OPPOSITION POLITICS:
‘Our democracy started on a wrong footing’
Abiodun Aremu is a leader of the Labour and Civil Society
Coalition who says wearing Awo’s cap does not make you a progressive. Below is
excerpt of an interview he had with a NEXT reporter:
You led several protests against
the military rule. Has democracy met your expectations of good governance?
One
of the major mistakes made by the pro-democracy activists during the transition
from military to civil rule was that there was no consensus on the term of the
transition. Our campaign under the Campaign for Democracy and later the United
Action for Democracy was essentially to terminate military rule.
But
you cannot transit from military to civilian rule without talking about the
party system. There was no agreement within us whether or not to also include
the electoral agenda in our campaign. There was a section of the pro-democracy
activists made up of political parties like the National Conscience Party,
Democratic Alternative, Peoples Redemption Party, Movement for Democracy and
Justice, the Nigerian Advance Party.
Secondly,
the transition agenda was exclusive. There was no constitution guiding the
midwifery of the transition. So, none of those political parties I mentioned
above were registered. Many of us could not join a party we desired but were
left with the option of joining the PDP, ANPP, or AD. So, our democracy started
on a wrong footage and how can we expect dividend of democracy?
But
what we should have done then was to have insisted on a democratic
constitution. The present Constitution was promulgated only after 1999
elections. And considering that the military government then was unstable, we
should have furthered our agitations, even if it means an extension of the
military government but then, many people were in a haste to see the military
go that they threw caution to the wind.
Without
a democratic constitution, there is no democracy and governance will always be
impaired. So now, we are back at the table crying for a democratic constitution,
which is the root cause of all the insurgents we are having now. One of the
problems we have had to grapple with today is unconstitutional reforms, yet we
have a Constitution that needs to be totally overhauled, not amended. So, for
me, the transition is a failure.
Even
the western countries negotiated the transition for their economic interests.
Structural Adjustment Programme, National Economic Development Strategy I and
II, 7-point agenda, Vision 2020, are programmes tailored around the neo-liberal
paradigms of the IMF and World Bank.
Apart
from the failures, have we made any progress?
In
the Second Republic, you cannot swear-in anybody as the winner of an election
until all litigations and disputes have been settled. Classical example
happened in Ondo State where Omoboriowo was declared the winner of the
governorship election by the then Federal Electoral Council and there was a
dispute. On October 1st, 1983, 18 state governors were sworn-in with the
exception of Ondo. Adekunle Ajasin was not sworn-in until the Supreme Court
pronounced its judgement in his favour. But what do we see now? People occupy
political offices for three years before being pronounced illegal occupants. Do
you consider that a forward or backward movement?
Again,
what many point to as freedom of speech was not won because we now have
democracy. Between 2003 and 2005, there were about eight strikes and mass
protests against fuel price hike. The police dealt with us seriously. At a
time, the president of the NLC then, Adams Oshiomole, was dragged on the tarmac
of Abuja Airport. We had a democratic government, yet our right of assembly was
not respected. We have not made progress; we have only stuffed few peoples
pocket with our budgets.
Today,
an unconstitutional office, like that of the First Lady, controls billions of
naira, but workers are finding it difficult to earn N18,000 as minimum wage.
Dividend of democracy is not constructing a 1km road; it is about meeting the
aspiration of the people.
So,
how do we begin the change process?
The
pro-democracy forces must rise up once again. But this time, the campaign
should be on our electioneering process. We must ensure that process is based
on germane issues of economy, security, and others. We must ask for who
controls the economy. That was how it was done in the first and second
republics. Campaigns were based on issues affecting the people and the nation.
Little wonder that the people who dominated our political offices today are
people who opposed the struggle for democracy, especially in the National
Assembly.
Can
anybody’s manifesto contain privatisation of national patrimonies like NEPA and
still expect people to vote for him? Countries’ progresses are based on how
well they perform on the Human Development Index scale. Nigeria has continually
had woeful performance, yet we won’t ask our politicians what they can do to
solve that problem. Now, it is clear we cannot meet the Millennium Development
Goals and we are not querying our leaders.
Does
your assessment exonerate the progressives?
I
found it difficult to understand those who call themselves progressives. In
Nigerian historical context, being a progressive means you subscribe to the
philosophy of running a welfarist state, that is, to govern in the interest of
the masses. Such governments should not run a private-sector driven economy.
Look at what is happening with the Lekki-Epe expressway now. Fashola says he is
providing low-cost housing, but go to any of those houses, no low-income earner
can afford them but they could under Jakande.
Abubakar
Rimi’s government was the first to declare May 1 as workers day. And this is a
challenge to those of us pro-democracy activists to ignore the fact that we are
friends with the so called progressives today and engage them to prove their
progressiveness.
Progressiveness
is not just about wearing Awolowo’s cap and glasses. The difference between
those who called themselves progressives and the PDP is like six and half a
dozen. First, many of them are not even holding primaries in their parties. So,
why won’t there be rigging if there is no internal democracy?
Why
did you say the real heroes of June 12 never went on exile?
A
lot of people who were not really in the struggle went on exile. David Mark was
also on exile then. Adedibu was imprisoned at that time also. We were both in
Ikoyi prison, though he was a snitch. So, going on exile is now their
certificate as June 12 heroes.
There
are very few people who had to go on exile for fear of their lives. Then, the
CD’s ID Card was all you need to get visa in most embassies. Now, they claim to
be heroes, but how many remember those who refused to go on exile but stayed
behind, some losing their lives in the process. Though no role is dismissible
as unimportant, but the real activists of June 12 remained here.
I’m
not sure anybody has ever celebrated Rauf Aregbesola as a June 12 hero, yet he
is a strong one. There are many unsung heroes of June 12 and the governments
now profiting from that struggle should be operating a welfarist economy to
ensure peoples’ struggles were not in vain, to let people know that struggle
pays.
