from the FOIC list serve I: dsicourse on policies &right economic team/advisers
Dear Carol,
Do permit me to provoke you in a direction away from that of "gender injustice" in the NBA (not that, that is of no significance - in the NBA or anywhere; where established....but with the few times I could flick through the digest; was getting boring). This relates to your earlier suppositions that (1) a "rule of law mantra" or "policy direction to respect court orders" exists and indeed is palpable & (2) that what is required to set Nigeria aright is the right policy direction(s) somehow related closely to having the/a "right economic team/advisers" for Mr. Yar'Adua.
First, could we say that court orders are being respected because the assumed rule of mantra is working or is the supposed rule of mantra working because court orders are deemed to be obeyed? I do think that while there is an interconnecting relationship between both, these are two different conceptualizations of the is matter at hand, with possibly different consequences.
In my view the mantra is part real and part charade (and the part non-"film trick" is to allow for the gulping of the charade by sincere citizens who seek to find some form of "progress" in Nigeria's democratic evolution - so to speak - despite the bigger farce of Yar'Adua's ascension to power...like you). This charade of a mantra is basically an instrumentalist liturgy for Yar'Adua's politics of legitimation. Same goes for the electoral reforms committee and the Krushev-like denunciations of anything Obasanjo (e.g. power probe, roads contract, NNPC, FCT land allocations) with absolutely nothing coming out of these. To get sucked into the illusions that this act in the (still unfolding) drama of Yar'Adua's regime amounts to deeper roots, could sow the seeds of demobilization for a broad array of would-have been advocates for the rule of (political, social and economic) justice.
Second and in a sense more important, in my view, is the illusion that the primary problem of Nigeria is merely one of policy direction or directionlessness on one hand and the wrong set of advisers or teams on the other, which your view inadvertently could foster. It is akin to that which sees the problem as that of "corruption" or "bad leadership". While I do very much agree that all of the above are quite critical problems, in Nigeria, I think we might be treating the symptoms as the problem. Without going into a discourse on what constitutes a right economic team here, it must be pointed out, I believe, that even the best team of economic advisers (and advisers in other policy fields e.g. education, agriculture, works) would be constrained whence the government's socio-economic blueprint is an extension of the cook-books of the World Bank & IMF the recipes of which have failed and continue to fail across the world.
The issue remains one of building a people-centred alternative to Yar'Adua and all he stands for (PDP + ANPP & CO, and the entire lot of self-serving, pockets-filling and today-focused band of "our" political elites) in the practice of politics and policies. In 1982 for example, NLC came up with a "Workers' Charter" which was a platform for mobilizing a broad spectrum of the popular sector for alternative policies, similar to this was the "Nigeria: Not for Sale" opposition to SAP. Similar actions in the broader civil society would include the CFCR's alternative constitution.
A major tragedy of the democratic movement in Nigeria in a broad sense is the elasticity of our tolerance and e go better mentality, married to a very limited inelasticity in terms of articulating and consistently mobilizing around alternative policies, programmes and regimes.
On a final note, I must apologise for the lag in response to the issues I saw emerging from yours below, beyond what then was the issue of discourse. Beyond studies, I've taken to film production as a tool for social mobilization. The last fortnight has been like PHEW! for me as I battled through work on "The Fabulous World of Resistance" documenting last month's historic metalworkers strike wave over here (completed the German edition Friday, but just tidied up with the English yesterday). I must state though that while I might not agree with you on a wide range of issues, I do respect the fact that you do try to engage issues....I do think this disposition is critical if we are to reclaim a soul for our dear 9ja.And that would entail constant rigorous discourse of our views, propositions, etc
Regards,
Baba Aye
--- On Sat, 11/22/08, carol ajie
From: carol ajie
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition]Attn: Babaye. The Constitution and Governors' Tenure -Carol Ajie The Nation 18/11/08
To: FOIcoalition@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008, 12:47 AM
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] Attn: Olumide. The Constitution and Governors' Tenure -Carol Ajie The Nation 18/11/08
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Friday, November 21, 2008, 11:59 AM
Hi All,
I can identify three key issues in this discourse: between the law and ethics of governmentality, Mr. Yar'Adua's health and matters arising; the curse of Nigeria's ruling knock-kneed, visonless and grossly inept ruling elites (as represented by Umar, presently); the recurring bad coin of Mr Adeniyi, representing the elephant-shooting corruption-excusing technocratic- administrative cadres of the rudderless Nigerian state. I'll state my views summarily, starting from the last of these.
Reading broda Segun's "public service..." (seemed more like a neo-colonial state's service to me), what first struck me was the inappropriateness of his metaphor. His case seems more to me like that of Santiago in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The self-righteousness of the condemned idealist (condemned not by the original sin of corruption, but of faith in a regime, a system which is inherently by its very actions and direction condemned to a perpetuation of patronage, cronyism and hypocrisy) can not lead to anything but - at the very best -frustration and delirium and (as seems more his case) eating his cake and pretending to have it. We can not get into water and claim to be wet; the demands of family and friends reflect a "culture" of let me get my own now my broda dey there as uncertainty marks our lives. Succumbing to such vibes also confirm his subscribing to its essence, pure and simple. So, with all due respect to whatever threads of moral uprightness might (or might not exist) in the fibre of his personality, his "sankara story" thus in the simplest of terms to me amounts to subtle nonsense.
I am not, never wished to and will never aspire to be a lawyer. But as a citizen of Nigeria (in a sense though I'd say "I am a citizen of the world; the earth is my country"), I do think that the CFRN, '99 (which still remains illegitimate even if legal) does state the ways and manner a president (who derives his/her powers from it) can be asked to or can decide to step aside, on the grounds of ill health. I regret to say though that in my view, Yar'Adua might not have vitiated these provisions. The issue as well might not rightly be one of demanding or simply suggesting that he resigns, based on the relevant constitutional provisions. This is for the very reason that we do not even know what it is that ails Mr. Yar'Adua. This to me reflects the disdain in which he holds the citizenry/electorat e (of course in Nigeria, the citizenry does not approximate to the electorate as the "electorate" really is a selectorate with its roots in PDP, its branches in INEC, its leaves in the apparatus of coercion and its dew in hard cash). An emperor would see no reason to explain anything about his weakness for the very reason that he is a "god" of some sort. But a ruler in a (pseudo-)democarcy has a moral obligation to inform the nation of his ailment....or could the hide and seek be a pointer to the possibilities of its being revealed throwing up material justification for the invocation of S. 144? If not, with the hue and cry arising from speculations on his health, Umaru should leave the scabies of taking Leadership newspapers to court and address the leprosy of the public discourse of his rule's legitimacy now being more on his health as against the unhealthy, malaised, plagued "elections" that brought him to power. There is however no cause for control for him as every thing is under alarm for Nigeria...one would wait till eternity for a FEC that would invoke S. 144 (1) and not even then would it still invoke it even if presido were mortally ill save he (speaking on behalf of some power bloc or the other or an alliance of such; directs it to.
On the non-performance of the regime (note; not just government.. .). I can only for now say "oro p'esi je o" (the statement renders a response useless). Probably to add to that as a caveat; their strength largely lies in the mastubartory weaknesses of our winding speeches sans transformative action.
On a parting note at this juncture to the likes of Mr. Adeniyi (and his likes inside, whose steps and lamentations however seem to lack some congruence) on one hand and those like my well respected sister, the dame CA (I did speak with a few of the friends I have who are, fortunately or unfortunately, lawyers -including some on this listserve - "campaigning" from outside for you during the NBA conference, but learnt of some zonal arrangement blablabla... ), who might have good intentions in seeing a spark of hope in Yar'Adua's rule of law and other stories chapter in our country's history, I can only paraphrase Bertha M. Clay's Sir Lionel's character in Beyond Pardon; the road to catastrophe is often lined with the roses of good intentions, men and women love the bloom of its petals but are blind to its thorns...
Sincere regards,
BA
Do permit me to provoke you in a direction away from that of "gender injustice" in the NBA (not that, that is of no significance - in the NBA or anywhere; where established....but with the few times I could flick through the digest; was getting boring). This relates to your earlier suppositions that (1) a "rule of law mantra" or "policy direction to respect court orders" exists and indeed is palpable & (2) that what is required to set Nigeria aright is the right policy direction(s) somehow related closely to having the/a "right economic team/advisers" for Mr. Yar'Adua.
First, could we say that court orders are being respected because the assumed rule of mantra is working or is the supposed rule of mantra working because court orders are deemed to be obeyed? I do think that while there is an interconnecting relationship between both, these are two different conceptualizations of the is matter at hand, with possibly different consequences.
In my view the mantra is part real and part charade (and the part non-"film trick" is to allow for the gulping of the charade by sincere citizens who seek to find some form of "progress" in Nigeria's democratic evolution - so to speak - despite the bigger farce of Yar'Adua's ascension to power...like you). This charade of a mantra is basically an instrumentalist liturgy for Yar'Adua's politics of legitimation. Same goes for the electoral reforms committee and the Krushev-like denunciations of anything Obasanjo (e.g. power probe, roads contract, NNPC, FCT land allocations) with absolutely nothing coming out of these. To get sucked into the illusions that this act in the (still unfolding) drama of Yar'Adua's regime amounts to deeper roots, could sow the seeds of demobilization for a broad array of would-have been advocates for the rule of (political, social and economic) justice.
Second and in a sense more important, in my view, is the illusion that the primary problem of Nigeria is merely one of policy direction or directionlessness on one hand and the wrong set of advisers or teams on the other, which your view inadvertently could foster. It is akin to that which sees the problem as that of "corruption" or "bad leadership". While I do very much agree that all of the above are quite critical problems, in Nigeria, I think we might be treating the symptoms as the problem. Without going into a discourse on what constitutes a right economic team here, it must be pointed out, I believe, that even the best team of economic advisers (and advisers in other policy fields e.g. education, agriculture, works) would be constrained whence the government's socio-economic blueprint is an extension of the cook-books of the World Bank & IMF the recipes of which have failed and continue to fail across the world.
The issue remains one of building a people-centred alternative to Yar'Adua and all he stands for (PDP + ANPP & CO, and the entire lot of self-serving, pockets-filling and today-focused band of "our" political elites) in the practice of politics and policies. In 1982 for example, NLC came up with a "Workers' Charter" which was a platform for mobilizing a broad spectrum of the popular sector for alternative policies, similar to this was the "Nigeria: Not for Sale" opposition to SAP. Similar actions in the broader civil society would include the CFCR's alternative constitution.
A major tragedy of the democratic movement in Nigeria in a broad sense is the elasticity of our tolerance and e go better mentality, married to a very limited inelasticity in terms of articulating and consistently mobilizing around alternative policies, programmes and regimes.
On a final note, I must apologise for the lag in response to the issues I saw emerging from yours below, beyond what then was the issue of discourse. Beyond studies, I've taken to film production as a tool for social mobilization. The last fortnight has been like PHEW! for me as I battled through work on "The Fabulous World of Resistance" documenting last month's historic metalworkers strike wave over here (completed the German edition Friday, but just tidied up with the English yesterday). I must state though that while I might not agree with you on a wide range of issues, I do respect the fact that you do try to engage issues....I do think this disposition is critical if we are to reclaim a soul for our dear 9ja.And that would entail constant rigorous discourse of our views, propositions, etc
Regards,
Baba AyeZimmer 10, Heckershauser Str., 19A
D34127, Kassel, Germany
+49-1628714379
babaaye.blog.co.uk (titbits of my life, sort of)
solidarityandstruggle.blogspot.com (on theory and practice)
Skype name: iron1lion
Skype name: iron1lion
"if you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down"
- Bob Marley
"We will no longer hear your command, we'll seize the control from your hands
we will fan the flames of our anger and pain....Amandla, Ngawethu"
- UB 40
- Bob Marley
"We will no longer hear your command, we'll seize the control from your hands
we will fan the flames of our anger and pain....Amandla, Ngawethu"
- UB 40
--- On Sat, 11/22/08, carol ajie
From: carol ajie
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition]Attn: Babaye. The Constitution and Governors' Tenure -Carol Ajie The Nation 18/11/08
To: FOIcoalition@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008, 12:47 AM
Dear Babaye,
Re: INVOCATION OF S.144
I agree that FEC is not likely to explore section 144. What pro-democracy activists may do is to seek judicial intervention compelling FEC to act pursuant to section 144. Once this kind of court summons is filed whether or not it succeeds, the struggle will be taken a step further. Assuming the cause of action succeeds, executing the judgment wont be a problem thanks to the rule of law mantra. Assuming it doesnt succeed, points scored.
Some judicial activism might compel certain governmental action to serve the suffering masses of this great country, even if the case is not concluded the fact that there is a court battle to save the soul of Nigeria sends the right signal that it cant be business as usual. I try to make myself clear; rule of law mantra is working because there is a policy direction to respect court orders. Therefore there can be a policy direction to eliminate poverty, to remove power failure, to make Nigeria agro-based, education for the coming generation, to tar roads, etc. All that is required of Mr President is to appoint the right Economic Team
/Advisers as he appointed the right SA Media and Communication and things would work.
On NBA zoning formula. You are right, the office of the Presidenct is zoned but not General Secretary.Am a victim of politics of gender injustice; we will talk about it another time.
CA
--- On Fri, 11/21/08, Baba Aye
From: Baba Aye --- On Fri, 11/21/08, Baba Aye
Subject: Re: [FOIcoalition] Attn: Olumide. The Constitution and Governors' Tenure -Carol Ajie The Nation 18/11/08
To: FOIcoalition@ yahoogroups. com
Date: Friday, November 21, 2008, 11:59 AM
Hi All,
I can identify three key issues in this discourse: between the law and ethics of governmentality, Mr. Yar'Adua's health and matters arising; the curse of Nigeria's ruling knock-kneed, visonless and grossly inept ruling elites (as represented by Umar, presently); the recurring bad coin of Mr Adeniyi, representing the elephant-shooting corruption-excusing technocratic- administrative cadres of the rudderless Nigerian state. I'll state my views summarily, starting from the last of these.
Reading broda Segun's "public service..." (seemed more like a neo-colonial state's service to me), what first struck me was the inappropriateness of his metaphor. His case seems more to me like that of Santiago in Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The self-righteousness of the condemned idealist (condemned not by the original sin of corruption, but of faith in a regime, a system which is inherently by its very actions and direction condemned to a perpetuation of patronage, cronyism and hypocrisy) can not lead to anything but - at the very best -frustration and delirium and (as seems more his case) eating his cake and pretending to have it. We can not get into water and claim to be wet; the demands of family and friends reflect a "culture" of let me get my own now my broda dey there as uncertainty marks our lives. Succumbing to such vibes also confirm his subscribing to its essence, pure and simple. So, with all due respect to whatever threads of moral uprightness might (or might not exist) in the fibre of his personality, his "sankara story" thus in the simplest of terms to me amounts to subtle nonsense.
I am not, never wished to and will never aspire to be a lawyer. But as a citizen of Nigeria (in a sense though I'd say "I am a citizen of the world; the earth is my country"), I do think that the CFRN, '99 (which still remains illegitimate even if legal) does state the ways and manner a president (who derives his/her powers from it) can be asked to or can decide to step aside, on the grounds of ill health. I regret to say though that in my view, Yar'Adua might not have vitiated these provisions. The issue as well might not rightly be one of demanding or simply suggesting that he resigns, based on the relevant constitutional provisions. This is for the very reason that we do not even know what it is that ails Mr. Yar'Adua. This to me reflects the disdain in which he holds the citizenry/electorat e (of course in Nigeria, the citizenry does not approximate to the electorate as the "electorate" really is a selectorate with its roots in PDP, its branches in INEC, its leaves in the apparatus of coercion and its dew in hard cash). An emperor would see no reason to explain anything about his weakness for the very reason that he is a "god" of some sort. But a ruler in a (pseudo-)democarcy has a moral obligation to inform the nation of his ailment....or could the hide and seek be a pointer to the possibilities of its being revealed throwing up material justification for the invocation of S. 144? If not, with the hue and cry arising from speculations on his health, Umaru should leave the scabies of taking Leadership newspapers to court and address the leprosy of the public discourse of his rule's legitimacy now being more on his health as against the unhealthy, malaised, plagued "elections" that brought him to power. There is however no cause for control for him as every thing is under alarm for Nigeria...one would wait till eternity for a FEC that would invoke S. 144 (1) and not even then would it still invoke it even if presido were mortally ill save he (speaking on behalf of some power bloc or the other or an alliance of such; directs it to.
On the non-performance of the regime (note; not just government.. .). I can only for now say "oro p'esi je o" (the statement renders a response useless). Probably to add to that as a caveat; their strength largely lies in the mastubartory weaknesses of our winding speeches sans transformative action.
On a parting note at this juncture to the likes of Mr. Adeniyi (and his likes inside, whose steps and lamentations however seem to lack some congruence) on one hand and those like my well respected sister, the dame CA (I did speak with a few of the friends I have who are, fortunately or unfortunately, lawyers -including some on this listserve - "campaigning" from outside for you during the NBA conference, but learnt of some zonal arrangement blablabla... ), who might have good intentions in seeing a spark of hope in Yar'Adua's rule of law and other stories chapter in our country's history, I can only paraphrase Bertha M. Clay's Sir Lionel's character in Beyond Pardon; the road to catastrophe is often lined with the roses of good intentions, men and women love the bloom of its petals but are blind to its thorns...
Sincere regards,
BA
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