A new constitution? Of course not!

Success is generally the result of good reasoning while failure is the result of poor reasoning. A classic example of poor reasoning is the story of the Titanic, a ship which at the time was the biggest in the world. Titanic sank causing thousands to lose their lives quite unnecessarily. Design engineers reasoned that since […]

Success is generally the result of good reasoning while failure is the result of poor reasoning. A classic example of poor reasoning is the story of the Titanic, a ship which at the time was the biggest in the world. Titanic sank causing thousands to lose their lives quite unnecessarily. Design engineers reasoned that since it was “virtually impossible” for the ship to sink, they didn’t require lifeboats for all the passengers.
The few that were installed were not even tested because no one thought they would ever be used! When the ship sank, it took hours to finally submerge, and people had to wait patiently to meet their deaths in the cold seas. The story is so legendary that every avoidable disaster is now classified as a “titanic” failure. As Nigeria fast descends into the realms of titanic failure we must reflect upon the poor reasoning that has led us to this sorry state of affairs. The just concluded “national conference” is a perfect example. It is common knowledge that our problems are caused by incompetent and selfish leaders. At the 11th annual Daily Trust Dialogue entitled “Incumbency and Impunity in Politics Safeguarding our Democracy Beyond 2015” Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu correctly asserted that impunity within the Nigerian polity can’t be stopped by enacting more laws because the problem isn’t a lack of laws, but our inability to enforce them. All our past leaders were guilty of failure to obey the rule of law and provisions of the Constitution. The present administration has surpassed all other civilian governments in this regard and would be well advised to reflect on how many times they have been guilty of constitutional breaches. Why should they think that those coming after them will have any respect for the document they are about to lumber us with? Before continuing another fruitless journey, we must be quite clear as to whether a new constitution will solve our problems or not. For example our inalienable right to know the truth has been consistently frustrated by probe reports being kept secret with no plan to ever make them public. Will the new constitution force government to publish all indicting reports and take appropriate action to forestall future occurrences of the same acts? Of course not! Corruption is our biggest problem yet because of incompetent prosecution, judicial orders restraining prosecutors, and presidential pardons corrupt former political office holders walk free.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Attorney-General are to blame for failing to ensure exemplary jail terms for offenders, but will the new constitution outlaw presidential pardons for convicted treasury looters? Of course not! Extra-budgetary expenditure, cash disappearances running into billions and budgetary underperformance, are regular occurrences. Illegal spending from the 3% Natural Resources Fund, 1.46% Derivation and Ecological Account and 0.72% Stabilization Account is commonplace.  The Senate Public Accounts Committee reported that these accounts have been grossly abused by all Presidents. Will the new constitution criminalize presidents who use special funds for illegal purposes? Of course not! Successive administrations have treated the budget as a mere formality with no bearing on their real planned expenditure. Will the new constitution order the impeachment of presidents who spend billions without budgetary provisions? Of course not! Will the new constitution prevent legislators from accepting bribes for oversight functions, selling themselves government property at scandalous prices, or approving ridiculous allowances and fringe benefits for themselves? Of course not! Unelected first ladies are becoming more high profile, influential and active in political affairs exercising control over speech writing, appointments, campaigning and billions in unaudited funds for “pet projects”. Will the new constitution outlaw the “office of first lady”?
Of course not! Our political class believes in democracy only to the extent to which it serves their selfish purposes. Despite widespread poverty our legislators are amongst the highest paid in the world and economists are seriously concerned over the squandering of huge sums that could and should be used to develop infrastructure and stimulate the economy. It’s quite clear that the payments are unjustifiable, but will the new constitution reduce the cost of governance? Of course not! While the rest of the world concentrates on making savings in public administration costs, a quite silly provision of the new constitution requires the creation of 18 more states. It is indefensible to ask Nigerians to bear the cost of additional five hundred or more politicians who will be “employed” as governors, deputy governors, Senators, Members of the House of Representatives, commissioners, special advisers, senior special assistants, and members of state houses of assembly.
When the cost of constructing new government houses, legislative quarters, secretariats, and fleets of motor vehicles is added to their salaries and perks, it should be obvious that the cost of administering a land mass which – with the concession of Bakassi – has actually reduced, will be incremented by billions! More than 50 years after independence, living peacefully in Nigeria has become an elusive dream because poverty, lawlessness, income inequality, unemployment, executive impunity, collapsed infrastructure, and a failed inappropriate educational system, have all combined to increase the hardships experienced by citizens and the level of insecurity. Nigerians continuously complain of political marginalization. Will the 54 states of the new constitution make them less marginalized than 774 local governments? Of course not! Can any of these problems be addressed through a document compiled by unelected delegates who arrogated to themselves the job of our elected legislature? Of course not! Just like the passengers in the titanic all we can do is wait helplessly for the end to come.