October 01, (THEWILL) – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s recent public ridicule of some traditional rulers at Iseyin in Oyo State has attracted condemnation from the Council of Obas and Chiefs in the state and the pan –Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, as well as the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE).
The issue has also brought to the fore, the call for the creation of a constitutional role for traditional rulers.
Obasanjo, who was a guest of Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State at the commissioning of the newly constructed Oyo-Iseyin Road, commanded traditional rulers in attendance to stand up and after they complied, he then ordered them to sit down in typical Head-teacher/primary school pupil fashion.
Obasanjo had condemned and castigated the Obas for sitting down when he entered the venue of the event in company with Governor Makinde, saying they ought to have respected them by standing up immediately.
This incident has made many analysts to canvass a role for traditional rulers in constitutional democracy, believing that the absence of specific roles for traditional rulers in the Nigerian Constitution made government at the state and federal levels to turn them into objects of ridicule.
Reacting in support of this, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) recently noted that there is a need to create a constitutional role for traditional rulers in the country.
He stated this while speaking at the turning-of-the-sod ceremony of the Bar building project of the Ibadan branch of the Nigerian Bar Association in Ibadan penultimate weekend.
Fagbemi said that setting aside a constitutional role for traditional rulers in the country was necessary because traditional institutions remained the most accessible and closest to the citizens.
“The traditional rulers play an important role in communicating government policies and programmes to members of the community, and also help in the provision of succour during crises,” Fagbemi added.
He said that traditional rulers play a great and vital role in maintaining peaceful co-existence in their various communities.
“They are the closest to the grassroots, which makes it possible for them to conveniently prevent violence in their domain,” he said.
Also during a recent visit to the Emir of Zazzau, Ambassador Ahmed Bamalli, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajuddeen Abbas, stated that the 10th National Assembly would review the issue of constitutional roles for traditional rulers, which was not considered by the 9th National Assembly.
The speaker’s visit, a homecoming of sorts, was marked by a grand durbar, which signified the his close connection to the traditional leadership of the ancient city of Zazzau (Zaria)
At the Emir’s palace, the speaker said, “I am aware that three years ago, there was a paper by the Traditional Rulers Council representing the six geo-political zones, which stated how they wanted the traditional institution to function in the present democratic dispensation.’
“I assure you today that my colleagues and I who are from traditional ruling houses and others who share similar sentiments will go back and look at the position paper written by the traditional leaders to ensure that the traditional institution has a place in the current political dispensation. We will work assiduously with the various state houses of assembly to ensure that the glory of the traditional institution is restored.’’
The speaker, it is believed, has touched a very sensitive subject on which Nigerians are sharply divided.
There are many Nigerians who support the argument that traditional rulers, being the custodians of tradition and culture, should be given roles in the constitution so as to enable them to act as a stabilising factor in the polity.
Those who belong to this school of thought point to the fact that Nigerians generally hold traditional rulers in high esteem. They also argue that even as traditional rulers have been relegated to the background in temporal affairs, government at all levels still find them useful and often consult them, especially on matters that have to do with public order and security.
It is further argued that traditional rulers are regarded as fathers of all without any partisan link to any group in society that they lead and symbolise; that they can be relied upon to provide dispassionate ideas and leadership on how to resolve some of the intractable issues that have defied solution and dogged the country.
It is also believed that traditional rulers are the closest to the people and they will offer great relief to the pervasive insecurity in the country, if they are put in charge of security in their domains and give support to the police.
Some other people said that though traditional rulers are acknowledged as custodians of values and thus symbolic fathers of societies, there is no need to provide an avenue for them in governance so as not to dilute and compromise their revered status in society.
To this set of people, giving constitutional role to the traditional rulers and the institutions they symbolise and represent may drag them into the often harsh and uncomplimentary glare of the public space.
Despite the sharp divergence on the subject of constitutional role for traditional rulers, there is a need to give it another look in order to determine properly how and where to place the traditional rulers in the matrix of governance in the country.
A political analyst and commentator, Pius Adeyi, believes this has become necessary, following the myriad challenges that have stretched the existing structures of governance in Nigeria.
THEWILL recalls that traditional rulers in the past were part of the structure of governance in the country. For instance in the North, the Native Authority System was run by traditional rulers and their duties and responsibilities, which included supervising and administering the justice system and the treasury, was given recognition by the constitution.
Whatever anybody says about the Native Authority System, there is no doubting its efficacy in the area of security, especially in the rural communities. Under the authority of traditional rulers, rural communities were well secured through a variety of proactive and reactive security measures.
Opinion molders also believe that the persistent wave of insecurity in the country, especially in the rural areas, can be easily tackled by the traditional rulers who they believe are closer to the people than government.
The question is this: If traditional rulers are assigned specific roles in the Constitution, how will that affect the current three-tier government structure?
Also what will be the implication of such roles if they are backed by the constitution, especially on the issue of funding?
A glance at post-Independence constitutions of Nigeria revealed that they gave some level of recognition to the traditional institutions as representatives of their people at the House of Chiefs, which later transformed into native and local authorities with executive powers over issues, such as community policing, immigration, prison services and tax administration.
The 1960 and 1963 Constitutions created a Council of Chiefs for traditional rulers at the regional level, while the 1979 gave them representation in the National Council of States at the federal level and Council of Chiefs at the state level. The council played an advisory role on customary matters, cultural affairs, chieftaincy matters and when requested to give advice on the maintenance of public order.
But the 1979 Constitution, which incorporated the constitutional reforms of 1976 that gave birth to the local government system of administration, confiscated and transferred to the local government the responsibilities performed by the traditional in the post-independence constitutions.
From 1979 till date, including the military era in governance, traditional rulers were reduced to mere tools in the hands of politicians who have in turn rendered the royal fathers to political irrelevance for their selfish interests.
The 1999 constitution brought a complete removal of the traditional rulers’ constitutional recognition as it even stripped them of the advisory role given to them by the 1979 constitution.
Under the present democratic dispensation, attempts have been made to ensure that traditional rulers are given a constitutional role.
Former Senate President, David Mark, was once quoted to have said, “We will continue to assist our traditional rulers who are responsible for unity and peace in order to further strengthen their roles. We shall find specific roles for them in the constitution when we finally review the 1999 constitution.”
The legislature has listed the prescription of constitutional roles for traditional rulers as one of the issues for consideration in the future.
One expected that the renewed call for the inclusion of traditional rulers in the democratic rule may receive the blessing of the National Assembly with the promise made by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Abass.
Will the traditional rulers abuse the privilege, if given a constitutional role in the democratic rule? Only time will tell.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
