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Legitimacy in Governance: the Emergence of Gburuism.

Published

4 years ago

October 2, 2020

By Reuben Onyishi (Ugoachataberu)

Legitimacy is the right conferred on the leader by the people, the led. It is the right to exercise authority and power on behalf of the people. It is something a leader enjoys out of the people’s free will and acceptance. When the oil of acceptance is denied leadership, it is a sign of rejection.

When leadership is not conscious of its legitimacy, it is a sign of emerging dictatorship which may degenerate to tyranny. Neither tyrants nor dictators wielding power and authority against the will of the people ever prosper. The truth is that power belongs to the people and they confer it on leadership willingly. It can never be forced, even when power is obtained by fraudulent means and other ways of suppressing the will of the people. Whoever wrenches power from the people struggles through their reign. Power belonging to the people is an echo of democracy which is commonly defined as the government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Democracy is a form of government by a representation that has received wide acceptance in many countries of the world as the best form of government. However, the ancient philosopher, Aristotle, was quoted to have claimed that democracy is rather the worst form of government because it can lead to the enthronement of a minor when the majorities are foolish. But the people’s foolishness may well work for their satisfaction; after all, where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise. Howsoever it be, the gift of acceptance the people grant their government legitimatizes it whether in a democracy or any other form of government.

During the build-up to the gubernatorial election in Enugu State, eyes had not seen, neither had it entered into the hearts of men the level of acceptance the candidature of Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi did receive it. Thousands of support groups emerged naturally in solidarity with the Ugwuanyi candidacy. It was Gburugburu everywhere in songs and chants of goodwill and heroism founded on his antecedents at the House of Representatives and the natural love for the gap-toothed, smiling, and handsome huge embodiment of greatness, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Ugwuanyi, having earned the love and confidence of the people, was coasting home with victory as he emerged his party’s (the People’s Democratic Party, PDP) candidate. Indeed he emerged victorious expressly to the delight of the people and the mammoth crowd that followed the Ugwuanyi cause. Because the voice of men is the voice of God, all the legal strongholds placed before his candidacy was pulled down successively.

Ugwuanyi’s acceptance also showed itself in his adoption by every other party in the state as their consensus candidate, besides the APC playing opposition in Enugu State during the 2019 elections. This was to be expressed more in his reelection for the second term. Even APC would play opposition in the day and a lover at night, a development that eluded some political analysts thinking Ugwuanyi was going to defect to the APC, a hypothetical misreading of the Ugwuanyi phenomenon that left the analysts astounded. No one was left in the dark as to the emerging enigmatic phenomenon, a holocaust of a movement akin to the Zikist movement of the first republic.

Ugwuanyi’s towering image some had thought to reduce by their sponsorship of virulent attacks. Some sponsored social media folks had run with campaigns of calumny which failed and like water over a duck’s back amounted to unnecessary waste of time and efforts. Any criticism founded on falsehood is bound to fail. The enigmatic consciousness Ugwuanyi represents in astute governance confounded the simple and even amazed the learned. What men do not understand they try to demonize. Every one of such efforts to besmirch the reputation of the star governor failed on arrival. His meteoric rise to the aristocratic palace of excellent governance and the allure of public acceptance that occur with it are a rarity.

In the words of William Shakespeare ( Twelfth Night), some are born great; some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust on them. Ugwuanyi does not struggle with governance and human relationship. The day he was created, it seems His maker took time to wire him with the art of good governance. So he treads with ease to the Olympian height and has demonstrated in clear terms that he is deliberately made a blessing to the people of Enugu State in matters of governance.

The recent rise of the Ebeano political family from political mutation was seen in some quarters within the state as a natural course erupting from the goodwill the governor by his kind nature engendered. The Ebeano leader himself acknowledged how Ugwuanyi lifted him from the cesspit of political oblivion. Some other political pundits see the rise of the Ebeano family as a visitor from the dead on assignment to kill a dangerous ambition forming to truncate the political peace Ugwuanyi has seamlessly maintained in the state. They hold that now that the dead visitor has achieved its purpose, the time comes for it to return to its grave or at best peter into the emerging huge being of Gburuism. They caution that Ebeano has no political future as it belongs to the past, its exhumation for a temporary assignment notwithstanding. They claim that Gburuism has emerged political iroko in Enugu State and that any tree trying to grow taller than it must be looking for the troubles of the sky. These pundits are of the view that the peace, security, sound economy, and relationship management abilities Ugwuanyi has brought to bear on governance are the meat of longevity on which the emerging Gburuism has sumptuously fed itself, a meal which the Ebeano politics had starved itself while it lived and reigned.

The root is going deeper into the foundation of strong politics as Gburuism grows in lips and bounds in the political depth of the people’s consciousness. The Egwugwu has countered into the arena and its conspicuous self intimidates less embodied spirits.

Recently a group is known as Gburugburu Consolidated Movement, GCM, was inaugurated at Igbo-South Local Government. Listening to the leader of the group, Barr. Peter Okonkwo, the commissioner for local government, speaks, one is left with no doubt it is an emerging structure in the state for the advancement of the Gburugburu cause of leadership. Okonkwo did say that they had the numerical strength to crowd out any other political movement out of the state. The movement like whirlwind is sweeping across the three zones of the state and is touted to emerge as the barrel through which the Gburuism power flows. It may be the foundation structure on which the politics of Enugu State shall be built, especially as other sources are expected to coalesce into it. This is one of the things that naturally occur to the ideals of good leadership. People are ready to sacrifice to such ideals without let or any hindrance at all. The group has placed on Ugwuanyi’s palms the power to decide who replaces him in 2023 and also decide who holds what in 2023. It is clear Ugwuanyi has engrafted himself in the hearts of the people of Enugu State.

From what is going on, deep calls unto deep in the annals of the leadership of Enugu State. Ugwuanyi holds the yam and the knife the people have thrust into his palms. Even the people of Enugu East Senatorial Zone are enamored of Ugwuanyi’s manner of leadership so much that they have confidence his decision is the best for them. Having committed Enugu State in the hands of God, it follows that whatever proceeds from Ugwuanyi is first processed in the mills of the throne of grace. Alas! Behold true leadership, a blessing, a benevolent spirit bestriding the landscape of Enugu politics to the delight of the people and to the glory of God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the awesome God of David.

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Business

Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Published

1 week ago

March 6, 2025

The Gleamer

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D

The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.

The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.

In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”

The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.

The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.

Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.

In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.

Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.

Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.

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