--THE PRESIDENCY AS COMBATANT IN THE FRAY
Ayo Olukotun
"The statement by the Presidency does not show any concerns for Nigerians who have suffered from series of attacks by some of the herders. It is not a matter to be easily dismissed and the statement by the Presidency is regrettable".
- Prof. Itse Sagay, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against CorruptionThe Punch, Wednesday, 25th May, 2021.
Tumult and tension are spreading in every direction heating up the polity because of the latest intervention of the Presidency on the ban on open grazing by the Southern Governors at their recent Asaba, Delta state meeting. Professor Itse Sagay, is right on the money when he pin-pointed the limited scope of the presidential statement illustrated by its lack of a human face since it does not contextualize its bashing of the Governors within the long-running and murderous saga of herders-farmers' conflicts.
Let me begin by raising the question: Are the frequent, often heated statements of Mr. Garba Shehu, the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, the same thing as the Presidency? Ordinarily, the question would have been unnecessary except that all too often, the comments represent a descent into the fray usually taking a one-sided and dogmatic position on issues that require further thoughts, debates and clarifications.
Consequently, one is led to wonder how much discussion and reflection go into these statements which in the opinion of this writer are more concerned with scoring debating points than with elucidating issues or edifying the reading public. It did not take time for senior lawyers to debunk, almost ridiculing what passes as a presidential position on the ban on open grazing pointing to such matters as the right to freedom of movement not being synonymous with the right of cattle to destroy agricultural produce with resultant death-dealing blows from herders if the farmers dared to resist.
Additionally, several lawyers have pointed out that the Land Use Act confers on Governors the powers that they exercise or seek to exercise (since the resolution will only become law when passed by the respective State Assemblies), thereby exposing the falsity and tendentious nature of Garba's statement. That response could very well have been written by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN who in an interview with Channels Television compared the Southern Governors' resolution to a meeting of the Northern Governors taking a decision to ban spare part dealers. Of course, there is no need to dwell on Malami's analogy which has been deeply faulted by many commentators including the Governor of Ondo state, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN. For example, Malami's critics faulted the comparison of the trade in spare part with the illegitimate traffic of herders engaging in open grazing, which has brought sorrow and death to many unsuspecting Nigerians.
The hoopla has hardly died down when the statement attributed to the Presidency was made public almost repeating the very terms and words employed by Malami in his widely criticized remarks. Obviously, had Garba speaking for the Presidency taken a little more time to reflect on the issues rather than simply vending a narrow perspective, the output will have acquired more gravitas, comprehensiveness and judiciousness. Indeed, those of us insisting that the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) should address the nation are doing so because of the perceived gap in communication as well as the mainstreaming of what will appear to be a vulnerable, almost sectionalist perspective on national issues.
What we have increasingly is crusading rhetoric rather than inspiring an instructional amplification worthy of the office of the President. In spite of all that has happened in this afflicted land, there are those who believe that listening to Buhari himself would be more of an education than the automatic nay saying of his spokespersons. Talking about leaders and speech writers, an anecdote may put the matter in clearer perspective. I once had occasion to attend an event at which the late MKO Abiola was guest lecturer in Lagos. Abiola read almost dutifully the speech prepared by his speech writers after which he took time to elaborate the issues in ex tempore observations. So, when I went up to him after the lecture to commend him for his speech, he turned to me and asked earnestly, "which of them; the first or the second?" I replied promptly, the second one and he nodded in agreement exclaiming, 'That really came from my heart!'
What is the moral here? Leaders, Presidents especially should not be imprisoned so to say, by their speech writers who may have several reasons for writing what they write. Too often, what we get is a ventriloquist's drama in which one person speaks for another without the public necessarily hearing the voice of the leader. If there is any time that Buhari should direct address the nation on its mounting troubles, rather than speak through speech writers, it is now. Before that happens however if it does happen, the columnist pleads for a restoration of dignity and aptitude to presidential speeches, not least because future scholars may do a content analysis of their sharp tone, tenor, as well as tendency to promote the interest of a faction or section over another. Is it not remarkable for instance that rather than settle the simmering dispute this latest speech has not only aggravated it, but has reinforced latent divisions echoing old grudges over government policies in respect of open grazing rather than the more modern and more rewarding ranching?
We do not minimize the problems associated with foraging for pasture by nomadic cattle rearers many of them increasingly bearing deadly weapons. Nonetheless, if the country can avoid the ceaseless affrays and confrontations between the herders and settler populations, why not do so in the interest of stability? Why not imitate the best examples from around the world where the industry has moved from a rudimentary itinerant phase to the more lucrative and commercial mode of modern day ranching?
Ideally, where there are conflicts of this nature, the Presidency should exercise the leeway and leverage to adjudicate not just by the force of ideas but by seeking consensus which is what governance is all about. The current approach of lambasting critics and bashing those with a different opinion vastly reduce the adjudicatory auspices of the Presidency and his power to govern, not by inflaming conflicts but by lessening and mitigating them.
The most recent instant of such presidential speeches is only a case study for there are other cases such as the Pantami saga in which the Presidency defied public opinion that the Minister should be sacked to exonerate and justify him. The mystique and reality of the Presidency as an arbiter in national affairs rest on his capacity to shun bias, broker delicate negotiations, avoid passionate and extreme positions in order to preserve the frayed fabric of a multi-ethnic nation such as ours. At a time when many Nigerians are fearing for their lives and when insecurity and economic hardship continue to wreak havoc on lives and property, the best that can happen is for all who wish to build a united nation to encourage the forces of unity rather than those of division by speaking words that carry healing in their wings as a way of ministering to a troubled and sorely distressed citizenry.
Prof. Ayo Olukotun is Director, Oba (Dr.) Adetona Institute of Governance Studies, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye.
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