Collegiate presidency and national harmony

By Henry Boyo There can be no end in the foreseeable future to a do-or-die fight for the presidency of our nation. The unbridled struggle for the position of top dog has generally been motivated by the attraction of the prospect of almost absolute power over our lives and our nation’s resources, particularly the proceedas from the oil wells of the Niger Delta. Indeed, if income derived from oil is removed from the federal purse, federal government would have to manage on a consolidated budget of that in a fraction of annual current revenue. The underbelly of the arbitrarily created 36 states and 774 local governments would become exposed, as they would literarily collapse without what some people have described as ‘blood money’ from the Niger Delta. Our political godfathers in their wisdom have attempted to bring some sanity to the acrimony, insecurity and instability generated by the struggle for the lucrative centre with the concept of rotating the presidency along North and South axis or more loosely, amongst the generally accepted six geopolitical zones. However, the constitutional provision for a maximum of two – four year terms could mean that each geopolitical zone would produce a president every 48 years (that is, assuming that each president enjoys control of the treasury for eight years). This also implies that all other eminently gifted, qualified and socially committed presidential materials from all other zones would be wasted in every 48 years cycle with little chance that the best available candidate at any point in time would be the one from the geopolitical region in line for the Presidency! In the above political dilemma, particularly where the plunder of resources takes precedence over service and wealth creation, Nigerians become victims of the greed of a parasitic political class – invariably championed by autocratic leadership in the last four decades. Indeed, the greatest threat to our contrived democracy is dictatorship! If we want sustainable peace and stability in this country, our constitution should ensure that the best available presidential materials from each geopolitical zone at any one time have unfettered access to contest for and become President. Our constitution should also ensure that no one person controls power long enough to become so formidable as to successfully engineer term elongation and perpetuate a dictatorship! So, how do we tackle these pitfalls in a nation in the grip of irrepressible ethnic/regional aspirations for Nigeria’s ultimate office? Some eminent Nigerians have rightly argued that the first requirement for a sustainable, stable egalitarian nation should be the adoption of a truly federal constitution, where the centre devolves more of its powers to the states/regions as the engines of growth, so that the states/regions will freely exploit their internal human and material resources and pay appropriate dues to the central government. Such a structure would motivate each region to look inwards and develop its own God-given resources to the best of their ability, rather than wait for monthly handouts from Abuja. All regions would be actively engaged in putting their citizens to work and we will achieve additional wealth creation with attendant improvement in social welfare and security. In addition, we may also consider the adoption of a six-year collegiate presidency, to douse the tension and attrition created by the usual battles to instal.