Chief David Ogba Onuoha is the Chairman of Bourdex Group and a prominent member of Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in Abia State. In this interview with Snr. Correspondent, Ben Duru, he takes a holistic look on politics in Nigeria, saying that the challenges in the country were not insurmountable and that they could be addressed through collaboration between the executive and the legislature. He spoke on other issues. Excerpts:
Where would you class President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance against the background of his rumoured interest in another term?
Chief David Ogba OnuohaDespite the different shades of opinion that may exist, many Nigerians will agree that our President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, came to the helm of affairs of this nation at a very trying period of our history. At a time when the major resource of our national economy – oil, was experiencing a decline in the global market as a result of growing discovery of alternatives to crude petroleum, especially oil shale or oil sand, biofuels, solar energy, and the emergence of new oil producers, even in our continent. There was also the high point of violent politics and deepening security challenges, including terrorism, which disrupted the economy and sometimes reducing the harnessing of our crude oil production. All these were further exacerbated by the conflicts of leadership transition and the need for the deepening of our nascent democracy from the wounds inflicted on it by advocates of third term presidency. The era increased the mutual suspicions that have remained endemic in our political system. It equally led to the rise in security issues and spending in the midst of a heightened level of competition in addressing the many challenges of the nation. But President Jonathan’s presidency appeared to have thrived in the midst of these daunting challenges. He has shown enormous resilience, courage and initiatives in not only keeping the nation united, but in ensuring that the interests of many Nigerians at all levels and from all regions are considered in dispensing the available dividends of democracy. Today, more than ever before, many segments of our checkered nation feel a greater sense of belonging in the Nigerian enterprise. Today, the President’s security thrust is gaining momentum in the many conflict areas, including the Boko-Haram strongholds, just as his policies of re-integrating the deviants, whether in the terrorist enclaves or in the South-South oil areas, are gaining greater acceptance. The President’s transformation agenda in all sectors of our economy is making impacts, especially in the agricultural sector, where he is bent on charting a new wealth builder for the whole nation to support our dwindling oil sector. He has looked to the future to encourage greater savings through the sovereign wealth fund and he is showing greater interests in all regions of the nation, especially the South-East region, which was obviously marginalized in the past. For the first time in the history of Nigeria after the civil war, the South-East region has been made by President Jonathan to feel a sense of re-absorption in the Nigerian space, with its airways, road networks, the Niger Bridge and other infrastructural considerations now being addressed. Also for the first time in the post-civil war era, Ndi-Igbo are being fully recognized and given a chance to serve the nation they love passionately, in key military and national economic positions previously seen as out of their reach. These are worthy achievements for which President Jonathan must be commended. I am confident that for his resilience under fire and determination to deliver a new Nigeria for all of us, he merits a second term to complete his good works. Needless to say that this is also his constitutional right to contest and no form of intimidation and unsavory prompting of the scheming opposition and their cohorts should deny him that chance.When the time comes I am sure that Ndi-Igbo, the South-East Region and many other Nigerians who have enjoyed his legacies, will once more solidly queue behind President Goodluck Jonathan’s bid to return to Aso Rock. It is my hope to be there to support him all the way towards that goal.
Fashioning out a durable constitution remains a recurrent challenge to Nigeria; considering the proposed national dialogue, what could be the best approach to ensuring a stable polity?
The problem of nation building throughout history has never been a turn-key project. And this has been most evident in the challenge of fashioning out a durable constitution that would guide and project the affairs of the people. If there is one single element that can facilitate the process of achieving a durable constitution, it lies in the ‘ownership-process’. That is to say, that a durable constitution must truly reflect the wishes of the people on the nature of the association they wish to be regarded as a part of, and how that association is governed to reflect and include their interests. We can agree that past Nigerian constitutions, both pioneered by the military and civilian governments, have been delivered as top-down documents that did not clearly reflect the interests of the component entities that make up the Nigerian Union. No wonder that the implementations of such documents fell short of the expectations of many Nigerians. This is so evident in the many calls for a sovereign or national conference to resolve the issues, even under a democratic representative dispensation. The current dialogue proposed by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is a right response to an ailing problem. For me, this is the right and first step to building a durable constitution and a stable polity for the Nation. This dialogue deserves the support of every Nigerian, and we should be patient to see what it throws up, whether a referendum or any other form of adoption, so long as it can be seen to reflect the genuine wishes of Nigerians.
How can the recurrent Executive-Legislature frictions be contained?
In the past five decades, our country has worked very hard to enrich our journey from military dictatorship to elected democratic governance. Without any equivocations, today we have visible signs of a well-defined executive institution and legislative organs of governance as clear symbols of our democracy. What you describe as the schisms that slow down governance, are nothing but the symbols of democracy and the functioning of the delineations of functions, at play. Sometimes, these processes may be overstretched by the individual actors, but they should never be dragged to a point where adequate cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature is permanently impaired. The doctrine of the separation of powers was never meant to be a state of absolute independence from each other, but as a check and balance to each other. That is why the 1999 Constitution provided and outlined the functions of each arm of governance – Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary – so that they provide inherent checks and balances to moderate each other and avoid over-stepping of functions that can impede the governance process. However, we must be aware that these checks and balances sometimes generate frictions of their own between the various organs. But this should be to the strengthening of the system rather than a complete slowdown of the process of governance. In fact, how the Executive and the Legislature manage their frictions should themselves be a test of the durability of our democracy. They should not be seen as being in a contest of supremacy or truncating the very essence of good governance service delivery to the citizenry. We can contain the Executive-Legislative schisms in Nigeria’s governance process, when the various organs avoid over-stepping in the constitutional functions of the other. There should be more negotiation and collaboration in any grey areas of functions. The aim of improving service to Nigerian citizens should be the major focus. Some major areas where there have been conflicts between the Executive and the Legislature in Nigeria are in the budgeting process, in areas of security, and in the passage of specific bills that affect the nation such as in corruption. In such areas, the various organs of governance need not see their functions as just parallel to each other, but they must collaborate to serve the nation better, otherwise, peace, security and good governance will be impaired. I cannot fail to mention that Abia State under His Excellency, Chief T.A. Orji (Ochendo), has provided a perfect example of the nature of collaboration that can be expected between the Executive and the Legislature. He has also shown results that collaboration is so evident in the peace, security and prosperity that reign in the State. These results did not come without some efforts and sacrifices. The Governor merely governs the state without hidden agenda and does not over-step his functions, hence it is easy to see the State Legislature collaborating with the Executive in matters of governance. The citizens of Abia are the real gainers.
The fear of impeachment disposes state governors to field upstarts for state assemblies; how could the electoral system be made more open and encouraging for popular participation?
While the conditions that promote impeachments in the state assemblies still persist, you will agree with me that it is now on the decline in our national and State politics in the past five years. This is one obvious sign of the deepening of democracy in our growing experience. Also in decline is the prevalent issue of god-fathers, who at some points in time where obviously out there dictating who participates in the political process and who should not. Whenever and wherever the situation prevails so that the state executive can wield the big stick and extensively encroach on the powers of the state assemblies, or even brood hidden agenda, some level of Assembly insurrection is bound to arise. As the State legislators begin to free themselves from the shackles of their executive governors, impeachments and counter-impeachments become the new imperatives. We can see a typical example in this issue by referring to the case of Abia State before the government of Chief T. A. Orji (Ochendo) as Governor of Abia State. Under the previous Governor, for his eight years in office, there was constant scheming for impeachment and counter impeachments of Speakers and the Governor. One reason was the existent impunity of governance and the tendency to dominate the political process as god-father. But with the governance of T.A. Orji, the polity has been very stable. He did this magic by first uniting the political elites including my good-self, by rejecting the impunities of past government, jettisoning god-fatherism and the dominance of the politics of the State by one man and one family, and most of all, opening the political system for the participation of all citizens and deepening democracy, without the usual recourse to vile oaths of allegiance. These are sure antidotes that limit the dangerous scheming that lead to impeachments. I recommend the Abia approach to other states across the nation, so that democracy can take firm root in our States, and candidates begin to secure the rights to seek for elections in political positions because they are qualified and confident to serve, and not because some god-father is running them from behind. This will be to the advantage of both Governors and the House of Assembly members, who arrive their offices through securing the nod of ward and local government area congresses, and therefore have the capacity to pursue and reflect the opinions and interests of their constituencies, their State and LGAs. In direct essence, the panacea to elimination of the impeachment saga and the opening up of the electoral process, lies not in the whims and caprices of State Governors but in the leveling of the political field for inclusive participation and in the improvement of our electoral process at all levels.
Internal democracy is an issue in Nigeria’s political parties; can it be achieved?
Internal democracy at the political party level aims at developing the party machinery so that it becomes a more democratic, transparent and an effective party System that will satisfy the hallmark of democratic governance. The areas of specific focus of internal party democracy include candidates’ selection, leadership selection, policy making, membership relations, gender, minorities, youth and party funding. It is only where these issues are properly addressed to the interests of the party members that a political party can function optimally and gain the advantage of securing and retaining power. Many of our political parties in the nation are still grappling with the acceptable conditions for internal democracy, but the most easily discussed infractions occur at the areas of candidates and leadership selections. This occurs when those that are capable of standing elections and holding leadership positions – even with the support of their constituencies, are passed over, while others that do not meet these criteria are foisted as leaders and representatives of their people. While it is admitted that the political parties recruit their membership from those that reflect the programmes and views of the party on the one hand and all those that are members of the party have the opportunity to field themselves for the party’s consideration on the other hand, there are two ways of advancing the traffic. My view is that anyone that aspires to represent the party as leader or candidate, apart from being a member, must primarily embody the aspirations of the political party they wish to represent. One cannot be disloyal to the party, fighting to disrupt its organizations or subverting its interests, – and at the same time aspiring to lead or represent the party in any form. Such is very opportunistic, and often evident in the many crises of internal democracy we find in Nigeria’s political system. The extent we remedy these will ensure the extent that internal democracy thrives in our party politics. Internal democracy is therefore possible where party loyalty exists, and where those intending to lead or contest elections within the party, value the party, projects its interests and have the support of their constituencies. These considerations should rise above parochial interests, since the success of those who contest within the party for political power or those given the opportunity to lead, hold their positions in trust for the party they belong to and to the voters that have elected them to offices. I am aware that this is partly the problem that our President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the PDP leadership have been contesting with those who do not just want to disrupt the party and demonize it, but also what to lead it, while holding loyalties to other political parties. This is highly unacceptable for any democratic system.
I am confident that for his resilience under fire and determination to deliver a new Nigeria for all of us, he merits a second term to complete his good works. Needless to say that it is also his constitutional right to contest and no form of intimidation and unsavory prompting of the scheming opposition and their cohorts should deny him that chance.