Okotie: To Save Nigeria, Let’s Operate Aboriginal Democracy

Okotie: To Save Nigeria, Let’s Operate Aboriginal Democracy

Rev. Chris Okotie of the Fresh Party is one of several Nigerian clerics who have dabbled into politics. He spoke to Segun James about the type of government that will solve the nation’s myriad of political woes

What is your impression of the Nigerian political situation right now?

 I said very clearly recently that the presidential system of governance, which is our second attempt at democratizing the election process has become inimical and subversive to the Nigerian cause. It has failed us woefully. It has polarized us, balkanised our society, decimated our national psyche, and brought us close to war. So, it must be jettisoned. That is what my call for an interim government is all about. I see the interim government as the only solution to the present political predicament.

But you didn’t suggest what kind of government you want us to operate. If it is parliamentary or any other form of government?

I call it aboriginal democracy. It will still be tripartite in the sense that you have an executive, you have the judiciary, but in this case, the legislature will be eliminated and legislative powers will be given to the people. What our legislators do is already within the polity. For instance, when they come to National Assembly, they form committees, to address various problems. In the Senate, there are 57 standing committees; in the House of Reps, 89. These committees like the committee on health and the committee on education are already in the polity. In the polity, you have associations like the Nigerian Medical Association. It was established in 1951. The Nigerian Bar Association was established in 1933. The Nigerian Union of Teachers was established in 1931. So, what the Houses of Assembly do is just replicate these associations. And I am suggesting, proposing that we take legislative powers from these representatives and give them directly to the people, empower the people within the constitution, and these associations to make the relevant laws that affect their specialized areas. That way the burden of sustaining that structure, we are talking about billions of naira, will be eradicated and democracy will be brought closer to the people.

But the associations are not elected to represent the people. They only represent certain interests. Don’t you think that will conflict with any form of governance?

Not at all. Because they emanate from the people and they have been established institutions for many, many years. See, they understand the realities in their own sector. Instead of looking to an elite club that does not really understand what is going on, the Nigerian Medical Association which has been out there at the forefront of trying to maintain a general state of health for our nation and is within the people will know better what is good for the nation in that area. And they will not be paid. So if we are talking about democracy, then we must talk about what the people have engendered by themselves. Lawyers bonding with lawyers, market women, bonding with market women, doctors, bonding with doctors in what I call egregious socialization. They form an organic nexus by way of enterprise and endeavour.  They know more about what is going on in those areas within the society than this elite club that we call the National Assembly. And I mean no disrespect. So instead of getting people to represent the people, let the people represent themselves. And like I said, they are not paid. And they have been established in the polity for years longer than any of the political parties that we are talking about today. So, they would be in a better position to give information as to what is needed in that area, in the formulation of policies or in the formulation of laws, than people who are drawn from different places, who do not even understand the dynamics of these areas that the associations or the committees that they represent.

Your suggestion has had an adverse reaction from people, most especially when it is suggested that you wanted to be the interim president. What timeframe do you have in mind for this experiment?

Let me first talk about the divergent opinions. First and foremost, you must understand that when you are proposing this kind of philosophy, those who have been benefiting from it in the past would be opposed to it because they recognize that power is being taken from them and given back to the people. That’s number one. Number two, it is very clear that if I was seeking a political career, I would have joined the dominant parties. I ran for president in 2003. And some of the names that are being touted today were still neophytes at that time. And the concept of political leadership has not even entered into their political consciousness.

So, to make that kind of statement, as far as I’m concerned is ridiculous infantility. The only reason why President (Muhammadu) Buhari is president today is that he ran on the platform of a national party like APC. If he had run on the platform of Fresh, my party, there is no way he would have won because Fresh didn’t have any structures. I was not desiring political leadership. I was desiring a platform to begin to philosophize to begin to evoke nationalistic sentiment so that Nigeria can move from being a country into a nation. And that is what I have been doing all these years. So, I just wanted to advise those who are blinded by their prejudices and their biases to observe my antecedent, and they probably have a rethink.

Number two. Why I want to be the leader of that government is because it’s a concept that I gestated. You can’t know a product better than its manufacturer. See, it’s not just an interim government, it’s a whole new concept of democracy where democracy takes a complete turn. There will be no political parties. There will be no governors, no ministers, and no commissioners in the aboriginal democracy that I am proposing. It will just be the executive, the judiciary, and the people. Then we are going to have a set of people who are volunteers who supervise the states. What I am proposing is government from the people, for the people, with the people. That is what democracy is. And is going to require an understanding of how that can be translated into practical reality. That is why I am asking. It’s not because I am desiring to be anything. Like I said, if I wanted a political office, I would have joined PDP in 2003, by now I will be a chieftain. So, I believe that I have paid my dues, I am denominated in resilience and tenacity and Nigerians know me and they can trust me.

Given the fact that what you are suggesting will require constitutional change and changing the constitution will still involve these people that you are asking should no longer be in the system. How do you reconcile that?

I imagined that they are patriots and that a time comes when man prioritizes that. If they are truly patriots and they recognize that we are at a place where we stand at the edge of the precipice, where Nigeria could so easily be fragmented and destroyed, they would do.

And another thing is a lot of people suggest that the states and the church should be separate. And now you as a church leader is making such a radical suggestion. Don’t you think that your suggestion will be suspect?

No, I’m not speaking as a minister; I am speaking as a Nigerian. I ran for president as a Nigerian, not as a Christian leader.  Under the constitution, Nigeria is a secular state. Do you understand? And I am not saying it’s based on religion. I am saying that under the reality that confronts us today they are there very glaring. Go to the streets and find out what is going on with the people, you will see that it will require patriots. And that is why I am saying, whether you are a Christian or you are Muslim, whether a traditional believer, whatever religious persuasion, patriotism and nationalistic sentiment must galvanise us to make the right decisions to secure the future of our children. So that Nigeria will continue to exist as a corporate entity.

There is one question you have not answered, the question of ministers. You said there would be no National and States Assemblies, should there be Ministers? If not, who will be implementing whatever decisions that those associations you suggested take?

What happens is that when a new government comes, it now appoints a political leader over a ministry that has a permanent secretary and has all of the directors that are there. So that person is a political leader and stays there for two years or three years depending on the temperament of that administration. He does not really need to understand the workings of that department, he is just a political leader. The government will be run through the civil service. The structures are already in place. You don’t need a commissioner of education when you already have a minister of education that has a permanent secretary and directors. These people have been in the system for years and are in a better position to advise the government on the workings of that ministry. So, we are duplicating things and carrying all of these overheads and wasting our money. We don’t need that. A head of state does not need to have a minister of education to run the minister of education. He doesn’t.  The system had been there longer than the political parties, we just need to upgrade it and develop it to a place where it functions by itself and can become responsible for the needs of this present administration.

You suggested that this should be done before the president hands over. How many months, weeks, or years of the interim government are you suggesting?

It’s hard to say right now because everything would depend. I am proposing that rather than going through a regime change, we go straight into the interim government. It’s easier for us. So, we only need the president and the National Assembly to enact the laws that are necessary to bring us into that. And that’s it.

The reality is what you are suggesting will require a constitutional change. So, what do you think is the way forward for the country given the scenario you have painted about the situation in the country?

The easiest thing to do is for all the flag barriers and the political parties to come together and recognize that for the first time, we must think beyond self-aggrandizement or personal ambition for the sake of our nation.

History will judge us as to how we handle the sensitivity of the present political climate. It’s easy to be done if the people are willing. There is no other formula, no political equilibrium that can take Nigeria from the present quagmire. It is absolutely impossible. The only thing to do now is to recognize an interim government as the only viable solution forward and accept that as our current reality

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