KWENU: Our Culture, Our Future

'We’ll overcome the bedlam if we persevere' (1)

ACHO ORABUCHI

Dallas, Texas, USA

aorabuchi@netzero.net

Saturday,  January 20, 2007

The content of my New Year message seems to resonate precipitously as Nigerians are preoccupied with 2007 electioneering. The excerpts:

Fellow Nigerians, the dawn of 2007 is here with inestimable promises for our country, Nigeria. I sincerely hope we’ll not squander the opportunity the year presents to us. I can truly admire the galaxies of hope awaiting all of us. However, we must double our efforts and rearrange our priorities. It’s time we started tackling important issues constructively. Inertia and apathy should give way to synergy, which is our best philosophical construct to help in nation-building.

In my New Year Message in 2006, I touched on various pertinent issues facing Nigeria. Among the issues I discussed with you were Electoral Process, Diaspora Voting Rights Bill, Security, Education, Census, Lack of Federal Character Principle, Poverty, Poor Healthcare System, et cetera. These issues and others like them are more pressing in the country today than ever because of the dynamics of global competitiveness, particularly when Nigeria is aiming to be one the 20 largest economies in the near future. Though the issues were discussed last year, yet they are still relevant today because of lack of sustained progress. We cannot escape the reality of being one of the poorest countries in the world amid plenty of resources.

Even in the midst of lackluster performance in some areas, I am still hopeful and I encourage you to enter this New Year with a great optimism and abundance of courage. As a result, I beseech you to remain focused to see that the issues are addressed fully and never capitulate in trepidation and hopelessness. We cannot afford to be overtaken by the past failures and disappointments. We must continue to stay the course!

Consequently, with utmost respect and humility, it is my onus, however, to bring to your attention that 2007, no matter how promising it may be, will be filled with enormous challenges and hope. Therefore, your resolve and perseverance could not have been more desired at this time. There is a gamut of issues that will put the resolve of our young democracy to test. Issues like 2007 elections, resource control, security, rule of law, poverty, unemployment, corruption, inequality in the distribution of wealth, and other issues that have the potential to destabilize Nigeria and send its nascent democracy to ultimate demise. Unfortunately, some politicians have cleverly resisted the necessary reforms that would have helped to alleviate the scourges of marginalization, poverty and hunger, poor healthcare system, high unemployment, pervasive corruption, and a host of other pertinent issues inimical to social and economic growth. It’s a travesty! While the western countries are eagerly monitoring the developments in Nigeria, many Nigerians are drawing a disappointing conclusion of the country call Nigeria. I am of the opinion that if the politicians do not reverse course, they will be held responsible for destroying the nation. However, we have to work selflessly and collectively to help our nation, Nigeria. The daunted task for us to perform for our country requires enormous personal sacrifice. I’m hopeful that most of us would answer the call. There issues we have to persistently tackle in the process of democratizing Nigeria.

Political Stability

It’s imperative that Nigeria maintains political stability by its continuous democratization process. However, the current political climate has been over heated with plots and counter-plots of impeachment and other alleged undemocratic actions in and around the country. This is not what our country needs at this time. Though democracy thrives in the presence of competing ideas, democratic structures are cemented when rule of law is strongly maintained. I advise the leaders of the country to drop any impeachment ideas of the president because such process or mere mention of it has the potential to trigger enormous chaos in the country. As Nigeria is in the eyes of the world, this is the time to focus on ways to ensure credible elections. We have made progress and the country will continue to make progress in strengthening its democratic culture and structures. As a result, we must avoid any incendiary actions that have the tendency to turn the country backwards.

National Unity & Residency Rights

National unity is paramount. However, to facilitate national unity, there must be a structural overhaul of the system whereby true federalism would flourish. One way to start is to have the National Assembly enact immediately the necessary legislations to extend residency rights to all Nigerians in any state in which they have established viable businesses or have been domiciled for a minimum of six (6) continuous calendar months. If there is an existing law in the books that grants Residency Rights to all citizens, it is incumbent upon the federal government to strengthen and enforce it. If there is a Residency Right Law already in the books, it is the moral and constitutional responsibility of the local, state, and federal governments to ensure that citizens of Nigeria are aware of the law. All citizens should have the right of employment at any level of government--local, state, and federal--in the state they have established residence.

The Residency Rights would minimize the impact of ethnic and incendiary politics. The Residency Rights legislation would allow individuals to run for any political office in their state of residence. It would give individuals the right to hold jobs, vote, run for and hold any office at any level of the government in their state of residence. To feel united, Nigeria should be able to guarantee her citizens equal rights and equal opportunity regardless of their ethnic background or state of origin. The rights and security of every citizen should be protected at all times in order for democracy to thrive in Nigeria. Also, the right to own property in any part of the federation should be an alienable right of every citizen of Nigeria. Constant dislocation of economic activities of citizens of Nigeria is one of the factors that impede economic growth and exacerbate disunity, coupled with increased agitation for ethnic rights. It is widely known that ethnic politics tends to create an incendiary political atmosphere thereby making it impossible for some to focus on sound ideology for direction. One of the factors that inhibit economic development is ethnic politics. The Residency Rights legislations would help solve some of the problems posed by ethnic politics.