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“Subject to the provisions of this constitution, the president may by instrument published in the official Gazette of Government of the Federation declare a state of emergency in the federation or any part thereof”
What that implies is that in applying section 305, the president must not fall short of other constitutional requirements. Another critical point to note, from section 305 (3) is that the declaration of a state of emergency is an extra-ordinary power that should be used in extreme situation, as it is prone to abuse. The wanton destruction of lives and properties in Plateau state, coupled with the seeming manifest incapacity of Governor Dariye to restore peace seem to justify this last resort, at a first look. However, if one were to take a second look at the situation, and also bring to the table the current wave of violence in several other states of the federation, one will begin to question the propriety of this last resort measure. I believe that if the same dexterity that the Police employed in frustrating peaceful march of the Citizen’s Forum and mass action of the CNPP was brought to bear, the situation could have improved. I find it also difficult to believe that adequate measures have been taken to solve the problems in Plateau State. Apart from the peace committee that was set-up, the composition and leadership of which, were queried by a faction in the conflict, I am yet to hear that any expert peace and conflict management group was detailed to Plateau State. This feeling is strengthened by what transpired during the last presidential peace mission to the state. The resort to verbal exchanges, like “a total idiot; CAN, my foot”, inflamed passions instead of healing wounds. The conclusion I draw from all these, is that there were still opportunities for peaceful settlement of the issues leading to bringing the book, the perpetrators of the dastard acts of murder and arson.
On the issue of suspending elected Governor, deputy and House of Assembly, I have read section 305, over and over and I am yet to see where it authorized the president to do what he did. Section 188 of the constitution provides for the procedure for removing a Governor or his deputy. I feel strongly that if Governor Dariye, was as incompetent as he was painted, the best thing would have been to lobby the state House of Assembly to impeach him.
The drafters of section 305 that provides for emergency power had in mind the existence of a virile legislative body to serve as a check. In a situation, like ours, where the leadership of the National Assembly is facing serious credibility problems and charges of being an appendage of the executive, one begins to fear that the power of emergency may be abused to the detriment of our democracy.
The President’s speech also threw up the issues of justice in Nigeria. There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the current democratic experiment and one is forced to ask, whether it is actually erected on a true foundation of justice. Nigerian citizens are fast losing faith in the ballot box. There are serious allegations that the last local government elections were rigged with impunity. Benue State is in crisis today because of this and over a hundred persons have been killed and several families displaced.
From the judgments, coming out from the electoral tribunals, it is becoming clearer that the last general elections were actually rigged in a manner unprecedented in the history of the country. So, my question is how do we impose peace without justice?
From the way Dariye is said to have conducted himself as the Governor, one may even be forced to ask, whether he had the popular mandate. One is forced to ask that question because one feels that if Dariye had a popular mandate, it would have been difficult for him to take side and promote the doctrine of ethnic nationality at a time like this when the world is increasingly becoming a global village. It sounds preposterous to draw a distinction between settlers and indigenous persons in a country.
Another problem with the current emergency rule is that it raises the question of selective treatment and flies in the face of justice. I do not think it is enough to warn Kano State. What of other states that are experiencing unresolved conflict, leading to constant loss of lives? The continued incidence of violence in several parts of Nigeria also shows clearly that state of emergency may not be the real answer to our problems. We must enthrone the Rule of Law and ensure that those who offend the law are punished. We cannot afford to declare a state of emergency in the entire country for that will signal a real descent to fascism, to borrow Funke’s formulation. I think what is emerging is that we can no longer shy away from dialogue, call it a national conference to enable us come together as a family and discuss our problems, with a view of resolving the problematic issues and
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Wilfred Mamah
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