NO ETHNIC GROUP WAS BORN TO BE SECOND CLASS About 16 of you, mostly from the riverine are against the party fielding an uplander, especially an Ikwerre man. The argument tends to run against the tenets of democracy. Is there any evidence to support that Rivers people or PDP agreed to discountenance democratic dictates for a rather gentlemanly agreement? I have been a student, teacher and practitioner of democracy since 1996, trained by the government of the United States of America. Zoning, rotation and affirmative action are all part of the mechanism of social justice entrenched in the operations of a democratic society. The point being made here is that zoning is acceptable as the moral content of democracy, which emphasises the need for equity. This then means that one ethnic group or one interest group should not dominate the others. So zoning and rotation are not a gentleman’s agreement. They are clearly provided for in both the Nigerian Constitution and the PDP Constitution. The leaders of likeminded political associations in Nigeria who founded the Peoples’ Democratic Party on 28th July 1998 resolved, among others, to conform to the principles of power shift and power sharing by rotating key political offices amongst the diverse peoples of the country. This resolve is captured in both the preamble and Section 7(2) (g) & (h) of the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), wherein the Party commits to promoting national and the peaceful co-existence of the diverse communities of the country. The party also strives to promote an egalitarian society founded on freedom, equality and justice. In order to attain these aims and objectives, the PDP gives itself a Constitutional obligation in S. 7 (3) (c) of its Constitution to adhere to the policy of the ROTATION AND ZONING OF PARTY AND PUBLIC ELECTIVE OFFICES in pursuance of the principle of equity, justice and fairness. The PDP Constitutional obligation is in furtherance of the fundamental objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which states that the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice. The Nigerian Constitution declares in Section 14(4) that ‘the composition of a State …or any of the agencies of such government … shall be carried out in such manner as to recognize in the conduct of the affairs of the Government … the diversity of the people within its area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the peoples ….’ This fundamental position of the Peoples Democratic Party cannot be wished away, abrogated, suspended, or cancelled by any official or organ of the party except through an amendment to the Constitution of the Party. Only the National Convention has the powers to amend the Party’s Constitution. Incidentally, that power cannot be delegated. A State Executive Committee of the PDP has no power to take actions, or make statements contrary to the express provisions of the Party’s Constitution, especially one that requires a Constitutional amendment. In the last 15 years, since the PDP won and formed the government in Rivers State, there has been absolute respect for the principles of rotation and zoning between ethnic groups, senatorial districts and the upland/riverine dichotomy. The election of Governors and their deputies have largely reflected an upland/riverine balance, and diversity in Senatorial districts and ethnic origin. Even the appointment to the offices of Speaker of the House of Assembly and other House Officers, Secretary to Government, and Head of Civil Service of the State have been a combination of merit, qualification, competence and an appreciation of the ethnic divide in the State. Despite the attempts by some persons from one ethnic group to marginalise other ethnic groups, the political cohesion in the State continues to hold. Many years after the collapse of apartheid, the lesson of history is that no persons or ethnic groups were either born to be second class citizen, or hewers of wood and drawers of water. It has never been, and would never be in the Rivers State of our Commonwealth. Hon. Nimi Walson-Jack fronline Guber Aspirant, Rivers State.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 11:50:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015