I Spit on their Graves: Testimony Relevant to the Democratization Struggle in Cameroon

From Autocracy to Dyarchy

49 From Autocracy to Dyarchy I n 1972, Dr. Nnamndi Azikiwe of Nigeria, displaying a touch of premature senility, proposed what has come to be known as “Zik´s Fourth Arm Theory.” In a speech delivered in his capacity as the then Chancellor of the University of Lagos Zik proposed that the army should be recognized as the Fourth arm of government, alongside the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Zik made this proposal at a time that Nigeria, which had been under military rule since 1996, started vigorously discussing the handing over of power back to civilians, which had been planned for 1976. Yakubu Gowon subsequently reneged on the plan and got booted out of power in one of the most spectacular coup d´état in contemporary history, while he was attending an OAU summit conference in Kampala, Uganda. It is very significant that, although Zik had been one of the pioneer African journalists, he completely forgot that it is usually the Press which has been termed “the fourth estate of the Realm,” that is to say, the fourth arm of Government. But, of course, there are very few countries where the press occupies this honoured position. Outside of Great Britain and the United States of America, the Press in all other countries is only struggling towards an approximation of that position as a prescriptive ideal. In African countries especially, with one or two notable exceptions, the Press is nowhere near even approximating the position. When I start talking about Zik, for example, do you think I want to talk about Zik? What is my concern with Zik? But, if I talk directly about what I want to talk about, and call a spade a spade, will the censors not completely cancel my page as 50 Godfrey B. Tangwa (Rotcod Gobata) usual? Has that not often forced me to talk in parables and sometimes to start heading West when my final destination is East? If, like Bate Besong, they sometimes make me to present you with an empty page, I am, however, consoled by the fact that, even if I say nothing you can very well guess what I would have said, if you think objectively and disinterestedly. But, to get back to Zik, what he was really proposing was that the Nigerian army should perpetuate itself in power by pretending to share power with civilians. That is why his proposal should be called military-civilian diarchy in spite of the spurious arguments which led Zik to the idea of a fourth arm of government. That Zik did not sincerely believe in his own proposal was confirmed a decade later when, in 1983, he ran for the post of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria alongside people like Shagari, Awolowo and others. Zik did not choose a soldier for his “running mate.” The army has a function to play in every country. That function is not governing. Soldiers are not trained to govern. Their training and their functions generally are such that contact between them and the civilian populations should be very minimal. Soldiers should never be seen in good numbers except there is a rare ceremonial occasion or an outbreak of war. If you live in a country like Britain for ten years you would be lucky if you see a British soldier once in those ten years. That is how it should be. One of the most cowardly actions of the “New Deal” regime, which seems to have got stuck like a stubborn jigger on our national foot, was its exemption of the armed forces from the recent general salary cuts. Members of the armed forces were already enjoying privileges which are the envy of all other citizens, such as free accommodation, free rides in public transportation vehicles, the prerogative to stop any motorist and demand to see his/her “pièces de véhicule” etc. In the last case, if you are foolish enough to hand over 51 I Spit on their Graves: Testimony Relevant to the Democratization Struggle empty documents or, to take him too literally and hand over a “piece,” you would “see pepper.” When an officer says “piece,” he means “billet” which should be carefully tucked inside your “pieces de vehicule.” Take careful note of those driving some of the most luxurious cars around town. Many of them are uniformed officers. Why were members of the armed forces exempted from...