Lessons from the trenches

I hope that labour and civil society have only made a retreat in the manner of the proverbial he-goat taking a back step. Organised labour must remember that comrades and cadres were killed, tried and sentenced by kangaroo courts, harassed and detained by agents of coercion – those who displayed unparalleled impotence in the face […]

I hope that labour and civil society have only made a retreat in the manner of the proverbial he-goat taking a back step. Organised labour must remember that comrades and cadres were killed, tried and sentenced by kangaroo courts, harassed and detained by agents of coercion – those who displayed unparalleled impotence in the face of threats to national security are suddenly efficient in deploying against unarmed and largely peaceful citizen-protesters. Labour and civil society must put the acknowledgment of these sacrifices on the encore agenda. Unconditional release of those who are detained, compensation for those who were killed or battered is enough platforms for a re-match. The earlier we start talking about these issues, the better before the tempo and momentum die down.

Joining the Occupy Movement was the signal that this government was waiting for to unleash its mad dogs on citizens demanding to take back their sovereignty. The so-called subsidy withdrawal is nothing but another straw on an overburdened horse. It is not the main reason why the system needs an overhaul. The real reason why the system needs an overhaul goes beyond a triple somersault of the prices of goods and services as a result of increment in the pump price of petrol. There is no doubt that the political system is skewed against the people.

The presidential copy imported from America is a fake xerox bearing only peripheral semblance to the original. A system in which 469 legislators; 40 ministers; 36 governors guzzle up 80 per cent of the national cake in a country of 170 million is numerically skewed against the majority – it is not a democracy. A country that invests too much power in one drunk executive invites him to play God. No mortal should be allowed to play God.

Nigerians need to re-assert their hope in democracy by demanding a referendum on what model is politically relevant and economically viable. The current system is not. It is evident that the people are speaking from creeks through the Sahel and from swamps through the beachfront to the Savannah that the bi-cameral system is a monumental economic waste without commensurate socio-economic gain. A unicameral legislature in which parliamentarians are rallied as and when necessary would be less cumbersome and more adaptable.

But wait a minute, isn’t this like flipping through the conclusion of a textbook before reading the preamble? Truth is that legislating at the national level should be seen as national service, not a gateway to a major employment or a means to joining the billionaire’s club. It should stand to reason therefore, that people who aspire for that position should not be paid anything higher than the national minimum wage, nor should allowances be more than what is offered in to officers commensurate with that position in federal civil service. If we can accept this, we would only draw people who want to render service and not political jobbers using it as an entry-level position to join the gravy train.

The past week has also seen ‘revelations’ at the House probe on the so-called subsidy. There is absolutely nothing that would come out from that probe that Nigerians do not already know is there. What more, this attention-grabbing probe is a revelation but not the apocalypse. Succinctly, nothing will come out of it and we all know that.

The puppets pulling the strings of our national comedy of errors have been very busy lately. Shortly after our loudmouth president declared that his government is run by Boko Haram, from the presidency to downwards, the signs are obvious. Since Boko Haram does not operate from the creeks of the Niger-Delta, we could take that disclosure to the bank. And shortly after he cowed legitimate protesters from the streets, a fake Boko Haram kingpin escapes from custody of the police. And the wolf has been huffing and puffing against his dog-catcher to do something or else… We all have heard that before and we know that it would all go with time in what Fela calls the underground spiritual game.

Which of the so-called service chiefs today deserves the pips on their epaulets by reason of performance. The combined force of local and borrowed foreign intelligentsia has not made anyone safer under the Jonathan presidency. It is doubtful if it will perform differently anytime soon. Talk is cheaper than a litre of petrol during the occupation. Justice Belgore is a man who is well respected in this country, I hope he learns to return home to Ilorin where he is revered as a man of letters to write more memoirs. If those claiming to have been elected cannot see through the maze of corruption in PPPRA and NNPC under their noses, I don’t see how this retired justice could waddle through the mud without staining his garment of honour. Without a doubt, in sha Allah, next week, we will stand back and hear what our readers have written.