Nigerian Politics: Osun's Gospel Of Parliamentary Democracy
29 October 2017By Abiodun Komolafe
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, local government elections will hold in
Osun State on January 27, 2018. At least, 332 councillorship slots will be up
for grabs in an election scheduled to be the first of its kind in the life of
the Rauf Aregbesola-led administration. Not only that, it will be the first in
the history of the Fourth Republic that parliamentary practice will be given a
shot at the local government level.
While some professional doubters may wish to liken Osun to an administrative
jungle where laws are brazenly breached and, constitutionalism, flagrantly
abused, Section 22 of the Local Government (Administration) Law Cap 72A, Vol.
4, Laws of Osun State 2002 as amended states as follows: "There shall be for
each local government a chairman and a vice chairman who shall be elected by
the councillors of the Local Government Council from among themselves. The
chairman and vice chairman shall only be elected among the councillors of the
political party that has majority seat in the Local Government Council." So,
why parliamentary system in Osun?
By the way, what does Aregbesola stand to gain by daring to walk with clear
conviction where even angels dare to tread and what roles does has the
"inchoate" problem associated with local government creation in Nigeria {ref:
Supreme Court's judgement in AG Lagos v AG Federation (2004) 20 NSCQLR 99A}
got to play in all of these?
Without doubt, the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), Area
Councils and Administrative Offices in Osun was a political masterstroke by
this government and Aregbesola deserves commendation for giving Osun a sense
of direction and purpose. Lest we forget, 'Ogbeni', as he is fondly called,
was a prominent member of the Bola Tinubu-led team that midwifed the LCDA
system in Lagos State. That he is again finding a new path to rehabilitate our
democracy in line with the views and position of the people clearly attests to
his valued intelligence, unquestionable optimism and endless hope for a better
Nigeria. One can only pray other leaders would tap into the sheer force of his
personality and the power of his ideas.
Again, why the introduction of parliamentary system in Osun and where do we go
for succour, in case our cherished system becomes captivated by the culture of
corruption and inefficient management system usually associated with our
Nigerianness?
By design, parliamentary democracy is meant to encourage quicker legislative
action, primarily because the executive branch is a product of the support of
the legislative branch which in turn "includes members of the legislature." In
an environment like ours where ethnic, racial, even religious and ideological
animosity has been elevated into statecraft, parliamentary practice serves as
an effective instrument for direct political participation and even
distribution of power. Also, the likelihood of a drastic drop in the rush for;
and friction at the centre under parliamentary practice is high. And, apart
from its ability to carry along with it a spectacular increase in political
activities across the state, Aregbesola's innovative revolution is most likely
to generate robust discussions on the way forward for a democratic Nigeria.
Quite clearly, it is because we have failed to test our laws that
dysfunctional political system has become commonplace scandal in Nigeria.
Contrary to projections, parliamentary system runs the risk of becoming a mere
fig leaf by which Nigerians seek good governance and socio-economic liberation
unless the fine issues of its cumulative impact are clearly defined. In any
case, this is where the involvement of critical stakeholders like the youth,
traditional institutions and civil society groups in exploring all the
opportunities that an election of this nature and timing presents comes in.
Church and state must also collaborate in the overall interest of the
electorate, exploring the strengths and inspirations that the exercise will be
throwing open. Essentially, political parties must read the signs right by
going into the contest with their best, votes-worthy candidates.
Walter Bagehot famously describes ability to do "what the people say you
cannot do" as "the greatest pleasure in life." Like a field of driven snow,
Osun governorship election is less than a year away! Agreed! No two elections
are the same. However, the tragedy of victory is that success at the January
2018 poll may not necessarily translate into victory on September 22, 2018
unless some purposeful political reengineering is done where necessary. On the
other hand, the fact that All Progressives Congress (APC) got it wrong on July
8, does not mean that all hope is lost for the party. All the more reason the
Aregbesola-led administration must pray towards turning the counsel of the
Ahithophels to nought! Truth be told: Nigerians are hungry and their quality
of life has become so unimpressive that, should the opportunity present itself
again, one is not in doubt of President Muhammadu Buhari's recalibrating the
illusion of 'belonging to nobody' and "everybody". Sad therefore that Osun is
being treated as a case in isolation!
At a time like this, clarifying extant confusions troubling Nigeria's Israel
may tend to suffer from conceptual impressions. Petty quarrels among brothers
also have the capacity to snowball into politically-motivated eruptions of
cataclysmic proportions if not accorded the honour of fragility it deserves.
To this end, necessary steps must be taken to urgently address all ideological
disputations that may want to pitch APC members in the tents of Us versus Us.
Most importantly, the salary dislocation which has so far proved to be no
respecter of party, racial or gender affiliations must be courageously
confronted in a way that will ultimately leave all parties convinced that the
country's present pass truly has an expiry date.
Let me by way of conclusion state that, on a good day, an election of this
shape and size should afford members of the ruling party a rare opportunity of
closing ranks for the purpose of retaining the state for the party in 2018.
The hope is that events as they happened in Edo State on September 28, 2016
and Ondo State on November 26, 2016 would provide lessons sufficient enough
for the ruling party to deactivate opposition's fantasy that it is the party
of choice in Osun.
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EsinIslam.Com
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