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Promise Adiele
Those who have read George Orwell’s famed fable “Animal Farm” must be familiar with the character of Boxer, a strong, hardworking horse committed to the principle of animalism. As a beast of burden full of raw strength, Boxer is overtly loyal to the tyrannical tendencies of Napoleon, the autocratic pig who exercises maximum powers in animal farm. Those who have not read the novel, including the sanctimonious, self-indulging upper-class lounger, may not adequately appreciate the interplay of power dynamics in any society especially when a dictator is in charge.
Although Boxer in the novel is portrayed to have little intelligence and susceptibly handicapped in critical reasoning, he demonstrates infinite allegiance to Napoleon’s totalitarian rule on the farm. In fact, Boxer adopts a slogan ‘Napoleon is always right’ which becomes his guiding doctrine throughout the novel until his shameful death. As far as Boxer was concerned, Napoleon could do no wrong. Boxer failed to see Napoleon as a manipulative, scheming, devious, and unconscionable ruler. In the face of misrule, in the face of excruciating poverty and rudderless economic conditions, in the face of the brutal physical and psychological assault on other animals on the farm, Boxer insists that ‘Napoleon is always right’.
Boxer’s disposition above immediately reminds me of the latest statement by Nigeria’s Senate President Ahmad Lawan that any request from His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, is good for Nigeria and will be acted upon ‘expeditiously’. The Senate President was speaking to Itse Sagay, Chairman Presidential Advisory Committee against Corruption. According to the Senate President “I want to assure you that any request that comes from Mr President is a request that will make Nigeria a better place in terms of appointments or legislation”. A bewildered populace listened with heightened tension as the Senate President, the head of the legislature, spewed profanities and passed a vote of unlimited confidence on Mr President, the head of the executive arm of government.
It does not require political expertise to know that Nigeria practices the presidential system of government where the principle of Separation of Powers subsists. While the executive arm of government performs its functions, the legislature acts as a watchdog and vice versa. However, when the head of the legislature summarily endorses the executive in the way Nigeria’s Senate President has done, then Nigerians must have a course to worry. Never in the history of developed democracies have we recorded a case of the legislative arm endorsing the executive arm the way it is done in Nigeria presently. Although many people have inferred that Nigeria’s current legislature is a rubber stamp, those who critically read between the lines have held a contrary opinion but if the latest statement by Nigeria’s Senate President is anything to consider, then the earlier rubber stamp semblance of the legislature should be taken seriously.
Mr Ahmadu Lawan is a good man, he is intelligent and an astute politician. As Nigeria’s Senate President, he has enormous responsibilities on his shoulders to ensure that the interest of over two hundred million people in this country is protected. In the political scheme of things, in the political hierarchy, the Senate President is the number three citizen. He occupies a very sensitive position in Nigeria’s political strata. However, when he makes such statements as credited to him, when he shows no will to protect his office, when he behaves in a way to suggest that he was merely appointed by the executive arm headed by Mr President, then, Nigerians must lose sleep. Ahmadu Lawan’s first responsibility is to Nigerians and not to the executive arm of government. It is therefore unacceptable for him to avow that any request by Mr. President to the national assembly is a fait accompli.
Nigerians may not understand the larger implications of this statement by the Senate President. Nigerians may wave this statement away as a common expression of opinion, but a critical deconstruction of that statement will give a broader meaning to its immediate and remote context. In what ways do we begin to situate the statement? Should we situate it as a hate speech seeing that it arm-strings the entire legislature and provokes a timid ideological transfer? Can we say that by that statement, the head of the legislature has capitulated before the executive arm, surrendering all legislative duties to the President who, with the assurance of the red chamber, can do all things and affect all things? Should we then ask all the elected senators to go home since every request from Mr President is already viewed as being good for Nigeria and will be granted? Does it then mean that Mr President can always make any request to the National Assembly knowing in advance that such requests will be granted? Are we faced with a situation in this country where Mr President is always right? Or should we simply dismiss the statement from the Senate President as a mere Freudian slip?
Going by the statement credited to the Senate President, there is an indication that Nigeria is gradually sliding to the ignominy of a one-party state with all the potential for despotism. If the legislature is crippled to its responsibilities, if the legislature is at the mercy of the executive arm of government, it goes without saying that the principle of checks and balances, a fundamental ingredient of a democratic menu, is dead in Nigeria. Tragically, Nigerians will be led into a blind alley like a hypnotized group, collective victims of paralysis, as if their interests are inconsequential in any political circumstance. Effective governance requires a balance of power where each arm of government is alive to its responsibilities, acting as a check on the other arms of government. In that way, the electorates and the entire populace are sure that power is exercised for their benefit and on their behalf. It is condemnable therefore for the Senate President to wittingly endorse any request from Mr President, the head of the executive arm, even before such request arrives at the Senate.
My crystal ball shows a deliberate but gradual attempt to take Nigerians for granted. I foresee a pathetic situation where the legislature will be at the mercy of the executive arm of government. I foresee a situation where the National Assembly will not be able to raise a voice to protest a request for the extension of the current term of the present administration. Such aberration humiliates and violates our civic beings. It desecrates the arena of popular participation in government and confers a docile, lethargic identity on the populace. ‘Third term’ was popularized by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. However, a responsible Senate stood up to its responsibilities and ensured that ‘third term’ was a mirage. If President Buhari decides to have a ‘third term’, who will stop him? Certainly not the same Senate headed by a man who has already approved all requests by the president in advance. Compatriots, this is the best time to recite the first line of our national anthem because there is an urgent call we must all obey.
Dr Adiele writes from Lagos via [email protected]
