Elders Statesman and Pioneer Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG, Professor Anya O. Anya, 82, in this interview, shares his thoughts on the state of the nation and the way forward. He warns of dangers ahead following attacks on democratic institutions, adding that a new Nigeria will emerge soon. You are inviting chaos by emasculating the judiciary There is danger in lopsided security appointments Violence won’t solve Nigeria’s problems A new Nigeria is incubating and will come peacefully Nigeria may spend next 10 years explaining its border closure Ruga is 18th-century practice, can’t work now It’s beastly proposing the death penalty for hate speech
On the state of the nation
I have talked more than I usually do in recent times, but there are new developments in terms of a long term consequence. Many of our leaders do not see and do not hear otherwise the things that are going on will not be going on. What is frightening is that the civil society is more silent than in any stage in our recent history. But that’s also because when you get to a stage when decisions of courts are not obeyed, you think that this is an established area, no government can cross this line, and then people still cross it and even when people cross it everybody is thinking otherwise, because it is something that normally should not be done; that element of surprise disarms those who would have wanted to organize to do anything. The reason is you can’t believe that something that is settled is reopened. I want to give a specific example because we are ignoring the long term consequences of some of the actions of the government. When the judiciary is completely emasculated, which seems to be a trend, it means you are inviting chaos in the country because that capacity for somebody to retreat in times of disagreement or conflict no longer exists.
In that situation it becomes a free for all, and anything can happen. Again, when you take the Administration’s appointments, it is nothing new to say that the security services are completely located in a part of the country. In a plural society, that would have normally been unthinkable, but because it happens, people do not know how to handle it. Many of these positions are tenured. In other words, the appointment is for four or five years as the case may be. The danger is that even if this government goes way, the people they have planted, who have been brought up in a culture of it doesn’t really matter, you can do anything, will still persist in the system. A successor government has a limit to the changes it can make if it does not want complete collapse, which means that bad seeds sown in this time will persist more than we realize. That is the greatest danger.
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On the Supreme Court on the 2019 presidential election
The ruling of the Supreme Court, whatever the reason for the ruling is not going to be of more consequence. Many of us expected that it would go the way they have gone. The reason is simple, it takes courage to do substantive justice and with all that has happened this year in the judiciary, it is difficult to see whether courage will come, when there was clear and deliberate subjection and attacks and when they had a good place to stand on, they did not stand on it, including protecting themselves. So, when people can’t protect their own interests what factor will make you expect them to develop newfound wisdom or knowledge? Trust and confidence are the foundations for justice, but trust and confidence are very fragile plants. Once you touch them, the consequences are long term because something exceptional has to happen for the credibility of the institution to return. That is where we are. There has been a deliberate systematic attack on the institutions that support democracy and unless we put a stop or somehow it is brought to a stop, the future cannot be a pleasant one.
On the Department of State Service, DSS’ reasons for detaining Mr Omoyele Sowore after court-ordered his freedom
Well, Sowore is not the darling of many people but the issue here goes beyond that. It is not about whether it is right of wrong, but when the institution of justice has pronounced a certain course of action and you ignore it. That is part of the danger I am talking about. There is even an element that is more frightening which people are ignoring. Recently, a member of the House of Representatives was quoted as saying that people are arguing, attacking the salaries and other allowances that they are having, that we, who put them there, are insulting them. When you have a person who has been entrusted with the sovereignty of the nation querying those he is supposed to be representing why they should ask him to be accountable, because that is what it is really about, then there is danger. People forget that Adolf Hitler was elected through a democratic system but he systematically attacked and destroyed the various institutions that make democracy possible. So, the grave danger one sees now is when you have government that does not obey court orders, is brazing in the way it handles matters that are regarded as sacrosanct in a plural society, then obviously is only one possibility that the government has made up it’s mind to go the path of either totalitarianism or even fascism. I mentioned fascism because of the way, I mean this week (last week) we had a report of people going to protest at the DSS office and live ammunition was shot. They claimed nobody was injured or killed but that it should even happen is a sign of danger.