Inclusive Governance, National Security and the Politics of Accommodation

A Speech Presented by His Excellency Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, CON (Executive Governor, Bauchi State) at the Public Presentation of “Scents of Power”, a Book by Dr. Amanze Obi, at the Yar’Ardua Centre, Abuja, on Tuesday 12^th October 2021

To the glory of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, I have the privilege to stand before this distinguished audience on the occasion of the formal presentation of Scents of Power by one of Nigeria’s journalism icons, the erudite Dr. Amanze Obi.

I consider it a most reassuring development that, at a time when the polity is being recklessly overheated through the utterances of many Nigerians, Amanze Obi has achieved a great feat by bringing people of divergent mindsets and worldviews together. It is fitting that I am present at this historical centre of national discourse, the Yar’Ardua International Centre, named after a Nigerian who devoted his entire life and career to the pursuit of national unity and development.

However, it should not come as a surprise. For many years, Amanze Obi has, through his several incisive articles and commentaries, provided a rallying point for stimulating intellectual discourse on the path to national greatness and survival. I am proud that, as Nigeria stands precariously on the edge of a national dilemma, perching perilously on the cliff, Amanze with whom I share the kindred spirit of being an English Language graduate and journalist, has provided another opportunity, for the nation to chart a path to redemption and progress.

For me therefore, it is indeed a great privilege to present this brief remark on the challenges that confront us as a people in the hope that, though tribe and tongue may differ, we shall never allow the allure of power and the base elements that define our primordial cleavages to blunt the nationalism or our historical survival instincts.

Chairman Sir, as we reach the twilight of this administration, it is clear that as a Nation, we are at a crossroads. Violence, terrorism, banditry and secessionist agitations have tried their very best to define us. Yet as our Founding Fathers knew only too well, the sum of our parts greatly exceeds the specifics of our circumstances.

Nigeria may not have been born or formed in the manner we may have desired but at least its founding fathers gave us a settled geography and thus a settled demography. A settled geography: the idea that we know our boundaries require that we know who we are as defined by our shared aspirations.

Yet, as the senseless bloodshed continues to dominate our lives, our fight is on more than a single bloody frontline. Rather, and as I shall outline to you today, there are three fronts on which we must wage a war on behalf of our beloved nation.

1) On National survival,

2) On national security and

3) On nation-building itself.

I posit that, away from the prevailing destructive zero-sum politics of exclusion and alienation that has brought out the worst in all of us and threatens the very fabric of our existence, we must return to the politics of accommodation and shared values, as the only way to build the future we desire for our children. Our founding fathers and mothers grasped this idea well, built our collective identity around it, fought the colonial imperialists with the logic and weapon of that same national aspiration and birthed an independent nation in 1960, 61 years ago.

From the formation of the nation to the present stage of our national development, we have faced traumatic challenges, weathered immense historical setbacks and overcome incredible existential odds.

Nevertheless, we preserve as God’s special gift to the Black Race.  This claim may sound outlandish given the current state of the nation under the watch of the All Progressive Congress (APC) government wherein massive youth unemployment, highest percentage of out of school children and a lack of inclusivity in government have become tragic milestones.

But it is not just about the APC; for to narrow it to partisan name-calling will miss the point and derail the search for a national consensus. I would rather put it this way: leadership has failed Nigeria; the great promise of a potential super-power premised on rich diversity, inestimable human and natural resources, clement weather and the near complete absence of natural disasters has been squandered as a result of self-serving and egotistic leadership. Yet, I make bold to say that, regardless, our national promise remains indisputable and cannot be destroyed by one administration. If we had any doubt about this, today’s rendezvous, contrived by Amanze Obi shows that even in the midst of our debased aspirations, there is still hope on the horizon.

Yes. Many cynics attempt to dismiss our collective promise as an ineffable ideal and regard it as little more than a literary contribution. However, as a journalist by profession, I am acutely aware that literary and journalistic creations are incredible national assets with which to forge a path. No society can make progress without the ideas and intellectual contributions which shape our shared histories, cultures and ambitions. It follows, therefore, that our human capital is the greatest asset we have in Nigeria, which can provide a wealth far greater than any which could be drawn from the ground.

It is my background in the arts and journalism which have contributed in preparing me for the subsequent leadership positions I held and the modest service I provided to my dear country as a Civil Servant, Senator, Minister and now a Governor. Working as a journalist gave me the opportunity to understand Nigeria better, appreciate our diversity and make friends across the country. Furthermore, it is these experiences and principles that have hardened my belief that we can secure victory on the three frontlines.

On National Survival, National Security and Nation Building

Nigeria is in trouble; nobody can deny this fact.

The morphology, geography and architecture of national crises and insecurity are huge, overwhelming and mind boggling. How we got to this sorry state of affairs is indeed critical but more important is identifying and building the consensus to resolve the complex security threats facing the nation.

From bloody farmer clashes, cattle rustling and armed attacks by militant herdsmen to kidnappings, abductions, cult wars and urban criminal gangs, our people have faced unimaginable horror and suffering. Quite simply, national insecurity is bleeding the nation to death.

The key to tackling the scourge of national insecurity – the biggest impediment to nation building, national development and inclusive growth – is understanding what works and applying it. This means not only addressing the symptoms of violence, but also its root and cause.

First and foremost, we require a national dialogue with all national stakeholders to build mutual trust, eliminate suspicion, separate organic conflicts from contrived conflicts and reach a common settlement on what works to reduce violence, killings and national instability. Only then can we implement a systematic approach to redressing the core issues amidst the grief and chaos.

We can then merge the imperatives of law and order maintenance and the maintenance of human infrastructure and human security as well as merging kinetic and non-kinetic approaches to conflict mitigation and the reduction of violence. This multi-pronged approach will ensure that the ineffective and asymmetrical response of the current administration becomes a vestige of the past.

While the violence itself has brought great suffering, it is the delayed and lacklustre response that has elicited the most unbridled anger. As a way out, the need to develop a national early warning centre and parallel mechanisms with which to co-ordinate strategies at the national, zonal, State, LGA and community levels are essential desiderata for eliminating the unwholesome scenario whereby our people are left to fend for themselves.

In our response to these warnings, we must synergise among different arms of the national security architecture and implement a multi-track approach to peace building and conflict mitigation that encompasses the thresholds of force deployment, preventive diplomacy and conflict mediation. This means leveraging on the promise of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms including but not limited to transitional justice methods, restorative justice principles and an effective deradicalization process.

To sustain our progress, we must also fill the vacuum that the violence has created by accelerating the pace and breadth of post conflict reconstruction and development in post conflict spaces.

Finally, we must understand the broader trends and regional factors at play by building workable and sustainable regional military, intelligence gathering and strategic partnerships. By demanding our international partners and multilateral institutions step up their technical, logistic, military and financial assistance in the war against terrorism and new national security threats, we can truly begin to turn the tide in our favour.

On Politics of Accommodation and Shared Values

The politics of 2023 are around the corner so we should prepare for it with a patriotic vision, great vigour and a sense of justice anchored on the practical realities of our national existence. The country, now more than ever, needs honest, virile, visionary and capable leadership. Politics we must play but I propose that, rather than pander to extreme partisan proclivities that exacerbate our dysfunctional fault-lines, we must educate our citizens on the challenges ahead and how to approach it. The urgency of now does not permit the hitherto helpless indulgence of allowing self-serving political differences, to divide us and put national cohesion and growth to jeopardy. No. Never again.

Mr. Chairman, based on my experience over the years, particularly on account of developments in the past few years, and as I look into the future, I posit that no single party or winning candidate can govern Nigeria as in the old way; or indeed as it has been governed since 2015 at the very least.

There has to be a return to the politics of shared values and common grounds; a politics that is defined by the inter-party amity and mutual conversation that heralded the unity ushered in by the creative political engineering of the post-1999 era. It may not be a sufficient condition but as past experiments such as the NPC-NCNC coalition of the sixties or the NPN-NPP Accord of the Second Republic showed, such efforts at inclusion staved off imminent implosion while giving time for more permanent solutions. 

I advocate for inclusive governance and shared power and positions at every level. This is especially so in the command of national defence and the security apparatus where equity and social justice must be the guiding terms of engagement.

In the spirit of diversity and accommodation, we require a Constitutional renovation process that answers to the yearnings of our diverse people and not the narrow frame constructed by parliamentarians. The voices of our people should be heard and present in deciding the future of our beloved nation. Our mandate and responsibility demands this as it is at their prerogative that we serve.

It will take nothing short of sustained and renewed national dialogues through which the government will begin to truly demonstrate that it is for everybody and not for just anybody. This shall no longer be a casual meaningless phrase but as a potent weapon of rebuilding trust, re-energizing and re-mobilizing the whole nation and all our people for the urgent task of national recovery and inclusive nation-building.

Ultimately, if we indeed purport to serve our people, we must walk the talk with matchless fidelity and uncommon passion for the fatherland. We must overcome the politics and tunnel vision of exclusionary policies and self-interest that separates US from THEM, the SELF from the threatening OTHER.

 We must become powerful bridge builders willing to lay the trunks and steel that connect one end of the nation to the other. The towering vision of our founding fathers should impel us to bequeath the succeeding generation with a nation of one people, one destiny and shared hopes and values.

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, at this point, let me share a word with my colleagues in the Media. First, I must say that I am very proud of this constituency that not only provided the anvil on which I started my national service but has played critical roles in our national development. I salute you.

Let me add that while the nation acknowledges and celebrates your inestimable role, as the saying goes, the reward for hard work is more work. Therefore, I expect that, as patriots and compatriots, we must join hands in finding solutions to the challenges of the moment. In doing so, I am minded pointing out approaches that will not lead us to the promised land:

First, we must prioritise national security over sectional interests, in so far that by exercising such restraints, the requirements of justice are not sacrificed.

Second, we must place national survival over corporate profit and personal aggrandisement. Profit and individual comfort only exist where there is peace and security.

Third, we must re-enact the pristine professional quality of investigative journalism and rigour rather than swallow, willy-nilly, the salacious and sensational headlines of the social media which, more often than not, end up as FAKE NEWS!

Fourth, we must elevate the sublime over the mundane and if the later must play a role at all, let it be guided by the uncanny expertise, as we are told in Scents of Power, that allowed Amanze Obi, while at the famous University of Lagos, to navigate the lines between “rigour major” and “layabout”.

Mr. Chairman, as we demand the highest levels of professionalism from the Media, it is only proper that we pay attention to the peculiarities of the environment in which it operates. Often times, we allow suspicion, even hatred to becloud our recognition that, without the Press, society will indeed be poorer for it. Therefore, I propose the following:

1.    A Media Recovery Financial Package similar to the Anchor Borrowers programme for Rice Producers but with very generous repayment plans. The CBN can determine the criteria for qualification.

2.    Tax incentives, including removing advertisements from the VAT list. I am aware that many media houses are groaning under the burden of advert debts.

3.    Making newsprint and other digital equipment dedicated to the media tariff-free.

I want to congratulate Dr. Amanze Obi for his continuing professional and intellectual contributions to national development. He is a very young man whose future, God willing, is no doubt very promising. He has established a trajectory that challenges his colleagues to leave footprints on the sands of time.

Mr. Chairman, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I am done.

Thank you for listening.

Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, CON

(Kauran Bauchi).

Executive Governor, Bauchi State