Constitutional Quagmires in Niger and Nigeria: Same Shit Different Toilets…

By Innocent Chia

Sickness is not a bad thing at all. At least, it is one of the greatest takeaway lessons and gifts from the ailing President of Nigeria, Yaradua to students of Constitutional law, political observers and other commentators in Africa. President Yar’Adua’s debilitated sojourn in Saudi Arabia and recent return – 23rd November 2009 to 25th February, 2010 – confirms why law maker and politician stand steadfastly behind patently inexplicit pieces of law. In this piece The Chiareport clues-in on the source of vagueness.
Also, we explore why February’s coup d’Etat ousting President Mamadou Tandja of Niger has to be seen as the legacy of choice by leaders who want to eternalize themselves in power. The obvious argument here is that there would have been no coup if the President had respected the constitution in the first place.

For a people known for their loquaciousness and a no-holds barred approach to politics, it sells short that the Nigerian constitution is muted when it comes to addressing the issue of succession with regard to an incapacitated President. The million Naira question is why? Why is there no express provision in the constitution defining specifics such as the maximum duration allowed for a gravely sick president to be substituted by his Vice?

You have to take a step back in history to the era before European colonization and the Slave trade. The rulers – Lamidos, Sultans, Kings and Chiefs – never had and do not have the position of Vice in the traditional line of authority. Although the successor or next in line is known to a traditional council or King Makers, they are only activated by the Council following the “disappearance” (death) of the King / Sultan / Chief / Lamido. What must not be lost here is the absoluteness of death; it has to be certain that the ruler is no more and that the King Makers have retrenched to the forest to “look” for a new leader or successor.

There is not a halfway house – Vice / Deputy President - as western democracies provide. This readily explains why most African countries (Cameroon, Niger, Central African Republic, and Burkina Faso… all French speaking nations as the Chiareport pointed out when Omar Bongo died) despise the position of Vice President. While proponents make the argument that it is an encumbrance, the absence of the position is really rooted in fear. Fear of the V.P orchestrating - through some black magic that they all know because they are all in the same league - the demise of the President. The second fear factor provides room for the kind of manipulation that is producing monarchies in modern day Africa, and sons are, by any means necessary, inheriting the thrones of their fathers – Faure Gnassingmbe of Togo; Ali Bongo of Gabon; Joseph Kabila of Democratic Republic of Congo.

To the list of fears must be added the palpable fear of cronies losing power and facing the wrath of justice. It is unclear which is most resented: losing power or coming back to face the public in a court of law? What is clear is that they are not walking away from it, not even when they are due for retirement. The lifestyles are practically unsustainable once they are out of power, a main reason why many will go through unfathomable lengths to fossilize in power.

It stands to reason that the British – issuer of Nigerian Independence and considered by several as still very influential power - and the US Governments have been as forthright and as diplomatic as it gets in those circles, reaffirming the need for Acting President Jonathan Goodluck to continue running the business of the largest black nation. It has to be so because whatever Yar’Adua is suffering from is serious enough that his wife is keeping even the most senior of government Ministers from setting eyes on her husband.

Africans deny for you to see their loved ones if the person is a) not around and they are lying about it or b) the person is so critically ill they do not want the rest of the world to see what money cannot always afford. Finally, I am loathe to say this…I will not be surprised if the Saudi hospital released President Umaru Yar’Adua to go home and die.

It happens all the time with our loved ones coming from Africa for treatment in Europe and the U.S. When it is ascertained that little can be done to change the outcome there is a family decision whether to have the beloved die in the dignity of the home at a lesser financial expense or live and die in the care of medical professionals at the hospital. Given the way Britain and the U.S are throwing their weight behind Jonathan Goodluck and with little repost from the Yar’Adua camp, one can gamble with the possibility that the outlook is grim.

I am all for patient rights and privacy. It is absolutely their prerogative, unless…. There is an exception when you are the Head of State. It is the right of the people to know that the President is fit to govern. If he is not, someone else will step up to the plate even as citizens devote time praying for the sick person to recover. This is the part that African leaders are so lacking in. They have so abused of the goodwill of their people that they know that not a soul of good faith is praying for them. They have become an eyesore.

  And so it was on February 19, 2009 when a military Coup by Senior Officers stemmed the tide by derailing the personal agenda of President Mamadou Tandja of Niger. Someone asked me why I thought a military coup ought to be celebrated in a budding democracy? Where do I begin?

For starters, there is hardly any differentiation between what obtains in these fabricated demagogies and the military rule. At least, with the military you know you are getting raped without any lubricant. You either decide to play ball or get out of town. In these so called democracies, human rights abuses are rife and often. The military are bribed to stay close enough to protect power but not to become power. If you owe your life to someone then it stands to logic that that someone is in control. The civilian rule in Cameroon, for instance, owes their power to the military junta without whom civil unrests will prevail with devastating consequences to the status quo.

Mamadou Tandja was elected in what was viewed generally as free and fair elections in 1999. He was re-elected for his second and final term in 2004, but power became too sweet. He decided he could steal a page from Paul Biya of Cameroon by modifying the Constitution and orchestrating “Motions of Support” from the grassroots and “local leaders” so that he could “complete the work that he started”!

Democracy is work in progress. It is so because one elected official can always undo, by some law, what the previous administration may have thought as completed. Therefore, the work is almost never finished because human endeavor can always be improved. This readily explains the beauty of democratic institutions – that if they are created to serve the society, they outlast our individual mortality and allow for the completion or refining of the work that Mamadou Tandja thought alone he could complete in Niger. Not one is indispensable, no not one of us. If it takes the military to remind civilian dictators of this truism in Africa, so be it.

It is farcical that the African Union is chastising the military for ousting leaders that are persistently showing disregard for AU charters and their own people. But even the ostrich with the head buried in sand is not oblivious to the pact in this club. There is, fortunately, no pact that is stronger than the wrath of the masses…or the military.

Comments

[damike]

I hope Mbi Mvondo steps down accordingly.Africa and french post-colonies are disgrace to modernism.

[damike]

I hope Mbi Mvondo steps down accordingly. Africa and French Post-colonies are a disgrace to modernism.

[val]

Paul Mbi Mvondo hope u are well informed of what is taking place nearer ur window.

[paolus]

Bobe, once again you have raised the bar in investigative journalism. they article is breath taking and mind boggling. it puts your brains to work and i could only wish this septagenarians and octoginarians pseudo-dictators get a glimpse of this piece. The masses or better put the military always have the final word. that AU sucks

[Fritz]

I am ashamed to be associated with a country that have people think like "Prof. Dr" above. Like Newton said, gravity brings everything down and change is a constant in life!
I will ask you when your time will be up and there will be no reaction from your ilks.
Civilized people don't like to be oppressed. The don't like unconstitutionality, don't like incompetence! So watch out!

[Ntam Charles]

An intelligent person appears to be embarassingly stupid,when he/she tries to defend or justify falsehood.Traditonal doctors and professors can be differentiated from Academics by reading their writings.Yes,dibias can be Doctors and Professors too.
Ntam

[Ras tuge]

And what exactly has the military ever achieved in such a despondent and politically retrogressive continent as Africa? What is the relevance of traditional notions of justice, when armed democracy is increasingly becoming the disturbing norm in Africa, and cannot be seen as the answer to a lasting peace? Moreover, how can the dichotomy between constitutionalism, and military coups contribute to our understanding of democracy when this very troubling notion of armed democracy has all but exacerbated the plight of the masses that it shamelessly purports to defend?

This worrisome trend clearly typifies my view that Africa is not necessarily ripe to embrace democracy. The concept has never been equitable, especially when one takes into account the various intricacies connected with governing the embattled continent. I have painstakingly addressed this issue of governance in Africa in three of my vibrant works, notably;

1- The price for Africa
2- Politics of Darkness
3- African renaissance

[Suh Tuh]

It is regrettable that those in power in Africa do not deem it fit and proper to give a thought to the issues raised by the Chia report.
The ball has been set rolling by some of their peers that the report has castigated and i have no doubt that it is just a matter of time and those of them who do not commit themselves to adhere to democratic principles will face their doom.

[Va Boy]

The senior military officers in Cameroon will never carry out a coup d'etat or revolution. If you socialize with a person over the rank of major, you would understand. The convenience of soldiers running around doing your every personal bidding, the free vehicles turned to personal use; the pay scale way above what any ordinary person can imagine, the bonuses, the power WITHOUT the inconvenience of actually ruling is just too seductive. They love it as it is.

[Piet]

Chai I guess u got it all wrong this time, no real fact about the true development in Nigeria politic and why we cant have any coup. The is just too cash to share here.