The Yorubas have a riddle. Here it goes: A fragile bird perches on a fragile tree; the fragile tree vowed not to break and the fragile bird vowed not to quit. Nothing best illustrates this fairy tale than Nigeria and the present situation in which the nation finds itself.Incidentally, the first element in the riddle, fragile bird, symbolises head, while the other, fragile tree, stands for neck .So a fragile head perches on a fragile neck. What an awful combination! For the sake of this piece, let’s stretch the second answer a bit. Let the neck stand for Nigeria. A nation state where everything is fragile: fragile peace, fragile unity, fragile economy, fragile constitution. And to cap it all, at the helms of its affairs is a fragile president. Shouldn’t we then be called fragile sta
te? A state , in the words of Kofi Anan, where there is “economic contraction, abuse of human rights, unaddressed political grievances and environmental degradation”.
te? A state , in the words of Kofi Anan, where there is “economic contraction, abuse of human rights, unaddressed political grievances and environmental degradation”."Pundits are quick to point to the eruption of sectarian violence in Bauchi about three weeks ago and the latest Jos riots as a result of the violation of the constitution by Mr President"
Till death do us part
Just because of his fragile health, President Umar Musa Yar’Adua hurriedly travelled out of the country on November 23, 2009, for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia.This he did without notifying the National Assembly, as required by the Constitution, and without handing over power to his deputy, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, as stipulated in Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That section states that “Whenever the president transmits to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such functions shall be discharged by the vice president as acting president.” Section 146(1) of the Constitution states further that “The Vice President shall hold the office of president if the office of president becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the president from office for any other reason in accordance with section 143 or 144 of this Constitution.”The failure of the president to observe section 145 above has created power void in the country as the vice president can neither step in as acting president nor can he hold the office of the president in accordance with the provision of section 146(1) above.As a result of these, there is no effective coordination of crucial state matters, many pressing issues of both national and international importance that should have benefited directly from presidential intervention are left unattended to. But life goes on. The nation rolls on. Now it has reached a cliffhanger, tottering on the edge of precipice and no matter what, the frail president would like to hang on to power till death do us part.
Constitutional crisis
As a result of this disturbing power vacuum, many acts considered unconstitutional are presently going on. An example is the controversial signing of the Supplementary Budget by the ailing president on his sick bed in far away Saudi Arabia. If it was true, that would make it the first time in history that the budget would be signed outside the shores of Nigeria. Although, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice , Mr Michael Aondoakaa, had stated that there is nothing wrong in that as the president could rule from anywhere. Unfortunately experts have tried in vain to locate where this is situated in the statute book, particularly the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which forms the plank upon which the present government rests.If it is eventually discovered that the fragile president did not sign the budget, then that means that his signature had been forged! That would be a dangerous precedent for a nation already suffering from a battered image: anybody can forge the president’s signature and sign for him, even in his presence.
A clear violation of Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution. Only one word can describe this - anarchy- a situation of total lack of organization or control.Another example is the flagrant disobedience of the Vice President by some ministers. It was widely reported that the Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Rilwanu Lukman , flouted the “No Christmas Holiday” order handed down by Jonathan and travelled to Switzerland to enjoy his Christmas. He knew , like many of his colleagues, that the VP is a eunuch, a toothless bulldog that can not even bark not to talk of biting. Jonathan , to him, has neither the authority nor the power to issue that order or impose sanction.The unconstitutional swearing-in of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Chief Justice Katsina Alu, by his predecessor, Legbo Kutigi, last December is still generating waves. The issue being raised here is whether it is legal for an outgoing CJN to swear in his successor- a job reserved for the president or whoever he delegates to do that on his behalf. Though, an alibi was said to have been found in Oath statute. Many critics have found this hard to swallow. To them this is another of example of constitutional crisis.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon Nigeria
“Turning and turning in the widening gyres .The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart, The centre can not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” .When W E B Yeats wrote this poem many years ago, hardly did he know that he was writing for a nation in search of its soul like Nigeria. The constitutional breaches by Mr president has clearly graduated into anarchy- Constitutional anarchy ! Now see a physical anarchy. Pundits are quick to point to the eruption of sectarian violence in Bauchi about three weeks ago and the latest Jos riots to the violation of the constitution by Mr President in not empowering the Vice president to act in his absence. Now the country is sliding from constitutionalism to anarchism. They believe that if the Goodluck Jonathan has been empowered to act as Commander-in-chief, he would have been able to act on security report and nip the ugly incidents in the bud before they degenerated into conflagration.
Constitutional crisis
As a result of this disturbing power vacuum, many acts considered unconstitutional are presently going on. An example is the controversial signing of the Supplementary Budget by the ailing president on his sick bed in far away Saudi Arabia. If it was true, that would make it the first time in history that the budget would be signed outside the shores of Nigeria. Although, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice , Mr Michael Aondoakaa, had stated that there is nothing wrong in that as the president could rule from anywhere. Unfortunately experts have tried in vain to locate where this is situated in the statute book, particularly the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which forms the plank upon which the present government rests.If it is eventually discovered that the fragile president did not sign the budget, then that means that his signature had been forged! That would be a dangerous precedent for a nation already suffering from a battered image: anybody can forge the president’s signature and sign for him, even in his presence.
A clear violation of Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution. Only one word can describe this - anarchy- a situation of total lack of organization or control.Another example is the flagrant disobedience of the Vice President by some ministers. It was widely reported that the Minister of Petroleum, Alhaji Rilwanu Lukman , flouted the “No Christmas Holiday” order handed down by Jonathan and travelled to Switzerland to enjoy his Christmas. He knew , like many of his colleagues, that the VP is a eunuch, a toothless bulldog that can not even bark not to talk of biting. Jonathan , to him, has neither the authority nor the power to issue that order or impose sanction.The unconstitutional swearing-in of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Chief Justice Katsina Alu, by his predecessor, Legbo Kutigi, last December is still generating waves. The issue being raised here is whether it is legal for an outgoing CJN to swear in his successor- a job reserved for the president or whoever he delegates to do that on his behalf. Though, an alibi was said to have been found in Oath statute. Many critics have found this hard to swallow. To them this is another of example of constitutional crisis.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon Nigeria
“Turning and turning in the widening gyres .The falcon cannot hear the falconer. Things fall apart, The centre can not hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world” .When W E B Yeats wrote this poem many years ago, hardly did he know that he was writing for a nation in search of its soul like Nigeria. The constitutional breaches by Mr president has clearly graduated into anarchy- Constitutional anarchy ! Now see a physical anarchy. Pundits are quick to point to the eruption of sectarian violence in Bauchi about three weeks ago and the latest Jos riots to the violation of the constitution by Mr President in not empowering the Vice president to act in his absence. Now the country is sliding from constitutionalism to anarchism. They believe that if the Goodluck Jonathan has been empowered to act as Commander-in-chief, he would have been able to act on security report and nip the ugly incidents in the bud before they degenerated into conflagration.
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