By Bassey Ubong
The tenth National Assembly has taken off as expected when it got embroiled in Controversy with controversy with regard to leadership. Senator Godswill Akpabio, the ‘uncommon’ former governor of Akwa Ibom State, who has made a steady climb on the Nigerian political ladder, today sits as Nigeria’s third highest ranking officer. When the euphoria has dwindled and things assume their normal paces, the first three things the National Assembly should consider should be security, the national economy as it affects the man and woman on the street, and a decision by the members whether they want to sustain the image of a rubber stamp legislature or one poised to work with the Executive and Judiciary arms to ensure true democracy, absent in Nigeria in the entire Fourth Republic till date, is upheld.
If the Senate had acted in 2019 as expected, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would have found himself at home rather than in the hot arms of the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Nigerian citizens and associations would have had less to stay awake and worry about with respect to the financial system and the economy at large. It will take decades to live down the pain and trauma of a directionless policy christened currency redesign and cashless economy.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), head of the Executive arm appears to have hit the ground running. In less than one month, he has signed two legislative Bills into law, given rude injections to two persons who appeared to be untouchables – Godwin Emefiele and Abdulrasheed Bawa, and changed the way Nigerians live by way of knocks on their economies, because gasoline affects almost every facet of life. As church people say, lives of Nigerians will never be the same henceforth.
By the way it appears Nigerians will know in the near future which Federal Agency ranks number one as the police of the state. If Emefiele and Bawa are both being quizzed by DSS, by simple deduction that one can guess which agency stands head and shoulders above all others. But we must bear in mind the advice of Roman poet, Juvenal who, in his “Satires”, asked a rhetorical question, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodies” which means, “Who watches the watchmen?” The Latin phrase remains as fresh and as relevant today as it did when written between 348-346 BC. In this case, who watches DSS if one of the Agency’s staff decides to go overboard or involves self in acts qualified to bear the tag of corruption.
In the field of economics, we have entered a new territory which will be tagged “Tinubunomics”, say, at the end of one year. But it appears the President wants to shorten the period, or at least perform wonders in his first 100 days, an American concept. None of us should be surprised at his pace, because he craved for the office for decades and must have penciled down several policies he would start with the day after the oath of office. And aside from the executive experience as a two-term Governor of Lagos State, with an economy larger than those of some African countries, he has picked some old hands who have their ideas of ‘the good’ as Greek philosophers held.
But to hit the ground running has disadvantages, which, by implication, give strength to the exercise of the duty of care, or prudence in action and in particular on issues of a long term nature and those with huge multiplier potentials.
Former US President, Barack Obama, insisted Guantanamo Bay must be shut down to show the humaneness of the United States (US). He signed an Executive Order the very week he assumed office in 2009. But eight years after, the detention facility remained open. His successor, and former US President, Donald Trump, took a unilateral decision to withdraw from the international-brokered Iran nuclear deal, but against conventional wisdom, current President, Joe Biden, has kept the issue at the back burner till today.
These examples inform the need for PBAT to slow down on certain actions which may prove to have long term negative implications. To allow 195% hike in the price of petrol, which affects all sectors and every Nigerian should receive low applause. He should have graduated the withdrawal of the petroleum products subsidy at least till the refineries begin to work and to get the Dangote Refinery to find its feet. Since the pronouncement on the removal of subsidy on petrol, consumer goods inflation has hit the roof and this bodes ill for the fledging administration.
The Student Loan Act signed into law targets school fees in universities. Femi Gbajabiamila, who is the immediate past Speaker of House of Representatives, will ensure youth from poor families grow to adulthood in line with the Conflict Theory of education. The former Speaker has been made PBAT’s Chief of Staff and Nigerians can be sure the gatekeeper to the President will block the gate to appeals to the President to be people-oriented. Why should the man feel the pain and hopelessness of current and future students when he obtained his ‘A’ levels abroad? Someone should remind him of the wisdom of the ancients – fingers are of unequal lengths and sizes.
For the first 100 days, PBAT should avoid Bills he made no input into. Why should he rush to sign a bill handled in 2016 and rejected by Academic Staff Union of Universities at the time as an instrument designed to keep poor students out of university education? What has PBAT done to change the spirit and content of the Bill in the interest of youths? Although he may have had access to the Bills he has signed into law, but realities of office are miles from ideals which persons at the wings have the luxury to enjoy. There were several actions President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) would have taken, but inside the office (does the President’s Office have a name like ‘Oval Office’ of the US President?) he faced dozens of constraints, which outsiders had no idea of.
In essence, PBAT should engage Executive Orders to get critical policies through in the interim, rather than engage legislative Bills. If he can give the boot to Messrs Godwin Emefiele of CBN and Abdulrasheed Bawa of EFCC, both confirmed for office by the Senate, he can do other things and have cover without being entangled in long term instruments he will find difficult to wriggle out of in the future. Despite the level of sheepishness of the legislature, revision of a Bill takes a lot.
For the National Assembly, one decision they have to take should be in the direction of oversight. In the past eight years, how many Ministers of the Federal Republic appeared before one or the two arms of the National Assembly to answer questions outside the perfunctory and lackluster budget defense sessions? Regular appearance before the US Congress takes place at regular intervals for the Cabinet Secretaries (Ministers), heads of extra-ministerial departments, and private sector Chief Executives.
One of the founders of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, took the hot seat some years ago because of the reach of the social media giant. Imagine the Managing Director of Shell Nigeria, or Nigerian Bottling Company Plc. or the Chief Executive Officers of the refineries, along with the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd. Imagine the big guys with oily cheeks in the big banks who supervise the lockdown of the common man’s one thousand Naira transfer?
In general, public servants and big businesses are as a matter of routine expected to appear before the legislature to justify any action legislators find to be anti-people, including the mega salaries of the Chief Executives! If Ministers and Executive Heads of Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) are aware they will be on the hot seat with television cameras on them they will sit up. Why should the head of the Nigerian Security & Minting Company have escaped Senate drilling when Godwin Emefiele said the agency produced insufficient new Naira notes? Rather, our legislators stroll into office at their will and pleasure, but smile all the way to the banks with jumbo salaries and allowances while the President takes the knocks for every mishap and misstep. Can DSS take a step into the unhallowed chambers of the national legislature this time? These guardians being representatives of the people require to be guarded with respect to their inputs, outputs, and what they take home.
PBAT and National Assembly members, permit us to say, “Arise O compatriots.” Save the souls of your sisters, brothers, mothers, and fathers. The plan to increase salaries of Federal workers will have little impact, for how many are Federal workers anyway? The Bureau of Public Service Reforms in June 2022 gave a figure of 720,000 workers. How will the promise which has sent union leaders to sleep affect pensioners with stipends which never go up despite the hike in prices of everything? Elections after 1993 have no meaning in Nigeria. The 2023 cycle will enter history books in a short while, and 2027 will likely have no consequence and will matter little beyond expenditure of surplus monies from salaries or those stolen. But God Almighty matters and ordinary citizens of Nigeria with the medal OCN look up with tear-stained faces for succour. One day, an answer will come for suffering may endure in the night, but hope rises with the rise of the sun on the firmament.
Dr Ubong, a writer and public policy analyst, lives in Uyo
