AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM VS. NIGERIAN BANALITY
As the news broke that the Colorado Supreme Court had disqualified Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado State, a thought arose in me. There are two major differences between America and Nigeria:
I. Every problem arising in America’s democratic, legal, or social contract has a failsafe mechanism to correct it. There are institutional checks and balances that work. Here the idea of patroits performing their civic roles is well-developed.
When the investigative journalists at ProPublica revealed that Justice Clarence Thomas was pushing the boundaries of ethical behaviour unbefitting a Supreme Court justice, two things happened: Members of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Congress set in motion a process to legislate a code of ethics for judges and justices who are — after all is said and done — public servants who must also earn and keep the trust of citizens.
This process was underway before Chief Justice John Roberts wrote up a code of ethics for justices of the Supreme Court. Now, Thomas can’t claim ignorance of the ethical behavior appropriate for a justice outside the court.
Contrast Nigeria: Does anyone see Nigeria’s House of Representatives making enquiries into the nepotistic tendencies of Chief Justice Kayode Ariwoola?Chief priest Kim Jong Un in action
Conflict of interest deals with perception, not evidence of malfeasance. You must not put yourself in a position where you have to defend accusations of partiality! — Engr. Chris Ofoluwa
Which part of this simple description passeth the understanding of C.J. Ariwoola which made him go ahead and appoint his own brother as auditor of the Nigerian Judicial Council. C.J. Ariwoola did it90 because there are no effective checks and balances. The system is rigged for impunity.
II. The second difference between America and Nigeria is that in America, citizen patriots will always rise to defend their constitution and their democratic institutions. Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and others tried to subvert and rig the November 3, 2020, presidential election. But they were thwarted by ordinary citizens who had the courage to act.
From Georgia to Arizona, Michigan to Pennsylvania, and back, governors, state secretaries of state, legislators, and even attorneys in private and public practice stood up to resist the election subverters and riggers. That was how American democracy was saved.
Contrast Nigeria: In this year’s election cycle in Nigeria, there were no citizen patriots in positions of authority who lifted a finger to defend Nigeria’s popular democracy. Our governors, INEC regional residents, judiciary, police, secret police, pastors, and mass media were totally suborned, bribed, and subverted.
At the Appeal Court where the presidential election petitioners went first, the justices delivered a judgement that was tall on technicalities and short on justice. At the Supreme Court, the petitioners were joined together by the court and given five minutes to argue their case. They couldn’t and their petition was thrown out for “lack of merit” with extreme prejudice.
Democracy came to Nigeria to die.
Professor Oti Was A Rare Exemption
The will of the Nigerian people, freely expressed at the February 25 and March 11 ballots, was defeated because no one stood up for them. Except for that singular lady of courage — Prof. Nnenna Nnannaya Oti. During the gubernatorial ballot, she resisted all attempts to subvert the ballot process in Abia state, where she was resident. She acted per her conscience and returned Mr. Alex Otti as duly elected governor. Today, Abia State is in the pleasurable throes of Good Governance, the likes of which Abians had never seen since 1991 when General Ibrahim Babangida created her.
