IMPERATIVES OF A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY

May 24, 2021
12 mins read

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

  1. 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.

 

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