Our Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was forced to turn a prayer warrior on Monday during a plenary session. He suddenly realised the power of prayers beyond the type made in courts and in the hallowed chambers where he currently plies his politicians’ trade. Akpabio was made to eat his sincere and legitimate words and was made to turn them into a prayer for his colleagues in the Nigerian Senate. He rolled back the carpet he had laid and changed his plain appearance into a confusing euphemism. He sent prayers to all the 109 senators of the country, including himself. The dramatic turn of events with Akpabio actually created a major point for reflection and a deflection from the miasma that Niger has turned to be.
It’s been difficult taking the eyes off the diversion which Niger Republic is. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) appears misguided. The ECOWAS has made the coup in Niger Republic so much of an issue that many are sneering at Nigeria, including some Nigerians. If ECOWAS had not spoken and acted the way it did about the ouster of former President Mohamed Bazoum, there might not have been the kind of reactions trailing the crisis. Chances are that if the ECOWAS authority had acted just like it did when Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Burkina Faso, etc happened, the reactions might have remained like those of that time.
But the ECOWAS authority has a new chairman in the person of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria. Obviously, there is a new energy in the ECOWAS commission. The new energy has however brought serious tension in Nigeria and in Niger, the centre of attraction. Thursday’s emergency summit of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on the Niger crisis was a continuation and indeed an extension of the threats and sanctions on one hand and continued propping of peaceful resolution of the crisis on the other. They issued a unanimous directive to restore constitutional order in Niger — again. In their official communiqué read by Dr Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, the leaders directed the Committee of the Chiefs of Defence Staff to activate the ECOWAS standby force with all its elements immediately. The ECOWAS also sternly warned “the member states whose actions, whether direct or indirect, impede the peaceful resolution of the Niger crisis. The communiqué emphasised that such actions would entail consequences within the ECOWAS community.”
The braggadocio and strong talk is back and forth between the ECOWAS Commission and the Niger junta. It rather appears more like Nigeria versus Niger rather than ECOWAS against Niger. It is so when it also comes to who would contribute the most when the real issues get underway. However, the ECOWAS leaders said they remain determined to keep all options on the table for the peaceful resolution of the crisis. ECOWAS is still pursuing a peaceful resolution of the Niger crisis after activating the ECOWAS standby force “with all its elements immediately.”
Okay, is that what they call ‘carrot and stick’ approach to tackling issues? And Nigeria is acting the big brother. Nice. But it is still more like a distraction from the numerous domestic issues that are eating Nigerians up. As far as many are concerned, our attitude towards Niger Republic and activities about the coup is like that of the West towards African nations on gay and lesbian issues. The West is fretting, getting angry and picking quarrels with African countries for saying that gay, lesbianism, LGBTQ, gender identification confusion and all such subjects have no place in our culture. The behaviour of the West towards African countries like Ghana and Uganda is called Àyojúràn — prying — in Yoruba language. Many see all that is happening in Niger as unnecessary prying. We have a very sick economy, insecurity, poor infrastructure, and poor power supply, among many other problems to deal with in Nigeria. Nigerien coup should not be made to become one of them.
Nigeria’s prying, some contend, is one of the ways of removing the citizens’ attention from the country’s numerous domestic social and economic troubles. One of these troubles includes the high cost of running our government which has remained on the lips of millions over the years. Today, as exemplified by the ‘prayers of Akpabio’, the problem is about to get worse.
Senator Akpabio said he had sent prayers to the various mailboxes of the 109 senators in the Nigerian National Assembly. But before he told of the payer, he had made known his real thoughts thus: “In order to enable all of us to enjoy our holidays, a token has been sent to our various accounts by the clerk of the National Assembly.” This sincere information did not go well with the senators and they forced him to eat his words. Then he said: “I withdraw that statement. In order to allow you to enjoy your holiday, the senate president has sent prayers to your mailboxes. I sent prayers to your mailboxes to assist you to go on a safe journey and return.” We all understand the metaphor of the prayers and wonder why these senators would not listen to the cries for modesty and prudence.
Akpabio was on hand to use his gavel when the mockery of “let the poor breathe” was before him as the senate president. It was also in Akpabio’s Senate that we learnt that items Adams Oshiomhole said were removed from the office he was allocated were of no value. Carpets, TV sets, furniture and such things were depreciating by 25 per cent every year and by four years they become valueless debris. Nigerians burn quickly over these issues, we would boil for a few days like we are used to doing. We will bemoan our fate for a few weeks, agonise and soon fling it backwards and take on another matter.
The Sociology-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) said it will sue Akpabio for the “enjoyment allowance” to the senators. SERAP is a serial plaintiff or complainant. It did not sound tired or appear weary when it said “we are suing the Senate President Godswill Akpabio over alleged payment of ‘holiday allowances’ by the clerk of the National Assembly into the ‘various accounts of senators while some 137 million poor Nigerians face severe economic hardship.” SERAP will do well to dig into some of the rules of the Senate. That might show us that it is not just Akpabio but the institution. It is sure to find a lot of things it would sue for.
When they return from their vacation, we will need an efficacious Senate. Akpabio and his prayers should prompt us and lead us to discuss how to end importation of petroleum products. We are one of the world’s prime exporters of crude oil. If Akpabio and his colleagues would act with sincerity on this, they would have removed our topmost import commodity. They would also by so doing remove our topmost economic problem. Refining our petrol at home looks like the silver bullet in our seemingly intractable fuel consumption conundrum.
So far, Akpabio and his Senate have been busy electing their leaders and appointing standing committees. They have also been screening (patching, whitening and endorsing actually) Tinubu’s ministerial nominees. We want to see a dynamic Senate that would not just pray the kind of prayers Akpabio sends to mailboxes. We do not want an unfeeling Senate. We do not want a Senate that cannot take decisions unless they are endorsed by the executive.
