The Politics of Succession
Published by toyin on Tagged Corruption, Counsel, Governannce, Nigeria, Wisdom
President Umar Musa Yar’Adua is currently indisposed due to ill health. This much we know. What we do not know however is the plan of those hawks in the corridors of power to put the Constitution of the Federal Republic first or otherwise above their personal interest and palpable thirst for power. The next three days is very crucial in regard to this as the swearing in of the new Chief Justice of the Nation would become due by January 1, 2010. Similarly, the Supplementary Budget awaits the signature of the President. A lot is therefore hanging in the balance even if our leaders want us to think otherwise.
Having been made to queue for fuel for the past two weeks and with contrasting news coming from NNPC and major marketers, Nigerians at least expect some form of cooperation within government to resolve the issue. In saner climes, officials would have been resigning now but not here. To make matters worse, the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan instructed Rilwan Lukman, the minister of petroleum to cancel his holidays and stay around to resolve the crisis only for the man to jet to Austria for a meeting he claims has already been scheduled. Could he have disobeyed President Yar’Adua instruction like that?This is the most glaring evidence yet that no one is in charge in Aso Rock and the man that is supposed to be in control is at the mercy of a few power mongers who are hell bent on wresting the government from him at all cost. Throw into the hat our notorious penchant for trivializing issues on the altars of religious and ethnic sentiments; the full picture of what’s going on in Abuja begins to take shape.
A northern socio-political group, Arewa Consultative Forum made assertions to the relevant sections of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 concerning the transfer of power between the President and his Vice if there’s need for it. The organization accepts the fact that for the nation to avoid a systemic collapse of government, President Yar’Adua must write the National Assembly to notify them that he’s on medical vacation and as such full powers be conferred on the Vice President to assume the mantle of leadership until the President gets better. This is the honourable and constitutional path.
The reverse is the case being put forward by another northern group, the Northern Union that the PDP must respect the ‘agreement’ of power rotation between the South and the North contrary to the letters and the spirit of the Constitution. To this group, the continuation of a ‘Northern Presidency’ is sacrosanct not minding what this would entail for the country and the reality on the ground concerning the position of the vice president.
There are also comments making the round that the AGF wrote a letter purported to have been sent to Saudi Arabia for the President’s signature directing the VP to assume the control of government. This, according to newspapers reports was declined by the cerebral Jonathan who thought it wise to ignore such an instruction. The AGF first denied the report but later acceded to its veracity claiming he did it to avert impending constitutional crisis
All said and done, the truth of the matter is that there’s a powerful clique in Aso Rock that’s not comfortable with the VP and is bent on frustrating a normal constitutional process to secure their positions. But they are obviously oblivious of the interest of Nigerians or do not care at all. If not, how does one explain this unnecessary delay in doing what’s right and moving the country forward in the process? It is even more disheartening to know that these are people pretending to love the President while all they are interested in is keeping their positions.
But through history, there’s has never been the continual or perpetual existence of oppressive or insensitive elites in government. The collapse of the Shah regime in Iran through the Islamic Revolution of the Ayatollah and the current impasse of the June 12 elections in that country is a clear indication of what could happen when people become fed up with poor and corrupt government. Surely, Nigeria, at the rate she’s been driven cannot be too far from social uprising.
The only way out of this quagmire is to do the right thing for once and show the rest of the world that indeed we are a people destined for greatness. Enough of sycophancy, greed, corruption and inordinate ambition to rule at all cost. Our current political gladiators must look back to the very recent past and learn from the things that took place then. This is the time to display statesmanship and pull the nation back from this brink. Our politicians must not by their actions invite the military back into government and thereby derail our democracy again.
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