The Nigeria Governors' Forum

Even before the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) election held last week Friday, we all knew there would be drama. Nollywood would be green with envy that our governors have rivalled the industry in churning out incredible theatre. What we got was an award winning epic drama. Oscars, look out here we come!

How does one explain that 36 governors, each constitutionally responsible for running a state, could not sit and decide on who leads them in an association set up with rules and regulations?  36 ballot papers meant for a supposedly non-partisan organisation’s election.  These men are sworn to protect our constitution. It is not cheering news for those of us hoping for free, fair and credible general elections in 2015, especially when these same actors are going to superintend over them.

Is the NGF a pressure group, political organisation or a non-partisan association? Since its inception in 1999, the group has never lived up to its creed as a peer review body among the 36 state governors. Rather than promote unity, good governance and cooperation among states, the body has only succeeded in protecting their own selfish interests. NGF has grown to become a powerful political bloc attractive to political hawks bent on holding on to power at all costs and covering their tracks from any illegal activity perpetrated during their tenure or elevating themselves to higher office. It has become the aim of the ruling party to capture the group or destroy it. During former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s failed third-term bid and the subsequent party primaries that brought the late Umar Musa Yar’Adua to power, the battle for the soul of NGF took hold.  

We now have sub-groups such as the Northern Governors’ Forum, South-South Governors’ Forum, PDP Governors’ Forum, etc. What is certain is that the PDP is not known for being democratic (see CONSENSUS). It also has not come as a surprise that a PDP-dominated NGF flouts the rules set and resolves to impose a candidate in blatant disregard for the provisions of the association’s statute.  The danger in converting the NGF to an arm of the ruling party is the descent to despotism and dictatorship. It is already happening! We need to protect our democracy.

In our democracy, it is clear that our votes don’t count. Our politicians have made sure of this. We have decided to accept this. Why? And why are we denied the right to choose?  The PDP has decided to factionalise the NGF in the most dramatic fashion. By orchestrating a subtle threat in the form of compelling its governors to sign a pre-election document and by dragging Governor Jonah Jang into the race, the argument about not having interest in the affairs of the NGF is exposed.  Furthermore, the choice of the Governor of Plateau state as proposed leader of the NGF came after the cut off date for submitting names to challenge for the leadership. Na wah o!

Jonah Jang! He is barely able to secure his own state. He has enough work to do in the Plateau. He should concentrate in restoring it to its former glory and attracting the kind of industry, agriculture and tourism that existed before the PDP took over.

Ultimately, all this boils down to 2015. Are we going to again allow these jokers to conduct sham elections that are not true and give themselves legitimacy? The signs are clear. Governors who should be giving account of their stewardship for the people to determine those worthy of further leadership roles are falling over themselves over who leads an association. This is because in our brand of politics the people are of no consequence. Those who control the states decide elections here. They use the state machinery to defraud us.   

Meanwhile they actually do not understand what the title that they so desperately seek means. “The power that comes with being President, Governor, Chairman “only lasts as long as the person has that title. If it is taken away, all the power that was associated with it goes out the door with it. The influence that comes with having a title can be fleeting at best. There is a much deeper power and that is the natural leadership power that lives within each of us. Sadly it is little used within the vast majority of us. This is real power because it is power that can never be taken away. This is the best kind of power.”  (Robin Sharma, The leader Who Had No Title) This is the stuff that presidents, governors, chairmen, true leaders are made of.  

 

 

Consensus

Youth:

 

The quality or state of being young, youthfulness, juvenility

 

Elder:

 

Person valued for his wisdom who accordingly holds a particular position of responsibility.

 

Convention:

 

A formal meeting of members, representatives or delegates, as of a political party, fraternal society, profession or industry.

 

Consensus:

 

Agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole. The feeling of most people.

 

The above definitions refer. Much hullabaloo has been made of the PDP convention that took place last week and I have been reading with much interest all the conflicting views that have been aired by various groups in their interpretation of what they perceive the convention to be. I think it is important for the PDP to take note of the way Nigerians feel about what is happening; some people feel that it is an “arrangee”!!! by a few leaders in the party which begs the question of what a consensus means.

 

In talking about democracy in Nigeria, are we trying too hard to pursue a system that is not in its strict sense suited to this country. When I talk about consensus, the question I am asking is as Nigerians, as Africans in Africa; in traditional Nigerian society where we have an Oba, Emir, Obi and we put upon that council of elders the responsibility of making the correct decisions for the benefit of the group. I wonder whether it is not alien of us to feel that our politicians quite rightly, would interpret a consensus as being the agreement of the “house of lords,” the executive, the cabal, whatever we would care to call them and thereby impose their own views on the rest of party, for what they perceive to be for the benefit of the party. I dare say that it is only if the suggestions made, the positions arrived at, are not viewed as beneficial to the whole that we could really feel aggrieved. There are many facets in arriving at this conclusion and if any of them smells, then there is potentially a crack in that philosophy.

 

One thing is to be said in their defence, there was no violence, there was debate, there was pomp and ceremony. The convention was carried out in a peaceful manner and I wonder if there was not what we would call a consensus at the PDP convention. I know that the general view is for us to be negative about what happened because of what we were expecting but I begin to ponder and I begin to think, are we trying so hard to be what we are not; are we lying to ourselves? Is this not the way that our culture dictates that we do things?

 

However it is not all praise and kudos. I find it very difficult to accept the fact that these elders who have this very serious position of responsibility in the party would appoint a sixty year old (ye pa!) as the leader of the “youth.” In the PDP are we trying to say that there isn’t a 20 to 40 year old (and it is questionable whether a 40 yr old is a youth) who could represent the youth of that party? Are we stuck in a time of elders refusing to let go of power come what may and will not allow the young ones to take over from them so that there is a future for this country; when will the elders empower the youth? If they will not allow the youth of the party interact with them at executive level, then how do we inject new blood into the system and secure the future of this country. When did they (the Babas) start their own political careers?

 

I do not want to condemn what happened at the PDP convention in its entirety, I nevertheless have a problem with that fact that these elders, who the rest of the party have chosen, have abused in my view their position. The party is described as the largest in Africa and there has been boasting that they will be in power for ever. Is this how they intend to do it? What has been displayed is that they have no intention of handing over the batten and you cannot win a relay race by yourself. Is this the convention within their own party? Na wah o! The players here are their own people! Obama and Biden in the US are not the Democratic Party. They are members of the party and in getting a consensus, we should not lose track of the bigger picture, which is democracy, service to the people for the people by the people. The executive of the PDP will do well to remember that they are only executives by virtue of the fact that there is a PDP. They should not take “out the people” of the people’s Democratic Party.

 

This brings us back to the meaning of the word consensus, the spirit of the word; I believe I would be fair in quoting Wendy Kaminer here who stated that “Among political women ..... there is a clear consensus about the problems women candidates have traditionally faced.” At the PDP convention, the issue of the 35% affirmative action inclusion, and participation of women in government appointments and elections was put to the back burner.  The men did not allow the women, even for the position of women leader to contest for this position freely and fairly.  Women were not even allowed to lead the delegation for the aspirants.  Instead the delegation was led by men! Is this honourable? Is it democratic? And to crown it all there was only one female appointment.

 

The ruling party should understand that a lot of Nigerians view the conduct of the convention as undemocratic. They have laid down guidelines in their constitution for the necessity of elections. The way and manner that those are carried out is quintessential in all delegates feeling that they have been given the opportunity to have a fair crack and are truly part of the party and can attain any heights in the party. The fact that there may be a consensus candidate should not negate them the opportunity of standing for a position, being seen and being heard.

 

What we could describe as a youth in Nigeria, is someone between the ages of 18 and 35.  The retirement age in Nigeria is 60yrs or after you have been in the service for35yrs, by which time we feel that you are a bit washed out and need to retire to something less taxing. We all know that life is not easy for the black man, so making it to sixty is already a celebration of life.  Can Alhaji Garba Chiza be described as a youth? (Alhaji, please tweet me and let me have your views!!!)  It is all relative. As some people say, you are only as old as you feel and I suppose that when you put him side by side with the Tafidan Adamawa Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, who is almost 80, then he really is in the true sense a youth! The party chairman can be his parent and you know that in the eyes of our parents, we are always children, no matter how old we are!

 

Our democracy is but 13 years old so there is still a lot to learn and a long way to go .The plus side is that we are able to sit down and dialogue about this. That is a wonderful gift. We cannot however be stuck in the era of the “Consensus Candidate” where a small group behind closed doors can decide what is best for us without listening and hearing the cries and groans of the people. We need to be on the fast lane to maturity and to get rid of all the barriers that keep us from attaining premiership status in our democracy. What our leaders need to understand is that justice not only needs to be done but must also be seen to have been done.

Amnesty and the State of Emergency

William Ewart Gladstone, the 17th Century British statesman, in a speech at Plumstead, London, said, “National injustice is the surest road to national downfall.”      

The Obasanjo administration declared a state of emergency in Plateau State in 2004, yet the crisis in the state lingers.  A partial state of emergency was declared in parts of Borno and Yobe by the federal government last year. It yielded no results. You cannot keep banging your head against a brick wall and expect a different outcome.

We repeatedly apply a fire brigade approach whenever a disaster is upon us, we run around like headless chickens, without researching what has caused the problem in the first place or refusing to, as it will affect our deep selfish pockets. Are we ignorant or is this deliberate? When the water corporation stops supplying water, we sink a borehole and a thriving new business is born. Has the reason for the short supply been addressed or are the water corporation bosses making money from water tanker delivery business?

Terrorism is not a new phenomenon in this country. It is the speed at which it is spreading and the increasing violence that is alarming.  When there is a leak in a water pipe, we can only plug it temporarily. We have to find a lasting solution to the leak quickly, otherwise the leak will get worse and a catastrophe will occur.

Why do we have insurgency? Why do local communities not trust their leaders and their security agencies? How have terrorist organizations been able to infiltrate our local communities? What ideologies are they extolling that have allowed for our youth to feel fraternity with them. What has caused people to challenge the security forces that were set up to protect them? Who is arming them, who is playing the ethnic and religious card? How do we rehabilitate these youth, what opportunities exist for them in their communities, how do we change the perception of our leadership from oppressors to protectors and benefactors. North, south, east and west, our youth is our youth, so it is sad to hear of South-South Leaders’ Forum, Northern Elders’ Forum, etc., in this day and age when we are a global village and they all support Barcelona, Arsenal or Manchester Utd. That is really how ridiculous the ethnic card is. We have fought an ethnic civil war in this country and have seen the aftermath of the Kurdish situation, Bosnia, Kosovo and, closer to home, Rwanda. This is a lethal game. We should all shun ethno-religious conflicts.

It is amazing that a former colonial master in France, who colonized Mali, pillaged their resources and trafficked their subjects as slaves, can reinvent themselves and come back to Mali in 2013 as liberators and have Malians lining the streets, welcoming them. Here in Nigeria, you know the story of the JTF.  

 Now, we give amnesty.  “Amnesty is a legal term that describes the complete abolition of an offense by the state.  It is usually granted to the losing side after the end of a war or revolution in an attempt to bring about reconciliation…” This definition does not suggest inducing offenders with outrageous allowances, foreign trips and juicy contracts.  What message are we sending to the law-abiding citizens or in fact the offenders? Why were they not complying with the law in the first place? I am not in anyway excusing their actions but are they wallowing in poverty and isolation, whilst they see the squandering of riches and oppression by the very people who are meant to provide them with protection, jobs, health and education? Is this a cry against the national injustice that we refer to? If so then we should all be afraid because amnesty or a state of emergency does not address the issues.                              

For us to be able to renegotiate a new understanding, trust must be regained. When every government action is premised on what we stand to gain, then we will gradually rebuild belief in our leaders. Instead of a state of emergency or amnesty, funds should be freed into massive developmental projects, job creation, education and health.  But first, we have to make peace with ourselves.       

 

Men Behaving Badly (2)

African traditions and folklore are packed with the emphasis on mothers as the custodians of character moulding in children.  Mothers tend to be the automatic instructor on traditional learning activities. A father can be as good a parent as the mother, but women are those who are more emotionally attached to children.

 

An African proverb says: while a successful child is the pride of the family; a child who fails in life is the product of the mother.  This takes us back to the role of women in parenting. Unfair as it may be to lay the blame on the mother, this proverb cannot be totally disregarded, as the emotional attachment between mother and child cannot be belittled.  

 

The most important role in parenting is to enable the child to feel secure. It is this emotionally symbiotic bond that gives parents the opportunity to instil discipline and moral life skills in the child.  It is what Plato meant when he said, “But at three, four, five, and even six years the childish nature will require sports; now is the time to get rid of self-will in him, punishing him, but not so as to disgrace him…” 

Poorly raised children often lack self-esteem as adults. Overwhelmed by low self-worth, they are the ones who grow up to become menaces to society. They may not have inherited these traits from their parents, but they certainly were ill-prepared for life outside the home. Indeed, poor behaviour is reflective of poor parenting.

British philosopher Francis Bacon said, “The joys of parents are secret, and so are their grief’s and fears.” Understanding how other people feel should be incorporated into the ‘curriculum’ of life lessons.

A man who as a child is taught how to put himself in other people’s shoes will allow for a more balanced view on relationships with others but a mother, who treats her sons either in actions or with utterances as superior to women, raises her boys to treat women as a possession or someone to lord it over. This can have a dark side.  Parents, mothers must understand that they have a hand in men behaving badly.

Here under, is a riposte from a woman that I received over last week’s column “MEN BEHAVING BADLY”. I feel that it is important that I share it with you and women, perhaps have your take on it.

“Dear Hamza,

 It is the very women that create these monsters that are tormenting them. Who is the first to know when a girl or woman has been raped or abused? Who covers up for her husband, brother, son? Who is the first to point at a fellow woman and condemn. Who is it that makes her daughter in-law miserable? Who calls her mother in-law witch? It is the Woman, she it is who has cultivated this institution of where the man is always right even when he is beastly!

 I'm not excusing nor am I saying these brutes are blameless. All I am saying is, we need to look inwards and check for some of the things that have aided this institution. We need to stop bringing up our sons as special beings to the detriment of ourselves.

Your husband's having an affair; “that witch has gotten her claws into my husband!” Why is it that the husband is never blamed, in any other situation he is “strong and superior.” When faced with the real test, you, Woman would make excuses for him citing, “he is weak.”

We need to stop seeing 'the other' women as the devil. Women need to be more proactive, form an empathetic kinship and have more love for each other. Till we're able to form true sister ship we shall continue to be battered and used against ourselves.”

 She makes some very relevant points, even though ultimately I believe responsibility rests with the man.

 

 

 

Men Behaving Badly

Battered Women’s Support Services, one of the platforms for campaigning for violence against women, has, no doubt, chosen an apt campaign slogan: “Don’t Be That Guy”. The crux of their message includes the fact that sex without consent, under any guise, is sexual assault.

 

Criminologists and psychologists have pointed out that rape is partly an instrument of power and control used as an expression of contempt. It is a lack of discretion against man’s carnal urges and an abuse of the notion that “It is a man’s world”. Men who subject women and children to violation have lost the distinction between human and animal because morality is what separates man from beast. Or are we animals in human skin? Lust, desire, addiction, lack of self control, aggression and traditional stereotypes can lead us to shifting the blame of our recklessness on provocation, innocence, to the devil.

 

The exponential growth in rape cases, some involving family members, caregivers, supposed role models and so-called men of God, shows that the viewpoint that exonerates men (the perpetrators) and blames women (the victims) is flawed and does not hold water. If a woman’s dressing is suggestive, must we lose our self-control? Perhaps the most potent argument that rubbishes this pro-masculine dogma is the sexual assault on minors. How provocative could a child dress to warrant being violated, often by those entrusted as family or friends? It has nothing to do with dress style.

 

It is worrisome how sexual assault cuts across geographical and social strata. We are beasts of no nation. Yesterday, gang rape of an innocent woman in Abia; today a so-called man of God defiled a minor in Lagos and Jos. Even royal fathers are not exempt in this indiscretion; a corps member accused the traditional ruler of her place of rape. In New Delhi, India, irresponsible men raped and severely brutalised a 23-year-old medical student lured into a commercial bus along with her male companion. She later died of the injuries sustained. A few months later, a five-year-old girl died after being raped in central India.

 

Many celebrities, viewed as mentors whose lives – both personal and public – should be worthy of emulation, turn out to be wolves entrusted with the custody of sheep.  Jimmy Savile. The chronic paedophile evaded justice after psychologically and physically ruining many lives in his lifetime.

 

Freda Adler, renowned American educator and criminologist, sums it up nicely in “Sisters in Crime” when she says: “It is little wonder that rape is one of the least-reported crimes. Perhaps it is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety.”  What this means is that women live in a society where they are expected to be culprits and victims, and are condemned to coming up with the solution to sexual assault all at the same time.  She is responsible for being raped. She tantalized the man by being a woman or an innocent child!!! She could use her psychological and sexual prowess to change mans behavior! See how ridiculous this sounds?

That men generally desire women or love children is not in question but to twist this desire or love into domination and use of another person for carnal pleasure can never be excused. If you sleep with your wife by force, it is rape. The very act of lovemaking cannot be so if it is forced. We cannot demand love of anybody. It is something that is given of free will and to make out that it can be viewed in any other way means that we need help and should seek it in a mental institution. Responsibility is a promise an obligation that we must fulfill. We must be answerable for our actions or endure the consequent penalty for failure. We must stop behaving badly.

Promises! Promises!!

Suffering and smiling, the struggle for survival continues but we are very much alone. Everyman here is an island that is not the way that it is supposed to be.  Our leaders fail on past promises, whilst always happy to make new ones. Promises, promises jam today but no jam tomorrow!

 

More than a century ago, Robert Baden-Powell, established the Boy Scouts instituted on a promise that has become a cliché: “On my honour I promise that I will do my best...to do my duty to God and the King...to help other people at all times...to obey the Scout Law.” This is where the catch phrase “On my Boy Scout honour...” comes from.  A promise is a debt it is a contract based on honour. Failing to fulfil that commitment is akin to committing a sin against humanity.

 

We let ourselves down and lose the respect of our kith and kin when we fail to honour our promises. Honour is built on trust and trust on acting on our utterances. If you have doubt as to how sacred keeping a promise is, turn to the scripture, where the Lord says Himself that He honours His Word more than His name. That is a powerful statement. A parent who promises a child a gift just to get the child out of the way, only to return home empty-handed, has breached a solemn agreement. A child starts out loving unconditionally, lose that respect and trust and you will never regain it, apart from the damage done to the child’s psyche. These are lessons that are inadvertently taught to children so we should beware of our actions and the consequences.They watch us.

 

A promise is unconditional; it is neither granted “under duress” nor a “defence mechanism”. It isn’t a promise when we are compelled or coerced into making it.It is not an instrument of trade that we make in anticipation of a favour. Once a promise is made, fulfilment should be non-negotiable. One of our great human traits is unpredictability; a promise made should be the closest a man can be to predictability. Hannah Arendt said in “Civil Disobedience” that “Promises are the uniquely human way of ordering the future, making it predictable and reliable to the extent that is humanly possible.” Our reliability is eternally judged by the promises we fulfil, not those that we make.

 

Like sins, there are no small or big promises. A man/woman who cannot redeem a “small” promise in the home will not fulfil an election campaign promise. It is the reality of our era that our government ranks high in making promises they have no intention of redeeming. The craft of government is to replace “Vision A” with “Vision B” when it becomes apparent that the former will not be met. We talk of eradicating infant mortality by 2015 (according to the MDGs) yet children are dying before us of lead poisoning, hunger and deplorable sanitation. Since 1999 billions of dollars have been sunk into power generation with the promise that Nigerians will have uninterrupted electricity. Every year, government make fresh power generating projections in megawatts, while Nigerians measure their megawatts of darkness in pollution-induced power generators.

 

The oaths our leaders take clearly means nothing to them, and the National Pledge is only recited as an open to public functions. They forget that a mother who fails to wean her child will be stripped of the joy of motherhood when the child becomes a burden to society. A man, who has taken an oath to love and protect his wife but fails, cannot complain when she leaves him and seeks love and protection elsewhere and vice versa.

Nigeria is a country of many broken promises; we carry the burdens of shattered dreams.  We live therefore in a turbulent present and a future far from assured. We need to keep our promises.