The philosophy of “shoelessism” must, somehow, and surely creep into our political vocabulary, what with the power of command of votes which President Jonathan’s reference to his indigent early days had in returning the man to the post of president in 2011. Jonathan’s allusion to the fact that in spite of all the obstacles of life he faced he could become president, gave a lot of hope to Nigerians and made many identify with him in the presidential election of 2011. Essentially, many must have felt that Jonathan was a man who, like the majority of Nigerians, had seen firsthand the pedigree of want and indigence. Naturally a lot of hope was reposed in the presidency of such a person.
To what extent Jonathan has bought shoes for Nigerians is not the matter now. What is on the burner is the parallel that can be drawn between the “Jonathan experience” and the men and women who are now vested with the task of discussing how the best interest of varied groups in Nigeria will be served within the collective entity called Nigeria, in a National Conference. What manner of men and women are they and what experience are they bringing to the table during the pendency of the conference?
One likely outcome of the less-than-three-months discourse is the possibility of a strong recommendation for the emergence of a fourth republic from the quagmire of the present republic. Here we can draw from the experience of the French who in 1958 where tasked with fashioning a fifth republican constitution which ultimately gave birth to the present fifth republic of France. In the heat of discussions among plebs all over the country over the fate of the French Republic in 1958, the sitting French Parliament voted for self dissolution, allowing the people to decide their own fate.
This is the simple meaning of true patriotism. A National Conference in Nigeria that is not sovereign is a waste of time. This is not to say that whatever decisions taken at that conference should carry a rubber stamp of sovereignty, but it will be sovereign, so to speak, if its decisions do not become a tool for devious politicking; if the conference itself is not infiltrated by champions of primordial interests who believe that unless they and their cohorts enjoy large and undue patronages in the scheme of things the nation will be made ungovernable. Very importantly, decisions reached must not be subjected to politics of horse trading either in or out of the National Assembly. The latter must borrow a leaf from the French experience and put the nation first.
Still on the experience of France, it is indeed instructive that the extant government at the time of transition relied heavily on the people’s pulse and sensibilities in deciding the course of events, developing conventions and gathering materials direct from the people all of which formed the basis for the fifth republican constitution which strands till this day. And the champion of this direct connect with the people was the transitional president himself Charles de Gaulle. It was commonplace for de Gaulle, even when he governed by decrees, to call for plebiscites for burning national issues and would most times take a decision upon a referendum.
Today, the entire France is the better for it. Here again it is instructive that de Gaulle carried on with his style of referenda, all through his tenure as French President. It was his quest for constitutional reforms that led to the constitutional referendum of 1969, which upon the people’s rejection of de Gaulle’s proposed changes as indicated by the result of the referendum, led to his resignation that year.
And that is indeed the crux of the matter. Leaders whether presidents or members of any other arm of government who respect the will of the people do not always get what they want. But again leaderships – whether presidents or systems – that always subvert the will of the people, ultimately get dismantled. It is only the people’s will that will stand forever. Any other thing can only be for the meantime and also only postpones the evil day. The National Conference and its organizers must take a cue from this.
Chuba Keshi
