Over the years, Nigerians got use to members of the Nigerian House of Representatives fighting themselves in the hallowed chambers of lawmaking. Essentially, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with legislators shoving and punching each other in the legislative House. Undoubtedly, it is indecorous. But what of if it is genuinely in defense of the constitution? Then, it will be impassioned and high-minded political debate taken a notch higher.
After all, the legislature is supposed to be a stronghold of intrepid and vigilant guardians of the constitution. And what responsible and dedicated sentinel is not prepared to put up a fight in defense of what is entrusted to his care. It is wonderful if the battles to defend the constitution remain verbal and courteous but there is nothing wrong with them turning messy, unruly, and even, physical.
Also, human behavior is driven by interests – personal, group, ideological, etc. These diverse interests are continually playing out: fusing, diverging, overlapping, conflicting, etc in the homes, market places, government offices, embassies, etc. And politics, especially, democratic politics, should be the equitable and just resolution of these interests. Reinhold Niebuhr was making the same point when he wrote that “the duty of (democratic) politics is to establish justice in a sinful world”. And the legislative chamber, as the epicenter of national politics, is the nucleus of this process of judiciously resolving multifarious interests – most of which are not altruistic and humane but predatory, vicious and sleazy, that is, sinful. And, of course, the task of establishing justice in a sinful world cannot always be steep in etiquette and civility.
Political debates in the United States of American Senate and House of Representatives are painstaking and vigorous, yet, well-mannered. Parliamentary debates in some countries, like Israel and Britain, are full of interruptions and catcalls, and are, sometimes, very acerbic. In some other countries of the world, like South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine, legislative debates have, in the past, degenerated to physical fights among the lawmakers. So, physical brawl among legislators is not peculiar to Nigeria. Therefore, our concern should be less on Nigerian lawmakers fighting and more on what makes them fight. For that which makes a man to loose all control and jettison every atom of decency and resort to the most primeval of human instincts is a major index of him.
To great and enlightened minds, the objects of life are moral worth and fame. But to petty minds and vulgar temperaments material gains and pleasure are the primary aims of life. So, if the ranks of our lawmakers are studded with great and enlightened minds, the activities of the House would have been mostly actuated by their oath of office, to uphold the constitution of Nigeria, which has in its tenor, character and spirit the welfare and betterment of the Nigerian people. And their debates would have been high-minded, marked by high morals and elevated ethics and informed by democratic ideals, such as, accountability, patriotism, justice, rule of law, etc. And then, the disturbing scenes they present when they physically fight in the House will be well meaning but disorderly attempt to advance the public good. As such, we will be dismayed by the method but enlivened by the motive.
Lamentably, the Nigerian House of Representatives is replete with petty minds and vulgar temperaments. In their obsession with material gains and pleasure, they voted for themselves the highest known salaries and allowances for legislators in the world, and maintain extravagantly luxurious lifestyles that will awe-struck even the rich and famous of the world’s wealthiest countries. Flush with money and sheltered in islands of opulence amid the vast encompassing poverty and deprivation – the cruel grind – that marks the lives of most Nigerians; they, deliberately, isolate themselves from the people that they supposedly represent.
Preoccupied with perks and pomp of office, self-enrichment and the entrenchment of the privileges of the political class, they are neither committed to public service nor responsive to the legitimate aspirations of the people. Consequently, for the most part, their legislations have not advanced social justice and a more principled distribution of the national wealth, but reinforced the status quo. And the status quo engenders the inordinate wealth of an elite few at the economic misery of the generality of the people.
Despite, their incomprehensibly excessive salaries and allowances, Nigerian legislators are not weaned from corruption. A number of earlier Speakers of the House of Representatives left office in disgrace, accused of misappropriation of public funds. Some House committees assigned to investigate government and corporate corruptions and improprieties ended up being accused and investigated for receiving bribes from the government and business officials they were investigating.
So, the boxing by the boxers in the Nigerian House of Representatives has not been inspired by democratic ideals but by greed, corruption and political intolerance. It is high time we improved on the quality of men and women we elect to represent us in the legislature. As of now, it is filled with men and women, who are out to steal, lie and fight over the spoils of power under the guise of representing the people.
Tochukwu Ezukanma writes from Lagos Nigeria.
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