An Assembly against the people

The recent rejection of the constitution amendment bill 0n devolution of powers by the members of Nigeria’s legislative arm shows just how uninformed (at best) and insincere (at worst) the whole lot of Nigeria’s leading class can be. It not only showed a group of people so detached from their constituents, it also exposed the National Assembly as a group of largely unimaginative and shortsighted individuals unwilling to critically interrogate each assignment given to them.

To begin with, let us look at what the proposed bill on the devolution of powers was meant to achieve: the bill sought alterations to the Second Schedule, Parts I and II of the constitution to move certain items from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List. It also sought to increase the legislative power of states.

In other words, it was supposed to make the states more responsible for their own development, while ensuring that there would no longer be an almighty Federal Government that acted more like a bully than a big brother to all.

In Nigeria, as a fallout of the successive military regimes — and their flawed 1999 constitution handed down to us — the Exclusive Legislative List (Exclusive List) not only make the Federal Government all-powerful, it makes it absurd as well. While items like defence, currency, customs and passports are understandably part of Nigeria’s Exclusive List, the inclusion of other items like aviation, mining, railways and even marriages on this list is nothing short of the absurd. With an over-bloated Federal Government that can only afford to spend a paltry 30% of its yearly budget on capital expenditure, it only makes sense that it devolves some of its powers to leaner, more capable states, while it focuses more on collecting taxes as well as oversight. But no, our insatiable thirst for power as well as the small-mindedness of our ‘big man syndrome’ always stands in the way of our development.

Therein lies the tunnel vision of those legislators that voted against the devolution of power. They have set their eyes on short-term politics — especially the 2019 power struggle — and have tossed the wellbeing of the nation to the wind. By defeating this rather progressive bill, the National Assembly, ironically dominated by a political party with ‘progressives’ as part of its name, has taken a stand against the Nigerian people. It has shown that while majority of them vowed to ensure that Nigeria is truly made a federation in workings and law, it is more interested in preserving power in the hands of an opportunistic cabal with a fief mentality and a deeply conservative agenda.

This National Assembly does not work for ‘we the people’.

The good thing is that they have played their hands, so we now must play ours, come 2019. We must seek out and publish the names of each Senator and House of Representatives member that voted to corner our commonwealth for their small, kitchen cabinet. We must know these people, and we must make sure that they do not continue to speak for, and vote on issues on our behalf.

The members of the National Assembly were voted in by us to represent our interests and, when they fail to do this, we must send new representatives.

This must be our resolve.