Niger Delta
and
Nigeria’s Presidential and Constitutional Crisis
January 25, 2010
Hon.
Senator David Mark
President
of the Senate
P.M.B 141
Three
Arms Zone
National
Assembly, Abuja
Nigeria
Hon.
Dimeji Bankole
Speaker
of the House of Representatives
Office
of The Speaker
PMB 141
Three Arm Zone
National
Assembly, Abuja
Nigeria
Dear
Mr. President and Mr. Speaker:
We
write this letter to
you on behalf of Urhobo Historical Society, a Nigerian association that
is
particularly interested in the welfare of the Niger Delta and its
constituent
units. We wish to address the ongoing political and constitutional
crisis that
has been provoked by President Umaru Yar’adua’s ill-health and
incapacitation.
It is a crisis that has humbled the country’s image and that has
rapidly
deteriorated into circumstances that seriously put at risk the very
survival of
the Nigerian state. We join with other patriotic Nigerians who have
called on
those who wear the label of leadership of the nation to discharge their
duties
properly, with courage and integrity, and to be ever faithful to the
command of
the constitution of the country. As
Niger Deltans, we are also compelled to
highlight the associated and
unrelenting attack on Niger Deltans
whose rights as citizens of Nigeria
have been challenged by those who willfully violate the
Constitution
because they refuse to accept the simple fact that
Nigerians from the Niger Delta have the same
right, as any of their compatriots from any other region of the
country, to
attain and to occupy any political office in Nigeria, including the
Presidency,
and, should the need arise, the acting presidency.
Why
This Letter Is Addressed to
the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
In
other times, letters that touch on issues as weighty
as the welfare and the survival of the nation
would, of course, be addressed to the President of Nigeria. However, it
is the unusual
absence of the President from his duties that has occasioned the
current crisis;
hence this letter cannot be addressed to him because we do not know
where he is.
Nor can it be addressed to the Vice President who is clearly recognized
by the
Nigerian Constitution as the next in command whenever the President is
absent
from his duties. This is because there is a well-entrenched and
patently
unconstitutional attempt by powerful forces in the nation’s body
politic to willfully
violate the Constitution by preventing the Vice President from assuming
the
reins and responsibilities of the Presidency, in an acting capacity, in
the
absence of the substantive President. In these circumstances, we
address this
letter to you, the two officers whom the Constitution recognizes after
the
President and Vice President, because of your leadership positions in
the
legislative assemblies of the land. In writing to you as the President
of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, it is our hope
and
prayer that as Constitutional officers
of the National Assembly, you will share our concerns and message with
your
colleagues in Nigeria’s dual legislative chambers.
The
Constitutional Problem of the
Absence of
the
President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria from His Office and Duties
There
is probably no other instance of the
misconduct of a Constitutional officer of the Federation that has
attracted as
much attention and concern in Nigeria’s history as the mystery
surrounding the
disappearance of President Umaru Yar’adua from his office and duties
for a
period that now exceeds two months. It will not be said by future
historians
that the Nigerian public kept quiet while their Government fiddled with
the
issues of the President’s health and the requirement that he should
protect
Nigeria’s welfare by transferring power to his deputy before embarking
on a medical
treatment that might incapacitate him. The spectacle to which the
Nigerian
population has been treated is one in which the actions of government
officers
appear principally motivated, not by the common good of all Nigerians,
but
by a seemingly all-consuming desire to
exalt personal gain and secure sectional benefit from the unfortunate
circumstances of the President’s ill-health. A straightforward
constitutional
matter has now degenerated into a major national and international
crisis that
has humiliated Nigeria at every turn.
Legally
and constitutionally, the requirement that
the President shall hand over the
duties of his office to his deputy in the event that he will undergo
incapacitating medical treatment seems clear from the much-quoted
Section 145
of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. What
has not been equally emphasized in the public outcry over President
Yar’adua’s
failure to act according to the terms of the Constitution in this
regard is the
underlying reason why this Constitutional provision is important and
necessary.
It is a provision that is embodied in the constitutions and
conventional practices
of many countries all over the world, including those that are commonly
considered the most mature ones. The master reason for demanding that,
in
circumstances in which they will be unfit to govern temporarily in
their
nations, executive heads of states and heads of governments should hand
over
their responsibilities to designated deputies has to do with the
welfare of the
nation to which they are expected to devote their time for as long as
they
serve in such offices. This rule, whether constitutionally empowered as
in
Nigeria or enforced by custom and conventional practice, is not for the
comfort
and discretion of the heads of states. It is for the protection of the
welfare
of the countries and the nations that they are sworn to serve. That is
why
President Yar’adua’s disregard of this provision of the Constitution
represents
utter contempt for the people of Nigeria whose welfare he swore to
protect and
promote.
We
note that before the incident of the President’s
breach of this provision of the Constitution on November 23, 2009,
which has
resulted in his prolonged disappearance from the Nigerian public,
President
Yar’adua had absented himself several times from his office and his
duties
without obeying the Constitution’s command that he should hand over his
duties to
his Vice President for temporary governance of the nation’s affairs. At
no time
on those previous occasions did the National Assembly query the
unconstitutional
absence of the President from his duties. We believe that in so failing
to
protect the Constitution from abuse by the President, the chambers of
the National
Assembly abdicated their sworn duties to the Nigerian people and served
them
poorly.
High-Profile
Disregard of the Constitution and the Law
and
the Growing Culture of Impunity in Nigeria
We
would like to canvass the view that such
high-profile disregard for the Constitution and the law as the
President and
the National Assembly have shown does breed its own ill-consequences.
This is so
because these Constitutional officers are imitated by other officials
and
actors, including the young, who therefore feel encouraged and
empowered to
disregard the law. During the decades of military rule, Nigeria’s heads
of
governments acted as if they were above the law. The whole point of
Constitutional rule was to over-ride those ugly years of Nigerian
history.
Sadly, the behaviours of President Yar’adua and the National Assembly
amply
remind us that the bad ugly old days of disrespect for the Constitution
and the
law continue. This pattern of behaviours breeds and encourages bad
practices
outside Abuja. Indeed, there is a growing culture of impunity in
Nigeria which
conveys the clear message to some protected individuals and communities
that they
will not be punished if they willfully violate the laws of the land.
The most
alarming instance of this culture of impunity was recently outlined by
a writer
in saharareporters.com (Sunday, 27 December 2009). Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
writes:
“In the four decades since the [civil] war, there had been perennial
[religious]
massacres . . . in the North. Over 40 incidents had happened, some
small, some
large. Meanwhile, nobody had ever been arrested, prosecuted or jailed
for any
of the killings.”
The
nasty orgies of annual rituals of religious
mayhem and massacres in many states in Northern Nigerian feed from such
a culture
of impunity and pose an existential threat to the Nigerian state. Until
there
is a strong demonstration by the highest Constitutional officers of the
nation
that they too are subject to Nigeria’s Constitution and her laws, it is
probably wise to expect that these domestic religious upheavals will
turn into
domestic terrorism that will overwhelm Nigeria’s political structures.
The
President’s Health and the Nation’s Security and Its National Secrets
When
a mature nation has a new president or a new
head of government, he goes through rituals which transform him from an
ordinary
citizen into what might rightly be termed a super-citizen.
He is empowered and invested with his nations’ topmost secrets and
security
apparatuses. These secrets and security systems may well be matters of
the
existential provenance of his nation. They may be matters of life and
death for
the entire population of the nation that he governs. The president or
prime
minister is usually in control of the secret services of his country
because
they are vital for the survival of the modern nation-state.
Usually,
as a tradeoff, the movements and daily
routines of the president or head of government become restricted. He
cannot be
available unprotected to agents of foreign governments. Even in
circumstances
of ill-health, the nation’s secret services will make sure that the
president
or prime minister is not in vulnerable circumstances that will endanger
the
nation’s secrets and security systems. The matter of the medical
treatment of
the president or prime minister of a mature nation is not simply a
family issue
in which his wife and family have the final word. Even on his sick-bed,
the
president or prime minister cannot escape his national security and
secret
service operatives. In addition to such a national secret service
necessity, the
president or prime minister of a mature nation
has his own personal physician and, if necessary,
a medical team that are fully paid for by his
country. Such specialized medical personnel are expected to travel with
the
president wherever he goes and to be available for his medical welfare
at all
times. In many mature countries, this protocol applies to past
presidents and
prime ministers who on previous occasions kept their nations’ top
secrets.
It
is in the light of these international norms and practices
that we must question what has happened to Nigeria’s national secrets
and
security systems that were in the custody of President Umaru Yar’adua.
It is
now well known that he has not been available to Nigerian Government
officials
for months now. From the pronouncements of officials of the Government
in
Abuja, including members of the National Assembly, President Yar’adua
is not
under the complete watch of Nigeria’s secret service. Which
Constitutional
Officer is now in charge of the nation’s secrets and security system?
Since President
Yar’adua’s so-called “kitchen cabinet” has effectively blocked Vice
President Goodluck
Jonathan from acting in place of the President, we should assume that
the
security systems of the nation as well as our top secrets are not under
his
control.
What
we all learn from various spokespersons of the
Federal Government of Nigeria is that our President is entirely under
the care
of a foreign government. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is solely and
wholly in
charge of the welfare of the President of Nigeria. Indeed, some
officials of
Nigeria suggested that Nigeria should approach the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia for
a statement about our President’s whereabouts and about his health. It
is
entirely possible that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now privy to
whatever
Nigerian secrets and security systems President Umaru Yar’adua knows or
once
knew. Nigerian officials have no way of knowing whether the President’s
medication includes medicines that will help him to volunteer the truth
to the
officials of a foreign government. Even if there are secret pacts that
have
farmed out Nigerian secret services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,
this is not
a matter about which patriotic Nigerians should be nonchalant. Apart
from these
concerns on security matters, the nation is entitled to be informed
about the
status of President’s personal physician and his team of doctors and
medical
staff who are paid for by the Nigerian people to take care of the
President. Is
it the case that the National Assembly forgot about the President’s
medical
team or is it just possible that they were barred from the presence of
the
President while he stays in the custody of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
The
nation deserves answers to these questions.
On
behalf of the
Nigerian people, we must ask the President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the
House of Representatives a straightforward question: Can you assure
Nigerians
that Nigeria’s top secrets and her security systems have not been
compromised
in the course of President Umaru Yar’adua’s unconstitutional absence
from
Nigeria while in the care and custody of a foreign government?
Niger
Delta and Nigeria’s Presidency
Nigerians
from the Niger Delta are patriotic people
who have contributed in disproportionate measures to the development
and
reputation of their nation. They have produced scholars of note and
have
otherwise contributed to the growth of Nigerian and African academia.
They have
worked very hard in all ways in the public sector and in private
vocations.
They have contributed to Nigeria’s arts, sports, and culture in
immeasurable
ways. In economic matters, they are second to none in their
contribution to
Nigeria’s welfare. They have shared their natural assets, particularly
their petroleum
mineral oil resources, with the rest of the country, even as successive
Nigerian governments have abused and exploited the region as if it were
a
disinherited colonial post in a far away land.
Indeed, without the oil wealth of the Niger Delta, Abuja,
Nigeria’s
capital territory, could not have been built, and the Nigerian state
would
today be bankrupt and fiscally unable to function.
Put simply, without the oil wealth of the
Niger Delta, Nigeria would be a failed state.
In view of these substantial contributions, we, like other
patriotic
Nigerians, are sorely worried about the misrule that has brought our
country to
her knees. Our current circumstances bring pain to all of those
Nigerians who
truly care about the future of the country – especially if they have
worked
hard for what they hoped would be a good future.
However,
there is an
additional source of pain for Niger Deltans. A section of the nation is
telling
us that, in spite of our contributions, we are not fit to serve in
certain leadership
positions. Let the point be fully stated. Those who have violated the
Constitution in the matter of the President’s ill-health and his
incapacitation
by preventing the Vice President to act in a temporary period as
President are
not unintelligent people. On the contrary, the President, his “kitchen
cabinet,” and the leadership and members of the National Assembly fully
understand the meaning of the Constitution and are aware that the
Constitution plainly
directs that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan should be the Acting
President.
The question that should be posed to those who oppose his assumption of
the
duties which the Constitution commands are now his to discharge, is not
whether
they understand the Constitution, because they do. The question,
rather, is
more pungent: Why, despite their clear
understanding of the Constitution, have they
decided to willfully violate it? Obviously, they have made the
political calculation that it is more profitable to disobey the law and
obstruct
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan from becoming Acting President than to
obey
the law and allow a Niger Deltan to take that position. This is a piece
of
logic that is unacceptable to Niger Deltans. For the good of the
country, we demand
that those who are responsible for this crisis must take steps now to
end it
before it becomes too late to pull back from the abyss.
We
are aware that there
are allegations that youth restiveness in the Niger Delta is a national
problem. Perhaps we should state that our youths are some of the most
hard-working people in the country. Government policies have caused
mass
unemployment in a region where young men and women love to work. We are
convinced that with proper policies the problem of youth restiveness in
the
Niger Delta will resolve itself. Meanwhile, the nation is running away
from the
far more serious problems of sectarian and religious divisions that we
have
reason to believe are fuelled and financed from outside Nigeria. These
religious cleavages have resulted in tens of thousands of deaths with
no clear
plans to curb those who instigate them. We in the Niger Delta have not
declared
that the leaders of the Northern states in which these mayhems occur
are
thereby disqualified from the Presidency of Nigeria. We therefore very
much
resent it when it is suggested that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a
Niger
Deltan, should not be the Acting President because some of the youths
of the
Niger Delta are restive.
Niger
Deltans believe that Vice President Goodluck
Jonathan is fully qualified to be an Acting President or the President
of
Nigeria. We pray for him and for the quick recovery of President Umaru
Yar’adua.
May
God Save the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Sincerely,
Editorial
and Management Committee, UHS:
Peter
P. Ekeh, Ph.D., Chairman
Isaac
James Mowoe, Ph.D.,
J.D., Deputy Chairman
Onoawarie
Edevbie, M.A.,
M.Sc., Secretary
Joseph
O. Asagba, Ph.D.
Edirin
Erhiaganoma, M.Sc
Joseph
E. Inikori, Ph.D.
Francis
Odemerho, Ph.D.
Omokere
E. Odje, Ph.D.
Emmanuel
Ojameruaye, Ph.D.
Aruegodore
Oyiborhoro,
Ed.D.
Ufuoma
Scott, LLB, BL
Ajovi
Scott-Emuakpor,
M.D., Ph.D.
January
25, 2010