Opinion

The Oracle: CSOs and the Media in Promoting Democracy and Good Governance in Nigeria (Pt. 3)

Published

10 months ago

November 10, 2023

Eric

By Mike Ozekhome

Introduction

Last week, we commenced with good governance how it differs from country to country. Governance is a relationship between rulers and the ruled, the state and society, the governors, and the governed. Countries that are quite similar in terms of their natural resources and social structure have shown strictly different performance in improving the welfare of their people. Much of this is attributable to standards of governance which may stifles and impedes development. Today, we shall continue our discourse on this imperative issue.

GOOD GOVERNANCE DIFFERS FROM COUNTRY TO COUNTRY (continues)

In countries, where there is corruption, poor control of public funds, lack of accountability, abuses of human rights and excessive military influence, development inevitably suffers. Michels states that government is one of the actors in governance. Other actors, according to Regina .O. Arisi and Ukadike, O. J, involved in governance vary, depending on the level of government that is under discussion. In rural areas for example, other actors may include influential landlords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, financial institutions, political parties, the military, etc. Similarly, Odion-Akhaine stated that formal government structures constitute one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the national level, informal decision making structures such as “Kitchen Cabinets’’, or formal advisor may exist. In some rural areas, powerful families may make or influence decision making. Such informal decision making is often the results of corrupt practices or leads to bad governance.

Major Good Governance Indicators

UNESCAPE states that good governance has eight major characteristics. They are, participatory by both men and women which is the key to good governance. The next is the rule of law which requires fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially. It also requires full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and incorruptible Police Force. The third point is transparency which means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and regulations.

The fourth is responsiveness which means that good governance requires that institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. The fifth characteristic is consensus orientation. Good governance requires mediation of the different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be achieved. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to achieve the goals of such development. The sixth characteristic is equity and inclusiveness. A society’s well being depends on ensuring that all its members feel that they have a stake in it and do not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to improve or maintain their well being.

The seventh characteristic is effectiveness and efficiency. Good governance means that processes and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society while making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment. The last characteristic of good governance is accountability. It is a key requirement of good governance, not only governmental institutions, but also the private sector and civil society organizations. Conclusively, good governance is an ideal which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Very few countries and society have come close to achieving good governance in its totality. However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work towards this ideal with the aim of making it a reality.

Civil Society Organisations

What is Civil Society?

Civil society is an unusual concept in that it always seems to require being defined before it is applied or discussed. In part this is because the concept was mainly used in discourse before the late eighties and many people are therefore unfamiliar with it. In part it is a result of an inherent ambiguity or elasticity in the concept (this is not so unusual. The apparently straight forward notion of freedom can in certain circumstances carry a meaning closer to license than to liberty.)

Civil Society can be defined in broad terms as the arena where people come together to advance common interest, not for profit or political power, but because they care enough about something to take action (Edwards & Gaventa 2001). Perhaps the simplest way to see civil society is as a “third sector” distinct from government and business. In this view, Civil Society refers essentially to the so-called “intermediary institution” such as professional association, religious groups, labour, unions, citizen advocacy organizations that give voice to various sectors of society and enrich public participation in democracies.

In all three schools of thought, Civil Society is essentially collective action in associations, across society and through the public sphere and as such it provides an essential counterweight to individualisms, as creative action Civil Society provides a much needed antidote to the cynicism that infects so much of contemporary politics and as values-based action, Civil Society provides a balance to the otherwise-overbearing influence of state authority and the temptations and incentives of the market, even if those values are contested, so they often are, the ideal of Civil Society remains compelling because it speaks to the best in us-the collective, creative and values-driven core of the active citizen calling on the best in us to respond in kind to create societies that are just, true and free.
CSOs are non-State, not-for-profit, voluntary entities formed by people in the social sphere that are separate from the State and the market. CSOs represent a wide range of interests and ties. They can include community-based organizations as well as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In the context of the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, CSOs do not include business or for-profit associations.
Good Governance Needs Strong Followership (Civil Society Organizations)

Strong followership is a principle of good governance. It is as important as good leadership. They are siamese twins. This followership is elicited and promoted by the attitude of those in governance. If the citizens are regarded as the source and indeed the essence of power of governance and focus of state craft directed at satisfying their aspirations (section 14 of the 1999 Constitution), a good followership that is supportive would be achieved. If their freedom and rights are guaranteed, their opinion respected and those in power deal honestly with them, supportive followership will be entrenched in the political community. As noted by Samuel Eziokwu, Supportive and responsible followership starts with sincere participation in political activities like party organization, exercise of franchise, civil obedience to laws, programmes, policies and protest against obnoxious ones. Good parties are sustained by good party ideologies and manifestoes as galvanized by members. He also notes the following as fall out of good followership.

Political participation by the followers finds expression in registration as voters and actual voting during election. Hence, when followers fail to register for voting and actually fail to vote, they are boldly voting for bad governance, because the unpopular candidate may win the office. Therefore, citizens have no moral reason to complain against bad governance because they failed in their duty select the good candidate. Elites in a political community have a duty to ensure that they assist in mobilization of the citizens to participate actively in political activities. Their failure will have colossal deleterious impact in the polity. A stitch in time saves nine.

Civil obedience to the laws, policies and programmes of the political community is a means of supportive followership. It makes the polity stable, peaceful and governable. It avails fund to those in government for development programme when citizens pay promptly their taxes, levies, duties, bills, etc. It must be stressed that failure to pay such legal financial obligation willingly tantamount to disloyalty, disobedience and lack of support. It is a breach of social contract between the governor and the followers and bane of good governance.
Genuine demonstration or protest against obnoxious laws and abuse of rights of the people is also means of a supportive followership. Let us note that slavish acquiescence to law does not make a good citizen. Supportive followership as a principle of good governance, requires, the citizens to be alert and react promptly to actions of bad governance meted against them as a means of changing the status quo and engender a new order. Those in government should tolerate demonstration or mass action against bad and anti-people policies. Such actions should be appreciated as a way of calling them to order. Withdrawal of support is a way of showing government in power that it has derailed from the wishes and aspirations of the people.

Constructive criticism or opposition of those in government is also a means of supportive followership. Those who are interested in the affairs of government should be able to criticize what is wrong and proffer viable options for overall good of the people. Total abandonment of those in authority, or resigning to being apolitical, amounts to withdrawal of supportive followership.
Members of the political community should see good governance as a collective effort where they must play their part. Citizens can set up Non-governmental organizations to address or assist government in tackling some perceived problems of the polity. Civil societies like religious organizations, organized labour, academic unions, student organizations, should be strengthened and help in defending the autonomy of private interest. The civil society and Non-governmental organizations, community based organizations, market associations, professional associations should be able to collaborate and mobilize the citizens to stand against democratic abuses, obnoxious laws and policies; roguery in position of power, election rigging etc. The end will be massive withdrawal of support in the form of mass action, strikes, demonstration etc until government purges itself of toga of enslavement and maltreatment of the people.

Thought for the Week

“Good governance requires working toward common ground. It isn’t easy.” (Pete Hoekstra).

Opinion

Day Dele Momodu Made Me Live Above My Means

Published

6 days ago

September 1, 2024

Eric

By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu

These are dangerous days of gross shamelessness in totalitarian Nigeria.
Pathetic flaunting of clannish power is all the rage, and a good number of supposedly modern-day Nigerians have thrown their brains into the primordial ring.

One pathetic character came to me the other day stressing that the only way I can prove to him that I am not an ethnic bigot is to write an article attacking Dele Momodu!

I could not make any head or tail of the bloke’s proposition because I did not understand how ethnic bigotry can come up in an issue concerning Dele Momodu and my poor self.

The dotty guy made the further elaboration that I stand accused of turning into a “philosopher of the right” instead of supporting the government of the day which belongs to the left!

A toast to Karl Marx in presidential jet and presidential yacht!

I nearly expired with laughter as I remembered how one fat kept man who spells his surname as “San” (for Senior Advocate of Nigeria – SAN) wrote a wretched piece on me as an ethnic bigot and compelled one boozy rascal that dubiously studied law in my time at Great Ife to put it on my Facebook wall!

The excited tribesmen of Nigerian democracy and their giddy slaves have been greased to use attack as the first aspect of defence by calling all dissenting voices “ethnic bigots” as balm on their rotted consciences.

The bloke urging me to attack Dele Momodu was saddened when he learnt that I regarded the Ovation publisher as “my brother”!

Even amid the strange doings in Nigeria of the moment I can still count on some famous brothers who have not denied me such as Senator Babafemi Ojudu who privileged me to read his soon-to-be-published memoir as a fellow Guerrilla Journalist, and the lionized actor Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) who while on a recent film project in faraway Canada made my professor cousin over there to know that “Uzor is my brother!”

It is now incumbent on me to tell the world of the day that Dele Momodu made me live above my means.

All the court jesters, toadies, fawners, bootlickers and ill-assorted jobbers and hirelings put together can never be renewed with enough palliatives to countermand my respect for Dele Momodu who once told our friend in London who was boasting that he was chased out of Nigeria by General Babangida because of his activism: “Babangida did not chase you out of Nigeria. You found love with an oyinbo woman and followed her to London. Leave Babangida out of the matter!”

Dele Momodu takes his writing seriously, and does let me have a look at his manuscripts – even the one written on his presidential campaign by his campaign manager.

Unlike most Nigerians who are given to half measures, Dele Momodu writes so well and insists on having different fresh eyes to look at his works.

It was a sunny day in Lagos that I got a call from the Ovation publisher that I should stand by to do some work on a biography he was about to publish.

He warned me that I have only one day to do the work, and I replied him that I was raring to go because I love impossible challenges.

The manuscript of the biography hit my email in fast seconds, and before I could say Bob Dee a fat alert burst my spare bank account!

Being a ragged-trousered philanthropist, a la the title of Robert Tressel’s proletarian novel, I protested to Dele that it’s only beer money I needed but, kind and ever rendering soul that he is, he would not hear of it.

I went to Lagos Country Club, Ikeja and sacked my young brother, Vitus Akudinobi, from his office in the club so that I can concentrate fully on the work.

Many phone calls came my way, and I told my friends to go to my divine watering-hole to wait for me there and eat and drink all that they wanted because “money is not my problem!”

More calls came from my guys and their groupies asking for all makes of booze, isiewu, nkwobi and the assorted lots, and I asked them to continue to have a ball in my absence, that I would join them later to pick up the bill!

The many friends of the poor poet were astonished at the new-fangled wealth and confidence of the new member of the idle rich class!

It was a beautiful read that Dele Momodu had on offer, and by late evening I had read the entire book, and done some minor editing here and there.

It was then up to me to conclude the task by doing routine editing – or adding “style” as Tom Sawyer would tell his buddy Huckleberry Finn in the eponymous adventure books of Mark Twain.

I chose the style option, and I was indeed in my elements, enjoying all aspects of the book until it was getting to ten in the night, and my partying friends were frantically calling for my appearance.

I was totally satisfied with my effort such that I felt proud pressing the “Send” button on my laptop for onward transmission to Dele Momodu’s email.

I then rushed to the restaurant where my friends were waiting for me, and I had hardly settled down when one of Dele’s assistants called to say that there were some issues with the script I sent!

I had to perforce reopen up my computer in the bar, and I could not immediately fathom which of the saved copies happened to be the real deal.

One then remembered that there were tell-tale signs when the computer kept warning that I was putting too much on the clipboard or whatever.

It’s such a downer that after feeling so high that one had done the best possible work only to be left with the words of James Hadley Chase in The Sucker Punch: “It’s only when a guy gets full of confidence that he’s wide open for the sucker punch.”
Lesson learnt: keep it simple – even if you have been made to live above your means by Dele Momodu!

To end, how can a wannabe state agent and government apologist, a hired askari, hope to get me to write an article against a brother who has done me no harm whatsoever? Mba!

I admire Dele Momodu immensely for his courage of conviction to tell truth to power.

Opinion

PDP at 26, A Time for Reflection not Celebration

Published

6 days ago

September 1, 2024

Eric

By Obianuju Kanu-Ogoko

At 26 years, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) should have been a pillar of strength, a beacon of hope and a testament to the enduring promise of democracy in Nigeria.*

Yet, as we stand at this milestone, it is clear that we have little, if anything, to celebrate. Instead, this anniversary marks a sobering moment of reflection, a time to confront the hard truths that have plagued our journey and to acknowledge the gap between our potential and our reality.

Twenty-six years should have seen us mature into a force for good, a party that consistently upholds the values of integrity, unity and progress for all Nigerians.

But the reality is far from this ideal. Instead of celebrating, we must face the uncomfortable truth: *at 26, the PDP has failed to live up to the promise that once inspired millions.*

We cannot celebrate when our internal divisions have weakened our ability to lead. We cannot celebrate when the very principles that should guide us: justice, fairness and accountability,have been sidelined in favor of personal ambition and short-term gains. We cannot celebrate when the Nigerian people, who once looked to the PDP for leadership, now question our relevance and our commitment to their welfare.

This is not a time for self-congratulation. It is a time for deep introspection and honest assessment. What have we truly achieved? Where did we go wrong? And most importantly, how do we rebuild the trust that has been lost? These are the questions we must ask ourselves, not just as a party, but as individuals who believe in the ideals that the PDP was founded upon.

At 26, we should be at the height of our powers, but instead, we find ourselves at a crossroads. The path forward is not easy, but it is necessary. We must return to our roots, to the values that once made the PDP a symbol of hope and possibility. We must rebuild from within, embracing transparency, unity and a renewed commitment to serving the people of Nigeria.

There is no celebration today, only the recognition that we have a long road ahead. But if we use this moment wisely, if we truly learn from our past mistakes, there is still hope for a future where the PDP can once again stand tall, not just in name, but in action and impact. The journey begins now, not with *fanfare but with resolve.

Opinion

Is the Recent Supreme Court Judgment on Payments Being Made Directly to Local Government Councils from the Federation Account Enforceable?

Published

4 weeks ago

August 9, 2024

Eric

By Prof Mike Ozekhome SAN, CON, OFR

Many Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike have repeatedly asked me if the Supreme Court was not wrong in its interpretation of section 162(3), (4), (5) and (6) of the 1999 Constitution and what happens to the allegedly wrong judgement. They want to know if the judgment is superior to the said “clear” provisions of the Constitution and if it is ENFORCEABLE or capable of being enforced. They also want to know how,in the event that I say it is enforceable.My simple answers to both questions are yes, yes and yes. Let’s take them one after the other.

1. THE JUDGMENT OF THE SUPREME COURT IS SUPERIOR TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION.

A law is only what the courts interpret it to be, not what it says on bare paper. That was why Oliver Wendell Holmes Jnr, a very influential civil rights Jurist, Brevet Colonel during the American Civil War and longest serving Justice of the US Supreme Court (1902-1932), who retired from the US Supreme Court at 90, once famously declared that, “the prophesies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law”.

In other words, the law (whether constitutional, substantive, statutory, or adjectival) remains what it is-inanimate and dead on paper-until the life and the oxygen of interpretation are breathed into it by a court of law. Consequently, it is thus the interpretation which was given by the Supreme Court to the entire section 162 of the Constitution on the sharing procedure between the Federal government, states and the LGCs, and not the bare provisions of the Constitution that prevails.

IS THE JUDGMENT ENFORCEABLE?

The answer is also in the affirmative. Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution comes to our rescue by providing that “the decisions of the Supreme Court shall be enforced by in any part of the Federation by all authorities and persons, and by courts of subordinate jurisdiction to that of the Supreme Court”.

Even if the Supreme Court was wrong in its interpretation of section 162 dealing with the State Joint Local Government Account, the judgement remains binding on all and for all times.It is only an amendment of the Constitution under section 9 thereof that can override the decision. No person or authority can decide,whimsically and arbitrarily to disobey the judgement, or pick and choose what portions of the judgment to obey or which to discard. In Rt Hon Michael Balonwu & Ors V Governor of Anambra State& Ors (2007) 5 NWLR ( Pt 1028) 488, the intermediate court held that “an order of court whether valid or not must be obeyed until it is set aside. An order of court must be obeyed as long as it is subsisting by all no matter how lowly or lightly placed in the society. This is what the rule of law is all about, hence the courts have always stressed the need for obedience to court orders”. It therefore does not matter that the judgment is downright stupid, illogical, or not well researched; or that parties affected do not like it. That is what the rule of law dictatesb and is all about. See AG Anambra v AG FRN (2008) LPELR-13(SC); Abeke v Odunsi & Anor (2013) LPELR-20640( SC); Ngere v Okuruket & Ors ( 2014) LPELR-22883 ( SC).

Right or wrong therefore, court judgements must be obeyed until set aside by a higher court, or a challenged section is amended by the Legislature. Since no court is higher than the Supreme Court of Nigeria, only an amendment to the Constitution by the NASS under section 9 can override the judgment: Obineche & ORS v. Akusobi & ORS (2010) LPELR-2178 (SC); Anchorage Leisures LTD & Ors V. Ecobank (NIG) LTD (2023) LPELR-59978 (SC) . That was why the same Supreme Court, acutely aware that it is susceptible to mistakes and errors being constituted by mere mortals and not almighty God or angels, once famously declared through late venerable Socrates of the Nigerian Bench, Honourable Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, in the causa celebre of Adegoke Motors Ltd v Adesanya (1989) NWLR ( Pt 109) 250, that “the Supreme Court is final not because it is infallible, it is infallible because it is final”.

2. ON HOW THE SUPREME COURT JUDGMENT IS IMPLEMENTABLE

The answer is equally simple. The FG, states and LGCs should now meet (and I am told they have been meeting) at FAAC and decide on modalities and procedures of opening up accounts for LGCs so that their allocation under section 162 is paid directly to them and not to the joint state LG account that is oftentimes waylaid by state Governors and fleeced without the helpless and hamstrung LGCs being able to raise a finger.

This is not rocket science. That refusal by state governors to remit to the LGCs was the ugly mischief the apex court judgment sought to cure; and it did so perfectly, loud and clear, in my own humble opinion. Inter alia, the apex court had declared emphatically that, “by virtue of section 162(3) and (5) of the Constitution of Nigeria, 1999, the amount standing to the credit of LGCs in the Federation Account shall be distributed to them and be paid directly to them”; that “a state, either by itself or Governor or other agencies, has no power to keep, control, manage, or disburse in any manner, allocations from the Federation Account to LGCs”.

The apex court also granted injunctive orders restraining “Governors and their agents, officials or privies from tampering with funds meant for the LGCs in the Federation Account” ; and further ordered “immediate compliance by the states, through their appointed officials and public officers with the terms of the judgment and orders”.

The apex court further ordered the “Federation or Federal Government of Nigeria through its relevant officials, to forthwith commence the direct payment to each LGC of the amount standing to the credit of each of them in the Federation Account”.

The content, terms and directives contained in this judgement, are in my humble opinion, very straight forward, unambiguous and are as clear and clean as a whistle. All parties concerned, – FG, states and LGCs- must therefore obey and enforce this judgement IMMEDIATELY. There is no option.I had earlier made public this same opinion of mine. I had written and stated on several TV stations that in my humble understanding of the principles of interpretation, the Supreme Court was right in the interpretation it gave to section 162 of the Constitution, so as to prevent continuation of years of wanton abuse of the provisions of section 162 by state governors. (See “LG Autonomy: Supreme Court’s verdict timely, regenerative-Ozekhome”, www.vanguard.com., 11, July, 2024 ). I still stand very firmly by this my earlier opinion.

God bless Nigeria as we collectively seek true fiscal federalism and not the present unitary system of government that we are currently operating under the thin guise of federalism.