Ladies and gentlemen of this noble forum, I am worried about the state of suspended animation as it concerns a State of which I believe we are all equal stakeholders. In 1215, in order to check the excesses of the King of England, the Magna Carta was issued. Its purpose was to guarantee Civil Liberties, establish the Law as a power by itself and to put the King in check as not being above the law even as sovereign.
For the most part, it has stood the test of time. We have seen it stretched to its limits as in the case of Hitler’s Germany when he abrogated the arms of government and ascribed to himself the powers of a dictator. We saw how that turned out. It left 50 million people dead including 6 million Jews.
In the last 50 years, we have seen the stretching of the limits of presidential powers twice in the world’s most powerful democracy, the United States. First, as Nixon sought to equate himself with the State in his infamous expression “If the President does it, then, it is right.” “Sorry sir,” they told him after it was established that he was complicit in the breaking-in into the Democratic headquarters at Watergate. His party gave him an ultimatum—- resign or face impeachment. He resigned. In recent times, we saw how Donald Trump tried to extend the boundaries of presidential power with a level of impunity that would make even Nixon look like a kindergarten pupil. Unfortunately, the Republican Party, blew two opportunities to consign him to the garbage heap of history. Instead, they gave him a pass. He bestrides the political ecosystem still, sowing the wind with impunity and scorn. Who will stop him? What will stop him?
This brings me home to my beloved country, our dear homeland, the unsinkable Nigeria and its peoples who have withstood the vicissitudes of bad governance for upward of 60 years.
Let us imagine for a moment that Buhari were to emasculate the National Assembly and operate governance without Ministers—- there would be an uproar across the land.
Why then, do we allow Governor Obaseki to rule as medieval kings ruled—-without a State House of Assembly and without Commissioners? Is the time tested axiom—- what is sauce for the Goose is sauce for the Gander—-no longer applicable in Edo State? Are we a State of laws or a State of men? What are the constitutional remedies open to us as Edo people to seek redress and bring the governor to order. I hope our sharp legal minds can address this question. I rest.
Michael Ovienmhada
omeekey@hotmail.com