Why Nigeria’s ‘begging bowl’ federalism can’t work —Olajide

The Senate’s approval of a fresh $27 billion loan for President Muhammadu Buhari caused rancour within its ranks, with the opposition senators saying that they were not carried along…

It is a pity that the National Assembly approved another $27 billion loan for President MuhammaduBuhari at this critical time. The benchmark for the 2020 budget is $57 per barrel. Currently, the oil price is hovering around $25 and there is some prediction that it might even go as low as $15. For a nation where about 85 per cent of revenue comes from crude oil, for a country that is currently spending 60-65 per cent of its revenue on servicing debts, this is unfortunate. We must mobilise to stop the executive from getting this $27 billion loan.

But, what do you do if the legislature is perceived as a rubber-stamp?

It must be a rubber stamp because I expected the legislature to note that this period is a dangerous time for taking any other loan and piling up debts. Nobody can predict what Nigeria’s economy will be in the next couple of months. Already, it is very bad.

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) plans to conduct a national conference to review revenue allocation in the country. How would you react to this?

It is absolutely unnecessary because as things stand in Nigeria, it is obvious and clear that this system of begging bowl federalism cannot work. We cannot continue to go to Abuja every month. You collect revenues from all the states, ports authority, NNPC, etc, then the states that generate the revenue will go with begging bowls every month to Abuja to be allocated pittance. Two, we have the Treasury Single Account obviously to eradicate or minimise corruption, but you collect money from university teaching hospitals and even research grants, I am told, goes into the TSA, and then these same universities and teaching hospitals that generate these funds will have to go back to Abuja to beg for funds, and then it will depend on the judgment of somebody there who might decide to allocate 50 per cent of that revenue to parts of Nigeria that did not even generate five per cent of it.

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Interestingly this is the subject of a dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which is currently embarking on a warning strike.

Yes, I agree with ASUU. It should be clear to all right-thinking Nigerian patriots that this system is unsustainable. We are taking two steps forward and ten steps backwards.

So, what is the solution to the revenue question?

The National Assembly must be alive to its responsibilities. We must find a way of enthroning true federalism in this country where federating units will be empowered to generate their resources, explore and exploit the resources, and then pay royalty to the centre. Then, you unburden the responsibilities that you have given to the centre that do not concern it.

Are you suggesting that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) adopt the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference?

Absolutely. We have enough papers gathering dust on the shelves in Aso Rock, because of the lack of political will on the part of the leadership elite, not only the presidency: the political leadership elite, presidency, national legislature, state executives, state legislatures. In my humble opinion, there is a conspiracy among the leaderships of both sides of the political divide to impoverish Nigerians. They are not thinking about the ordinary Nigerian.

Let’s talk about Amotekun. All the governors of the six states have signed the bills into law. What are your expectations as Amotekun goes into operation?

I’m excited that they (governors) have signed the bills into law. Amotekun recruits and their senior officers must be of South-West zone descent. Nobody from other parts of this country should be recruited into Amotekun. The reason for Amotekun is because we want people who know our environment, our landscape, our culture, our language and our people to protect us. Therefore, the authorities must investigate anybody to be recruited into the outfit, ensure that he is a bonafide citizen of the South-West and is not a criminal and has not been a criminal previously. There must be people to stand for them (Amotekun recruits) as guarantors. If you put criminals into the organisation, it will turn into another Nigeria Police Force. Again, every recruit must have his name and city number pasted on his chest for the public to see. Then, the public must know the hierarchical structure, the organogram of the organisation, so we know who to report to in the event that any of the officers breaches the rules. We don’t want to have another terror machine in the South-West. There is no human organisation that is perfect and along the lines we will begin to correct whatever lapses that we notice. But we must go into operation, if possible, from yesterday.

But the Amotekun bill in Lagos actually allows non-indigenes who have lived in the South-West for up to 20 years and who speak Yoruba fluently to be recruited into the corps?

I’m not comfortable with it. That is playing to the gallery. There are Nigerians who have spent 40 to 50 years in Europe and America who still come to build their homes and settle their children here. The loyalty of 99 per cent of Nigerians at this time is, first and foremost, to their ethnic origins. And then I must comment about a recent event during the memorial lecture of Dr. Fredrick Fasheun. I’m happy that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has made a 360-degree turn on restructuring. I worked closely with Chief Obasanjo and I do not believe that there is any Nigerian nationalist as committed to Nigeria as Chief Obasanjo. Each time I talked about restructuring while he was president, he would shout me down. On the only occasion when the late Justice Adewale Thompson went to Abuja (I took him to the Villa), the first comment of Obasanjo to Justice Thompson was that: ‘The difference between your son Kunle and myself is that Kunle is a Yoruba Nigerian and I am a Nigerian Yoruba.” And Justice Thompson said: “Kunle is the person who is right. You are wrong.’ So, I am excited that our revered elder has come to realise that we are yet to build a nation out of this country.

On the issue of Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s dethronement, an aide of Governor AbdullahiGanduje said no government could tolerate his criticisms. Sanusi was previously accused of financial improprieties, just like he was accused while he was the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor. Still the dethronement has been very controversial. How do you see it?

Accusation is not guilt, except you prove it in a competent court of law. I’m not aware that any competent court of law has indicted Sanusi for any offence. That’s number one. Number two, the Sanusi drama is a manifestation of the fact that in Nigeria the political leadership elite is averse to the truth. In Yorubaland, we say “ayekooto” (the world abhors the truth), whereas truth suppressed will rise again. For me, it is a pity. What you have in Nigeria is majority of the worst ruling over the majority of the best. Otherwise, any state should be proud to have the likes of Sanusi as an emir. You need to listen to him speak. The level of his intellectual depth is high. Speaking the truth to power requires a lot of courage. He is somebody I would love to have in my state if I were a governor. Then I would know that I would not derail. Nigeria is like a human being walking on his head. With the type of constitution and leadership recruitment process that we have, we will continue to produce mostly charlatans.

All zones now have development commissions but the proposed South-West Development Commission has divided senators. What is your assessment of the situation?

As far as I am concerned, you create development commissions in zones that are bedeviled with major crises, because they will be required, first, to assist the crisis-ridden zone and then to serve as a body to attract foreign aids and so on. This is to take away extra burdens from the governments of the affected states. All of us are complaining that recurrent expenditure of the Federal Government is about 80 per cent of the national revenue. That is unsustainable: you have very little to give to capital projects in a country as big as Nigeria. Then, you continue to multiply agencies and commissions that you are unable to fund. So why do you increase bureaucracy when we are saying that the government should shed weight? Recurrent expenditure should not exceed 40 per cent of the national revenue. So, for me, the multiplicity of zonal development commissions negates the idea that the Federal Government must shed weight.

How would you react to a labour lender, Comrade Isa Aremu’s statement on ethnic organisations?

I know Isa Aremu very well. We were both at the 2014 National Conference. I think he was playing to the gallery. It is a fallacy that Nigerians have moved beyond ethnic organisations. The various ethnic groups that make up Nigeria must first of all define what they want from Nigeria and then work collectively with others to have the Nigeria of their dreams. This is why some of us are shouting that we don’t need constitutional amendment. We need a people’s constitution. The National Assembly is meant to amend people’s constitution, not military constitution.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE