There were media reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, former Head of State, General Abdulsalam Abubakar and Retired General Aliyu Gusau met in Minna on Sunday, September 15, 2024. Although former President Obasanjo was reported to explain that he was in Minna to celebrate the 83rd birthday of General Babangida, a section of the media highlighted that their ‘meeting might not be unconnected with pressing national issues that bordered on the current economic challenges.’
About a month ago, on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, the National Council of State met and passed vote of confidence of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The National Council of State, which comprises the President, Vice President, all former Presidents and Heads of State, all former Chief Justices, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all 36 State Governors and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation has the function of advising the executive body on policy matters.
Except for General Gusau, former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida and former Head of State General Abdulsalam are members of the National Council of State. From the report of the August 13th meeting both former President Obasanjo and former Military President Babangida were absent. But former Head of State General Abdulsalam was in attendance. Being members of the National Council of State, whose decisions are binding on all its members, does the September 15th Minna meeting suggests registering any form of disagreement with the confidence vote passed on President Asiwaju Tinubu on August 13th?
Predictably, these leaders may not want to come out publicly to confirm any form of reservation to the so-called vote of confidence passed on August 13th. To some extent, it can also be argued that the absence of former President Obasanjo and former Military President Babangida with any explanation is itself suggestive of vote of no confidence. This is largely because, given the unreserved commitment of these leaders to Nigeria’s development, they are most likely to suspend any other engagements and attend the meeting. Nothing could have been more important than the opportunity for them to influence policy decisions of President Asiwaju Tinubu.
Although former President Obasanjo openly opposed the election of President Asiwaju Tinubu, the reported Sallah visit to First Lady, Sen. Remi Tinubu on June 17, 2024 indicates that the former President has reconciled himself and accepted to support President Asiwaju Tinubu. No need to belabour the issue. Certainly, as Nigerians, we are faced with the very unfortunate situation whereby an elected government is taking all the wrong decisions and all democratic structures that could facilitate consultations, enforce accountability, and to that extent regulate the conducts of elected leaders, including President Asiwaju Tinubu, are being systematically demobilised and demolished. And like Chidi Amuta has warned, in his recent article, Pharaoh in Trouble, before our very eye, Nigerian democracy is sadly breeding an authoritarian leader in President Asiwaju Tinubu.
Chidi Amuta rightly observed that ‘Nigeria is beginning to look more like a training ground for cruelty and practice field for apprentice authoritarians.’ The mere fact that we are gradually relapsing back to the era of arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists, labour leaders and innocent citizens who expressed disagreements with governments at all levels is a strong indicator that Nigeria is now a training ground for authoritarian leaders. It not just President Asiwaju Tinubu, there are many reports of state governors ordering the arrest of citizens for expressing disagreements.
Part of the disturbing reality highlighting the mismanagement of public policy in Nigeria is the current avoidable and embarrassing dispute between Dangote Refinery and the NNPC and how citizens are being pushed to swallow bitter pills of higher prices of petroleum products in a manner that simply devalue local production. The econometrics of petroleum pricing since the commencement of production of Dangote Refinery is more about manipulative control and imposition of a parasitic monopoly, which the NNPC represents.
Unfortunately, for whatever reasons, that appears to be the preference of the government. As it is, the issue of welfare of citizens is not the priority of President Asiwaju Tinubu. It is almost as if President Asiwaju Tinubu doesn’t give a damn about whether Nigerians are dying on account of government’s heartless and mindless policies. Rather than push public policy in a direction that relieved the economic burden of harsh living conditions, the Federal Government is more bent on imposing more stringent measures that drains and devalue the resources of citizens.
More than anytime in the history of Nigeria, citizens are being impoverished on an alarming scale. Since May 29, 2023 when President Asiwaju took over, it has been a downward slide for Nigerians. Being a democratic government, the expectation would have been that President Asiwaju Tinubu will be more accessible. Alas, he is proving to be the most inaccessible leader of Nigeria. Even late General Sani Abacha was by far more accessible. All previous military governments are turning out to be much more open to consultations and receptive to recommendations from Nigerians than the government of President Asiwaju Tinubu.
As President of the Federal Republic, President Asiwaju Tinubu is showing his worst side. Some of the key projects of the last government have been abandoned. A good example is Kaduna – Abuja Road, which is becoming a death trap. But without any budgetary provision, a new project of more than N15 trillion Lagos – Calabar Coastal highway started. Meanwhile, public investment towards addressing the challenges of insecurity is at best business-as-usual. And the crisis of insecurity is reduced to ceremonial show of shame and public lamentations by leaders.
Under a so-called regime of Renewed Hope, citizens are rendered helpless. A supposedly progressive government and party is taking Nigeria back to Hobbesian state where life is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.’ Human life has very little value so much that it is arguably not the priority of government to guarantee survival and protection of citizens. Existential crisis has caught up with even income earning population and governments at all levels are demonstrating both lack of commitment and inability to respond to the urgency of rescuing the country.
No doubt, Nigerians are faced with the hardest of times. In the circumstance, it is legitimate for all leaders who mean well for the country to be worried. Ideally, if President Asiwaju Tinubu is accessible and receptive to recommendations, leaders such as former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State General Abdulsalam and General Gusau would have prioritise meeting him. Perhaps, the fact that they are meeting just about a month after the meeting of the National Council of State where a vote of confidence was passed on President Asiwaju Tinubu is suggestive of possible disappointment arising from the seeming inability of the government to reverse the current downward slide and protect the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians.
It also needs to be stressed that the mere fact of a so-called vote of confidence by the National Council of State is indicative and suggestive of growing legitimacy crisis facing the government. In many respects, it is disrespectful and demeaning for a critical constitutional body comprising former Presidents, former Heads of State and former Chief Justices to be reduced to moving confidence votes when the country is faced with existential crisis. Clearly, the September 15th meeting of these leaders could have been to fill gaps, which the August 13th National Council of State meeting would have inadvertently created. What could have been the gaps?
One of the big gaps that is there constantly starring Nigerians in the most uncomfortable way is the demobilisation and destruction of democratic structures in the country, which would have ordinarily facilitate consultations with elected leaders and influence policy decisions of governments at all levels. The absence of any functional party, whose structures are meeting as provided by their constitutions is enough evidence. All the so-called big parties don’t hold meetings of their organs. The APC is now more of a private limited liability company owned by President Asiwaju Tinubu. PDP, LP, NNPP and many of the registered parties are all faced with avoidable leadership crisis that has strangulate them and is blocking them from holding meetings.
With all these, citizens are denied options and capacity to produce alternative choices. Even the right to register new parties is being blocked seamlessly by INEC. With meetings not holding and opposition political leaders manipulated into terminal crisis, Nigerian democracy is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with no Doctor to attend to. Could former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau be the ‘Doctors’ needed to get Nigeria out of the ICU? If so, how can they achieve that?
Former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau are certainly leaders in their own rights who have paid their dues. At different times in the political history of Nigeria, they were able to intervene. Arguably, their interventions may have in one way or the other contributed to getting Nigeria to its current messy situation. For instance, the political practices that are responsible for the erosion of political competition in political parties in Nigeria could be traceable to the tenure of former President Obasanjo. The policy of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) under former Military President Babangida could have been the source of inspiration for President Asiwaju Tinubu’s impulsive and unplanned policies. Although, to be fair to former Military President Babangida, to use Chidi Amuta’s words he ‘balance compassion and hard policy choices.’
To the extent of contributing to get Nigeria to the current messy situation, these leaders owe a responsibility to the nation to take it out of the ICU. Getting Nigerian democracy out of ICU is a function of ability to revive, restore and strengthen democratic structures in the country, which is dependent on ability to create at least a functional political party that would allow for political competition within its structures and by extension in the country. This should not just be about identifying and promoting a candidate who will emerge as a candidate in any of the registered parties. Once the approach is limited to producing a candidate, the potential of falling in a legal booby trap imposed by the manipulative activities of President Asiwaju Tinubu and APC is high. Part of the legal booby trap is that the potential candidate may be produced by a leadership faction of political party, which will throw the party and the candidate in court cases that will undermine electoral viability.
The other challenge is that producing a candidate may not guarantee corresponding commitment by elected leaders to honour their campaigns promises and be accountable to Nigerians. For elected leaders to come with corresponding commitment to honour campaign promises and be accountable to Nigerians require the existence of a strong political party whose organs will meet as prescribed by the party’s constitution. Above all, the profile of the leadership of the party should be at the minimum equivalent to the elected leadership of the country. A situation whereby party leadership are below the profile of elected leaders is injurious to Nigerian democracy and will retain it in the ICU.
Therefore, if former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau are truly committed to rescuing Nigerian democracy and get it out of ICU, they should facilitate a deeper engagement of opposition political leaders in the country. Part of the goal of the deeper engagement of opposition leaders should be to rebuild structures of political parties in the country and restore some minimum internal political competition within the structures of political parties. Beyond anything, this will help to reset Nigerian democracy, restore the confidence of Nigerians about surviving the current hard times imposed by the impulsive, unplanned and undemocratic policies of President Asiwaju Tinubu.
No doubt, the challenge facing Nigerians is about outliving this harsh President Asiwaju Tinubu era; it is about doing everything possible to begin to organise the needed political structures to guarantee the defeat of APC and President Asiwaju in 2027. The first step in achieving that is about building a strong political party that can produce not only candidates but would have the capacity to regulate the conducts of candidates and push them to be both accountable to citizens and deliver on campaign promises. Could former President Obasanjo, former Military President Babangida, former Head of State Abdulsalam and retired General Gusau, and by extension all statesmen, women and patriots make this their priority? If they do, then, they will truly qualify as the ‘Doctors’ needed to take Nigerian democracy out of the ICU. May God strengthen the capacity of all Nigerian statesmen, women and patriots to serve as the ‘Doctors’ needed to get Nigerian Democracy out of ICU. Amin!
Salihu Moh. Lukman
Kaduna
