abdulraheem
In Nigeria, Government of National Unity is misconstrued.
Government of National Unity has, therefore becoming an
anathema. It is often given to mean an amalgam of political
parties alone, to form governments. Not knowing that it is the
summation of the cooperation of all including the exercise of
proper division of labour by all the constitutional agencies: such
as the Executive, the Legislature, the Judiciary, and including the
National Security bodies (the military and the police). For the
National Unity Government to succeed, our concrete efforts must
be from the foot to the head.
The lapse of constructing a proper government of national unity
has caused Nigeria misfortune especially in terms of loses in
human and material resources. As a matter of fact, that is why, all
the previous attempts during the first, second and fourth
republics failed abysmally. The genesis of Nigeria’s problem,
with the founding father nationalists was that they could not
construct a balanced federalism. Political history teaches certain
lessons. Whether we view politics from the perspectives of the
classical-thought where love, truth, honesty and individuality,
were the supreme ideas; or we recognise politics from the modern
state problems in the light of the cognisance of freedom,
participation, civilisation and democracy, the essence of politics
is the societal norms, is that politics is an underpinning our
existence. Therefore, the central idea of the two political
postulations is to obtain stable governance for the people; where
every citizen must have the democratic right to participate in their
The Writings of a Media Life. national public affairs. Government of national unity must,
therefore, be viewed from the lens of national self-determination
or self-rule, rather than the angle of political parties’ domination
or of strange bed fellows, that are not compatible, in ideas and in
outlook. We need to reverse the practice of trial and error in our
day-to-day governance in order to get the predictable systematic
governance.
The beginning of national unity started on the 27th March, 1947,
during the confusion created by the colonial administration. The
national council for Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC) was
formed and led by doctor Nnamdi Azikwe who went to London,
with a protest letter to the British colonial secretary (in-charge of
colonies) that Nigeria needs two things urgently: (1) “Nigerian
people would want to participate in their own affairs”, and (2)
“Nigerian elites would want to participate in the management of
their own public affairs”. These claims had far reaching effect on
political mobilisation of that time. Certainly, there were various
indications of a mounting pressure of popular opinion in favour
of national self-determination. Incidentally, prior to Doctor
Azikwe’s claim, the West Africa students’ union of London in
1941 had put pressure on the British government. Secondly, a
group of Nigerian journalist who were earlier sponsored by the
British council in 1943 also wrote a petition for self rule. Thirdly,
the national strike of the post war periods also demanded for self
determination. Nevertheless, Dr Azikwe’s claims actually
triggered off the protest in 1947.
Nigeria remains a tottering country, and needs holistic
restructure. In Nigeria the rhetoric is big and accomplishment is
small. We need very quickly, the “leadership education” so that
we can create an understanding amongst the key players in the
government at all levels: federal states and local. As education
moulds mankind, so it is with the system design education to
mould a young modern state like Nigeria. Therefore, for Nigeria
to be moved to the dream of 2020advanced economy as recently
enunciated by the leadership of the new government of president
Yar’Adua, leadership education is the magic word.
The Writings of a Media Life.As professor Kirk Green clearly observes in his lengthy nation
hood films, and documentary on Nigeria “the unity of Nigeria
took longer time than usual” (1861 to 1960, a period of roughly
100 years). This long political struggle period, made the elites to
“develop first” in contradiction of political culture before the
proper construction of an ideal “management of unity and
diversity”. Secondly, the introduction of the traditional rulers in
public affairs with their conservative bias had caused frustration
for the younger generation, who were more educated and were
isolated and frustrated in the fluid political and social
circumstances. Although national unity was attempted by
various Nigerian leaders, the people must be well tutored on the
“leadership education”. For example, in Nigeria today, there is a
new president, a new vice president, a new chief justice, a new
senate president, a new speaker, a new military service chief, a
new police chief. At the state levels also all the governors are new
except 5 or 6 as well as the caretakers of the local governments. In
this kind of situation, the construction of the proper government
of national unity is the answer. The exclusive power of the
politicians alone cannot look at the problems and policies of the
nation alone. Every establishment must be involved, because
good governance is not attained through political or economic
policy alone but also through the construction of good
administrative machinery that will give the people good welfare
and good standard of life.
From the arrangement above, it can be seen that to try to reform
policies in Nigeria is like trying to shift Sahara desert with a tea
spoon. The third century philosopher and the father of political
science, Aristotle, said “we are whatever we repeatedly do.
Excellence therefore, is not an act but a habit”. In this sense, the
political instability, the economic paralysis, and the social
malady, we have in Nigeria today are our making. If President
Yar’Adua wants the proper “restoration of a better Nigeria”, to be
successful, it must be predicated on a well structured system
operations. Any form of resolving national problem from the
rhetoric of national debates on the radios and in the television is
The Writings of a Media Life.an antithesis to development. It was the famous British writer,
George Orwell who says, “he who controls today, controls
yesterday. And he who controls yesterday controls the future”.
Therefore the exit of president Obasanjo in the governance of this
nation, created a big and deep gulf as well as real vacuum.
However, our creator abhor vacuum because something must fill
the gap.
Afterall, the April election was a deliberate design of divine
intervention to remove the excess of governance in Nigeria.
When nature effect changes, there are several reasons for them.
Some may be visible, and some may not be. Ideas rule the world,
but ideas have consequences. The power of memory is very
central not only to an individual but to a country also. The
mounting political pressure in Nigeria before April 2007 is better
imagined than described. First, the third term saga heated up the
polity and the country needed peace. Second, the Peoples
Democratic Party itself was afraid to create a quick alternative of
presidential candidate; hence the government neglected the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Third, the
other forty-nine political parties were not visible enough to create
alternative for the country, because they themselves were not
prepared for the huge political problems of the country. Fourthly
and lastly, the younger generations politicians, could not stick out
their necks for any alternative Nigerian leader, because all the
ruling elites could not risk their lives, monies as well as their
wealth in the cause of Nigeria. To sum up, given these problems
in Nigeria, president Obasanjo must go was the persistent slogan.
Of course, our Creator intervened.
As Lady Margaret Thatcher once said (1979) “a country gets the
government it deserves. And no country is ordained to be
successful or to be a failure”. In this sense, the judiciary must
peep into the files of the former Chief of Justice of Nigeria, Sir
Adetokunbo along with efforts of his counterpart, Sir Louis
Mbanefo, the chief justice of the defunct eastern region, when
Nigeria was at a stalemate on January 1st 1965 on the disputed
elections like that of April 2007. Dr Azikwe as the president of the
The Writings of a Media Life.senate was invited to ask the Prime Minister to form the
government and he refused. Similarly, the prime minister was
invited to broadcast to the nation, to cancel the elections and he
too disagreed. Nigeria was left with a stalemate and there was no
government for four days from January 1st 4th 1965.
Apparently, the chief justice of the federation, Sir Ademola
appealed to the two leaders (Dr Azikwe and Sir Tafawa Balewa)
before they resolved to have another elections in the month of
march 1965. And the country was then brought to peace. Now in
the present circumstance, for our tribunals, in Nigeria today, can
these elections of April 14 and 21 be upheld? When the key
players agreed that these political elections were children of
necessity? The freedom law expert Sir Blackstone in his
commentaries that shaped the American constitution in 1765 –
1787 agreed that “necessityy knows no law”. If the Supreme
Court removes President Yar’Adua government, what are we
going to face constitutionally? If the judiciary says president
Yar’Adua should continue, what legal precedence are we
creating? Especially, when the United Nations, the African union
and other world bodies, had stated that Nigeria’s election was a
flawed process?
The restoration of a better Nigeria has long history and a common
phenomenon in this country. However, as the world famous
scientist doctor Albert Einstein wrote: “whether you can observe
a thing, depends on the theory (vision) you use” not the other way
round. In Nigeria and in the past, the whole of general
Babangida’s government for eight years was predicated on the
“New Nigeria” agenda; also the entire eight years of the mindset
of president Obasanjo administration, was equally the search for
“a better Nigeria” agenda. Why then has Nigeria not attained
these desired feasts? A world class development administration
expert professor Merle Finsod, once observed, and said:
“anybody who has travelled to most developing countries, often
encountered the same question: ‘we know all our problems, but
how to get them solved, is our main obstacle”. Plans or objectives
or goals or targets are easily drawn out, but the executions are
The Writings of a Media Life.often thought to be simple. Whereas execution is often the most
difficult because it involves scientific qualification within a time
frame to be successful.
Nowadays Nigerian leaders are often deceived by the niceties
and eloquent words of the plans. Whereas academic prescriptions
often looked very attractive but they are very misleading in the
implementation exercise. For a plan to work, therefore like the
“seven points agenda” of the new government, they must be put
into concrete and pragmatic methods of execution. That is in the
“planning the planning”, model. The immediate past president
Obasanjo had several “reforms” but these reforms often go with
the framers. For example, president obasanjo at the Eagle Square
invented the national rebirth”, in 1999, there was no single state
government that did it, except the “Bauchi state” that launched it
at the stadium, that is three months after president Obasanjo’s
pronouncement.
Second, the federal government and the state government do not
know “representative government”. Even, when president
Obasanjo was worried about the behaviour of the federal
legislators, he invited former president Bill Clinton, of the USA
(august 2000) who advised that: “the president and the national
assembly must solidly rebuild the nation and also rebuild the
democracy”. Neither the presidency nor the National Assembly
did know what to do. So, unless President Yar’Adua did the
building of the nation first, he cannot move this country forward
or embark on any successful seven points agenda. For now or in
the near future, except proper structure is put in place, it will be
very difficult for any meaningful development to occur.
Third and lastly, it is quite interesting to observe that president
Umaru Yar’Adua is also interested in the restoration of a better
Nigeria. For instance at first, he mentioned it at the Eagle Square.
Also at the swearing-in ceremony of the ministers, he reiterated
- Recently, at the foundation laying stone of the “Nigeria
Defence College” he also emphasised the restoration of Nigeria
against the year 2020 targets of an advanced economy
The Writings of a Media Life.programme. President Yar’Adua must act now, to create a modern
state for Nigeria. For the modern states have become our
educator, manufacturer, distributor, helper and servant in
different directions. Our welfare, as well as our progress,
depends mainly upon the standard of efficiency and effectiveness
of the government administration. But, very unfortunately,
Nigerian government does not have the structures for these
valuable functions.
Why is the new government unique? Recently, a 50 year research
was conducted since 1957 to 2007 and it reveals that the main
problem of this country is neither the politics, nor the leadership
quests, but the bad construction of the federal system of
governance. That is since the first republic began in September
1957 till the present May 29th 2007 when President Yar’Adua
says that he is not only a listener but a doer. The government must
start now to look critically at why Nigeria is a tottering country;
President Yar’Adua must generate a better Nigeria.
This break through is better achieved by the mind set of a leader
servant posture, of President Umar Yar’Adua. However, the
techniques of achievements must be predicated on the
contingency projects analysis by the national and state
executives, the national and state legislators, the national and
state judiciaries, the Nigeria Army and the Nigeria Police
commands, as well as the chief executives of the local
governments. The second technique also is that President
Yar’Adua must start with eight presidential conferences, already
designed with strong leadership education. These two techniques
will help to prepare the Nigerian environment to make the leap to
the advanced economy by 2020, plus the fact that every
establishment shall be committed towards this venture. What
must be attained within four months are: Moving Nigeria from an
administrative state to a democratic state; where every individual
with a vision will conceive and achieve his life aspirations.
Moving Nigeria from a patchy economy to a modern market
based economy; where the interplay of market mechanisms can
be realised and help to pull out the citizens out of the shackles of
The Writings of a Media Life.poverty. Transforming Nigeria from the experimenting and
lopsided political culture to the modern political culture of fair
competitiveness; where the patriotic politicians can get the result
for their efforts in political activities. And lastly, transforming
Nigerian elites and their habits, from the particularistic interest
(tribal, geographical, professional) to that of the national interest,
where the national consensus would lead to natural integration.
Until President Yar’Adua is able to do this quickly within a short
time, Nigeria will continue to be experimenting from one model
to another model without concrete national political stability and
harmony. As we are reminded by Professor Waldo Dwight that:
“the administration of a country reflects the genius of its people
and embodies all their qualities, desires and aspirations”. In this
sense, Nigerian administration is not merely a preserver of the
“status quo” but is actually an agent of the country’s growth,
modernisation, civilisation, social change as well as social
progress.
A country cannot attain any progress, if the ruling elites are at the
throat of each other. President Yar’Adua, who recently emerged
as the new chief executive has realised that “Nigeria has not got it
right since 1957 2007”. President Yar’Adua has made three
powerful speeches recently, and he continued to reiterate the
same pledge that “he is not only a servant leader; he is a listener
and a doer”. We realised that many suggestions will be made to
you; some for good, others ill-conceived. Some of these ideas
may be easy to be realised, some may be difficult under the
present fluid political and social circumstances in Nigeria.
However, President Yar’Adua is already aware that we had
different styles of government by the previous heads of state. But
their various efforts were dogged by accusations of non
accomplishment, because of one basic reason: “lack of the
knowledge of the management of diversity and unity”. And it is
not the arrangements of “tribal politics” nor “the geographical
zonings” nor the north south dichotomy” nor the “federal
character” nor “the involvement of emirs, obas and obis in the
The Writings of a Media Life.constitutional arrangements” that are the issues and ways to solve
scientific social development, as well as the political
development and economic progress for all Nigeria citizens. It is
the right method of “the knowledge systems”, “decision right
matrixes”, from which the country can be moved to an advanced
economy of the world by 2020, and it is a project which must be
started from now.
Nigeria between 1957 and 193 was hailed as good democratic
country by Great Britain. The United States under President
Eisenhower also hailed Nigeria for her great political economy.
The Indian government under the Prime Minister Nehru (1962)
also praised the Nigeria economy and the wonderful democracy,
when he was invited to the country. In 1963 the Nigerian
economy was at neck to neck with that of Japan. Indeed amongst
the West African countries, between 1948 – 1962 the Gold Coast
(now Ghana) went to the World Bank as their borrowing
customer, but Nigeria did not go. Nowadays the federal
administration is literally dead. The state governments are
personalised, and run like empires. Local government reforms of
1976, popularly known as Yar’Adua local government reforms,
were also grossly violated and abused. to nothing
An appeal is therefore being made to President Yar’Adua to kick
start the job of development in Nigeria. Today, both the public
and private sectors need to be restructured. Our government
agencies are in crisis, demanding that they should be quickly
overhauled. President Yar’Adua stands on the pedestal of history
and he has the unique opportunity to make a difference.
Gobir, A Management & Systems Consultants, wrote from
Agadez Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja.
