Should Presidential System Give Way To Parliamentary System? By: Abdulrasheed Ibrahim

Recently some lawmakers in the House of Representatives, about
71 of them in their wisdom came up with a suggestion that Nigeria
should abandon the presidential system being presently practised
for the parliamentary system.

The last time we practised the similarity of parliamentary
system in this country was during the First Republic when we had
the late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister while the
late Dr. Nnamid Azikwe was the President of the post independent
Nigeria. But with the unfortunate incident of the 1966 Military
coup , that system was sent packing. Between 1966 and 1979, the
people in the military inform were in total control and by the time
they were leaving, they installed a presidential system under the
leadership of Alhaji Shehu Usmanu Aliyu Shagari with the 1979
Constitution. While the presidential system of government is the
type being practised in the United State of America (USA), the
parliamentary is the type being practised in the United Kingdom
(U.K).

For the benefit of the laymen, I would have loved to do a
comprehensive analysis of the two systems on this platform, but for
space I would not embark on that exercise but would rather adopt in
entirety Mr. Simon Kolawole , a Columnist’s article titled : “A
Vote for Parliamentary System” recently published in the THISDAY
NEWSPAPER’s backpage. SK did a wonderful job in comparing the two
systems. Part of the submissions made by SK that interests me most
was where he said that:

“…I have always believed that returning to a parliamentary
system would offer us an opportunity to practise a more robust form
of democracy .I like presidentialism, which we currently practise,
but love the parliamentary system. Before I proceed, a caveat is
critical: I do not believe parliamentarianism is the magic solution
to Nigeria’s problems. When I say Nigeria’s problems, of course, I
refer to the poor standard of living; the corruption and the ethno-
religious strife which pervade every segment and every section of
the country in varying degrees. I have always argued that competent
and patriotic leadership is what we need to address these problems.
I am therefore, not suggesting in any way or by any means that
adopting the parliamentary system of government would turn Nigeria
to Japan the day after the prime minister assumes power. No. I do
not have such evidence in my file…”

Subsequent to the new suggestion by the 71 lawmakers people have
began to express various views on this new recommendation as to
whether Nigeria should still maintain the presidential system or
switch to the parliamentary system. My own take on this has been
that it is not the type of system we operate that matters but the
people that will operate the system. A leader in any particular
political system may be good and honest but if he surrounds himself
with disciples that are not as good and honest as himself, that may
be his waterloo. A leader may not be good or sincere enough and if
he surrounds himself with good or sincere disciples whose sincere
advice may not be meaningful to the leader, nothing positive may be
achieved at the end of the day. If you think I speak in parable, I
want you to please fault me on these two examples : President
Shagari was in power between 1st October 1979 to 31st December 1983
when his government was overthrown by the Military. His government
was probed by the same military authority that said about Shagari
himself that the more they looked to nail him for corruption the
less they saw. Can you remember how many politicians in that regime
were sent to jail? Can you still remember the stories of Alhaji
Umoru Dikko and others who were key figures during the Shagari
regime?

When General Ibrahim Babangida eventually came to power with his
own style of political system by declaring himself a military
president, he picked people who were the best in their various
professions to be ministers. It was under his regime we had people
like Chief Bola Ajibola as Attorney General and Minister of
Justice; late Professor Ransom Kuti as Minister of Health; late
Professor Babatunde Fafunwa as Minister of Education and Professor
Bolaji Akinyemi as Minister of Foreign Affairs amongst others.
Despite all these great people in his government ,IBB had his own
way, the way he wanted it by putting in place a protracted
transition program to the civil rule which ended up with the
annulment of the elections considered to be the most free and fair
in the history of Nigeria.

Whether people continue to argue in favour of presidential or
parliamentary system notwithstanding the fact that the
parliamentary system is cheaper than the presidential system, the
most important thing are the people that will operate the system.
Those systems work in other parts of the world from where they are
borrowed because most politicians there see politics as selfless
service to their people and not in this part of the world where the
politicians have seen politics as a lucrative business as I had had
written about two years ago ,precisely on 28th December 2016 that
:

“The reason why most of our politicians are desperate to be in
power by all means is because the system we operate makes politics
a lucrative business. If politics is truly about selfless service
and sacrifice to the people wherein politicians are not being paid
a lot of money, it is then that we are going to know those who
really love their father’s land because whoever goes to politics
then will truly be regarded as the true servants of the people. But
what do we have in this country? Our politicians in offices go home
with the lion share of the fund that is meant for the generality of
the populace. They have fleet of cars and live in mansions They
drain the treasury to fund their campaign to perpetuate themselves
in offices. The politicians create paradise for themselves on the
earth. Any attempts by the opposing side to challenge them are
visited with violence in which common men are usually the victims.
What do you think the politics will be like if we try to make it
very unattractive by saying that whatever position you are elected
to there will not be official residence for you as you must be
going to the office from your own house; you will not be entitled
to more than one car and that since you have decided to serve your
father’s land you will only be paid peanut as your allowance or
salary. If we can have this type of system, do you think our
politicians will be desperate to contest for any political office?
Our politicians are desperate and ready to kill themselves in the
contest for a particular office because the politics have been made
to be a very lucrative business.”

To me the clamour for the restructuring of the nation without
the clamour for the politics that will accommodate both the
upright, brilliant rich and the poor to participate in government
as well as restructuring the remuneration that goes to the elected
politicians will be a mere waste of time and energy.

WHEN PROFESSOR GOES TO JAIL

A former university lecturer and professor of accountancy is now
playing guest to the prison authority and he will be there for the
next two years after being convicted and sent to jail by a judge of
the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. On the
arraignment of Professor Richard Akindele by the Independent
Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on charge of age alteration and
demanding sex for mark from one of his post graduate students, one
Miss Monica Osagie, the professor upon pleading of quilt and a plea
bargain was sentenced to two years imprisonment. What a great down
fall to a professor? The trial judge, Hon. Justice Maureen Onyetenu
his judgment had this to say:

“The menace is getting to secondary and primary schools .I am a
pastor and a counsellor .I know the mental torture many of our
female students have been subjected to by the likes of the
respondent. The adverse effect of such action is huge .Many of his
likes have been awarding marks to those students that are ready to
warm their beds, thereby releasing half-baked graduates into the
society.”

Honestly the judge was right , there are female graduates today
that go about parading excellent results because they warmed the
beds of their lectures to earned good grade because according to
such ladies “ de thing no dey count meter”. That is what the likes
of Professor Akindele have turned our academic institutions to and
I do hope that those who are still plying the trade like that of
the convicted professor would learn a very big lesson from this
scenario. The problem with the people in the category of the fallen
professor is that they do not think twice and deeply too before
embarking on such voyage. If they can think deeply and ask
themselves what will be their own feeling or reaction if some else
demands for such a thing from their own daughters, sisters and
wives, they will not go to such extreme. In everything we do
conscience matters. This kind of things is not limited to the
schools, it happens everywhere where unscrupulous people unjustly
and sexually abused others in various forms. Such people must learn
lesson from the fall of the professor. Anyone that fails to learn
from history will surely be victim of history. A word is enough for
the wise.

GETTING THE BOOKS TO YOUR DOORSTEP

When I said the LAW PRACTICE KIT and LEGAL LUMINARIES are
weapons to win all the legal battles, someone asked me whether it
is possible for a lawyer to win all his legal battle. My response
was that as a student of literature that is what is called power of
getting the message across. No war General will like to lose a war,
so will no lawyer likes to lose his legal battle in the court of
law. A lawyer that does not prepare very well for his legal battle
bound to metaphorically suffer a bloody nose. Occasionally, a great
lawyer may lose a legal battle but still get wonderful commendation
from the jurists on the bench for a battle well prepared and
fought. I can say confidently that the two books are not ordinary
books to lawyers who want to win their legal battles in court. Some
of the great people in the profession who have seen and read the
books have wonderfully commended and endorsed the works. You do not
need to stress yourself to get the books to your doorstep. Just
call and you will hear a knock of your doorstep. LawReservior is
set up to add value to your law practice!

REMARKABLE PRONOUNCEMENT ON ESSENCE OF
CONSTITUTION

“The function of the constitution is to establish a framework
and principles of government, broad and general in terms intended
to apply to the varying conditions which the development of our
several communities must involve, ours being a plural, dynamic
society and therefore the technical rules of interpretation of
statutes are to some extent inadmissible in a way so as to defeat
the principles of government enshrined in the constitution”.

Per UDOMA , JSC in Nafiu Rabiu Vs. The State (1980) 8-11 S.C.
130 at Pg. 148-149.

On whether landlord can resort to self help to recover
possession

“It is settled law that a landlord who resorts to self-help in a
bid to recover possession of premises does so at his own peril and
runs foul of the law and is liable to damages.”

See Ihenacho Vs. Uzochukwu (1997) 2 NWLR (Pt. 487) 257; Eliochin
Nigeria Limited Vs. Mbaduwe (1986) 11 NWLR (Pt. 14) 47; SALAU Vs.
ARABA (2004) ALL FWLR (Pt. 204) Pg. 115 Para E

For more Settled Principles of Law and Remarkable Pronouncements
from our Supreme Court Jurists from 1956-2016, obtain or order for
your copies of LAW PRACTICE KIT and LEGAL LUMINARIES. Call or text
08055476823, 08164683735 or email:rasheedibraheem68@yahoo.com. Your
library is incomplete without these books.

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