Professor Tunde Adeniran is an elder statesman with variegated experience in public service, international relations and so on, having led the defunct Mass Mobilisation for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) in 1993; appointed Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany between 2004 and 2007 and later, Minister of Education. The scholar-diplomat-politician speaks to DARE ADEKANMBI on the why he and other compatriots came up with the Rescue Nigeria Project, among others.
Is the decision of you and your colleagues who have come together for the Rescue Nigeria Project informed by the current development in the polity or you are just out to create another platform for people seeking offices in 2023?
We are not out to create a platform for office seekers, far from it. The decision was informed by the need to really rescue the country as you have put it. We believe we can’t just afford to wait and watch things degenerate to the level that things are were going. We knew that all along that Nigeria has been one of the most blessed countries in the world, Africa and top globally. One cannot think of another country that is as blessed in terms of human and material resources. Yet, we are just crawling and not growing and it is very worrisome and things are getting worse. Anywhere you look, whether in terms of security, economy and so on, it is worrisome. So, we felt it was necessary to really rescue the country. When you have excellent, committed, patriotic leaders who can do the needful, the country will get to actualise its potential. So, we felt we have to begin to think more seriously about competence, capacity and commitment and, of course, about the patriotic indices which would enable the country to utilise the attributes of its leadership. That is why we thought that we need to really look into this.
Some people thought that we are just trying to create another platform for people to seek election and get elected to certain positions. That is not the goal. The goal is for us to have an enabling environment that will allow the country to be stable, to develop and for individuals to actualise their potential. Good governance is something we all believe cannot be compromised if we are to have the type of peace, development, equity and justice that we are all talking about. We believe we really just have to come together and do something about it. Those coming together are from different political affiliations. But something that has united all of us is the common concern to really save this country because we believe this is a duty that we all owe our nation and also the generation coming behind us.
How is the project going to be carried out?
We have the framework and generally people are coming on board. We have to sensitise the people, give them the proper orientation to know that this is not just for people who are looking for platform to contest for one position or the other. In other words, we are looking for people who are likeminds and once we get those people, we will be able to move forward. You will realise that one of the things we got committed to recently was this issue of electronic transmission of election results. We took up the challenge with all seriousness and we thank God that at least for now, people can see why that should be the way to go, though INEC is already committed to it. Even the National Assembly that was taking an anti-people position has agreed to it. We believe President Muhammadu Buhari will assent to it because that is the way to go. We believe we have to do things properly before we can get the Nigeria of our vision.
Will the Rescue Nigeria Project transform into a political party later?
I do not know; only God can tell. As far as we are concerned, our goal and objectives are limited now. In future, some people may feel we should go in that direction. But our agenda for now does not include forming a political party.
Is it going to then be a case of your group adopting a candidate of either of the two major parties, APC and PDP, in 2023?
We believe there are good Nigerians and not all Nigerians are bad. There are good Nigerians who are ideologically people-oriented and they are all over the place. We will identify them and do whatever is needful to make sure they get them to where they can impact upon the people and the country. There are Nigerians who believe in what we believe in. But there are those who don’t subscribe to any ideology which is why people move across parties with impunity and recklessness. To such people, it does not matter where they are. Today, they are here and tomorrow, they are there. But there are still people whose ideological persuasion we endorse.
The major opposition party, PDP, has as the theme of its convention, ‘Come, let’s rescue Nigeria together.’ The PDP appears to be on the same page with your group that there is the need to rescue the country from collapse.
Well, I don’t know about that. I know we have been on this assignment to rescue Nigeria before we started reading in the papers that some parties also believe that it is time to rescue the country. So, if some parties or some individuals believe in it, let them come and join us. But we believe in people who actually believe in our own philosophy and ideology. Any party can say anything, but unless and until we see them working with us, it is only then that we will be convince that they mean it.
You don’t seem to believe the salvation or the redemption of the country can be done by either of the two major parties, APC and PDP…
No, I don’t.
Why?
The salvation of the country lies in some individuals who believe in certain principles, who believe in the Nigerian nation and not in themselves. We have too many people in these parties who are self-seeking and self-serving. That is not going to lead us to where we should be as a country, though we have some good people in those parties quite alright.
There are those who think we should be make fundamental changes to the structure of the country, including having a truly people’s constitution, before the 2023 elections.
I believe very strongly in restructuring. I believe unless and until we restructure, we are not going to get things right with our country. There are structural deformities in the political and economic sectors. Everywhere you turn, that structural deformities are there and they emanate from the constitution. And you can’t put something on nothing. So, that is very important. But then, there are those who benefit from the problems that we have as a country. You don’t expect such people to agree to change the system because it serves their purpose. But we believe that, by the grace of God and with the commitment of Nigerians who believe in restructuring and the future of the country, it will be done.
For those who say we should suspend the election first and do restructuring, I ask them: who will do the restructuring? What we mean by restructuring can even start today and from the local government, state level before going to the national government. There is nothing preventing restructuring from starting now. So, it does not require postponing the election. I have been stressing it: what is delaying local government autonomy? What prevents a state from deciding that henceforth, this is what its resources can take and it is not going to be doing things the way other states are doing theirs? What stops states from doing things differently and in such a way that it confers their existence as a unit within the federation with relative independence? There is so much that can be done before waiting for action to be taken on the Concurrent List which is the bone of contention in some areas. If you governor of state A or State B, you do not need anybody to tell you what your commissioners will earn based. It should be based on the state’s revenue. That is the right thing to do. But this unitary type of operation that we currently have is not good for the country.
Where do you stand on the issue of zoning of the presidency for the 2023 elections? The matter has become a sort of political football among stakeholders of the major parties…
My position on this has always been clear. There was this draft constitution which guaranteed or provided for rotational presidency, that proposed a single term of five years and every zone will have a president for five years. Thirty years thereafter, it will be free for all. That was during the Sani Abacha regime, some 25 years ago. So, in the next five years, it would have been over. I don’t think that constitution was ever adopted. What happened in 1999 was just to take part of the 1979 Constitution and then the military did whatever they like with it and imposed it upon the country.
The parties have their own constitutions and those who belong to those parties have the responsibility to stand by the provisions of their constitution or to amend their constitutions and comply with the law. That is following due process.
But as far I am concerned, I am looking for leaders at national and state levels who believe in the type of ideology that I believe in, who believe in the ideology of rescuing Nigeria. We do not need people just for where they come from, but for their capacity and the competence they can demonstrate, the type of experience they have, their orientation and pedigree. We need to rescue this country and you do not rescue the country and put any mediocrity there just because they come from North or South or wherever. We don’t need to put people who will worsen our situation in position in 2023, people who don’t even understand what good governance is all about.
The National Assembly is again looking at the 1999 Constitution with a view to tinkering with it. People have been offering solutions to some knotty issues. The governors of the South-West have canvassed before the committee the need to make the geopolitical zones the federating units to make for equality between the South and the North. Do you support this?
That is the way some people think to some extent to solve part and not all the problems. We need serious fundamental restructuring. We need to have a people’s constitution. We need true federalism which some people are trying to dodge it by being academic about it, saying there is nothing like true federalism. But of course, there is. When we have a federation, then we know we have one. But we have a system that is being run as a unitary system and pretending it is federal. It means we are not being truthful to ourselves.
Will a new president be able to make serious positive impact on Nigerians and Nigeria if the person inherits the current structure and constitution and against the background of the huge debt, festering insecurity and fault lines that have become so visible?
So many problems have been created, but yet the country can still be rescued, depending on who takes over. We should not write off Nigeria. Things are very bad, yes. But if we have the right person in place, he will know what to do. Leadership is what will determine the direction of the country. Once we get that right, we will be able to correct the ills of the past and be able to move forward. There is no problem in the country today that cannot be solved if we have the right leadership.
Political parties are the platforms to throw up candidates for leadership position who will eventually be recruited by Nigerians at elections. But these parties today are quaked by crises and people are pessimistic that the parties may not bring up credible and competent candidates in 2023.
Well, you are right to be worried. We are all worried, but at the same time, we have not given up hope. In the parties, I believe there are still some materials, some individuals who, if the system will allow them, will turn things around for the country. It is not everybody in those parties that are bad. It is not all of them that are bankrupt in terms of ideology, but the challenge is how such people will emerge. So, there could be a change of hearts by many people to now want to people who can do the job of putting them forward, rather than those who can just maneuver their way and usurp power as it was in the past. I believe it is doable. We should not give up hope. What is required is that all of us who are concerned must work to get people of the same ideological orientation to champion the cause of the people. With hardwork, we will get there.
Do you share the view of those who say the next president should not be an old man, someone in his 50s, at least?
They say the old generation has failed the country and it is high time we began to look for young people who can fix the country.
I believe in the younger generation. At the same time, I also believe and I see around members of the younger generation who are disaster in the areas they have had the opportunities to serve. That is why I think we should de-emphasize the issue of the older or the younger generation. Among the younger generation, we will have people with capacity, vision and the commitment; people who will not get there and be worst than those they succeed. There have been young people who have come across as glorified thugs in the positions they served in the past; young people who believe in violence as a means of getting to power. Those are not the type of youths that one could be proud of. We are talking about young people who are decent, have capacity, pedigree and have the requisite leadership qualities to govern. These are the people who can liberate us from the present position of poverty of ideas, vision, or action.
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