When Shall Our Nightly Visions, Give Way to Mornings of Fulfillment?

WANDERING, WONDERING…

Melancholic blues rings loud
On the alters of Nationhood
Mass-Servers in self-centred homilies
“Bless” our forlorn hopes
With sermons of democracy dividends

Wandering, wondering…

Normads on a journey to greenland
Sheep and Shepard in a sleepwalk
Wind-driven, like sails to neverland

Wandering, wondering…

Summits and talkshop
Outcomes a slogan: 2020!
More summits, more talkshops
Another slogan: 7 point agenda!
Still discussing, still planning
Another slogan: Due Process!

Wandering, wondering…

Another homily:
Blessed are those who talk
For from words did our world take root.
Blessed is the idle hand
For it shall lag and lack
Yes blessed is the one who steals and stores abroad
He shall truly be homeless
Wandering from clime to clime
And wondering good home could be

Wandering, wondering…

When shall we like the morning sun burst forth with light?
When shall we like the stream swirl with hope?
When shall talk cease and work increase?
When shall our nightly visions give way to mornings of fulfillment?

Wandering, wondering…

Bolaji Okusaga

RUNNING GOVERNMENT LIKE BUSINESS:

1. Paying Legislators Salaries instead of Allowances: I often wonder if corporate governance statutes will even allow non-executive directors earn monthly salaries? That will be totally at variance with corporate governance standards, wouldn’t it? So why do we pay our Legislators Salaries instead of Sitting Allowances? Why do we have a National Assembly Service Commission different from the Civil Service Commission?

2. Voting Money for Const…ituency Projects under the Management of Legislators: The constituency project issue is also another interesting issue. I can’t imagine a non-executive director having a dedicated budget from which he is able to implement projects meant to be done by executive directors. So who will exercise the oversight?

3. Having no Standards on Which Ministers Are Judged: Although the Federal Government claims there is a performance measurement standard for its Ministers, but I really cannot see it in practice except at press conferences where bogus achievements are unveiled by each ministry without a verification process and a peer-review mechanism as it happens in best practice business environments. In a Company, Directors are given targets that are measurable and Appraisals are conducted periodically and scores are given and based on performance appraisals, Directors are either rewarded, lose bonuses or are asked to exit based on performance, isn’t it? So why will you have a Minister who is basically playing politics, missing critical targets and getting rewarded from tax-payers money?

Though I accept that government must keep its social basis, it must yet apply basic business principles in order to deliver tangible results.

NIGERIA – COMPARING THE WASTED GENERATION WITH TODAY’S GENERATION:

Born after the generation of the nations founding fathers, well after the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates as well as the Colony of Lagos into one Country – Nigeria. The wasted generation inherited a promising nation with the right values and six years after independence, that generation forcefully took power pushing away the generation of Nigeria’s founding fathers. The Majors that led …the first Coup – Majors Nzeogwu, Ifeajuna, Ademoyega, Okafor, Anuforo, Chukwuka, Obienu, Onwuatuegwu and Chude-Sokei were in their thirties and early forties when the struck in 1966. Jacob (and later Yakubu) Gowon who became Head of State after Ironsi was killed was age 29, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu became Governor of Eastern Nigeria and later Head of State of the then break-away State of Biafra before the age of 35, Murtala Mohammed became Head of State at age 37, Theophilius Danjuma retired as a 4 Star General before his 45th Birthday, Alex Ekwueme became Vice President before he was 50. Interestingly, this generation saw the oil boom, the Udorji award, several military coups and a civil war! This generation also experimented with the soul of the nation – taking power from the Civilians twice, re-inventing the nation to suit their whims and caprices to the extent that the basis for having a nation was more than compromised. This generation mangled and manacled the visions of Nigeria’s founding fathers and changed the values of the nation, forcing today’s generation abroad in search of a better life, introducing corruption at all levels of our national life and passing the wrong values to today’s generation. What is however interesting is the fact that, that generation still call the shots today with today’s generation just watching from the sidelines. Little wonder then why Nigeria is what it is today?

WHAT ARE THE IDEOLOGIES OF NIGERIA’S MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES – THE PDP AND THE APC? ARE THERE ANY DIFFERENCES?

I was discussing with a friend the other day about how values and world-views shape governance and societies, and I innocently blurted out that our major political parties do not seem to be built on any sound ideological base, hence it is easy for our politicians to jump ship. The friend replied me saying: “both parties indeed have an ideology! Yes I meant ideology h…ere and not ideologies. This means that both parties are Siamese twins embroiled in a struggle; but besides the struggle for power, they share the same values and the same view of the world”. I was indeed miffed though in quiet agreement with this thesis, but still felt the need for a better explanation of this thesis until another friend introduced me to the Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci.
THE IDEOLOGY OF OUR PARTIES IS WOVEN AROUND THE CONCEPT OF HEGEMONY : ENTER ANTONIO GRAMSCI…
Some have argued that there is a difference between hegemony and ideology but the Nigerian power elite – whether in the PDP or the APC – only thinks of power from an hegemonic perspective. I will explain. Antonio Gramsci sees hegemony as a easier route to dominating peoples thoughts than ideology because it involves our spontaneous consent to dominant values in society. Ideology involves our basic identity, but hegemony refers to the various ideals and values we might have. Thirdly, hegemony is more fragile than ideology precisely because it is less fundamental.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF OUR POLITICAL HEGEMONISTS:
Ever wondered why Religion and Ethnicity are used as platforms on which power is won and consolidated? This strategy only mirror’s Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony.

A REVIEW OF THE NIGERIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2014 REPORT

DEEPENING THE ALLOCATION MENTALITY:
When the National Conference was inaugurated in March 2014, what I was most concerned about, was the issue of Nigeria’s structural deficiencies rather than mundane issues such as State Creation. In considering the issue of the proverbial “National Cake”, it seems to me that the Delegates did not consider the need to create a structure that will BAKE MORE, rather than SHARE MORE.

MINOR GAINS MADE IN THE AREA OF DEVOLUTION OF POWERS: THE CONFERENCE RECOMMENDED THAT POLICING BE PUT UNDER THE CONCURRENT LEGISLATIVE LIST:
Item 45 under the Devolution of Powers subject of the National Conference Report recommended that Policing should be placed under the Concurrent Legislative list rather than the Exclusive Legislative List. This is a victory for all those who had cried that the right things be done!
The Conference also recommended that States could create their Electricity boards, but it is not however clear if this provision finally brings Electricity Generation, Transmission and Distribution under the Concurrent Legislative List where it really should be.

MAJOR SET-BACK – AMBIGUITIES IN THE AREA OF FISCAL FEDERALISM AND THE RETENTION OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM:
Nigeria’s National Conference 2014 report recommended the creation of the “Office of the Accountant General of the Federation” as different from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federal Government. This is funny, tautological and only serves to deepen “Allocation Mentality” rather than entrench fiscal federalism. What the National Conference should have done is to recommend the scrapping of the Federation Account and replace it with a Fiscal Commission which will ensure that each Federating Unit contributes to maintaining the Federal Structure rather than it being the other way round. The Conference still retained a high sharing ratio for the centre – 42.5% from 52.68%. I also do not see the need for appropriation to be made at Federal level for Local Governments. That should be the responsibility of the States with representation at the local level through the local representatives of the Communities and with State Edicts which creates a legal basis for the allocation based on local realities. This brings back the whole issue of a Federal Government creating Local Governments for States and Listing it in the Constitution? That is a legacy of the Military which we must depart from! Creation of local Governments must be put on the Residual list and States that create local governments must be able to fund them.
STATE CREATION – WHAT IS THE FISCAL BASIS FOR THIS?
The National Conference recommended the creation of Apa State from the present Benue State; Edu State from Niger State; Kainji State from the present Kebbi State; Katagun State from the present Bauchi State; Savannah State from the present Borno State; Amana State from the present Adamawa State; Gurara State from the present Kaduna State; Ghari State from the present Kano State; Etiti State from the present South East Zone; Aba State from the present Abia State; Adada State from the present Enugu State; Njaba-Anim State from the present Anambra and Imo States; Anioma State from the present Delta State; Ogoja State from the present Cross River State; Ijebu State from the present Ogun State; New Oyo State from the present Oyo State. My question is: are these States going to be self sustaining? If not, why not look at the Regions as the recognised Federating Unit and convert States into Provinces under Regions as done in India? Would that not be a more prudent thing to do than creating multiple structures with each making demands on the resources at the centre.

CONFERENCE REPORTS – ENTRENCHING A REGIME OF CHRONIC FUNDING AND FISCAL CRISIS:
Nigeria is currently under the throes of chronic funding and fiscal crisis. A situation where the real institutions that matter such as schools, hospitals and public infrastructure are under-funded but more States with Civil Service Bureaucracies and more Political structures are created, each demanding more of the Nation’s Resources while the things that matter are left unattended to, yet the National Conference rather than call for the streamlining of the current bogus structure, actually bloated it the more by recommending THE CREATION OF MORE STATES, so the current recurrent expenditure to capital projects profile which is put at 69 – 31 can further widen, deepening poverty and extending the grip of corruption on the Country. Wither the change that we badly desire?

RESOLVING NIGERIA’S STRUCTURAL IMBALANCE: THE SCOTTISH EXAMPLE

I followed with keen interest the United Kingdom’s conversation around the independence of Scotland and I must say that I am indeed enamoured of the way the debates went – no rancour, no violence, just the issues! Key issues that dominated the debate were EU membership, the retention of the British pound as a currency, taxation, control of the oil-rich North Sea, military spending, and of course autonomy from the British houses of parliament in Westminster. But beyond these headline issues, there were also underline issues which drove the campaigns.
ARGUMENT FROM ALEX SALMOND AND THE YES CAMP
Beyond the argument for the devolution of powers and the call for fiscal freedom, Alex Salmond and the YES camp pushed for the retention of the Scottish Identity away from the melting pot that the United Kingdom represents. Flowing from its fight for the establishment of an independent Scottish Parliament, Alex Salmond and the Yes camp had desired to have total control over Scotland’s wealth which includes the vast reserve of Oil and Gas at the North Sea and the fact that the Scottish component of the United Kingdom population is a paltry 8.4%, an Independent Scotland would have been a resource rich economy with a very high per capita income. With a sizeable landmass (78,772 km²), a huge hydro-carbon deposit and a fairly developed Financial system as represented by the strength of the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank, the Yes camp had sought, not just political independence but also economic self-determination.
THE BETTER TOGETHER ARGUMENT AS ADVANCED BY ALISTAIR DARLING
Alistair Darling and the Better Together camp argued for the retention of the Union as a bigger Union will guarantee better economic security and the retention of the Political Power of Britain as signposted by its influence not just within the European Union but indeed on the Globe. The argument of the Better Together Camp centred more on leveraging the diversity and strength of the Union in achieving the Scottish objective. The key thrust of the Better Together argument was the need for the preservation of hard-won institutions such as the United Kingdom’s Economic engine as signposted by the strength of the British Pound Sterling, the strength of the health system as typified by the NHS and the egalitarian nature of the United Kingdom with the enthronement of a welfare state where Shelter, Food Security, Education, Social Infrastructure and other forms of Economic Security was guaranteed to all Citizens at the expense of the State and as Gordon Brown argued, ‘we fought for all of these together’.
THE OUTCOME: THE VICTORY OF THE NO CAMP AND THE CHANGES THAT ARE LIKELY TO COME THEREAFTER.
Scotland chose to stay in the Union as the No camp scored a 55% in the total votes tallied against the Yes camp’s 45%. However, what is palpable is that the voice for change in the United Kingdom remains strong and the issues that led to the great following which the Scottish National Party was able to garner in the build-up to this debate such as the need for devolution of powers from the West-Minister to constituents of the Union and the call for economic independence must be addressed. For now, the No camp is relieved that a feisty debate has been settled in its favour and the Yes Camp has accepted defeat. I PRAY SOMEDAY, MY DEAR NIGERIA WILL BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO PUT THE NIGERIAN QUESTION TO A NATIONAL DEBATE AND A REFERENDUM SUCH AS THIS…

BATTLING INSURGENCY AND DEALING WITH ITS AFTER-EFFECTS: ITS TIME TO FIX THE FUNDAMENTALS.

Nigeria offers a classic case of how not to structure and run a State. While a lot of us are quick to blame the British Colonial powers for why things are the way they are, my take is that we are largely accountable for the rot. At Independence, the British allowed us a Constitutional Conference – the 1957-58 London Conference – where the ethnic nationalities came together to discuss their view of how a post independent Nigeria should be structured. Positions were taken and a Constitutional arrangement started to emerge. Noting that the interest of Minorities may suffer, the Wilkins Commission on Minorities issue was set up. Alas, the January and July 1966 Coups, which were both ill-conceived and driven by officers who were novices in Statecraft and ill-equipped for Governance took over. Since then, Nigeria has continued to jump from one mis-step to another with the repercussion being a descent into Ethic and Religious intolerance, a Civil War, the battle for resource control and the Militancy that arose therefrom and the lingering battle for the place of Sharia in Governance and the Religious unrests that has resulted therefrom, leading to Militancy and snowballing into Terrorism which was willingly embraced by vested interests as a platform for the negotiation for power.
WHERE DID THE MIS-STEPS COME FROM?
1. IRONSI’S UNIFICATION DECREE 34 OF 1966:
Military interregnum and the quest to manage diversity using the Military’s Command and Control Structure. It all started with Aguiyi Ironsi’s attempt at forging unity without consensus. Ironsi, looking at the way the Military runs – with a central command structure and units taking directives from the centre, promulgated the Unification Decree No. 34 with implication being that Nigeria, though still laying claims to being a Federation, automatically became a unitary state, as things such as fiscal federalism were thrown out of the window. So all the battle for resource control which were to come later had their root in the Unification Decree 34 of 1966 promulgated by General Aguiyi Ironsi.
2. MILITARY’S STATE CREATION WITHOUT RESORT TO CONSTITUTIONAL PROCESSES SUCH AS A REFERENDUM:
Originally seeking to wrest the control of Oil resources from the then Eastern Region, the Military, under General Yakubu Gowon, resorted to creating States and dissolving the inherited Regional Structure. Starting out with 12 States, successive Military Government soon saw this as a veritable way to assert their power with Murtala Muhammed creating 7 new States, taking the tally to 19, General Ibrahim Babagida initially creating 2 States taking the tally to 21 and later creating 9 others taking the tally to 30 and General Sani Abacha creating 6 new States taking the total to 36 States all within a space of less than 40 years! What is interesting to note is that all of these came without a Constitutional process and was imposed on a democratic order with Constitutions that also recognised phony Local Governments created by the Military. So all the issues of marginalisation and imbalance in the Political structure of Nigeria had their root in the arbitrary creation of States.
THE 49 WISE-MEN AND THE ISSUE OF SHARIA IN THE CONSTITUTION MAKING PROCESS WHICH LED TO THE 1979 CONSTITUTION:
Following the need to return Nigeria to Civil rule in 1979, the Military under the Murtala/Obasanjo regime set-up a Panel initially made up of 50 Men led by Chief FRA Williams, but with Chief Obafemi Awolowo dropping off, it became a Panel of 49.The place of Islamic law in governance was a major issue these 49 wise men had to deal with. Beyond the pragmatic way it was dealt with in the Constitution making process that led to the 1960 Constitution, the Debacle of 1979, resulting from the crisis which greeted the place of sharia in governance as debated in the constitution-making process of 1976-78 and the absence of a resolution up till date, accounts for the frequent religious uprising Nigeria has witnesses till date, with the result being its hijack by vested interests for political gains.
RESOLVING THE NIGERIAN QUESTION AND ENDING INSURGENCY:
Resolving the Nigerian question and ending insurgency are not mutually exclusive as our Politicians will have us believe. We need to address the fundamentals on which the Nation Nigeria operates for us to have peace. We may continue to use the Military option, but it is not a sustainable option and needless to state that we may continue to play the Ostrich at our peril.