of the objectives of its new national policy on solid minerals is to ensure the orderly development of the mineral resources of the country.

Nigeria is made up of about 250 ethnic groups and more than 250 languages. For administrative reasons, the government of General Ibrahim Babangida found it expedient to merge similar ethnic groups. It was projected that this might also be useful in the allocation of resources. In other words, the creation of six geo-political regions that now make up Nigeria is a major constitutional compartmentalization of the country by General Ibrahim Babangida which was effected during his tenure as military Head of State.

The South-South Zone:
This zone comprises of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers States. In this zone, Akwa Ibom State has in commercial quantity deposits of clay, lead, zinc, lignite (also known as brown coal), limestone, salt, uranium, oil and gas. Bayelsa State has Clay, gypsum, lead, zinc, lignite, limestone, manganese, uranium, oil and gas. Cross River State has got barite, lead, zinc, lignite, limestone, manganese, salt, uranium, oil and gas. Delta State has clay, glass-sand, gypsum, iron ore, kaolin, lignite, marble, oil and gas. Edo State has bitumen, clay, dolomite, phosphate, glass-sand, gold, gypsum, iron ore, kaolin, lignite, marble, oil and gas and Rivers State has clay, sand-glass, lignite, marble, oil and gas.

The South-West Zone:
This zone comprises of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States. In this zone, Ekiti has got feldspar, granite, kaolin and syenite. Lagos State has bitumen, clay and glass-sand. But it is on the verge of joining the country's oil-producing states with the discovery of crude oil in commercial quantities in the coastal state. Ogun State has bitumen, clay, feldspar, gemstone, kaolin, limestone and phosphate. Ondo State has bitumen, clay, coal, dimension stones, feldspar, gemstone, glass-sand, granite, gypsum, kaolin, limestone, oil and gas. Osun State has columbite, gold, granite, gypsum, kaolin, limestone, oil and gas. And Oyo State has got aquamarine, cassiterite (also known as tin stone), clay, dolomite, gemstone, gold, kaolin, marble, silimonite, talc and tantalite.

South East Zone:
This zone comprises of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. In this zone, Abia State has got gold, lead, zinc, limestone, salt, oil and gas. Anambra State has clay, glass-sand, gypsum, iron ore, lead, zinc, lignite, limestone, salt, phosphate and oil. Ebonyi State has gold, lead, zinc and salt. Enugu State has coal, lead, zinc and limestone. Imo State has gypsum, lead, zinc, lignite, limestone, marcasite (also known as white pyrite), phosphate, salt, oil and gas.

North Central Zone:
This zone comprises of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger and Plateau States. In this zone, Benue State has barite, clay, coal, gemstone, gypsum, iron ore, lead, zinc, limestone, marble and salt. Kogi State has coal, dolomite, feldspar, gypsum, iron ore, kaolin, marble and tantalite and mica. Kwara State has got cassiterite, columbite, feldspar, gold, iron ore, marble, tantalite and mica. Nassarawa State has amethyst (topaz garnet), barytex, barite, cassiterite, chalcopyrite, clay, columbite, cooking coal, dolomite, marble, feldspar, galena, iron ore, limestone, mica, salt, sapphire, talc, tantalite, tourmaline quartz and zireon. Niger State has gold, lead, zinc and talc. Plateau State has got barite, bauxite, betonite, bismuth, cassiterite, clay, coal, emerald, fluoride, gemstone, granite, iron ore, kaolin, lead, zinc, marble, salt, tantalite, columbite, molybdenite, phrochlore, salt, columbite, tin and wolfram.

North East Zone:
This zone comprises of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States. In this zone, Adamawa State has got betonite, gypsum, kaolin and manganese. Bauchi State has gold, tin ore, columbite, gypsum, wolfram, coal, limestone, lignite, iron ore, and clay. Borno state has betonite, clay, diatomite, gypsum, hydrocarbon, kaolin and limestone. Gombe State has gemstone and gypsum. Taraba State has lead and zinc. And Yobe has soda ash and tintomite.

The North West Zone:
This zone comprises of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara States. In this zone, Jigawa State has butyles. Kaduna State has amethyst, aqua marine, asbestos, clay, flosper, gemstone, gold, graphite, kaolin, hyalite, mica, rock crystal, sihnite, superntinite, tentalime, topaz and tourmaline. Kano State has cassiterite, copper, gemstone, glass-sand, lead, zinc, pyrochinre and tantalite. Katsina State has kaolin, marble and salt. Kebbi State has gold. Sokoto State has clay, flakes, gold, granite, gypsum, kaolin, laterite, limestone, phosphate, potash, silica-sand and salt. And Zamfara State has coal, cotton and gold.

Despite the enormous solid mineral wealth that abounds in the country, it is difficult to see how these natural endowments have helped to make the ordinary Nigerian a happier person in the past 24 years. Previous leaderships woefully failed to utilize these resources to salvage the fate of the ordinary Nigerian who walks the streets of the country's villages, towns and cities because everybody looked up to crude oil and Abuja sharing the proceeds of the oil revenue.

That having been said, it has become mandatory for the new Administration to stay one step ahead by making the move immediately on resumption to consolidate regional autonomy through each of the six regions being encouraged to develop the solid mineral resources in their zone for the development of their infrastructure. The people must feel the change from the start. That is definitely the only way they can cooperate and make the dream of the Nigerian people and their new leaderships come true.