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Those of us who are not Scots but nevertheless belong to the conglomeration of people pursuing self-determination/autonomy and independence for their various peoples in the various Nation States they found themselves where the pursuit itself will necessarily lead to the establishment of their own preferred Nation State capable of ensuring the best form of mediation between the different interests within that Nation-State as well as between it and different countries(nation-states) in the International arena, are not flummoxed over the victory of the British “BetterTogether” in the Scottish Referendum on Independence.
Of course, Scotland’s circumstances are different from those of the Yoruba Nation, as they naturally should, even as both Scotland and Yorubaland have, as it were, embarked on a quest for self-determination from the same imperial power. It is thus not surprising that the British Government, in the negotiations that brought about the Independence referendum, rejected a third option even when prodded by the SNP, which is the Federalist Option which would have enabled Scots to consider a vote to remain in the Union under a Federalist system. Having initially rejected such, the British “BetterTogether” now has no option than to initiate moves to decentralize power and pursue Federalism for the entire Kingdom.
This is opposite to what is playing out in Nigeria of today, where Nigeria’s version has completely thrown Federalism overboard and without the option of Independence thus leaving us only with the unitarism; and this is being vociferously championed by those Yoruba, exemplified by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, whose foundation for political relevance is in such quest for Federalism and who made the desperation that trailed the British “BetterTogether” towards the end of Scotland’s Independence Campaign manifest.
Chief Ayo Adebanjo, now a frontline Yoruba “BetterTogether”, based his turn around on what he regarded as the general agreement on Nigeria, to wit: “We have all agreed that it is a queer federation, all the parameters of federalism are sidelined and we called it a federation………, I am one of those who does not believe in the creation of more states because we will be creating states that will not be powerful. But that is the wish of the people because this is the government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Aside from the fact that a “government of the people…” will not design and implement the invasion of the State of Osun by Ijaw mercenaries and terrorists disguised as official soldiers and embedding them within official security agencies supposedly to ensure the security of the elections, even when there was no defined enemy fighting either asymmetric or symmetric warfare in the state; a “government of the people….” will not appoint Conference delegates over and above the head of the same people only for those appointees to go against all of the historical demands of the same people with a recommended creation of additional states which Chief Adebanjo now says are powerless but nevertheless regarded as the “wish of the people”.
When Chief Adebanjo turns around to say that they “are not going to have the unity of the country on what a section of the country wants” it can be assumed, on the one hand, that the forces in reference are those from the geopolitical north, which had now been given what they want via a more centralized country; on the other hand, he may have in mind the Yoruba Nation, where Federalism is the preferred choice of unity which has been jettisoned by the conference, and since both are sections of the country, it is left for the Chief to state clearly which section he had in mind; such that if neither would be the basis for unity, there must then be another basis, another symbol, which can be none other than the current president himself as he will be the only beneficiary of what Chief Adebanjo proposes. In any case, Chief Ayo Adebanjo has, through this manifestation, completely repudiated everything that formed the foundation of his political career.
Which would be why he would unabashedly regard the issue of referendum as a mere “technical issue” on legitimacy, which is tantamount to advocating the acceptability of any form of imposed legitimacy; including either a “Doctrine of necessity” or outright authoritarianism as long as there is an official seal to whatever is proclaimed. Yet, having agreed that a Constitution is a “political matter”, its legitimacy must also obviously be political and as such cannot be reduced to a mere “technical matter”; for the Constitution is the soul of the Nation-State which gives legitimacy to the State based on its acceptance by those whom the State intends to coordinate; it cannot therefore be reduced to a “technical matter” or regarded as simply ratifying the decisions of a conference; for the purpose of a Referendum is for a choice to be made, and doubly so, for an alternative must be presented, which creates room for acceptance or rejection of either.
Thus for Federalism, such must be based on the Federating Units; and the conference recommendations which Chief Adebanjo wants implemented contained provisions for a powerless state constitution which would be produced after the Federation has been consummated making it anti-Federalist. A Federalist Constitution implies a prior Constitution of the Federating Unit which will predetermine what to cede to the Federation. So, after giving the north what they want or rejecting what the Yoruba want as the basis for “unity”, Chief Ayo Adebanjo now sees Nigeria as “one” where, to all intents and purposes, all that matter would be Jonathan’s continuation in office and “anybody who wishes this country to be one must support the President to find solutions and not gang up to say go and bring back our girls. He has the army, he equipped them, you said the equipment is not enough, he is buying more to fight them. You cannot say there is something he ought to do that he has not done. That is the reality of the situation.”
Apparently, Chief Adebanjo’s reality consist of falsely attributing a form of rebellion to the people of Osun such that part of the arms the President bought was taken to the State in order to intimidate voters; for if the president has done everything he was supposed to do, there would not be any need for the militarization of any election while obviously Boko Haram would be a thing of the past; for its mere exploits only show that there is something missing. While accusing the “bringbackourgirls” campaign of not addressing the insurgents, Chief Adebanjo probably forgot that such is implied in the campaign as the need to bring them back applied to the insurgents by the mere denunciation of the kidnapping as well as the president who was presumed to have the wherewithal to enforce it. Thus, both the insurgents and the Presidency were supposed to respond to the demand, albeit in their different ways.
Incidentally, the British “BetterTogether” made a promise to assist in the anti-Boko Haram war and while Jonathan is busy trying to cripple the opposition, his British counterpart tried to keep the opposition from leaving the Union by making more promises of devolution which it hoped would deflect the necessity for independence. The British “BetterTogether” went all out to try to make room to accommodate its opposition while the Nigerian “BetterTogether” sought the opposition’s political emasculation.
Yet, this opposition had also made suggestions as to how Boko Haram could be handled, aside from the fact that the Yoruba Nation made a similar presentation prior to the Jonathan “BetterTogether” Conference wherein a demand for Regionalization of the Armed Forces was made but which was jettisoned by the Yoruba “BetterTogether” before, during and now after the Conference. A Regionalization that would not only ensure economic benefits to the community but would also make visible what Chief Adebanjo called the terrorists’ “invisibility”; for the professionalism that will be a part of this Regionalization would have removed the sea from which the terrorist fish swim.
Rather than consider this as a viable option, all that mattered to them is the continuation in office of the current president, which is why the Yoruba “BetterTogether” wants the “promulgation of the Conference recommendation before the 2015 elections…. Which recommendation consolidated the country”, even when exactly how this consolidation would manifest is not made clear except to simply reiterate its necessity.
To further compound the confusion, he wants Nigeria to “conduct elections and make the new Constitution operative from May 30, 2015.” Now he wants an election under the old Constitution but the elected official will now operate the new Constitution which will be no different from the 1999 experience where the elected officials had no clue as to what the 1999 Constitution contained, with its fraudulent “we the people” preamble and which has allowed various manipulation of the said Constitution to suit the whims of anyone in power as well as introducing a “doctrine of necessity” outside the provisions of the same Constitution in order for Jonathan to become Acting president. Again, if Nigeria is to transit directly into the new “Constitution” however proclaimed, it would mean a negation of all current institutions created by the 1999 Constitution, which can be achieved by a “Doctrine of Necessity” so that the “anti-FederalistBetterTogether” can be sneaked in through the backdoor.
For these people, all they want is just to be seen as embarking on any journey, the destination matters not, which is strange coming from someone who says he is not a “PDP man”. But it suits his purpose for the elections to be shifted in order to accommodate the application of whatever the conference recommended, especially when the PDP has now signified its intention to give a smooth ride to another term for Jonathan. One wonders what proposition Chief Adebanjo would have made were he a “PDP man”.
Leye Ige