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