We are making Yorubas in the North catalysts of development —Aiyelangbe

Dr Jimpat Aiyelangbe was recently announced as the new President-General of an estimated 15 million Yorubas resident in the 19 northern states and Abuja. In this interview with TESSY UMUNAKWE, the new Yoruba leader speaks on his plans for the association and on burning national issues.

 

How did you feel when you were declared the leader of about 15 million Yorubas residing in the North?

I felt honoured . I felt inspired. I am grateful to God and the people for the confidence reposed in me.

 

What are your plans for your members?

We will preach the gospel of peace and unity as a catalyst for achieving common good. We are also planning to get our foundation working. It is called Poverty Liquidator Foundation of Yoruba community in 19 northern states and Abuja. We also plan to establish a data bank with the purpose of using our numerical strength to negotiate socially, economically and politically with governments of the 19 northern states and Abuja to achieve a prosperous era for our people. These are a few of what our administration plans to do.

 

Due to ethno-religious crises, many southerners in the North, over the years, have been relocating to their home states, how are you dealing with the situation?

Don’t forget that I am also the president of all non-indigenes  in  Kano State and I was the president of the Yoruba community for a long time. This issue gives me a great deal of headache but I know that God is fair. When they started Boko Haram, I knew God will not be on their side. It is not possible. You can’t just be killing people you have never seen before because you want to lord it over them. I’ve learnt a lot of lessons dealing with riots and the Boko Haram  incursion into the polity. The type of riots we used to experience in Kano before was mob action when people carried cutlasses, matchetes,  bows and arrows, broken bottles and stones. There wasn’t AK47. Some people ran to police stations and army barracks but this didn’t solve the problem. But I formulated my own personal approach and we monitored the news. We monitored Al Jazeera, Radio Kaduna and Radio Kano among others and if we discover they are planning a riot, we get the Sheikhs and imams on our side because we know they can prevent the riots. I will get a list of the possible flashpoints and write letters to the imams in those areas, telling them that we know they are good people and that we know they are respected by everybody in their towns and the nation at large and that we are all the same . So  we plead with them to discourage the riots in their sermons. If we got wind of the impending crisis on Wednesday, by Friday morning, at least 30 mosques would have received the letter. That was how we prevented riots but you cannot prevent Boko Haram with that approach. For Boko Haram, what we did was to get nearer to the army and the police.

 

What can government do to stem the tide of violence arising from ethnic suspicions and religious bigotry?

The cause of violence anywhere in the world is lack of equity. If it is at Ibadan and one area is usurping everything, there will be violence. So even if you speak the same language, drink the same water, and live in the same area and one part is monopolizing the good things that government has, there will be violence. There will be religious bigotry. But it will not be between towns or ethnic groups, it will be between people living in different streets. When there is no equity, development is stunted so what is produced will not be enough for everybody and if we don’t  produce enough for everybody, sharing becomes difficult because  there is not enough to share, people will now use opportunities open to them to secure a juicy part of what is produced which is not enough. That is when tribal sentiments set in and religious affiliation is introduced. The fact that we attended the same  church becomes a factor, the fact that my father knows your mother or that my uncle went to the same school with your mother then become an issue. This is because we don’t have enough to go round. Government is not producing enough to go round. What really is tribalism? What is religious bias? These are instruments used to square up to others who have the advantages. A government that cannot produce enough for its citizenry can never liquidate violence. That is, economic development will lead to a more equitable distribution of amenities because there would be more to share and then there would be less violence.

 

Corruption has been identified as one of the factors militating against the nation’s development, how can government effectively deal with the scourge?

Corruption  does  not cause lack of development, it is  not the reason for lack of economic development. Bad planning causes lack of development. I will give you an example . Take the case of a family. The man is a bloody womanizer who chases anything that wears a skirt, he is also a drunk but as a plank seller, he plans his business well. He never sells to people that cannot pay and he sells the best quality planks and makes a lot of money. Economically, he is viable though he is a corrupt human being. Let me also give you the example of Indonesia. Indonesia under the military was very corrupt but the country developed. That was the time it started to manufacture bombs and tanks and assembling aeroplanes. In Saudi Arabia where people think there is zero corruption, corruption is quite high. The ruling royal family live ostentatiously. They live like Americans that are lascivious. But the economic management is very good. They produce enough for everybody . That is why there are no strikes. Corruption will not promote you but it will not make you stagnant or retrogressive.

 

What then is the cause of our underdevelopment?

The major cause is lack of constant electricity- whether through hydro, thermal, hydro-thermal,  solar, wind or any form of energy source. And there’s a law for this. For the growth of any nation’s economy, the country must double its energy production every 10 years. Obasanjo left 4,000 Megawatts of electricity in 1979. By 1989, this ought to have become 8,000, by 1999, it ought to have become 16,000, by 2009, it ought to have become 32,000. By now we should be talking of 60,000 or 62,000 Megawatts. But what do we have? Six or even  five. On what do we develop our economy?

 

Many would say Nigeria is a failed nation, do you share this sentiment?

Nigeria cannot fail because we have a lot of potential.

 

So, do you think the  present  crop of politicians can take the nation to the  promised land?

No.  A curved line cannot make something straight. It is not possible. Of course, there are a few of them that can straighten the curved lines but a few cannot make a government unless you deliberately choose the few and weed off the others.

 

Are you one of those advocating for  the nation’s restructuring?

It should be done. Before I was born in April 1947, our hero, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had advocated for real federalism where people developed at their own pace and he showed the example in the Western region. Western region could afford free education,  the region could afford industrial areas in Ibadan and Ikeja. It could afford the first TV station in Africa. England had its first TV station in 1956. In 1958, we already had it, two years after our colonial masters. We could achieve these feats because we had federating governments or federating units where people developed at their own pace. However, there appears to be a kind of federating competition going on now. Kano is trying to generate its own electricity and so is Bauchi. Everybody knows electricity is the bedrock of development and the unified form of electricity production is very horrible and inefficient. Did you know that if the general manager of  an  electricity company  in some parts of Kano need electricity for something special, he would send somebody to Osogbo with a bag of money so that they can divert a lot of energy to Kano? This shouldn’t be.