Governance, nation-building and restructuring: Lessons from Edmund Burke

By Usman Sarki

The subversion of the state and government and the unraveling of all authority will definitely end in the creation of conditions of loose and careless attachment to any idea of the “nation” or “country”, two concepts that have remained rather tenuous and ill-defined in our civic appraisal of who we are and what we ought to become.
“We are in the great crisis of this contention, and the part which men take, one way or the other, will serve to discriminate their characters and their principles”- Edmund Burke
THE seeming abdication of ministerial responsibilities and the almost tentative exercise of magisterial prerogatives in the discharge of duties by those in positions of power, have rendered the greatest disservice to government and the entire country. Power is given for the sole sake of the holder, and not for the sake of the people, it would seem, from the virtual intemperance with which it is wielded by some in positions of authority, and presumably by those also waiting in the wings to come into office, to perpetuate or commit the same egregious outrage and indiscretion, without the slightest feeling of guilt or regret.
In trying to remedy this sorry state of affairs, Nigerians must be made to be aware that it is laws that make the foundation of governance and not public opinion. Public opinion is a feeble, fickle and shaky basis on which to exercise power and judge the efficacy of state policy. It should never be the basis of governance and less so of the organisation of the state institutions. Pandering to public opinion in all matters merely exposes the weaknesses of the system and irresolute nature of the operators of the levers of state power.
As Burke noted: “Opinion itself, is but an external and variable force”, hence subject to manipulation, adjustment and capturing by forces that may stand in contradistinction to the interests of the state and the nation. Public opinion, therefore, may be considered an abstract and indeterminate subjective force that can be dispensed with by the state and the government, depending on the circumstances and the conditions prevailing at a given moment or situation. Strengthening the institutions of state and refocusing the efforts and energies of the government on important issues of nation-building and cohesion alone will be the most ideal pursuit and preoccupation of those entrusted with the government of the country.
“Restructuring” without purpose or intended outcomes, will be mere “rejectionism“ which is a negation of the reality and a search for solace in contradictions and negativism. What should stand the test of time is not empty sloganeering but the slow, painful and grinding task of nation-building and strengthening of the structures of government in our country. Hence, according to Burke: “Institutions stand or fall by their material strength and cohesion”.
This means that institutions that are strong, relevant and seemingly perpetual must have some sort of connection with the national well-being. Political constructs such as rights, responsibilities, etc, are merely ornamental antitheses or expedients used to embellish the act of governance, and can change meaning and scope depending on which class of people is in power at a given moment or time and circumstances of the exercise of accrued authorities.
The area on which the most stress or emphasis was placed by the restructuralists has consistently been the abrogation of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In their eyes, the Constitution itself has become a major source of grievance and object of vilification. By vehemently discrediting the Constitution, the proponents of restructuring hope to create general apathy and indifference toward it, thereby battering the foundation of the laws and institutions of government of the country.
In this way, anarchy is systematically enthroned, suspicion toward government is engendered, the tempo and pulse of antagonism toward the state is heightened, and the seeds of general instability are planted. A sense of collective impunity towards the laws of the land and universal disrespect for their legality is introduced into the minds of the population, whereby the rendering of the impairment and impossibility of civil government is inculcated into the people. Here we must recall the so-called #EndSARS agitations and the ensuing mindless violence that achieved nothing but aggravated social discontents and fissures in the society.
Attacking the Constitution in the end, makes the government odious or obnoxious, laws are rendered superficial, institutions are made inconsequential, and obedience becomes a choice or a discretionary matter rather than an involuntary necessity. Anarchy thus becomes the order of the day with a prostrate government and a stultified state watching helplessly as the dissolution and disintegration of the country systematically unfolds. This is the ultimate aim that “restructuring” seeks to achieve by these nefarious and clandestine methods of agitation and propaganda, as practised currently and since 2015 in this country.
The subversion of the state and government and the unraveling of all authority will definitely end in the creation of conditions of loose and careless attachment to any idea of the “nation” or “country”, two concepts that have remained rather tenuous and ill-defined in our civic appraisal of who we are and what we ought to become. The identities of individual tribes and ethnic groups (“nations”) have been resurrected and thrust forward as the substitutes for the collective or the commonwealth, by which the idea of “Nigeria” was supposed to define us.

Usman Sarki is a Public Policy Analyst.