FACING THE HARD FACTS ON THE TAFAWA BALEWA IMBROGLIO A POSITION PAPER BY EMMANUEL DANJUMA SUBILIM BL, MLS, LL.M INTRODUCTION I have been following recent comments on the social media and paid advertorials in response to issues that affect our immediate constituency which indeed grieves me and people of goodwill and a cause for concern. It is often said that evil thrives when good men are silent. The tone and the level of sentimental hatred exhibited in the comments leave much to be desired. It appears we easily forget that we are all indigenes of Tafawa Balewa local government and share a common destiny as far as its developments goes as any other. I commented elsewhere, and will repeat myself here that sentiment is always a poor guide to judgment. I know very well that we are in a new world, where presumably the rights of people, including the right to speak, however untruthfully, short of defamation are respected. HARD FACTS Some of the facts presented in the write-ups and conclusions drawn, of course, are not historical, factual or intellectually sensible. The paid adverts and social media comments succeeded in not only wasting resources and energy that would have been channeled to proper use but ended only in fanning the embers of hatred rather than proffering a solution to the problem on ground. Our so call “political gladiators and sycophants” are taking the hard stand to present them in favorable light in the eyes of those who share their unreasoned sentiments. What we rather need is for all and sundry to present to ourselves a new Tafawa Balewa: where every tribe, religion and group would be accorded equal rights and status; a Tafawa Balewa where religion or tribe, as postulated by some, will not be the basis for one’s acceptability. Indeed, a place where all parts and peoples would be humanely treated and people will live in any place of their choice, freely choose and change their faith without fear of molestation and bombings. I thought that some of the political gladiators, some of whom I highly respect, should be seen to promote and champion the cause of peace and unity of this hallowed enclave. I expect to see leaders who will be our servants not our bosses: who will not ask us to live in shanties while they put up grandiose house(s) in Bauchi or Abuja; who will endure the same kind of suffering as the majority of our population living at Wuro Mayo, Shall or Gwammadaji; who will not preach that some people have royal blood running their veins while others don’t and who will always act in accord with the dictate of their electorate but not some so call power brokers. It is this amount of patriotism, unstinted effort and wisdom we expect our politicians to apply to resolve this personalized and man-made crisis which is daily threatening our collective existence and happiness as a people. While Islam and Christianity have brought progress to the rest of the world, a rabid brand of religious extremism and intolerance is destroying us. We don’t need marabouts or prophets to tell us that no matter what we do; Nigeria will NEVER become a Christian or Islamic nation. It is a pluralistic and heterogeneous nation, it will always be. We either use our differences to create harmony or we mismanage our colourful and dramatic differences to create discord and chaos. All those who have invested their resources in pursuing a political Islamization or political Christianization agenda have wasted such precious resources. It is futile to be pursuing futility. In the Daily Trust of Sunday, 13th March, 2011, Governor Isa Yuguda was quoted as threatening to DESTROY the town Tafawa Balewa and relocate the inhabitants to other parts of the state for peace to reign in the area. I least expect to hear that from a democratically elected governor. I wish to make it clear that in Nigeria the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, but in free countries, the law ought to be king: and there ought to be no other. By implication no king is law in Nigeria but the law is king and there ought to be no other. Until our political office holders accept this reality that it is our constitution that works, and that our great republic is a government of laws and not of men, then, and only then can we be said to have true and credible leaders. Here, the hard fact remains: it is the people that rule. I must say that it appears most of our “leaders” are getting used to the notion that their individual contributions to our cesspool of filthiness, hatred, and indifference, are so insignificant that they cannot be responsible for the chaos we have. I know our “political leaders” have mastered the art of political hypocrisy, pretending to be pursuing peace while using traditional divide-and-rule tactics but that will not solve our present problems. Nobody seems to accept responsibility for our problems, but we blame everyone else. Yet our decadence is so perfect that it could only have been created by consensus. However, if we are capable of masterminding a mess of this magnitude, we must be capable of cleaning it up. Let us stop the blame game for a while and accept both individual and collective responsibility to really fix our local government. If we agree to reject religious rigidity; reconciliation and re-union will bring about the renaissance of Tafawa Balewa. We need not deny the wrongs of the past, what we need is to forgive and focus on the fortunes of a fraternal future. Without any iota of doubt we all know that for the past three years we have been in the season of sorrow and mourning caused by decades of neglect of a sizable segment of our society. It is an open secret to us all that our people are dying in thousand in needless battles and conflicts. Our economy and society are in tatters. Our children are missing out in getting qualitative and functional education. The masses of our people are chained down in dehumanising and grinding poverty while we continue to maintain an endless rift thereby allowing them to remain in a turbulent ocean of penury and squalor. There cannot be peace and harmony where there is wide disparity between the few rich politicians who spend their resources chasing shadows and a multitude of the poor. I know Tafawa Balewa has never been in short supply of politicians scheming and screaming for due and undue advantages. What has been in short supply are patriotic and statesmen who would use their experience and wisdom to give our local government a clear sense of purpose and direction. When leaders become decadent, the youth are bound to become delinquent. I know our people are confused and perplexed; they have become like flock scattered on many hills without a shepherd. This is clear indication of leadership failure. Battles are better fought and won through wisdom and strategy than through inflammable pronouncements and political tantrums. Let me passionately say this, no state can attain its full potential while marginalizing any section of its populace. The demonization, dehumanization and ostracization of other people with different faith, to me, are only a strategy and weapon of exclusion and this does not stop with the sayawas alone. But if only you stop to think for a moment; most religions see adherents of other religions as ‘unbelievers’. Should you kill your so called “unbelievers” today, who knows if they may believe tomorrow and enter paradise with you? Those who go about killing fellow human beings and destroying places of worship, and those encouraging them, are bringing curses and destitution upon themselves and their children. No matter what you think about our anthropological antecedents, the Sayawa population have become more qualitative and have become a strategic asset and ally that an average Hausa/Fulani man need to partner with rather than hate. The bitter truth remains that our local government is now at a crossroad again, may be all we need, if we don’t allow pride and hatred to blind us to the obvious, is another “Aminu Duguryel” as agent not only to rescue it, but also to help take the Local Government to the next level. THE POTENTIAL LEGAL ARGUMENTS In respect of the legal argument that has been the subject of discuss, I am not interested in delving into the facts surrounding the pending court case(s) but just to rationalise the legal authorities so much hammered by some people who assume legal knowledge without necessarily going to law school. I am aware that the matter is subjudice, and therefore careful not to draw absolute conclusions. But for the benefit of my colleagues who may appreciate this and have insisted that I should give a bird eye’s view of the argument I seek to analyse these legal authorities. The often cited case by some of our “pundits” is that of Attorney-General of Abia State & Ors v. Attorney-General of the Federation & Ors (2002) 6 N.W.L.R. (pt. 763) 264. It may interest us to note that the bone of contention or specific issues for determination before the Supreme Court was the competence of the National Assembly to legislate on the Tenure of Local Government Chairmen, and, indeed, on election to Local Government Councils. The argument by one of the leading counsel that the National Assembly could legislate on the tenure of the Local Government Chairmen was out rightly rejected by the Supreme Court. Section 7 of the Constitution did not expressly provide for tenure to be included in State law on Local government, most probably because, this had already been included under the existing law which established the existing local government councils – Local Government (Basic Constitutional and Transitional Provisions) Decree of 1998. Unfortunately that law had been repealed by the Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria (Certain Consequential repeals) Decree, 1999, and it was sought to argue that the National Assembly could legislate on local government as an incidental matter under item 68 of the Exclusive Legislative list. This argument was rejected by the Supreme Court. It was held that the power to establish local government under section 7 of the Constitution also implies the power on the part of the State Legislature to make provision for tenure of the office holders particularly where, in this case, the constitution is silent on tenure. Secondly, under section 4 of the Constitution the State legislature is empowered to make laws on any matter not in the Exclusive Legislative list. Since tenure of local government chairmen was neither in the Exclusive nor Concurrent Legislative lists, it was therefore a residual matter on which the State Legislature is entitled to make law exclusive of the National Assembly. It is my submission that this decision is sound in law. A related issue was the provision for election into local government councils which the National Assembly had made in the Electoral Act 2001, relying erroneously on the Concurrent Legislative List, items 11 and 12 of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution. The Supreme Court also held that the National Assembly could not rely on these items to make provision for Local Government elections, an area which was expressly reserved for the States by virtue of Sections 4, 7 and 8 of the Constitution. In fact I agree entirely with this decision. On the vexed issue of creation of Local Government, Section 8 of the Constitution expressly gives power to a State House of Assembly to create new Local Government Areas under its laws. The procedure is well laid down in the said section 8. Similar powers are also vested in the State Legislature for the purpose of boundary adjustment of any existing Local Government area with the procedure clearly outlined. HOWEVER, in the spirit of cooperative federalism section 8(5) and (6) enacts the involvement of the National Assembly in the process. Under subsection 5 the National Assembly is empowered by an Act to make consequential provisions with respect to the NAMES AND HEADQUARTERS OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA as provided in section 3 and part II of first Schedule to the Constitution. Indeed, this is expressly excluded from the operation of the provision of section 9(2). Section 8(6) enjoins the relevant State Legislature to make adequate returns to the National Assembly to enable it enact the Act as prescribed under section 8(5). It may interest us to know that the existing local governments are listed in the constitution with their headquarters. Very unfortunately, this otherwise simple matter has been unnecessarily, unduly and needlessly politicized. In the case of Attorney General of Lagos State v. Attorney-General of the Federation (2004) 18 N.W.L.R. (pt. 904) 1, President Obasanjo suspended and withheld the constitutionally guaranteed statutory allocation to the Lagos State for its Local Government probably to punish the State for creating additional Local Government Areas. It took the intervention of the Supreme Court to declare the action of the President unconstitutional, illegal, null and void. The Court held that the Lagos State Government has the power to create new Local Government Areas but that the new Local Government Areas will only operate after consequential amendment by the National Assembly of the list of the Local Government Areas in Part I of the First Schedule to the Constitution by virtue of Section 8(5) thereof. It is submitted that it is mandatory on the National Assembly to act under section 8(5) once the State legislature submits adequate returns under section 8(6) unless the exercise by the State is a violation of the Constitution. A lot of my colleagues had cause to submit that a direct amendment of the Constitution to this effect is desirable and advocated. I concur. CONCLUSION In the words of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, quoted from ‘The Citizen’ newspaper of 30-12-1959: “Our diversity may be great, but things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us... Let us forget the differences in our religions and, remembering the common brotherhood before God, dedicate ourselves afresh to the great tasks which lie before us.” The battles that hatred could not win with all the bloodshed, broken bones and shattered lives, love and ideas will win. Our present problems present our credible leaders with the opportunity to prove them and to achieve greatness, if only they can think big and see the big picture and appreciate that the stakes are big. The pertinent question that will continue to linger is why cannot we arise? Let us rise as one to face the task ahead and turn this daunting scene into a new dawn. Our estranged brothers will seek us out soon and we will shake hands once more and say to each other “my fellow brother our nightmare is over.” I am done. Most obliged!
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 05:49:42 +0000