Uneasy lies the head It is said – Of he who wears The crown - or so pretends In case you need proof Look no further than The present occupant Of Aso Drive, Mr. Aloof Excuse me, Can you be more specific? Come on, you know who I mean Who else, but Him However, in case you Still feign ignorance It is none other than Mr. Bu . . . (you know who) Why does he always seem To be on the spot Perpetually, constantly – Despite his best efforts? Having coasted to office On the strength of Tremendous public goodwill – and belief That he is a Messiah of sorts The last five and a half Or so years Have left him gasping for breath In terms of his performance Many (including his base) – The Core North Have written him off And lost faith With his opponents, He fares even worse Because, to them, He has put every foot wrong But, by far his greatest undoing Has been the rampant insecurity Never the best – even at the best of times Under him, its scale simply boggles the mind From North, South, East & West The cry has been: “Nigeria is not well”; “The country is sick” Who will heal it? Nay, deliver it – From its amalgam of threats: Cyber-criminals, armed robbers, bandits Herdsmen, kidnappers and insurgents Seldom, it seems Has Nigeria been so gripped By a seemingly endless Wave of casual, random violence Sometimes State-sponsored (As epitomized by SARS) But, more commonly by non-State actors So-called terrorists and organized criminal gangs Operating with brazen impunity In the face of weak and compromised Institutions of State Authority Who will stem the tide? Is it the political class? Ordinary folks tried it with #EndSARS With mixed results Perhaps, the Legislature? And, why not – After all, they are The people’s agents, the law-makers Accordingly, in their wisdom They resolved to summon The President – or to invite him Whatever – the difference is mere legalese Will he come or not? Having initially indicated His readiness/willingness To honour the invite His Chief Law Officer thought otherwise Trust our people That was all they needed To volunteer different points of view Both learned and unlearned Overnight, every Nigerian Became an expert In constitutional law Sometimes leaving the real experts lost In the ensuing confusion Few seemed to recall A similar scenario Not too long ago When there was a public clamour For the President to address the nation Unfortunately, when he eventually did It was somewhat underwhelming So, two months on Has anything happened to change the man Nothing, at least, that I can think of Therefore, the problem must be our amnesia However, beyond the legal – Or even moral Imperative of a Presidential Dialogue With the Legislature Isn’t it high time We asked ourselves: “Aren’t we, by now, used to Mr. President’s style”? Isn’t it pointless to expect him to be different – From the man We have come to know Or loathe – (If you are no fan)? To be honest, if we must Correctly decode his ambivalence At the Parliamentarians’ request We should first pose a few questions Are the constitutional guarantees Of freedom of speech Association and the doctrine Of separation of powers applicable to him? Is the President really bound - willy nilly To interface with the Legislature In the circumstances? Does the Constitution really impose that obligation? If a court’s writ May not be served on him Can he really be at the beck And call of the 3rd arm of Government? Of what use is his presumed immunity If he cannot decline – albeit politely A move away from his comfort zone Into ‘uncharted’ territory – parts ‘unknown’? More pointedly, is there any sanction Attached to his declining the summons? In other words, Is it merely binding in honour? Short of prescribing Or condoning Arrogance – either Presidential Or by any other Branch I believe The title of this piece Best sums up Mr. President’s disposition
Written by Abubakar D. Sani, Esq, 08034533892
