CHARTER OF FREEDOM

CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK

Speech given in the Western House of Assembly, Ibadan, on 16 July, 1952.

You may have there in Urhobo Divisional Council and a Western Urhobo District Council and an Urhobo/lsoko District Council. Now these two Native Authorities at present are independent of each other. It may be that, under the application of this law, each of these two local authorities may become” Rating Authorities so as not to detract from the independence which they, at present, enjoy. This means that the Divisional Council Urhobo cannot impose rates but the District Council for Urhobo-Isoko District would be empowered to impose such rates.

Quite apart from these District Councils there may be Local Councils like Abraka, Agbon, Jesse, Okpe, Udu, Ugbara, Uybie Local Councils and so on. Then let us suppose the Local Council for Ugheli will meet to enjoy themselves occasionally. After investigation, they find out that this house will cost them £500. They are prepared, as a result of the decision of their council, to pay any necessary rates that may be imposed on both the men and the women of Abraka or Ugheli but, as I have said, they have no power to impose the rates and what they do leads me to the next Part, that is to Part XII.

Under Part XII, the Local Council would precept on the Rating Authority for that area. ‘Precept’ is a word of art, and some people may say why not use a different type of expression, but it is a word which is universally accepted in the English-speaking world in respect of this type of procedure and I shall try to put it in simple language. The Abraka Council may write a letter to the Urhobo-Isoko District Council telling that Council about the decision they have taken to build a hall, what it will cost, and that they now want the necessary rate to be imposed on the people of Abraka so that the money may be raised for the purpose of building the hall. Then automatically, the District Council for that area levies that rate on the people of Abraka alone without extending it beyond the limits of that area because they are the people who are going to benefit by the building. In the same way, the Urhobo Divisional Council, which is not a Rating Authority, can also precept on the District Councils, that is, the Western Urhobo and Urhobo-Isoko District Councils, for any money that it may want to spend for the benefit of the entire Division. So, Mr. President, that is what is meant by the word ‘rates’ and ‘precepts’.

The only other explanation I wish to make in respect of rates is to try and draw a distinction, in order to refresh the memories of Hon. Members, on the distinction between the word ‘rates’ and the word ‘taxes’. I shall say a few words on this. We all remember that, when we were in school, we used to do arithmetic entitled ‘Rates and Taxes’ but until recently I never understood what it was all about. Now what is a rate? A rate is simply the contribution which a citizen living within a territory of a local council periodically pays to that council in return for specific benefit or benefits which that citizen enjoys. That is why you hear of ‘water rates’, ‘electricity rates’, and a lot of other rates like that. A tax is a compulsory contribution which a citizen makes into the general coffers of a national or local government body. The purpose for which that particular tax will be applied is a matter to be considered by the local government or the national government. On the other hand, there is this other distinction to be drawn between the two, and that is that whilst in the case of rates you only pay sufficient to meet disbursement in respect of services which are being rendered to you, in the case of tax, you make a contribution in accordance with your capacity to pay. If you are a rich man you pay a large sum of money even though the benefits which you receive from the services of the government are much less than the benefit which a poor person enjoys from the government. As a matter of fact the whole idea of tax is to level down the disparity between individuals living in the territory of a state.

I now turn to Part XIII. That makes provision for Audit and Auditors. In the course of a debate in this House, I think yesterday, I did mention that the local authorities in the Western Region are losing money at the rate of £700 per week. Apart from the fact that this loss is due partly to inefficiency, it is also known that it is partly due to theft on the part of some of the treasurers of the various Native Authorities. And this theft again is due to the fact that there is no regular audit of the books and accounts of these various Native Authorities. It might interest this House to know that some so-called local government audits are not carried out even within a space of four years of each other and in some places for as long an interval as five years of each other. It is proposed in this Bill to make auditing regular, and moreover there is an important aspect of this Part to which I will call attention, and that is that the Auditor will have the power of making inquiries and also surcharging any body or group of persons, who, in the spending of local government revenue, commit an act of gross negligence or fraud. Then Part XIV makes provision for association of councils. Part XV deals with the police. I will not delay you on that except to say that it is the intention of the Western Region Government to reorganise what are now known as Native Authority police but which in future will be known as local constabulary or police. It is also expected to raise the standard and qualifications of that service to the same level as those obtaining in the Nigeria Police Force. This, it is believed, will ensure greater efficiency than at present.

Part XVI deals with prisons. The provisions are clear; and it will interest you to know that the only reason why this part is included in this Bill at all is that there are five places, five Native Authorities, which still run what are called Native Authorities Prisons. All the others have surrendered their prisons to the Central Government. It is hoped that in the near future those places which are now holding over their Prisons will do likewise. I say there is no special virtue in having Prisons in our territories.

I now deal with Part XVII which makes provisions for compulsory acquisition of land. This is a departure from the existing Native Authority Ordinance. Experience shows that whenever a Native Authority wants to acquire land people usually seize the occasion for making exorbitant demands by way of compensation, with the result that the Native Authority finds it difficult to select suitable sites for the various building projects that they may want to embark upon.

Now the provisions of this Part of the Bill will enable a local government council to acquire whatever land it may need for local government purposes compulsorily but compensation will be paid as is done by the Regional or Central Government. In case of a dispute as to the correct amount of compensation to be paid, an appeal will lie to the Supreme Court whose decision on the matter will be final.

Then Part XVIII deals only with legal proceedings, and Part XIX deals with a lot of miscellaneous matters some of which make provisions for the preservation of existing ‘rights which are vested in various Native Authorities.

Now having explained this Bill Part by Part, I will attempt to set out the criticisms which have been leveled at the Bill and the manner of its introduction. These criticisms may be summarized as follows:

That the tier system, as distinct from the pyramid system, would tend to fragmentation and that the abolition of subordinate status would encourage a subordinate chief to snap his fingers at his superior chief and assert an independence which he did not enjoy by tradition.
That by making Obas Presidents only, an attempt is being made to put into obscurity the institution of monarchy in the Western Region with a view to its eventual abolition, by subtle means.
That the creation of Local Government Inspectors and Assistant Local Government Inspectors in place of Residents and District officers was a ‘back door way’ of eliminating the latter and that such an elimination at this stage would lead to chaos.
That sufficient publicity was not given to the provisions of this Bill and that our people have not been given an opportunity of studying and discussing the provisions of this Bill and submitting their opinions thereon to the Minister for Local Government. Mr. President, I will proceed to deal with these criticism in the order in which I have stated them.

In the first place the tier system does not lead to fragmentation nor does it adversely affect or cut asunder the traditional ties.

Under the present law, I am referring to the Native Authority Ordinance, a subordinate Native Authority is deemed to possess all the powers which a superior Native Authority possesses but the subordinate Native Authority cannot make any orders or rules or perform most of its functions without the consent of the superior Native Authority. Experience shows that this system leads to unnecessary delays, frustration and resentment on the part of the people who are subordinate to a superior Native Authority. Under the proposed law each Council, Divisional, District or Local, will have a number of specific functions vested in it, each council will enjoy complete autonomy and freedom of action. There is great flexibility in the provisions of this Bill and also extensive scope within which the Regional Authority could manoeuvre in giving functions to various councils.

As for the second criticism there is no intention whatsoever to derogate from the prestige and status of our monarchical institutions. On the contrary, we consider it to be in the best interests of the people of this Region that these institutions should be preserved. I must emphasise this point, however, that the lesson of history is that absolute monarchy or rigid adherence to the divine rights of kings provokes antagonism and bloody revolution while constitutional monarchy stimulates affection and respect in the minds of the people for their monarchical institution. If we are therefore anxious to preserve our monarchial institutions, and if our traditional rulers are keen that the institutions should continue to serve as rallying grounds for the local government activities of our people, then it is incumbent upon all of us to study the example of British monarchy and try to emulate that example in form, in spirit and in practice.

In the third place, Mr. President, it is not correct that we are seeking the total elimination of Administrative Officers at this stage of our local government development. As has been aptly and clearly stated in the Policy Paper of the party in power on local government, ‘the present structure, i.e., of local government, is made so strongly dependent on the Administrative Officers that it would be foolhardy to remove these props before other supports have been provided’. The party of which I have the honour of being the leader, I must say, Mr. President, is too realistic and practical to take any rash step that would invite confusion let alone chaos. It is however the aim of my party that Administrative Officers should be progressively eliminated from our local government activities within the next five years. Under the new law, Administrative Officers would I hope become, on secondment, Divisional Secretaries or what are now known as Administrative Secretaries. In this capacity they would be servants of the local government concerned. Many of them would be metamorphosed into Local Government and Assistant Local Government Inspectors. In this capacity they would cease to wield the powers which are at present vested in them under the Native Authority Ordinance. They would be reduced to the status of advisers and advisers only to these local government councils. On the other hand they would be the agents or the representatives of the Regional Government for the purposes of supervising the activities of Local Government and making regular reports thereon to the Regional Authority. Furthermore, as I said previously, the number of powers that may be delegated to them as and when the Regional Authority deems necessary will be negligible. In the fourth place, and finally, it is untrue to say that sufficient publicity has not been given to this proposed reform. During the electioneering campaign last year my party made a promise openly and persistently to the electorate that if they were given an opportunity of ruling this Region they would introduce certain reforms in local government in the Region. In that connection a Policy Paper was prepared on local government. This Policy Paper was published in all the newspapers excepting the Opposition papers and wide comments were made upon it. And I must say, Mr. President, that the principle’ which was embodied in that Policy Paper which was published last year is in essence and substance the principle which underlies the present reform. Besides that, since April last, I have taken the trouble to tour the whole of the Western Region and to visit as many Native Authorities as it was physically possible for me to visit. Where I was unable to visit Native Authority Councils I have met Provincial Conferences consisting of accredited representatives of Native Authorities in the Province. I have addressed these Provincial Conferences and Local Authority Councils and have outlined the principle and the application of the present reform to these Councils and Conferences. Besides all these I have also caused to be to be issued, leaflets which were widely distributed not only to the Province but to various Native Authority Councils and to the people of this Region who can read at all at large. It is quite true that this Bill has not been widely publicised; but I must say emphatically to the discomfiture of those who have just cheered me that it would be a novel thing indeed for any government to give publicity to Bills in the same way as they give publicity to the principle which forms the basis of such Bills. The practice in civilised countries is, when occasion demands and when the principle underlying a particular legislative measure is novel and new, to publish it as a ‘White Paper’ or a ‘Sessional Paper’. Then when the principle in the ‘White Paper’ or ‘Sessional Paper’ has been thoroughly debated and sufficient publicity given to it, every attempt will then be made to send it to various people asking for their comments and recommendations.’ In this particular case, as I said before, the reform now proposed forms part of the basic platform on which we were elected into this House of Assembly and it is our duty in fulfillment of our promise to introduce the reform at the earliest possible time along the line which is contained in the Bill. Besides that, how many people ever read a Bill clause by ‘clause? In any event, Mr. President, the Government of this Region has a clear conscience that it has faithfully and conscientiously discharged its duty to the people of this Region in this respect. In conclusion, Mr. President, I commend to this House this veritable charter of freedom, that is, freedom at the local government level. The famous motto of my party is ‘Freedom for all; life more abundant’. I believe that the political aim of the Opposition could be accommodated within the wide ambit of the lofty ideals which are epitomized in this phrase. In April last year my party declared that it would work to attain self-Government for Nigeria within five years after the commencement of this new Constitution The party now in Opposition quickly followed our example by changing its well-known slogan’ Freedom in our life time’ – which is indefinite – to ‘Freedom in five years’. Are we really sincere in this declaration of freedom? I can speak for my party, and as an earnest of our sincerity and good faith we are, by means of this Bill, taking a definite and resolute step towards the attainment of our objective. And, by God, we are not going to look back. I cannot, however, speak for the Opposition. Are they sincere in their own declaration? Some people believe in freedom and act freedom, but others pretend to like freedom but are in reality slavish both in their minds and in their mentality. By their words, however, we shall know them, for it has been wisely and truly said by them of old that ‘from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’

CONTINUES NEXT WEEK

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