MEDIA, LABOUR AND THE CONSOLIDATION OF NIGERIA’S DEMOCRACY

By Issa Aremu
COMRADE ISSA AREMU MNI.


GREETINGS AND APPRECIATION
I congratulate Nigeria’s Guild of Editors (NGE) under its 2008
democratically constituted and democratically run Executives led by Mr
Gbenga Adefaye of Vanguard newspapers NGE for its regular interactive
forum across the vast landscape of our great country.

I bear witness o the fifth edition of (All Nigeria Editors Conference) ANEC which
takes place in Kaduna in April this year. Critical conclusions of that
conference on topical governance issues add value to the growing
voices of change for the better in the country.

My profound appreciation goes to NGE for its extended invitation to a
non-sate actor like me to this distinguished gathering of editors. It
is a singular honour to share some thoughts on democracy with specific
reference to the role of critical stakeholders like labour and the
media in Nigeria.

WHY LABOUR AND NEDIA MATTER?
With all its limitations, 1999 constitution shares the assumptions
that both labour and the media are two critical success factors for
Nigeria’s constitutional order. The media for instance, is singled out
by section 22 of the 1999 constitution as part of the fundamental
objective and directive principles of the state policy. No institution
is so much democratically challenged as the media by 1999
constitution! Section 22 reads: “The press, radio, television and
other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold
the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the
responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people”.
The constitution imposes a duty on the media to monitor the critical
aspects of governance with a view of guarding and advancing the
frontiers of Nigerians’ liberties and freedoms.

Same constitution legitimises the right to freedom of association and
assembly of trade unionists. Above all section 23 lists core values of
the country, the third of which is “dignity of labour”. Section 34
prohibits slavery and forced labour and acknowledges decent work.
Labour assumes special importance to the extent that all critical
labour issues such as “ trade unions, industrial relations;
conditions, safety and welfare of labour; industrial disputes;
prescribing a national minimum wage for the Federation or any part
thereof; and industrial arbitration” are on Executive legislative
list. This means that only national assembly makes laws dealing with
labour matters. Only Federal government has Ministry of Labour and
Productivity.

Media and Labour are both democratic organizations founded and
nurtured by their respective constitutions. Organized labour is
represented by NLC while working journalists/ editors are organized in
the Guild and NUJ, among other organizations. They are led by
periodically tenured elected officers just like elected public office
holders in any democracy. As a tested democratic organization, Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) in its 30 years of existence (using 1978 as a
cut off year!) has held 9 delegates’ conferences, the last in Abuja in
2007. This democratic turnover is in spite of the military
meddlesomeness in trade union affairs which records dissolutions of
NLC executives in 1988 by IBB dictatorship and serial dissolution of
NLC, NUPENG and PEGASSAN executives by Abacha dictatorship in the 90s
and crude imposition of sole administrators.

Issues such as decent work agenda, good governance, development and
solidarity with struggling peoples of the world from Palestinian to
Zimbabwe, Liberia to Sudan (Darfur), globalization, debt burden,
privatization etc ( and not just elections!) dominate these
conferences.

For a nation, in desperate search of issue-driven politics, organized
labour has a lot to offer in good governance and electoral reforms in
which votes take place and they are accordingly counted because as we
can see that is what labour does anyways for the past decades. The
conferences produce notable labour/ democratic actors like Hassan
Sunmonu, Ali chiroma, Pascal Bafyau, Adams Oshiomhole and Abdul Waheed
Omar. Their elections represent order of preferences of voter workers
and not some god-fathers or regional chieftains. For a nation, where a
lot needs to be done to ensure that votes truly reflect preferences of
electors, the rich democratic traditions of organized labour and media
must be explored.

The role of the media and labour in the struggle for independence and
sustainability of democracy has been well documented by chroniclers of
Nigeria’s civil society.

At the global level Collin Powel, former America’s Secretary of State,
at the Tell lecture in Abuja in May, recently underscores the
indispensability of the press to American democratic process.
According to him “One essential feature of a true democratic system is
a free and open press. An open press that speaks for the people and
always seeks truth. An open press that “comforts the afflicted and
afflicts the comfortable.”

He recalls President Thomas Jefferson, (“who was very critical of the
press and always mad at it) saying that: “If it were left to me to
decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or
newspapers without a government, I would not hesitate a moment to
prefer the latter.”

The point cannot be overstated therefore that, the performance of both
labour and the media is critical to the process of democratic
consolidation.

WORTHY VENUE
The choice of venue for this singular reflection is even as
significant. Anambra, more than any state of the Federation provides
enough materials for any meaningful discourse on democratic
consolidation. With two phony “governors” in quick succession and one
duly elected in a singular dispensation, (and until last week’s
Supreme Court ruling still a subject of litigation) Anambra state is a
useful guide to Beginners in democratic accomplishment and
consolidation.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Paradoxically my assigned topic inherently provides for some
conceptual frame work for meaningful discourse. Tasking us to reflect
on consolidation of democracy assumes that we already have democracy
in Nigeria and all we need to do is to consolidate it. I share the
optimism of the Guild that indeed we have a democracy and the
challenge is how to deepen it. In consolidating democracy, we must be
prepared to remove scores of misconceptions about democracy and
democracy in general.

DEMOCRACY CONSOLIDATION: REMOVING SOME MIS-CONCEPTIONS

DEMOCRACY RESTS ON CONSTITUTIONALISM
The first of such notorious misconceptions is the unhelpful assumption
that the current dispensation is merely a civil rule (not a democracy)
an assumption that has been rightly proved untenable by the Guild’s
assigned topic on consolidation. Democracy and civil rule are not
mutually exclusive. On the contrary, civil rule is an expression of
democracy. For a nation traumatized by decades of military
dictatorship, it is understandable that we are permanently hunted by
binary civil/versus/military rule divide. General Gowon himself a
military chieftain rightly describes it “...a dingdong affair between
the military and the civilians or the politicians”. What makes a rule
civil is not that it is civilian driven or so-called. What
distinguishes dictatorship from democracy is constitutionalism which
is trampled underfoot by the former but constitute the bed rock of the
latter.

We witness the significance of constitutionalism at the height of the
protracted face-off between the House of Representatives led by Ghali
Na Abah and the Executive led by General Olusegun Obasanjo in the
first half of 2002.  Unlike dictatorship, which plays the legendary
ostrich, democracy exposes own problems and even dramatises them.  The
House of Representatives catalog what it sees as the shortcomings (or
constitutional breaches) by the Obasanjo-led executive.  In return,
the Executive counters pointing to inaccuracies in the story (and even
mischief) of the Representatives.  In all, the citizenry is better
informed about the state of the nation and different perspectives that
can, in the future, inform our electoral choices even our votes hardly
count.  What with the amount of information overload about

The beauty of it all is that each arm in the referred conflict i.e.
Executive and Legislature, freely makes reference to the constitution
(despite its imperfections) from which they claim authority for their
respective actions and inactions.

Democracy provides immunity for democratic actors even when they are
critical of its mighty arm such as the Executive. We can only
appreciate this great strength of the current process if only we
remember that the only ‘crime’ of late patriot, General Shehu Yar’dua
is the audacity to initiate a legitimate motion insisting that late
Abacha hands over to democratically elected government at an earlier
date of 1996.  Late Yar’dua does not survive that motion as he is
saddled with phantom plot to overthrow the dictator.  In turn the
cumulative stresses generated by that intolerant dictatorship
eventually also consume the dictator Abacha himself.

Please we should not underestimate the significance of the current
democratic process. It entrenches constitutionalism daily in place of
impunity of the military era.

Let’s take a bigger leap to the democratic past. In the 1980s, Shagari
led NPN executive chooses through phantom political intrigues to
deport opposition chieftain Alhaji Shugaba Abdulrahamn Drama of GNPP
to Chad. The impunity of that executive is promptly challenged by UPN
led opposition relying on constitutionalism and rule of law. Shugaba
citizenship is promptly restored by the court. Again compare this to
the criminal deportation of Professor Patrick Wilmot of Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) Zaria by IBB dictatorship in 1988 and the crating of
Umaru Dikko in 1984 and the helplessness of the victims to seek
redress.

The point cannot be overstated: what differentiates dictatorship from
democracy is the constitutional order that moderates the latter and
the absence of it that entrenches the former. As Shugaba case
dramatizes civilians could also prove totalitarian and even fascistic
but constitution (with all its limitations) is the remedy and ultimate
check in a democracy. Any wonder that all dictators and usurpers from
Izeogu in 1966 to Abacha opted for constitutional kill first. The
lesson for democratic forces like labour and the media is to defend
the constitution and the rule of law regardless of their
imperfections.

The Anambra saga, as long as it plays out also shows the potency of
constitutional order worthy of celebration.
Anambra’s crisis has all the trappings of Uncle Bush’s adventure in
Iraq.  It actually erupts almost simultaneously as Iraq’s tragedy
unfolds with some similar war terms: “family affair” or ‘friendly
fires’. But all the usurpers are exposed by the rule of law.
“Governor” Igige’s illegal abduction scandalously with collaboration
of the police is exposed by the rule of law. He, the “governor” is
exposed as impostor who does not win election.

The eventual declaration of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA)
candidate Peter Obi winner of 2003 gubernatorial election is certainly
judgement without justice to the extent that usurpers go without
punishment and electoral preferences of Anambra are so vilified with
impunity. But what is clear is that the “rule of law” and democracy
exposes these absurdities.

The landmark judgement that an aggrieved serving President cannot sue
leadership papers for alleged smear until the President’s immunity is
vacated further indicates that our democratic cup is half full and not
half empty and we can only consolidate by filling the cup altogether.
General Obasanjo as the Head of Sate in 1978 with military impunity
dissolves the independently constituted NLC executives led by late
Imoudu and Wahab Goodluck. But President Obasanjo with similar
intention is constrained by constitionalsm and compelled to ssek
amendment of Labour Law at the height of NLC campaign against
obnoxious fuel price increases which of course was resisted in open
arena of the national assembly. Under the notorious decree 2 military
dictators jail journalists and even perpetrate extra-judicial killings
as in the case of the late Dele Giwa and late Bagauda Kato.



DEMOCRACY: NOT HOW LONG BUT HOW WELL
Recalling Shugaba case brings to the fore the second mis- conception
about our democracy. How valid is it to say ours is “nascent”. We are
told it is not yet a ‘true’ democracy. But there is nothing like
‘false’ democracy. We are told our current dispensation is `nascent’.
But Nigeria stars with democracy at independence. The recent media
hype about 10 years of democracy legitimises this mis-conception but
mis-conception it is nonetheless. The greatest threat to electoral
reform is the official rationalisation of our democratic deficits by
reference to the so-called youthfulness of Nigeria’s democracy.

At the TELL Magazine International Conference on Ten Years of
Democracy in Nigeria, Abuja — June 3, 2009, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,
Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives credit to this
mis conception. According to him, Nigeria has only a decade of
“stable” democracy. “The advanced democracies have been at it for
centuries, but many of them had to fight wars before signing on to the
peace. Even South Africa that we are regularly compared with has been
a democracy for over a hundred years. The only thing missing was
popular participation by the black majority. It is indeed instructive
to note that the African National Congress, South Africa’s ruling
party, is older than the Nigerian nation. ANC came into being in 1912,
while Nigeria was born in 1914”.

Haba! Nothing could be more misleading! With official mindset like
this our democratic cup is far from being filled. We must interrogate
the official calendar of   democracy in Nigeria which reads Democracy
Day every 29th of May. It is grossly misleading to say Nigeria’s
democracy is ten years old, using May 29th controversial date of 1999
as the new democratic bench mark. What happened to June 12th, of 1993
the notorious spectre that hunts precisely it is the last day, the
votes truly counted nationally? Why not November 16th 1960? Dr Nnamdi
Azikwe is sworn in as the first Governor-General and Commander in
Chief of the Federation in succession to Sir James Robertson that day.
Why not October 1979, when democratic Second Republic under Shagari is
proclaimed after a decade and half of military intervention?

Nigeria’s long walk to democracy goes beyond the last decade! To
cheaply reduce democracy to some bad controversial events of the last
ten years rather than seeing democracy as a historic process (the
first Nigeria’s political party, Macaulay’s National Democratic Party
(NDP) was formed in 1920!) is politically unhelpful. Better to draw on
the century of democratic process than politically bogged down to some
serial systemic corruption, election rigging and judicial anarchy of
the last decade. Yours sincerely feels politically and democratically
diminished to read that democratic South Africa (15 years old!) is
older than Nigeria’s democracy (arbitrarily downsized into ten
years!). It is simply one historic absurdity. Even the South Africans
do not agree that apartheid era which criminally excludes the black
majority is part of their democratic heritage as VP Jonathan distorts
history. On the contrary until the long period of military rule and
the wasted decade of OBJ, South Africans actually perceive Nigeria’s
democratic process as model worthy of emulation.

Apartheid regime (proclaimed in 1948) is 12 years old when Nigeria
gets independence in 1960 with democratic constitutional order. The
likes of Mandela, Oliver Tambo sought for solidarity of other Africans
including democratic Nigeria. As undergraduates in Ahmadu Bello
University (ABU) in the early eighties, we are living witnesses to
robust campaigns of visible democratic actors which parade the great
democratic names like Zik of Africa Nnamdi Azikwe, (NPP), Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, (UPN) Mallam Aminu Kano, (PRP) Shehu Shagari, (NPN),
the late Waziri Ibrahim (GNPP) and Tunji Braithwaite. Those parties
with all their limitations are issue-driven and ideologically
motivated than the persons/terror-driven 50 lot parties of today. How
on earth then do we celebrate democracy and ignore such rich
democratic heritage? Rebranding without memory is a failed project.
Today we lazily search for new Obamas. We even lament non-stop-over of
President Barack Obama next July as if the 40 something years old
American President was born before our democratic founding founders
got independence in 1960! Nigeria hitherto is once democratic
destination of sort. Democratic Nigeria under Prime Minister Tafawa
Balewa hosts the conference of Commonwealth Prime Ministers on 11th of
January 1966 which expels Ian Smith’s Rhodesia for unilateral
declaration of independence. Harold Wilson, British prime Minister,
the author of wind of change was there in Lagos. Balewa ably exhibits
democratic credentials and moral authority which we sadly lack today.

Our democratic heritage indeed throws up more than enough democratic
actors; at a time it is not fashionable to be democrats in Africa:
ideological, patriotic and certainly less corrupt. The democratic
collectables are as diverse as the diverse democratic callings of all
activist Nigerians. They include Balarabe Musa, late Milford Okilo,
Sam Mbakwe, Lateef Jakande, late Bala Muhammed, Jim Nwobodo, Abubakar
Rimi, Suleiman Takuma, Muhammed Goni, Bola Ige, Bisi Onabanjo, Sam
Ikoku,  an intellectual and one time confidant of late Kwame Nkrumah.
How many of the political actors in the recent dispensation capture
democratic imagination like those second Republic actors? As recent as
1978, we are proud voters in the knowledge that the then FEDECO is
more credible to make our votes count than today’s INEC! And that is
when scores of South Africa’s under graduate compatriots are miserable
political refugees here in Nigeria (a great democratic frontline state
which enlisted with Tanzania, Zambia and Cuba to fight for the
liberation in Southern Africa!)! Indeed today’s celebrated South
African democratic, non-racial and non-sexist constitution draws
heavily on Nigeria’s 1979 constitution.

The point cannot be overstated: Nigeria has rich democratic heritage
beyond the last decade. Communal accountability openness and
representation are the hall marks of pre-colonial Nigeria. Democratic
political parties and their civilian leaders (and not the army nor the
generals and later day militicians) fight for Nigeria’s independence.
Nigeria’s nationalism is civilian and democratically driven. It is the
Federal parliament that passes the first motion in 1962 that creates
the first state, Mid-West state (present Edo), a political sagacity
difficult to achieve today.

DEMOCRACY NOT AT THE MERCY OF ITS ENEMIES
Yes, we have had a decade of non-military gun trotting intervention.
But democracy cannot be defined in relations to its non-interruption
by anti-democratic forces. Democracy is not (and cannot) be at the
mercy of its enemies. It is inherently virtuous to the extent people
desire and fight for it, to the extent that it ensures freedom of
expression, assembly and associations. In terms of constitutionalism,
no country on earth is more “democratic” than Nigeria (from
Constitutions in 1922, 1946, 1954, 1960 to 1979 and the current 1999
constitution). Nigeria had first elections of 1923 in which Macaulay’s
party took all the three seats. Blacks then had no voting rights in
USA. Martin Luther King’s dream was unthinkable making the point that
America could not have produced a Herbert Macaulay which Nigeria did!
The tragedy of Nigeria is that elections of 1923 under colonial
oppressors were far freer than Ekiti re-run of 2009! So much then for
the last decade!

The current dispensation has its fair share of “interruptions” however
defined. What of Anambra saga and distorted calendar? What with sole
administrators in Ekiti (October 2006) and Plateau (May 2004) the two
being pointed Military Generals compared with the first Republic’s
civilian sole administrator of the crisis ridden Western region,
(Senator Dr Majekodunmi)? But you cannot learn from the rich past that
you ignore with impunity. Collin Powel’s lecture shows that America’s
democratic heritage spans centuries that include “interruptions” such
as slavery, civil war and civil rights era. Nigeria’s democratic
heritage should be as inclusive.



NO ALTERNATIVE TO DEMOCRACY; WE MUST DEPEEN DEMOCRACY

The third misconception is the false notion that that alternative to
democracy is military rule. Nigeria’s history shows that military
however “benevolent” or patronizing is not an alternative to
democratic process. Nigerians must therefore exorcise the spectre of
military in our democratic discourse. Since the criminal military
intervention of 1966, all military regimes know that they are nothing
but aberrations. Indeed to legitimize self every military usurper
plays the democratic card of retuning the country to democracy failing
which they are imperilled. Gowon was overthrown on the account of
betraying the democratic aspiration of the country. Following the
assassination of Murtala, the legitimacy of Obasanjo led junta rested
on non-reversal of the civil rule time table announced by the Murtala
October 1979. Buhari Idi Agbon short lived because of the regime’s
brazen contempt for Nigerians’ democratic aspirations. Conversely the
long torturous IBB regime gambled with democratic aspirations with
endless experimental transition programmes that consumed the regime
altogether. Abacha’s brutal regime could not ignore Nigeria’s quest
for democracy judging from his albeit self serving transition which
also consumes him.

The point here is that we must rather deepening democracy rather than
nurturing unhelpful nostalgia for military as if it is an alternative.
Military is not an alternative. Alternative to imperfect democracy is
more and more democracy and not less: demand for accountability and
electoral reforms.

Every nation seems almost, as a curse, betrays its ideal. Perfection
at the end belongs to God even as every serious nation still holds
unto its ideal tenaciously. That hitherto politically divided
Americans rose and voted an African American President shows that
democracy harbours its inherent alternatives.

Let’s hold on to our democratic ideal as other great peoples and
nations do even as we daily fall short of it as others also often do.

But, while pursuing our ideals, let us not betray it through incessant
self–doubt, advertised smear and ‘criticisms’ that create the
impression of stagnation, hopelessness that in turn take us far way
from our ideal.

We are far from the political democratic ideal, judging from the
painful reality of acrimonious pursuit of power as distinct from
pursuit of programmes, entrenched corruption and absence of
development agenda shameless carpet-crossing, and the incredible
intolerance especially at state and local level resulting in callous
assassinations of some political actors.  What about recent mutually
destructive ‘religious’ and ‘communal’ crises and the attendant loss
of lives and property?

Yet if we bend backward beyond we also see that we have witnessed
robust contestations and cooperation that are the hallmarks of
democracy, which must be encouraged. The new electoral reform process,
recent judicial rulings that revered electoral robberies in Edo, Ondo,
Rivers add to the tempo of optimism.

Let’s resist the blackmail of anti-democratic elements by not counting
the days of democracy. We should rather tirelessly work for the
realization of the abundant gains of democratic process. If democracy
fails, it is the citizens that fail either by being subservient to the
blackmail of anti-democratic elements or accepting time limit on an
unending process, by unwittingly belittling it as ‘nascent’.

COMPLEMENT POLITICAL DEMOCRACY WITH ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY
Another mis-conception is political democracy without economic
democracy. Both labour and the media must continue the great campaign
for full implementation of Uwais report. But this must be complemented
by demand for development, development and development. Political
democracy is hollow without industry, employment and mass jobs. Indeed
the real threat to democracy is collapse of factories, destruction of
middle class, mass consumption without production, power failure. We
cannot build democracy on poverty alleviation or poverty reduction
paradigm. On the contrary, we can only sustain democracy on wealth
generation and re-industrialization. It is simply untenable that a
relatively poorer democratic Nigeria in the 60s delivered greater
prosperity than a richer democratic Nigeria in the last ten years. So
the problem is not with democracy but the contemporary democratic
actors who lack the commitment and vision of the old. The challenge of
economic democracy calls for more political democracy. As long as the
votes don’t count, electoral outcomes deny true developers and impose
electoral armed robbers in office, the result being further robbery of
common wealth. The media and labour have the responsibility to ensure
we replace the current corruption agenda with development agenda.

TIME IS OF ENSSENCE
The last misconception is that time is on our side. The argument of
the VP that we must gradually pursue democracy which many nations took
centuries to allegedly achieve underscores our lack of sense of
urgency and sense of history as shown already. The truth of the matter
is that the political class represented by the likes of Jonathan is
simply complacent. It’s time political class returned to duty. And
this must start with simple governance gesture such as punctuality and
sense of purpose for service delivery. The perpetual late coming to
official functions by public officers’ underscores slack of
seriousness by our leaders. Record shows that the late founding
fathers are ore time conscious which explains the record achievement
of 6 years after independence record. We are yet to beat their record
even with aeroplanes, internet, assorted cheeps and multiple and
mobile phones which must serve as source of concern to us all.

The above task the democratic credentials of the media and labour. If
they must fast track democratic consolidation then labour and the
media too must also be accountable, open and transparent in their
dealings. After all, those who demand for equity must come with
cleaner hands.

*BEING TEXT OF A PAPER PRESENTD BY COMRADE ISSA AREMU,
GENERAL SECRETARY, NATIONAL UNION OF TEXTILE GARMENT AND TAILORING
WORKERS OF NIGERIA (NUTGTWN) AND VICE PRESIDENT NIGERIA LABOUR
CONGRESS (NLC)AT THE MEETING OF THE NIGERIA GUILD OF EDITORS

HELD AT AWKA ANAMBRA STATE FRIDAY JUNE 19, 2009