Special Issues

   Your Ad Here
 
Web NigerianNews.com

Nigerian
News



Madaki O Ameh
Legal Practitioner
 Madaki O. Ameh is currently a PhD candidate in International Comparative Petroleum Law and Policy at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK.
 Scotland, UK.


send email

more articles by Ameh

And in the midst of all these apparent failures, instead of concentrating their energies on nation building and getting the job done, the National Assembly and their shallow apologists are busy issuing ultimatums that can only portray Nigeria as a huge joke and a laughing stock in the comity of nations.

 

 

THE 7-DAY ULTIMATUM TO THE UNITED STATES BY THE NIGERIAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: NIGERIA AS A LAUGHING STOCK
 by Madaki O. Ameh.
 

In the aftermath of the recent Christmas Day 2009 attempted terrorist attack by Nigerian born Umar Abdulmutallab over Detroit, Michigan in the United States of America, one key feature of Nigeria’s now famed confusion in international diplomacy has again come to the fore: fire-fighting.  In an outburst of outrage and nationalistic indignation similar to an earlier incident in 2005 when a US intelligence report on sub-Saharan Africa branded Nigeria a failing State, with dire consequences for the sub-region, Nigeria is at it again over this recent incident, with the combined condemnation of the listing of Nigeria among countries on the US watch list as a ‘country of interest’ on terrorism by both arms of the National Assembly.  Perhaps due to the long absence of the President from Nigeria on grounds of ill-health, leading to an avoidable vacuum at that level of governance, the current umbrage could not attract a Presidential condemnation, similar to that issued by former President Olusegun Obasanjo when the US intelligence report was made public.  After all the hue and cry over the report, it turned out that all the empty threats of diplomatic rows and the strong request made at the highest possible level for the US to withdraw the acclaimed offensive report came to nothing, as the US did no such thing, the report remains on the books, and the entire umbrage turned out to be, yet again, hot air from a country which claims to be ‘the giant of Africa’. In fact, at the end of all the uninformed noise over the matter, it turned out that the allegedly offensive report was balanced and fair, and that Nigerian leaders, if they were thinking correctly for once, would have used the report to the country’s advantage by ensuring that the scenarios painted in the said report did not come to pass, through improved governance.  But of course, that was not to be.

The current situation, orchestrated by the recent cowardly, thoughtless and criminal act by Umar Abdulmutallab plays back the same scenario five years ago, with similar disastrous responses from the same National Assembly, which had jumped into the fray without any form of intellectual input, with member after member in the ‘hallowed chambers’ berating the United States, and making empty threats, which they should know better that, neither they, nor Nigeria as a country, had any means of enforcing.  Perhaps more worrisome is the fact that the current power vacuum at the national level with the prolonged absence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on medical grounds, without handing over to his Vice President as dictated by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, made any form of coordinated approach to the incident impossible, with our quasi- leaders cashing in on an opportunity for stardom, and crassly missing the point, yet again.  Informed watchers of Nigeria and its challenges of leadership will however not be overly disappointed at the shallow response of its acclaimed leaders in times of national crisis, because of the often questionable pedigree of most of such people, who assume their positions through dubious elections characterised by thuggery, rigging and other primitive and desperate tactics in ‘do or die’ electoral contests. The current leadership of the National Assembly does not inspire any form of confidence in the generality of Nigerians, beyond their small egos and their perception of themselves as national leaders, when indeed they are not.  One would have thought that their handling of national affairs during the current crossroads of our miserable national existence would be elevated beyond the mundane, but clearly lacking in any form of intellectual content or a rigorous process that produced them to their exalted positions, they have carried on in a business as usual manner, confusing themselves and insulting the psyche of Nigerians in the process.  No wonder the all–important assignment of amending the Nigerian Constitution, which would benefit the entire citizens, if done properly, has been marred by reductionist ego trips over whether the Committee for the review of the Constitution would have a sole Chairman from the Senate or co-Chairmen from both chambers. A similar situation played itself out recently over the rather childish argument between the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives over which chamber the President should address the National Assembly on the 2010 budget.

For the avoidance of doubt, Nigeria is in no position to issue ultimatums to any sovereign State, least of all the United States of America, which undoubtedly is the only surviving superpower in the world today.  Apart from the fact that Nigeria, which routinely relies on aid from the United States for survival at critical times, has nothing significant to offer the US to make her rescind its well thought out policy pronouncements, even the new found confidence of those at the helm of affairs from the rising prices of crude oil, Nigeria’s main source of survival, is fuelled largely by US demand, and the United States can source its oil demand from any producer of its choice.  Moreover, Nigeria’s contribution to US oil supply per day is so insignificant that, if that was the source of the ill-advised boldness by the National Assembly to issue the lame ultimatum, which was apparently withdrawn in a face-saving press conference by the Attorney General of the Federation a few days later, any shortfall from Nigeria in terms of oil will be easily snatched up by other African countries, like Ghana and Angola, with a much more stable operating environment.

Finally, one would have expected the National Assembly and its leaders to focus on the real challenge of religious fundamentalism and extremism in Nigeria, which clearly marks Nigeria out as a country which harbours terrorists within its borders.  If not, how else can one describe the orgies of violence which claims thousands of lives within relatively short periods over frivolous religious issues, most of which bear no relevance to domestic issues in Nigeria, such as the killing of over a thousand innocent people over a cartoon published in a Danish newspaper a few years ago, which was allegedly blasphemous?  In other countries thought to harbour more religious extremists, the only reactions the world saw were peaceful demonstrations, with no loss of life.  This is not to mention the recent killings in Bauchi, the Boko Haram massacres of the innocents, the Maitasine riots, and several countless orgies, as a result of which not a single person has ever been held accountable.  What sort of country is this one where people can kill and maim at will in the name of religion, and nothing is done about it, and at the end of it all, lame committees are set up, which never turn in any meaningful reports which are acted upon to avert similar orgies in the future?   

Moreover, Nigeria is probably the only country in the world where practically anybody can claim its citizenship, because the possession of a national Passport, the only internationally recognised evidence of citizenship, can be purchased by anyone for just N15,000.00, without any efforts being made to ascertain eligibility, further fuelled by Nigeria’s ever porous borders.

And in the midst of all these apparent failures, instead of concentrating their energies on nation building and getting the job done, the National Assembly and their shallow apologists are busy issuing ultimatums that can only portray Nigeria as a huge joke and a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
 

 

  Unique visitors: 59