Ben Nwabueze Letter to President Goodluck Jonathan : What manner of a letter !!! Last week, Professor Ben Nwabueze, the eminent constitutional lawyer, addressed a press conference in Enugu during which he revealed that he had just addressed a letter dated 6th January 2014 to President Goodluck Jonathan, on the proposed national conference and on the 2015 elections. Ordinarily, a letter to the president by an eminent and patriotic Nigerian would not have attracted more than a cursory interest, except that the nation has just entered an “era of letters”, kicked off by ex-President Obasanjo. And one of the latest from this legal mind should create an interest of its own. According to Prof. Nwabueze, his letter was by a little-known group which styled itself as “Concerned Igbo Leaders of Thought” and it claimed to be stating the stand of Ndigbo on two very crucial issues in the polity. First, the letter complained about the methodology and dynamics of the proposed national conference, as Nwabueze and his group were urging the president to disregard the prescription of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) and should, therefore, not “…convene the proposed national conference using his inherent powers as enshrined in section 5 of the 1999 Constitution”, as according to Nwabueze and his group; doing so would lead to anarchys. The second subject of the letter, which Nwabueze and his group titled: “The position of the Igbo Nation on the National Conference, the renegotiated constitution of Nigeria”, was that President Jonathan should not contemplate contesting the 2015 election, as according to them, “… the day you announce to Nigerians that you are not going to stand for election in 2015, you become a great hero. You cannot combine these two things–the mobilization for national conference which is aimed at national transformation and 2015 general elections…” He reiterated that he had consistently expressed the same views under the aegis of The Patriot group to which he belongs with some other eminent Nigerians from different parts of the country, both in a memo the group had submitted to the president as well as other public fora. Before I proceed, it is important to note that Prof. Nwabueze is not the only person, nor is his group the only one, to have differed or voiced reservations on the proposed national conference. In fact, the naysayers to the confab have been legion. Many prominent politicians like Senator Bola Tinubu and indeed, his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) have expressed very strong reservations, describing the proposed conference as diversionary. This humble writer, in three articles over the past 18 months, had also insisted that there can be nothing to be gained from the conference but a further bedlam of voices over the issues of the polity. It has been my humble submission that the best way to solve most of the nagging issues that are bothering us in Nigeria would be to enthrone good governance and the respect and full observance of the rule of law. However, no matter how cogent the opinions of some of us over the issue of the proposed national conference might be, the truth is that the confab enjoys the support and acclaim of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, who believe that it would provide the panacea to most of the ills plaguing the country today. No matter how much we, on the minority side of the argument might demur on such unguarded sense of optimism, we are bound to support and abide with the wish of the majority. That is what democracy has always been – the dictatorship of the majority. Also in the spirit of the doctrine of collective responsibility, the minority is bound to support and not work against the decision of the majority. By the virtue of his calling, experience and origin, Professor Nwabueze should have understood that his current undertakings, epitomized through that letter he advertised is nothing short of mischief. None has the right to instruct the eminent lawyer from holding views and canvassing them, but at his level, he should have made sure that his actions should not cause the type of offence it is currently causing in many quarters, especially among Ndigbo. Nwabueze has, for several years, been at the centre of Igbo affairs, as one of the founding fathers of Ohanaeze-Ndigbo, the apex leadership and umbrella organization of Igbo people. As the Secretary General of the Ohanaeze for nearly 20 years, he was one of the people who positioned the organization to its current apex status. He, better than most people, should understand that Ndigbo, being oneof the most democratic people on the globe from history, tolerates multiplicity of voices and viewpoints and that accounts for the numerous groups and interests which today canvass for different types in the polity. He also knows that this multiplicity never equates to anarchy. Everybody knows that while different people and groups are allowed to speak out as they please; it is never known that any of those groups or persons could ever arrogate to themselves the right to speak or hold opinions on any issues on behalf of all Ndigbo without the adequate authority or mandate, democratically given. Even though Ohanaeze had in recent times manoeuvred itself into some crises of confidence, especially under the leadership tenure of Ambassador Raph Uwechue, it still remains the only recognized body that speaks for the entirety of the Igbo people. Prof. Nwabueze, as far as I know, has never been mandated by Ndigbo, beyond the unknown Leaders of Thought he claims to represent, to speak on behalf of Ndigbo on the proposed national confab or on anything whatsoever. He, therefore, clearly overreached himself by claiming to proclaim the stand of Ndigbo on the conference and in that wise, while the letter which he wrote to the president was totally misguided. This reporter was present at the last meeting of the Imeobi, the inner caucus of the Ohanaeze at Enugu, penultimate Sunday, 6th January, 2014 and no such mandate was given to him or any other person or group, before he addressed the press conference where he announced about his letter to the president. For those who are not conversant with the way Ndigbo pursue their interests, it would interest naysayers to understand that in spite of what might be a widespread impression, Ndigbo are the most united set of Nigerians when it comes to pursuing those things that are dear and close to them, mainly those issues that revolve around their survival and future. In spite of the impressions on the contrary created by some peripheral groups, Ndigbo remain the most committed to national unity and peace, as the absence of each or both militates directly against their interests. That is why Ndigbo take every idea of dialogue aimed at furthering those objectives very seriously. When the General Sani Abacha regime convoked the constitutional conference in 1994-95, Ndigbo took it more seriously than the rest of the country and prepared adequately, both through the quality of their representation as well as the contents of the items they brought to the table. Those were a subject of careful, deliberate and systematic planning which took months of careful strategizing to achieve. That was how such eminent representatives as Dr. Alex Ekwueme had led other equally eminent Igbo like Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, Dr. Sam Mbakwe, to mention a few, to represent Ndigbo. The weighty issues like the six geopolitical zones, rotation of the key posts, etc, that were adopted were the direct brainchild of the Igbo preparedness for the conference. Ndigbo, as is very obvious, are not preparing any less for the upcoming conference and are therefore putting serious thoughts into it. The way things are going, it is obvious that the performance and contributions of the South East would equal, if not surpass, those of the Abacha era. For instance, Ndigbo have presented their stand, through the Ohanaeze-Ndigbo, on the shape of the conference they want to the Senator Okorunmu-led committee. They did not stop at that. They have continued to sharpen and fine tune other aspects of the conference, to the extent that when the conference eventually opens, Ndigbo would not be found wanting, both on the quality of their representation and on the content of their contributions. During the Abacha conference, Ndigbo went through a period of think-thanking under the aegis of Mkpoko-Igbo conferences to prepare for the conference. Now a similar thing is in progress under the aegis of the South East Peoples Assembly (SEPA), body of respected elders, leaders, professionals, businessmen, intellectuals and other stakeholders from all the South East states of Nigeria, under the leadership of the former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme. At the last meeting of the assembly at Nike Lake Resort on 19th and 20th December last year, very powerful sub-committees on the different items that Ndigbo would express their views on at the conference, were set up. The sub-committees which are being co-ordinated by the Right Hon. Chief Agunwa Anaekwe, an eminent lawyer and former speaker of the House of Representatives, are expected to produce for the South East representatives at the proposed confab, the ‘bible’ of what Ndigbo expect as answers to sustainable peace, stability and unity of Nigeria. The way it is, SEPA which has constituted itself and is recognized as the intellectual arm of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo is completely subsumed under the authority of the apex body and its organs and has never arrogated to itself the power and the authority to speak or canvass views on behalf of the Igbo people. It hardly matters that SEPA has been meeting with the other similar groups of the South South and South West and rubbing minds on several issues of national unity and progress. It is, therefore, surprising that Professor Nwabueze and the hitherto-unknown group he leads should claim to be advertising what they claim as the Igbo standpoint on such delicate issue. For the avoidance of doubt, both the Ohanaeze and SEPA are non-partisan both in their composition and deliberations and so, the issue of asking President Jonathan to contest or not contest at the 2015 election has never come up at any of their deliberations. Easily put, Professor Nwabueze’s pronouncements are personal to him and are not being expressed on behalf of Ndigbo, because I am conversant, like most other Igbo informed people, with the current thinking of the people on these issues. It is striking that at the press conference, Nwabueze said that the views conveyed in his letter to the president are in sync with views that were contained in the “…demand by The Patriots in the memorandum they submitted to you during a meeting with you on 29th August, 2013, particularly the elucidation of the fundamental attributes of the type of conference being demanded…” It becomes surprising how Nwabueze could so disingenuously want to subsume the wish and the stand of Ndigbo as a whole under those of his Patriot – a group of about 12 people or so, no matter how eminent. That is very unbecoming of a person of the stature and experience of Professor Nwabueze. It is noteworthy that Nwabueze was appointed to the presidential advisory committee on the national confab but had declined on the pretext of being medically indisposed and had, in fact, nominated another member of the Patriots group, a wish that was accepted by the president. It is, therefore, unfair of the professor to be wishing to throw a spanner into the works of the PAC and the conference, this late in the day. He had the opportunity as the PAC member to volunteer his ideas on the nature of conference he had wanted and it is obvious that his clout would have impacted greatly on the decision of the PAC. To do so now and to arrogate such belated dissent as the views of Ndigbo is most unfortunate. Ndigbo, as a people, are not that mischievous. Anthony Nze
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 21:56:11 +0000
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