Restructuring Nigeria cannot be possible, unless… —Babalola

Senator Andrew Gbenga Babalola represented Oyo North Senatorial District in the Senate between 2007 and 2011. He speaks with MOSES ALAO on the agitation for restructuring and efforts to rebuild the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the national and state levels. Excerpts:

 

For quite some time, the call for the restructuring of Nigeria has dominated political discourses, with views divided on the components and methods needed to restructure the country. You were a member of the 6th Session of the National of Assembly, which did not witness this kind of agitations. What is your take?

I think the agitations have been merely shop talks without any action. I am saying this because everyone has been talking about restructuring but what have they done with the 1999 Constitution, which gives the National Assembly all the powers it has today. You cannot restructure Nigeria as it is today with the structure of the National Assembly in place. Something has to give way. In every attempt at transformation from third world country to second world country, there have been leaders who stood their grounds and achieved certain things irrespective of what the constitution says, because at times, if we continue to look up to the constitution, it cannot help us. The clamour for restructuring is like a clamour against the 1999 constitution and the National Assembly is not a position to do anything that can change Nigeria structurally the way Nigerians want. Why? Because today, National Assembly members are the major beneficiaries of the constitution. I was once a beneficiary. You cannot ask someone who is benefitting from something to change it; it is like asking a governor to remove himself. It is not possible. What I expected President Muhammadu Buhari to do when he came in and it is still not too late; he should have declared a state of emergency and bring back the military option is attending to some issues. For instance, until we have a situation where the National Assembly is closed down, all these agitations for restructuring, return to 1963 constitution or regional cannot achieve anything. But people talk as if everyone is ignorant of the situation on the ground. Even those agitating for restructuring, they don’t even know who their enemy is. And that is a major problem of the Nigerian public, they often do not know who their enemy is.

 

Are you saying that the National Assembly is Nigerians’ enemy?

No. I have not said that the National Assembly is an enemy of Nigeria but the 1999 is. How can we get rid of it is what those calling for restructuring should be thinking of and not just engaging in talk shops.

 

You think we should get rid of the 1999 constitution before Nigeria can be restructured?

That is the major restructuring that is needed; there has to be a new constitution.

 

But some have advocated a return to the 1963 constitution…

Whether you want to return to the Republican Constitution; whether you want to have a three-region state or whatever, it can only be done when we get rid of the military constitution, which we call the 1999 constitution.

 

Are you saying that until a state of emergency is declared and the National Assembly is closed down, we cannot have a truly restructured Nigeria?

Of course. How do you restructure Nigeria? Tell me. Okay, you want to return to regionalism or you want to go back to the 1960 or 1963 constitution, what do you do first? You have to disband the National Assembly.

 

But there have been efforts by the National Assembly to review the 1999 constitution…

I have been part of the National Assembly; the reviews being done every time are just shop talk reviews and not serious reviews. We are always reviewing Electoral Act, Electoral Laws and one or two things that have to do with elections. But the major issue here has to do with the structure of the nation and its governance. The 1999 constitution gave us a military structure, which can no longer endure in a civilian setting. We have seen the system and the flaws it has. Everywhere in the whole world, the local government is the root of development. In Nigeria today, if you need electricity pole in your local government, you probably have to go to Abuja first. How does that work? The best international airport in the world today is probably the Atlanta International Airport and it is owned by a local government. But the military gave us a constitution that suited it and allowed our local governments and even state governments impotent; a system that does not encourage development no matter how much money you have. When all the money is located at the centre and it passes peanuts to the states and the local governments, where development should start from and thrive, only get money for salary, there is no way a country can develop. Anywhere in the world, the local government does not run the way it does in Nigeria. We have examples of many countries we can follow; we can take the American model or the German model. But I tell you, there is no model that can fit into the Nigerian constitution. That is why I am saying we have to do away with it.

 

Some people have actually pointed accusing fingers at the National Assembly over high cost of governance, calling for the abolition of a two-tier legislature in favour of unicameral legislature; are you saying that too cannot solve the problem?

How will you do it? Are you going to kill the people in the other chamber or ask them to resign? The only way to do that is to declare a state of emergency, make the necessary adjustments and bring about a new constitution that will allow the new idea. In any case, we are already in state of emergency economically and you can also see the level of tension; the whole country is almost at war. So, what need is a president that can declare a political state of emergency and stand his ground.

 

You don’t think President Buhari can do that?

He has not lived up to that billing.

 

Was there a particular billing for him?

When Nigerians voted for him; they thought he would be able to make radical changes. I also looked at his antecedents as a reformer who came at a point Nigeria needed help and did something. I thought that now that he has more powers and acceptability and has the constitution behind him as well as the masses, he would be able to carry out far-reaching reforms like the ones carried out in Malaysia and Ghana. They were not done by magic. When the man in Kuala Lumpur was carrying out the reforms, there were stories and criticisms from the United Nations, the United States, human rights organisations and so on but he knew what he wanted and didn’t relent until he achieved it. Today, he is a hero in world economy and developmental economy. Nigeria is a nation of so many people, cultures and ideas, so someone has to come and say this is what we want and stand his ground. He might not be popular at that time but posterity will vindicate him. No great decisions taken by leaders were popular at the point they were taken, but by the time they finish the execution, people will commend the decisions. That was what happened in Singapore. We have to close our eyes and do certain things in Nigeria too.

 

As a member of the PDP, you were with the Senator Ahmed Makarfi group during the party’s days in the wilderness of legal crisis. But now that the crisis has been settled by the court and there are ongoing realignments at different levels, especially in Oyo State, which group do you belong to now?

I belong to the PDP. There is only one PDP in Oyo State today; get that right. There is no alignment or realignment as you called it; all those alignments are dead and buried. We have only one leader in Oyo State PDP and that is Senator Rashidi Ladoja. He is the leader of the party today in Oyo State.

 

The national chairman of the PDP has been zoned to the South-West, don’t you think it would be difficult to pick one from the array of contenders?

When we have one or two that we know are good candidates, then it cannot be difficult to pick which one is best. As of today, to me, Chief Bode George is our best shot. That is my view and that does not mean other people cannot say who they want. What I can tell you is that all the candidates are standard, they are good and qualified. So, whoever eventually emerges will be sellable. We can’t have problem with whoever will emerge chairman, because there will be an election. What is important is that everybody has agreed that there is a need to rebuild this party, irrespective of where you are coming from. The creed is that you should forget about where you are coming from or what you want; yes, everyone has ambitions and ambitions are the reasons political parties exist, but everyone is in agreement that rebuilding the party is of more importance.

I can tell you that everyone in PDP has learnt their lessons in the last few years; we all know that we were the one that lost elections by ourselves and not that the opposition was strong enough to win. Either at the federal or Oyo State level, that is the general consensus.