Mr Justice Ughuegbu is a legal practitioner, civil right activist and vice presidential candidate of the National Action Council (NAC) in 2019. In this interview by JOHNKENNEDI UZOMA, he speaks on some issues affecting the nation.
Insecurity in Nigeria appears to be worsening. What is your take on this?
It is no longer news that Nigerians can no longer sleep with their two eyes closed and it is unfortunate that we are witnessing it in this dispensation. It is not as if security had been palatable in the past but since 2015 when the government of the APC took over, insecurity has increased to a stage where no Nigerian today can sleep with their two eyes closed. You cannot travel on the road and be sure of your safety anywhere across the country. Most unfortunately, it has got to a stage where 90 per cent of Nigerians, if they have their way, will leave the country. If you visit the various embassies of other countries in Nigeria, you will see massive turnouts of Nigerians trying to leave the shores of the country by all means. The country today is no longer safe for the people.
What do you think is the actual cause of this insecurity?
As the president of the Association for Good Governance, I say it is bad governance. Bad governance leads to a lot of things. When there is bad governance, the people will not feel that they are carried along. There are unemployment, hunger and poverty in the country. If there is good governance, there would be good policies from the government and when there are good policies, the economy will thrive. But when the reverse is the case, what do you expect? When you run the government as your personal property, when you are using the government to settle loyalists, political friends and well-wishers without knowing their credibility and capacity to function, this is what you get in return. So, bad governance is the major cause of the problems we are having in Nigeria today. According to the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the government exists for the welfare and security of the people. So, if there is good governance, the welfare of the masses will be taken care of and once this is done, there would be security in the country. But where the reverse is the case, there would be insecurity because people would resort to all sorts of vices.
Impunity has become another problem in our country. The way the executive is handling the economy, the affairs of the country, is bad because impunity has set in. They do anything and get away with it. This goes a long way in killing the system.
Today in our country, we are not just tackling Boko Haram but we are also tackling banditry and unknown gunmen. No matter the names you call them, they are terrorists.
Would you say that the government has failed the people regarding security?
Yes, the government has failed because the whole essence of governance, as the constitution provides, is the provision of welfare and security for the people. Today, can we say that the government of Nigeria has improved on provision of welfare and security for the people? The answer is no. Across all states, Nigerians are killed every day and the government has not shown much concern. The question is: what has the government been doing about insecurity? How can you expect the country to move forward economically when there is insecurity? Today, a governor will tell you that he is traveling abroad to attract foreign investors. The investors, are they not seeing or hearing what is happening? Investments and the economy can only boom when there is tranquility. But where there is none, what you expect is what Nigerians are experiencing. Unfortunately, I don’t see our government doing anything about it because we have refused to tell ourselves the truth.
What advice would you give Mr President regarding insecurity if you met him?
I would rather rephrase the question and say if I became the president, because meeting Mr President and telling him anything may not have any impact. Some of us have been talking but it has not made any difference. So, I think the best thing is to look for the opportunity to become the president or to become the governor of my state and I will tell the people that governance can be handled very well for people to enjoy dividends of democracy.
Today, we say power belongs to the people but in Nigeria, does power actually belong to the people? The answer is no. If power actually belongs to the people, what the government has been doing, they would not have. So, if I have the opportunity to become the president, my body language will bring about changes. Imposing ban and closing boarders is our problem. Our problems confront us every day. Unfortunately, some of us know the truth but we cannot say it because of selfishness. Tell me, what will it profit you when you eat and your neighbour is hungry? If you succeed in killing the people you want to govern, who are you going to govern and who will stand up for you? We should have a rethink. The essence of power is to serve the people and not to turn them into slaves.
If your party had won the 2019 presidential election and you emerged the vice president, what would you have been doing?
Well, I have said this before but I will still repeat it. There was a bill I came up with which I called ‘Wonder Bill’. What is ‘Wonder Bill’? Today, an Hausa man will stand up and say he is an Hausa man, the same with a Fulani, Yoruba and Igbo. The reason is because we gave room for that. For example, if you go to the federal secretariat to look for a job, the first things you will fill in the form are your surname, first name, middle name, state of origin and LGA of origin. That is where discrimination starts. Those last two things are wrong. What you should have seen is place of birth. Your place of birth becomes your origin and domicile. By virtue of your place of birth, you become an indigene. So, this issue of state of origin is unnecessary. Tell me why I cannot go to Lagos and contest election and win or why a Yoruba, Igbo or Hausa man cannot go to any state and win election. We have created closure. Former president of America, Barack Obama, what is his father’s origin? Is it not Kenya? The implications is that he is from Kenya but because he was born in America, he became an American citizen. You cannot ask an American where they are from and hear them say ‘I am from Chicago’ or ‘I am from Maryland’. They will tell you ‘I am from the United States of America’. So, if you ask a Nigerian, they are supposed to say ‘I am from Nigeria’. That is supposed to be your identity and not that I am from this or that.
So, if we want to get it right, if we want to continue to say what the constitution provides, that Nigeria must remain indissoluble, we must look at our citizenship because what the constitution provides is citizenship and not indigeneship. The constitution provides what we call the Federal Character. Today, can we beat our chest and say the Federal Character is being maintained? The answer is no. Why won’t there be issues? A good leader will look at these issues. It does not require a political solution rather it requires a genuine and holistic approach so that people will know that you are right because he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.
One of the problems we are having in this country is that there is a disconnect between the people and the government. That is why there were EndSARS protests in all parts of the country. The people were not against the police because the police are supposed to be close to the people. There is the need to get the people to begin to have trust in the system because the system has failed. Let us call a spade a spade. When General Jerry Rawlings became the president of Ghana, it took him some time to reorganise the country. It took one man to sanitise the system. If I had opportunity of becoming president, I would take a bold step to sanitise the system.
How would you assess Muhammadu Buhari administration?
I have seen nothing and in the years ahead, I don’t expect to see anything. The body language of the president does not show anything. The cost of living is skyrocketing on a daily basis. The cheapest thing in any country is food but what is happening in our country? Where are we heading to? We are no more talking about infrastructural development but let the people have food and be alive. We are no more talking about security; we are in the hands of God because the system has failed. But if the government is sincere, a day is enough to make a change. It only requires proactiveness and boldness.
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