SomberTuesday! The new President is appointing staffers at a pace much faster than his immediate predecessor (https://www.channelstv.com/2023/06/19/full-list-president-tinubu-appoints-new-service-chiefs-names-ribadu-nsa/ )
From looking at the lineup announced thus far, it’s clear that the 35% threshold for women’s political participation has not been met. When this issue is raised, people tend to say that such appointments should not be about mere representation but about having the requisite skills/qualifications to do the job. Given the concern for merit that such responses imply, it’s amazing that hardly anyone questions the men appointed on similar grounds that demand merit. It’s just assumed that the men are qualified. In any case, Nigeria has a tremendous challenge when it comes to equity for women. Is there a political will to address the problem?
We have now heard from Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, whose husband, Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, claimed that he helped out his fellow legislators to sway the Justice to favor them in her rulings, saying among other things… “And I must thank particularly, my wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while she was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment, and extended her help to my colleagues…” Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, the past President of the Federal Court of Appeals has now spoken out to defend her record. (https://dailytrust.com/i-never-compromised-my-office-justice-bulkachuwa-breaks-silence/ ) She denied subverting judicial integrity and the rule of law: “My attention has been drawn to the trending video of what was said by my husband Senator Adamu M. Bulkachuwa. I want to state categorically that I never at any time compromised my oath of office to favour any party who appeared before me throughout my judicial career spanning 40 years of service to my country.
“My decisions were always based on the facts, the law and in accordance with my conscience and oath of office.
“Also, as President of the Court of Appeal, my fellow justices of the court can attest to the fact that I never interfered with the independence of any of the justices of the court in the discharge of their judicial functions.” Her husband has also now “walked back” his claims, translated from Hausa in the news report thus: “Well, I was not even allowed to finish, I just started with some words like thanking her, saying she was patient with me as she was a legal practitioner and I am a politician.
“I wanted to elaborate on the specific nature of the help she provided, as there exists a wide range of support that professionals in various fields, such as legal practitioners, doctors, or engineers, can offer in their respective roles.
“Note that this assistance does not involve any illegal or unethical activities. In my personal relationship with her, I have never imposed upon her professional autonomy or attempted to influence her judgment in handling cases or running her office. Such matters are not even discussed in our home.” It would take naivete of the highest order to believe anything we are hearing post facto. I believe both the Senator and Justice have a case to answer, and that this matter is too important to be settled through pronouncements in the media. The case also speaks volumes about our democracy in Nigeria. Separation of powers and judicial independence should be sacrosanct in any worthwhile democracy. There should also be respect for and strict adherence to the rule of law. Without these, we are just playacting because our institutions are weak, ineffectual, and compromised. Nigerians also should realize that the electorate has a responsibility to vote for people who understand their duties, primary of which is respect for the rule of law and diligently representing those who voted for them.
Although Godwin Emefiele was suspended as the Governor of the Central Bank, and he’s now being interrogated by DSS or EFCC (who knows?), as I also said weeks ago, “we are still living with the effects of the currency change and the lack of physical naira it produced continues to make life unbearable for most Nigerians”. The decision to keep the old naira in circulation has eased some of the difficulties for ordinary people, but problems persist. You can’t go to an ATM and withdraw money.
The normalization of insecurity is terrifying. We wait anxiously for the current administration to live up to its promise and curtail it. This does not prevent or ease the deep financial and psychological trauma imposed on victims, survivors, and their families. It is great that the current administration has promised to end insecurity (https://editor.guardian.ng/news/tinubu-directs-military-to-turn-tide-of-insecurity-in-nigeria/). The firing/sacking of the service chiefs is meant to be a response to the insecurity problem, but Nigerians are yet to see the results of these measures and feel their positive impact.
As the meteorological experts warn of impending floods this year, what has happened to past victims and survivors of natural disasters, ethno-religious conflict, and insurgencies? Among them are the internally displaced who have been traumatized materially, psychologically, and existentially. What corrective measures are taken to meet their needs and make them whole? NEMA and the various SEMAs are also unfit for purpose. They must be rigorously overhauled to make them perform the functions for which they were created.
There’s a new Education Act. I doubt that we understand what kind of Pandora’s box we are trying to open with it.
Since we are fond of drawing analogies based on what’s perceived to have worked elsewhere, I’ll reproduce here what I said to friends about the student loan issue. The student loan problem in the US is serious enough that the Biden administration initiated a loan forgiveness scheme (https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/student-loan-statistics/) that is being subjected to partisan pressure from the Republicans, and may ultimately be suspended ad infinitum. Also, higher education remains highly subsidized in the US. Subsidies just to students were high http://(https://www.statista.com/statistics/235334/student-grants-in-the-us/). There’re also subsidies to universities. This is just the Biden administration’s subsidy for historically Black colleges (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/07/fact-sheet-department-of-education-announces-state-by-state-american-rescue-plan-funding-for-colleges-and-universities/). The US government has also historically subsidized research and development (https://www.aaas.org/programs/r-d-budget-and-policy/rd-colleges-and-universities). There’s more evidence of subsidies but the information provided gives you an idea.
Why go the route of student loans in Nigeria, a country where we have rampant unemployment and underemployment plus multidimensional poverty afflicting 133 million people? Why embrace a clearly neoliberal solution for the serious problem of access to education?
There’s as well, a new foreign exchange policy. This is another neoliberal strategy that reminds me of the initiation of SAP in the 1980s when the exchange rate was allowed to float. Instead of eventually leading to both lowered exchange rates, harmonization of all exchange rates, and ultimately, economic growth, nothing that was promised was delivered. Therefore, judging from past experience, as I also said to colleagues, things might get much worse before they ever get better, if at all. The prospects for better results are impeded by our not producing enough exports, our import dependency, and our lack of preparedness to manufacture what we consume.
Nigeria is saddled with weak political institutions, too many millions of out of schoolchildren, teeming populations of unemployed, and underemployed youths, and millions of overworked, underpaid workers. Add these gargantuan problems to infrastructure decay and poor policy implementation, it becomes necessary to worry about how Nigeria could reach its full potential anytime soon.
Among the institutions needing thorough overhaul is INEC, whose performance in the last elections was sub-optimal. Just as the Bulkachuwa case makes one question the integrity of the legislature and judiciary, INEC’s lack of fitness for purpose compromised electoral integrity. As I said in an earlier piece, “honest assessment would indicate that there were troubling electoral malpractices, pockets of violence, and voters not being able to vote because INEC had logistical and technical problems. The Bivalent Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) machines malfunctioned in some polling units”. There were also cases of vote-buying (despite the currency scarcity), voter intimidation, and voter suppression.
I said the following shortly before the elections: “Where is the free and fair elections that Nigerians expect and deserve? What does this situation portend for our fledgling efforts at democratization? Will those who win these elections and those scheduled for March 11 (voting for state governors and local government councilors) do anything they have pledged, promised, and sworn to do to meet the needs of Nigerians? The majority—poor masses, youths, and women, as well as people living with disabilities and ethnic minorities, will bear the brunt of the failures. So will the system that we said we want—democracy”.
EndSARS youth protesters voted in large numbers in the 2023 elections. This was an expression of confidence that it is possible to accomplish good governance, end police brutality, extortion, impunity, economic inequality, marginalization, and political violence, as well as the targeting of youths and other minorities.
Instead of allowing peaceful protests as expected in a democracy, the Nigerian state responded with violence and brutal suppression. Like the youths, most Nigerian voters want to enjoy the dividends of democracy, including a serious commitment by politicians to democratic principles. We need a well-managed economy that can deliver the benefits of economic growth not only to the minority rich but to the majority, the multidimensional poor. We need personal and human security, and the ability to meet basic needs for the majority, not only the minority.
Two years on, and amid the ongoing elections, #Nigeria should remember the great contradiction presented towards democracy by the massacre of peacefully demonstrating youths at #LekkiTollGate & other locations and resolve never to do anything like that again. #NigerianWomenArise #EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeriaNOW #EndSars #EndSWAT #EndImpunity.
Nigerians should consider this statement by Howard Zinn as relevant to building a democratic political system: “Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while, the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.”
I will now repeat my weekly exhortation:
Let the kleptocrats give back our stolen wealth so that we can fix our infrastructure, schools, hospitals, and also offer worthwhile social protection to our people. Let the masses enjoy the full benefits of citizenship in Nigeria. Let the leaders and political class repent and build peace with justice. This is no time for politics as usual. The people elected should be those trusted to bring justice, equity and human security to the entire country, not expedient, unethical, and egocentric individuals determined to dominate for self aggrandizement or sectional gain. We don’t need oligarchs’ continued domination. We also need a government that puts the interests of majority of citizens first.
https://youtu.be/5iTC215xpX8
Prof. Mojúbàolú Olufúnké Okome is a professor of political science at Brooklyn College in New York.
