Each time complaints arise about
the palpable defects in the
country’s statues system, the
retort has always been that
amendments here and there will
gradually correct noticeable
anomalies. However, the
experiences of the last few years
have left doubts about the
possibility of ever amending the
constitution to meet the
yearnings and aspirations of
Nigerians. It is on this note that
one wonders whether the law
makers think they are called
lawmakers to make laws for
themselves or make laws for the
interest of Nigerians and the
progress of the country.
There have been baffling issues
about the ongoing constitution
amendment.
Amazingly, one issue that united
the Senate more during their
voting session is life pension for
ex this and that. The list includes
former senate presidents and
their deputies, speakers of the
House of Representatives and
their deputies who ‘shall be
entitled to pension for life at a
rate equivalent to the annual
salary of the incumbent’. This
section garnered the highest votes
of 86, and not much dissension.
Another contention is financial
autonomy for local governments.
Last week, the senate
unanimously voted against it.
Nigerians, who know how that tier
of government has been
plundered and run aground due to
the governors’ undue
interference, can’t understand the
senators’ misgivings about it and
had to oppose it. They claimed
that what they did reflected the
generality of opinions of
Nigerians. Really?
The trajectory of constitution
amendment since the military-
midwifed one was in use, is a
story of disappointment and ego-
tripping. There is no point
repeating it that, if the
constitution amendment fails this
time around, it will equally erode
any iota of confidence left of the
law-making process in this
country. Sadly, we are already on
that path.
Between 2003 and 2007, the
country invested huge sums of
money and emotions in the
previous proposed amendment.
The excitement stemmed from
the fact that for once, Nigerians
erroneously thought they had an
opportunity to make inputs into a
constitution they could proudly
call ‘our own’. Albeit they were
disappointed to learn that their
leaders had their own grand plan.
A combination of executive
meddlesomeness and the
personal ambition of the then
president Olusegun Obasanjo,
which manifested in his third term
agenda, effectively put paid to the
first efforts at constitution
amendment by ‘we the people’.
‘Every other good thing’ about the
proposal ‘went down’ with the few
‘rotten eggs’ injected in it. In the
end the country lost a colossal
amount of money, yet did not
have an amended constitution.
Unfortunately, indication from
the ongoing amendment is
proving once again that we have
not learned any lessons from our
past mistakes.
When therefore, the Senate
jettisoned the proposed six-year
single term and autonomy for
local governments, mixed
reactions trailed their decision.
Personally, I prefer a single term
of five or six years if the current
serving public figures would not
be beneficiaries. But when the
idea was thrown out, I was not in
the least surprised. One, the
project first emanated from the
presidency and not the people of
Nigeria. That it was seen as
Jonathan’s own third term agenda
did not help the cause of the idea.
Perhaps it was Jonathan’s way of
extending his current tenure if he
failed to get it through the ballot
box. Whoever was behind it,
whatever happened to it later, and
its eventual rejection did not
matter. Good enough that it was
thrown away especially if
Jonathan was behind it. It was
certainly unpopular. But with
local government autonomy, I
wonder what informed the
Senate’s decision. Here is one
issue that all Nigerians seemed
unanimously in support of.
Why not? Are we not all
witnesses to the the gradual
emasculation of the LG system of
government. Almost everyone
you speak to can tell you one
nasty story or the other about how
his LG is being ruined, owing to
the thieving collaboration
between the governors and the
so-called LG chairmen. Before
our very eyes, elections to the LGs
are unconstitutionally supplanted
with selection in different guises-
development areas or whatever
name pleases the Ogas at the top,
the governors.
This accounted for the
overwhelming support financial
autonomy for LG received during
the zonal and national public
hearings. However, the senators
had their evil plan, one of which
is, apparent emasculation of the
local government system.
In one breath, we complain about
the autocratic way the governors
run their states, and in another,
we cede more powers to them.
The states houses of assembly are
in their pockets. By the Senate’s
action, we have officially handed
over LGs to them. The governors
do not (and can’t) be challenged
by any son of man called state
legislator or local government
chairman. The same governors
can’t (and shouldn’t anyway)
subject themselves to the
president, though that is how it
should be.
Constitution review is one major
assignment of the Senate that has
grabbed the attention of all. A
conservative estimate put the
money sunk into it at about N1
billion. Bad as this is, the Senate
was not done yet from shutting
Nigerians out of their
deliberations.
They similarly refused to grant the
demand for the separation of the
office of attorney general of the
federation and the minister of
justice as it operates in other
climes. With regards to the
removal of the minimum wage
issue from exclusive legislative list
which squarely rests labour issue
with the states, the executive arm
of government will be happy, but
the NLC is already preparing for a
long drawn war. It means Labour
will be dismembered and
weakened to the extent that
collective bargaining will no
longer be centrally done.
What kind of democracy is this? A
democracy determined by 109
privileged Nigerians called
senators out of 160 million
people? Come on. Bad enough
that the senators had no scruples
or modesty, or crudely put, had no
shame in doing things to favour
the minutest minority, but the
pain is worsened by the
condescending attitude of the
Senate leadership. At the end of
the Senate’s biased voting last
week, the Senate president, David
Mark declared: “We voted for
what we believe will make
democracy to mature in our
country”. Haba! Mr Senate
President. Is it about what the
senators ‘believe’ or what
Nigerians desire?
the palpable defects in the
country’s statues system, the
retort has always been that
amendments here and there will
gradually correct noticeable
anomalies. However, the
experiences of the last few years
have left doubts about the
possibility of ever amending the
constitution to meet the
yearnings and aspirations of
Nigerians. It is on this note that
one wonders whether the law
makers think they are called
lawmakers to make laws for
themselves or make laws for the
interest of Nigerians and the
progress of the country.
There have been baffling issues
about the ongoing constitution
amendment.
Amazingly, one issue that united
the Senate more during their
voting session is life pension for
ex this and that. The list includes
former senate presidents and
their deputies, speakers of the
House of Representatives and
their deputies who ‘shall be
entitled to pension for life at a
rate equivalent to the annual
salary of the incumbent’. This
section garnered the highest votes
of 86, and not much dissension.
Another contention is financial
autonomy for local governments.
Last week, the senate
unanimously voted against it.
Nigerians, who know how that tier
of government has been
plundered and run aground due to
the governors’ undue
interference, can’t understand the
senators’ misgivings about it and
had to oppose it. They claimed
that what they did reflected the
generality of opinions of
Nigerians. Really?
The trajectory of constitution
amendment since the military-
midwifed one was in use, is a
story of disappointment and ego-
tripping. There is no point
repeating it that, if the
constitution amendment fails this
time around, it will equally erode
any iota of confidence left of the
law-making process in this
country. Sadly, we are already on
that path.
Between 2003 and 2007, the
country invested huge sums of
money and emotions in the
previous proposed amendment.
The excitement stemmed from
the fact that for once, Nigerians
erroneously thought they had an
opportunity to make inputs into a
constitution they could proudly
call ‘our own’. Albeit they were
disappointed to learn that their
leaders had their own grand plan.
A combination of executive
meddlesomeness and the
personal ambition of the then
president Olusegun Obasanjo,
which manifested in his third term
agenda, effectively put paid to the
first efforts at constitution
amendment by ‘we the people’.
‘Every other good thing’ about the
proposal ‘went down’ with the few
‘rotten eggs’ injected in it. In the
end the country lost a colossal
amount of money, yet did not
have an amended constitution.
Unfortunately, indication from
the ongoing amendment is
proving once again that we have
not learned any lessons from our
past mistakes.
When therefore, the Senate
jettisoned the proposed six-year
single term and autonomy for
local governments, mixed
reactions trailed their decision.
Personally, I prefer a single term
of five or six years if the current
serving public figures would not
be beneficiaries. But when the
idea was thrown out, I was not in
the least surprised. One, the
project first emanated from the
presidency and not the people of
Nigeria. That it was seen as
Jonathan’s own third term agenda
did not help the cause of the idea.
Perhaps it was Jonathan’s way of
extending his current tenure if he
failed to get it through the ballot
box. Whoever was behind it,
whatever happened to it later, and
its eventual rejection did not
matter. Good enough that it was
thrown away especially if
Jonathan was behind it. It was
certainly unpopular. But with
local government autonomy, I
wonder what informed the
Senate’s decision. Here is one
issue that all Nigerians seemed
unanimously in support of.
Why not? Are we not all
witnesses to the the gradual
emasculation of the LG system of
government. Almost everyone
you speak to can tell you one
nasty story or the other about how
his LG is being ruined, owing to
the thieving collaboration
between the governors and the
so-called LG chairmen. Before
our very eyes, elections to the LGs
are unconstitutionally supplanted
with selection in different guises-
development areas or whatever
name pleases the Ogas at the top,
the governors.
This accounted for the
overwhelming support financial
autonomy for LG received during
the zonal and national public
hearings. However, the senators
had their evil plan, one of which
is, apparent emasculation of the
local government system.
In one breath, we complain about
the autocratic way the governors
run their states, and in another,
we cede more powers to them.
The states houses of assembly are
in their pockets. By the Senate’s
action, we have officially handed
over LGs to them. The governors
do not (and can’t) be challenged
by any son of man called state
legislator or local government
chairman. The same governors
can’t (and shouldn’t anyway)
subject themselves to the
president, though that is how it
should be.
Constitution review is one major
assignment of the Senate that has
grabbed the attention of all. A
conservative estimate put the
money sunk into it at about N1
billion. Bad as this is, the Senate
was not done yet from shutting
Nigerians out of their
deliberations.
They similarly refused to grant the
demand for the separation of the
office of attorney general of the
federation and the minister of
justice as it operates in other
climes. With regards to the
removal of the minimum wage
issue from exclusive legislative list
which squarely rests labour issue
with the states, the executive arm
of government will be happy, but
the NLC is already preparing for a
long drawn war. It means Labour
will be dismembered and
weakened to the extent that
collective bargaining will no
longer be centrally done.
What kind of democracy is this? A
democracy determined by 109
privileged Nigerians called
senators out of 160 million
people? Come on. Bad enough
that the senators had no scruples
or modesty, or crudely put, had no
shame in doing things to favour
the minutest minority, but the
pain is worsened by the
condescending attitude of the
Senate leadership. At the end of
the Senate’s biased voting last
week, the Senate president, David
Mark declared: “We voted for
what we believe will make
democracy to mature in our
country”. Haba! Mr Senate
President. Is it about what the
senators ‘believe’ or what
Nigerians desire?
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