Nigeria can do better with her abundant natural resources and human capital
Emmanuel Udogu
AN OPINION
NIGERIA IS FACING A MAJOR CONUNDRUM—CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS—AND IF CARE IS NOT TAKEN THE CONSEQUENCES COULD BE DISASTROUS FOR THE NASCENT DEMOCRACY—DUE IN PART TO “THE LAW OF SELF-INTEREST.”
A Constitutional crisis is brewing in Nigeria because of the way the vote on the Emergency Declaration was taken by the National Assembly (NASS) on March 20, 2025. This unconstitutional action in my view will live in infamy in Nigeria’s political history—especially following the opinions of several civil society organizations including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on this matter. But why did NASS come to this problematic decision by voice vote?
Here is one reason that clearly demonstrates that most members of the political class could care less about the nation because they are unpatriotic. In this case, they have done so by flouting certain provisions of the national constitution. All they care about is how to capture the state as political entrepreneurs. After all, as the idiom goes “everyone has a price.” I have more on this assault on a fragile democracy in a forthcoming work on “Political Parties and the Problem of Sustaining Democracy in Africa....” It will be coming on the heels of our African Democratic Montage: Case Studies on Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya (2024).
Moreover, please watch what the current Vice President of Nigeria recommended should be the qualification of a president of the Senate, of the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, in ARISE NEWS May 17, 2023.
Regrettably, at no time following this recommendation, in a country endowed with human capital, did the current Senate President say to the country and the VP “I am competent and not corrupt.” In my judgment, as a lawyer, he should understand that the maxim of the law is Qui tacet consentire. The maxim of the law is “silence gives consent.”
My view on the position of NASS on this matter is “when statemen and stateswomen forsake their own conscience for the sake of their self-interest—they lead their country by a short route to chaos.” Do not forget that the organic theory of the state suggests, inter alia, that Nigeria will still be here in the next “two” hundred years after we are gone regardless of our positions in life. What kind of legacy do you wish to leave your family, community, and the nation-state called Nigeria?
Please read Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria (1983).
Ike Udogu
Toyin Falola
Baba Udogu:
Politics, as structured in Nigeria since the 1940s, has never been about conscience or morality. Let us remove this from the equation. It is about self-interest and calculations. All the actors understand the game very well. We are the onlookers. Those who join politics do so because of their wallets, not because of the people. There is only one political party in Nigeria, TTP, Thief Thief Party. It has nothing to do with education or moral values.
The new Administrator starts with N400 billion to spend, without a budget. He is the Lord of Money, and his house will be full of guests who want to take some of it. His term will be extended if he shares the money with the Assembly; from 6 months, it becomes one year.
Very soon, you will find Fubara and Wike smiling and dining as if nothing had happened.
TF
From:
'Emmanuel Udogu' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 4:11 PM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Nigeria can do better with her abundant natural resources and human capital
AN OPINION
NIGERIA IS FACING A MAJOR CONUNDRUM—CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS—AND IF CARE IS NOT TAKEN THE CONSEQUENCES COULD BE DISASTROUS FOR THE NASCENT DEMOCRACY—DUE IN PART TO “THE LAW OF SELF-INTEREST.”
A Constitutional crisis is brewing in Nigeria because of the way the vote on the Emergency Declaration was taken by the National Assembly (NASS) on March 20, 2025. This unconstitutional action in my view will live in infamy in Nigeria’s political history—especially following the opinions of several civil society organizations including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on this matter. But why did NASS come to this problematic decision by voice vote?
Here is one reason that clearly demonstrates that most members of the political class could care less about the nation because they are unpatriotic. In this case, they have done so by flouting certain provisions of the national constitution. All they care about is how to capture the state as political entrepreneurs. After all, as the idiom goes “everyone has a price.” I have more on this assault on a fragile democracy in a forthcoming work on “Political Parties and the Problem of Sustaining Democracy in Africa....” It will be coming on the heels of our African Democratic Montage: Case Studies on Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Kenya (2024).
Moreover, please watch what the current Vice President of Nigeria recommended should be the qualification of a president of the Senate, of the FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, in ARISE NEWS May 17, 2023.
Regrettably, at no time following this recommendation, in a country endowed with human capital, did the current Senate President say to the country and the VP “I am competent and not corrupt.” In my judgment, as a lawyer, he should understand that the maxim of the law is Qui tacet consentire. The maxim of the law is “silence gives consent.”
My view on the position of NASS on this matter is “when statemen and stateswomen forsake their own conscience for the sake of their self-interest—they lead their country by a short route to chaos.” Do not forget that the organic theory of the state suggests, inter alia, that Nigeria will still be here in the next “two” hundred years after we are gone regardless of our positions in life. What kind of legacy do you wish to leave your family, community, and the nation-state called Nigeria?
Please read Chinua Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria (1983).
Ike Udogu
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Emmanuel Udogu
KABIYESI-OOO,
Your views are spot-on. You know, I have for the last 40 years or so hammering at the titanic 3, or LIONS, TIGERS, AND LEOPARDS, as I referred to them metaphorically elsewhere (Politics and Society: An Anecdote on Culture and Environmental Determinism, 2021). These selfish three, I argued, have held the country to ransom at the expense of the antelopes, grasscutters, deer and others in Nigerian polity.
Times have changed as the leaders of the antelopes, grasscutters, and deer have strategically decided to form alliances and coalitions with the captains of the Lions, Tigers, and Leopards to exploit the country at the expense of the massive poor in these groups. Tactically, these coalitions must by any means control the politics and the national coffers. Here, arguably, lies our current political, economic, and social dilemmas.
Today, the situation is deteriorating as some prominent Nigerians—Professor Soyinka, President Johnathan, and others—are weighing in on the unconstitutionality of the Emergency Declaration, and its dubious support by NASS. I am yet to hear from our galaxy of intelligentsia—ASUU on this matter. Even so, Kabiyesi, the question now is: What do you suggest we do to avert a possible political crisis in Naija?
Brother Ike Udogu