The last 17 years of Nigerian transition to democratic system witnessed the most hard battles fought to consolidate democratic governance and otherwise.
The period witnessed an unflinching support by some Nigerians who considered democracy as a system that come to stay. At the same time it is a period that other Nigerians worked tirelessly to subvert the democratic system by causing distractions, confusions, division and attrition. What we are going through today is the left over or a continuation Per se of the positive or negative trends of regime after regime in the past decade and a half of the political process.
The unfolding negative trends in today's Nigerian political sphere is the characteristics of a democratic system embedded with impunity aimed at thwarting the political system, to favour the whims and caprices of the power that be, at the detriment of Nigerians and growth and development of the Nigerian political system. From Olushegun Obasanjo regime to Umaru Musa Yar'adua down to Goodluck Jonathan administration, Nigerian political elites; the Presidency, the National Assembly, State Governors, State Legislatures, Local Government Chairmen and Councillors among other political office holders engaged in acts contrary to the constitutional provisions amounting to subversion of the Nigerian Constitution and creating unnecessary political frictions. Arbitrary decisions were taken to upset and to deal with political foes at the same time, thwart development process aim at bringing succour to the teaming populace whose interest they are representing. The unprecedented rise of impunity in the current Muhammadu Buhari administration proves that impunity will keep being in the Nigerian political landscape for decades to come. As evident in the current face-off between the Presidency and the Senate Chamber of the National Assembly, unguarded utterances and decisions were made, leading to individual and constitutional threats and constitutional subversion through tramping on extant laws guiding the conducts of every Nigerian public servant State governments were not left out of this allegations of impunity, state Chief Executive Officers were often times found wanting in this aspect, they engaged in unjustifiable acts which in most cases to suit their interest, they tempered Constitution, an Acts that set out rules and regulations pertaining the subject in question.
The direction consequences attached to impunity in any political system is that, it does not allow rule of law to prevailed, it subvert constitutional provisions and procedures guiding individual conducts in a political system, it gives individuals a leverage to act according to his/her wills and wishes, and make individuals superior over extant laws and rules of a country, it heats up polity and bring chaos, division, hatred, inter-intra conflicts of interest, dominate individual and institutional power and strength, it slow down governance process thereby causing concern, apprehension and even untold hardship on the teaming populace, impunity may lead to total collapse of a country's political system leading to chaos, anarchy, Coup d' etat and revolution.
To rid impunity out of our political system, there must be urgent sacrifice by our public servants whether in the federal executive and states, federal legislature and states, local government chairmen and councillors, in the ministries, departments, agencies and parastatals, law enforcement agencies, civil societies, business communities, across political, religious and ethnic divides, Nigerians young and old, rich and poor, men and women must change our negative attitudes to embrace positive ones aim at safeguarding our collective resolve to make Nigeria a better place for all of us. Nigerian constitution is sacrosanct, our political conducts must be guided by its provisions, we must do away with sentiments and ill wishes against one another. IMPUNITY MUST GO!
Umar Muhammad
mumarlere@gmail.com
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