Lagos — A look at the last one year of democracy, the issues that have been in the front burner of national discourse and the challenges ahead:

Tommorrow, drums would be rolled out across the country to celebrate another year of democracy. While the President and some governors would be marking their first year of re-election, others would be making their first year in office. It is expected that lists of achievements and democracy dividends would be reeled out at all levels. But this last one year is also full of ups and down. It has witnessed the proclamation of a state of emergency in one of the 36 states of the federation, there has been official confirmation of security breach, ethno-religious crises have been on the increase, pump prices of fuel products have also been on the increase with another labour strike in sight.

While there are issues that suggest that the nation may have learnt from the mistakes of the first four years of the return of democracy, there are also several other issues that have made keen observers of the events in the country to entertain fears about the nation's democracy.

Legislative-Executive Relationship

One issue that would attract analysts' attention as the nation examines the ups and down of the last one year of democracy is the executive-legislative relationship.

The National Assembly in the first four years of this democratic dispensation was characterised by leadership crisis, internal wranglings and executive legislative face-off. The last one year has witnessed a relatively peaceful parliament and an unprecedented cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature compared to the first four years.

Unlike in the past when the relationship between the two arms of government was characterised by crises, the last one year is devoid of such. While many believe that the cordiality that exist between the two arms of government has to do with the experience of the last four years, others are, however, of the view that this cordiality has its roots in the politics that led to the emergence of the two presiding officers of the National Assembly.

In the Senate for instance, Adolphus Wabara, who many would argue, did not win the last senatorial election, but eventually emerged the President of the Senate. This, apparently, was by the grace of the powers that be in Abuja. In the House of Representatives, Hon. Bello Masari emerged as Speaker, as the same powers that be were said to be more comfortable with him than with Dr. Usman Bugaje, who also aspired for that position.

Apart from the cordial relationship between the executive and the legislature, each of the two houses of the National Assembly has also been relatively stable. Of the two chambers, however, the House of Representatives has been more peaceful. There has been series of threats against the leadership of Wabara in the last one year. The latest was the move by some senators led by Senator David Mark to effect the removal of Wabara over alleged mishandling of Senate financial allocations.

In the House, there were initial controversies in 2003 that trailed the composition of the standing committees before it was resolved by the leadership. The formation of the Forum for Democracy amd Good Governance by some members of the House, also raised speculations that the leadership of Masari was under threat. After about two weeks of anxiety about the motive of the group, the issue was laid to rest. Last month, the leadership of Masari also weathered another storm caused by the allegation that a chunk of the House allocation had been reserved for the leadership.

This improved relationship between the two arms of government has its benefits. Apart from the fact that it has helped to reduce tension in the polity, it has also helped to stabilise the leadership of the National Assembly. The effect is that unlike the first four years, the National Assembly has been able to concentrate on its primary duty of lawmaking.

The fear however is that, the bid by the National Assembly leadership to maintain a cordial relationship with the executive at all cost has robbed the country of an articulate, assertive and purposeful parliament that would be ready to check executive excesses at all times. Many would however argue that the National Assembly has become a rubber stamp for the executive.

Ethno-religious Crises

Since the second phase of the present administration commenced about a year ago, one recurring decimal it has had to confront with is the resurgence of ethnic and religious violence across the country. And to say that this last one year of democracy has been a season of crisis, may perhaps be an understatement. In the oil rich city of Warri, Delta State, for instance, confrontations between the Itsekiri, Urhobo and Ijaw tribes have heightened tension in an area which has served as the country's life line. These had led to the disruption of oil production activities and the destruction of lives and property valued at several billions of naira.

The Federal Government, worried by the wave of violence in the area and determined to protect oil installations and restore production to safeguard its revenue source, had to deploy soldiers to return peace to the area. Uneasy calm still pervades Warri and there is no guarantee that permanent peace would return soon.

Similarly, in Yobe State, religious fundamentalists, seized Damaturu and some adjoining villages and unleashed violence of unimaginable kind on all manner of people irrespective of their religious leanings. Before the police could quell the violent uprising, several innocent people had already lost their lives.

But the most confounding of all the violent crises, which had the larger potentials of threatening democracy, is that of Plateau State, where violent confrontations in the Yelwa and Shendam axis of the state has defied all forms of intervention.

While the crisis lasted, several hundreds of people were killed. Over 35,000 people, according to the account given by Nassarawa State Governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, have been displaced and are now refugee in his state. In the same vein, millions of property were vandalized and destroyed by religious and ethnic irridentists.

The crisis in Plateau State also spread to Kano, another state where a similar orgy of violence was unleashed by religious fundamentalists against hapless innocent citizens. Most of those that lost their lives in the skirmish were believed to have nothing to do with the crisis.

Last week, President Olusegun Obasanjo wielded the big stick by declaring a state of emergency which suspended Governor Joshua Dariye, his deputy and the entire legislature in the state. As an interim measure, he appointed an administrator, Major-General Chris Alli (rtd), a former Chief of Army Staff who would in the first instance administer the state for six months.

In his nationwide broadcast, Obasanjo said he was invoking section 305 of the 1999 Constitution to impose a state of emergency on the state, stressing that the move was to forestall its spread to other parts of the country especially Kano State.

Although the action has been condemned by a section of the populace, the National Assembly that rubber stamped Obasanjo's action, is also set to approve a new request by Obasanjo, which seeks to grant him the constitutional powers to regulate the administration of Plateau state in the next six months.

In Kano State, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau escaped the declaration of a state of emergency by whiskers. The body of Northern Emirs, including the Sultan of Sokoto and Alhaji Ado Bayero of Kano, rose from their meeting to condemn Shekarau whom they blamed for defying earlier warnings of an impending outbreak of both fresh violence and reprisal attacks, and choosing instead to authorize street processions to protest the killings in Yelwa.

Obasanjo confirmed this position when he said another state of emergency would have been slammed on Kano State. But he was quick to rationalize that the timely intervention of the royal fathers and the pledge by the governor to maintain peace and law and order saved the day.

Although many blame Obasanjo for taking an extreme position in quelling the lingering ethno-religious violence that is threatening democracy, it remains to be seen whether such an extreme measure would bring a permanent solution to violent crises in a democracy.

It is however worth stressing that the preponderance of such crises in the polity in a nascent democracy would bring no other dividend than to send signals of political instability to the international community.

At a time the country is making spirited efforts to revive its comatosed economy by convincing international creditors and investors to extend credit line and invest in the country, the preponderance of violence would not provide respite for a depressed economy. What it would do however is to make a potential investors lose confidence in the country.

Protests Over Fuel Prices

As if the confrontation that endangered democracy last year when the organized labour force, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), shut down the economic nerve of the country to protest further hike in the prices of petroleum products is not enough, another strike action may be imminent.

During the week, labour leader, Adams Oshiomhole, issued an ultimatum to the federal government, urging it to direct petroleum product marketers to either revert to the old pump prices agreed to with the federal government or face an industrial action.

The oil marketers had earlier in the week raised prices by between 2.6 to 3.0 per cent for petrol. Oshiomhole enjoined Obasanjo to live up to his promise of sticking to his earlier commitment to the rule of law and respect the subsisting court order on the matter.

Security Breach

Equally in the last one year, Nigeria has witnessed a security breach. This was first made known on April 2, when the Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mrs. Remi Oyo told reporters in Abuja that there was a "security breach ", which led to the questioning of a number of military officers and civilians.

Although the Federal Government has been handling the alleged security breach with utmost secrecy, observers contend that the security breach is another sore point in the nation's bid for a sustainable democracy.

Apparently conscious of the negative implication of the revelation of this development, the government initially tried to conceal the matter. When it even chose to disclose it to the nation that there was a breach of security, it made spirited effort to make a distinction between a security breach and a coup. But all that has given way now as the President has confirmed that there was actually a security breach.

National Conference

Apparently because of the various lingering crisis in the country, the call for the convocation of a sovereign National Conference has been gathering momentum. And more than ever, the tempo has increased in the last one year.

Since 1998 when various groups like the Afenifere, Ohanaeze, National Conscience Party (NCP), Islamic Democratic Progressive Party (IDPP), United Action for Democracy (UAD), Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) have been on the scene, the issue has remained topical. The issue was again brought to the front burner of national discourse recently by the Citizens' Forum led by the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka and several other renown pro-democrats.

From all indications, if views expressed so far on the need for the conference were anything to reckon with, then the issue may continue to dominate discussions in the years ahead if not addressed.