In this interview with KUNLE ODEREMI, the secretary general of the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr Kunle Olajide says Nigeria is hanging on the cliffhanger due to insecurity, faulty federal arrangement, rising restive youths and insensitivity of those in power.
In spite of the frightening state of the situation in the country, pervasive hunger, and general insecurity of lives and property, politicians are busy plotting for a general election that is about one and half years away. Is that the way it should be?
No, definitely not. Last week, I received some visitors. They were with me for more than two hours or so; they were concerned about the instability in the country and the challenges. I told them quite frankly that the issue of the 2023 elections does not even arise now. The country is at the fringes and for me; the bane of our problems is the 1999 Constitution. The first statement of the constitution states: we, the people of Nigeria. We never participated in the writing of the document. I told them in clear language that Nigeria is made of many different nations and people with different history, culture, ideas and beliefs. And as such, the basis of our union in 1953, 1954 and 1959 was that each major tribe at that time would explore and exploit its resources, deploy them according to the priority of its people and pay royalty to the centre for the maintenance of few essential services.
This came because the constitution we were operating then only had 16 items on the Exclusive Legislative list for the federal government in Lagos. The remaining items were completely residual: the responsibility of the federating units; the initially three regions that ultimately became four. And that was why development was at various stages. Moreover, in 1959 at a conference in the Lancaster house in the United Kingdom, Ahmadu Bello walked out, because he was not interested in togetherness as he was going to run its affairs. Obafemi Awolowo followed him and persuaded him to come back; that each region would run its affairs according to its priorities.
But what do we have now? The 1999 constitution has lumped us together and is standing the country on its head. What do I mean by that? The people of Nigeria reside in the local government within the states. But power in Nigeria resides in Abuja. That’s a paradox. Power must reside where the people of the country reside and what you expect of Abuja or the Federal Government to be concerned with maybe foreign affairs, customs duty, standardisation of education as agreed upon. How can you give the Federal Government agriculture when it has no land because the constitution we are operating says the land belongs to the state? How can the Federal Government own the mineral resources when it does not own the land? It is those who own the land that should own the mineral resources. You can see a lot of paradoxes. So as far as we are concerned in the South-West, a new constitution is very imperative.
Members of that team must have made certain promises during your meeting with them based on your intervention and submission on the state of affairs in the country?
We agreed that we should set up a joint committee to look at challenges facing the country and the way forward. In the course of the discussion, those who rule this country have not done well. What we have been doing is taking two steps forward and ten steps backward and that is why in 2017, we declared the poverty capital of the whole world. It is a shame, especially when you look at it vis-à-vis the natural blessings of this country. There is no part of the country that does not have resources whatsoever. What the 1999 Constitution has drawn the country backward is the fact that it has marginalised at least 85 percent of the political leadership of Nigeria, not the masses.
The late Alhaji Lateef Jakande was the editor of the Nigerian Tribune and he became the governor of Lagos State. Can you name an editor that has the resources to contest for the governor of Lagos State under the 1999 Constitution? The answer is no! Chief Michael Adekunle Ajasin was the principal of Imade College Owo, Ondo State. He represented a constituency in Ondo State in the parliament and then, he became governor of the state. Tell me any principal of a school that can even contest for the chairmanship of a local government? The 1999 constitution has completely monetised the political system. It has changed politics from what it is, which is essentially service to the people. It has changed it to a commercial investment. In other words, you go and invest heavily to be able to make multiples of your investments as profit. And this is why Nigerians are not getting anything commensurate with the resources of the country.
Many other prominent citizens have also raised concerns over the frenzy among the political class ahead of the 2023 election, with the leading political parties already battling conflict due to intense politicking?
Of course, they are enjoying it. You have less than 10, 000 Nigerians enjoying the resources of the country: more than 400 of them in the National Assembly; state Houses of Assembly members, commissioners, special assistants, and so on. They are less than 10, 000. So, they would want to preserve the status quo to give us some droppings from the table to use those droppings to assuage us. For our own generation, there is little to struggle for. But what about our children and grandchildren? The future of the Nigerian youths now appear very bleak and hopeless and that is why the youths are agitating for self-determination all over the country, especially in the South-West , South-East and the South-South, because they believe their future is bleak and that perhaps, it would be better off if they are in their own separate nations.
They have pointed accusing fingers at us, our generation, that we have been talking about restructuring for over 35 of 40 years and nobody is heeding it. This is why they rose up and said no; we existed before Nigeria; Nigerians were in the territory called Nigeria before the British came in 1914 to amalgamate us. We have existed for centuries and we survived. So, this is the agitation. But for us, the elders, to be able to quell the self-determination agitation, we must be able to offer them something that guarantees a safe future for them by saying we are going to write a new constitution.
If you want to be president, you have to campaign all over Nigeria, so you must compromise, because you would have to appeal to well-to-do Nigerians to make their private jets available to you and at no cost to you. The first Prime Minister of Nigeria, Sir Tafawa Balewa contested only in Bauchi constituency and he became the Prime Minister of Nigeria from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sahara Desert. Awolowo contested election only in Remo constituency, where he was well-known, so he didn’t need to steal anybody’s money. He did not require godfathers as his people knew him well; they elected him to the regional state Assembly and the fellow members of his party, who knew him, appointed him as their leader. So, he was invited by the governor to form a government and he became the premier. Can’t we have that again or a little bit modified?
This is because to become a governor now, you must adore a godfather to give you billions of naira. And as soon as you get into office, your first duty is to repay your godfathers and then you recoup yourself to prepare for your second term in office. Where do the people come from? This system does not factor in the people; it has excluded them, giving them droplets. We have been on the Lagos-Ibadan highway for more than 21 years. How has it gone? So, if you talk about elections vis-a-vis PDP and the APC, I don’t see any difference between the two parties. The difference is about six and a half dozen. I have said it umpteenth time you can get home and your wife asks you which party are we still in, because you could be APC in the morning and PDP in the evening. We have seen governors elected on the platform of APGA waking up one morning and saying we are now APC. PDP in Cross River State woke up one morning and said it was now APC. So, there is no difference; what they are trying to do is to preserve themselves and the status quo that would ensure that they continue to give us droplets, while the country continues to go backward.
The Federal Government has revived the issue of grazing routes/reserves, with Buhari giving a committee the mandate to prepare ground for the outdated style of cattle rearing, what is your take on this?
There is nothing like that as far as I am concerned. I listened to the president say so; it doesn’t matter. It will not exist in the South-West. I can give you my words for it. There are no grazing routes here and there cannot be. The Federal Government does not own our land. The South-West people own their land and they say no to open grazing in the 21st century and at a time, the Nigeria Governors Forum has made a pronouncement on the issue that open grazing is obsolete. There are more than enough lands in northern states to set up cattle ranching. Why must we be going backward? In the South-West, I can assure you that there are no lands for open grazing. And fortunately, our governors have legislated against open grazing. In fact, no group of Nigerians is conquered. I believe we can still savage the country.
The Federal Government says it is imperative to have the grazing reserves to end the endemic security challenges ravaging the country?
No, as far as we are concerned, it is the responsibility of any government, federal and state, to protect the lives and property of the citizens. That is what section 14(b) of the constitution says. The Federal Government cannot encroach on our land. There is no law in Nigeria that says any government can take over my property and say it wants to use it for open grazing. Is that the only solution to insecurity? Whoever wants to rear cattle should go and set up ranches even in the South. There are Yoruba who are interested in rearing cattle and who rear cattle. They should buy land from state governments, comply with the rules and laws and set up ranches. You can’t be destroying people’s farms and killing people. No, that is not acceptable. So, I was surprised when I read in the papers that the government said they should go and reopen grazing routes. But I know that in the South-West, as far as I am concerned, there is no land for open grazing. The relevant laws against opening grazing subsist.
But in spite of that, there are consistent reports about violence and killings being linked to open grazing in parts of the country, including the South?
Yes, that is why we call on our governors to rise up to the occasion. They need to take a number of other proactive actions. One, I don’t know of any state that has responded and equipped Amotekun enough, because of the situation we are in. We hailed them when they set up the security outfit in the South-West. Secondly, there are hundreds and thousands of South-West youths roaming the streets for jobs. They can be employed and equipped with special motorcycles and security gadgets to man our forests and have interconnectivity with Amotekun and so on.
The first law of nature is self-preservation and protection. So, we cannot say we depend on somebody in Abuja for security. So, that is what I’m saying that the country is standing on its head. You give all the powers to Abuja, whereas the people reside in the state and local government. The man in Abuja wakes up in a very opulent and luxuriant environment and spews out whatever addresses his fancy, but you, who live with the people, know the challenges you are facing. So, it is the duty of our governors now to rise up in unison, prepare, fund and adequately equip and staff Amotekun. You do it gradually. There is an economic crisis in the land, but you have set your priorities, because when you set up schools and the people are killed, who goes to the schools? Preservation of lives comes before construction of roads, building whatever you can think of. You must be alive first before you can enjoy what you say you are spending money on.
I am sure you would be concerned about the ongoing face-off between the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) and the Federal Government, which has led to another round of strike action, with no end in sight now. As a renowned medical practitioner, what do you think is the way out?
I want to comment on President Buhari for his intervention in the strike embarked upon by the doctors, because the Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige in my judgment, was far too arrogant the way he has been addressing the issue. Though a junior professional colleague of mine, I was shocked watching him on television talking as if he owns the country and not all of us own it. ‘Yes, we have given them this; we have given them that.’ Who are you? It is we; we are talking about Nigerian resources that have not been sufficiently given to these young men and women, some of them, not paid for over six months or so. If a doctor himself is hungry, how do you expect to have the best from him? If a doctor is not happy, how do you expect him to give the best in managing a patient? And you can imagine a medical doctor talking so arrogantly saying ‘I have taken them to the Industrial Court; it’s no work, no pay.’ So, I commend Mr President for dropping all these technicalities and directing that they should go back to the negotiating table.
The authorities should be blamed for the strike by the doctors. The African Union AU) decided that not less than 15 percent of the annual budget of every member country should be allocated to the health sector. In the current year, Nigeria is committing mere five percent. It cannot work. The priorities are wrong. We are taking care of ministers, senators and so on, while ignoring those who look after the health services. When you sign a memorandum, for God’s sake, you must set up a committee to monitor the implementation. You don’t go back to sleep until another strike comes up. You must demonstrate the political will and avoid giving the impression that nobody is in charge, particularly when you listen to the Minister of labour speaking with so much authority and audacity as if it is his money he was dispensing.
I also commend the president for the reappointment of Professor Ishaq Oloyede as JAMB helmsman. I have seen people perform well in the last 20 years and they remove them and put less competent individuals, either for ethnic reasons or whatever. Oloyede made a world of a difference in the organisation. Apart from the culture of transparency he introduced into JAMB, he brought about many innovations to raise the bar in the standard of our examinations. So, we must commend the government when they do things that are in the interest of the country. Education is key in the life of any nation.
There is an ongoing effort to amend the constitution?
This is the Fifth Amendment process since this political dispensation in 1999. So, it has become a money-making venture for members of the ad-hoc committees. The exercise gulps huge public funds all the time. You can’t keep panel-beating a terrible accident vehicle like the 1999 constitution, especially when what we are talking about affects human beings. A constitution is the foundation of any country. The Nigerian constitution affects the affairs of more than 200 million people with not less than 400 ethnic groups. I remember stating the fact that the North is more heterogeneous than the South; a lot of people are not aware of it. You can drive about 50km where the people don’t even understand their language, whereas it is not so in the South, especially in the South-West. So, you cannot just merge and compel them.
I believe that a new constitution cannot take us more than three to six months to be put in place if somebody is sincere in making sure he leaves a legacy. I was excited when I saw the headline in national dailies where President Muhammadu Buhari said he does not want to leave the office a failure. The only way not to leave office is to initiate the process of an acceptable new constitution for Nigeria. And the process is simple: send a bill to the National Assembly; impute referendum into the bill, and then ask for an enactment for a Constituent Assembly Commission to be charged with the responsibility of writing a new constitution.
The issue of referendums is important, because once that constitution writing committee finishes their job; whatever they come up with should be given to the people through the conduct of a referendum, and not to the National Assembly. Once the enactment is carried out, the president will appoint people into the commission. It is the commission that will sit for about a month to decide which constituency they want to use for elected membership to the Assembly. Once they do that, they set a date for elections and interest groups to send representatives to the Constituent Assembly. There are a lot of reports gathering dust in the Villa. You have the 2014 national conference report, the Abacha constitutional conference report; the Obasanjo constitutional conference report, and so on. They are there. They will look at all these and debate for about a month or so about what their people want and then come out with a report. The National Assembly is a product of the fraudulent 1999 constitution.
For example, as I said earlier, people reside in the state and local government, but the power is in Abuja. What are about 400 people doing in the National Assembly? Today, you have about 65 items in the Exclusive Legislative list. What for? We should not have more than 10 or 15. So, we do not need more than a uni-camera legislature at the centre. We must do this fundamental thing, so that the Nigerian people residing in the states and Local Governments Areas can now reap the benefit of the resources of where they are. Can you imagine the current situation, where you collect value added tax, customs duty and so on from Lagos or all over Nigeria; petroleum funds from the Niger Delta and you take them all to Abuja. The respective governors will then go cap in hand every month to kneel down before an overlord, who now decides I will give you this, that. Look at the Treasury Single Account. All the fund realised from UCH, OAUTH, etc are paid into Abuja and when they want to spend money in the various institutions, they have to go cap-in-hand to kneel down before their overlord in Abuja, who sits and allots the money to people, who did not even have any input into the money, while those that made inputs will beg for it. It is standing justice on its head.
The prices of food items have gone up across the country, with the ordinary man finding it extremely difficult to survive. What immediate action needs to be taken by the authorities to bring succour to millions of Nigerians facing near starvation now?
It is not the ordinary man alone. There is hyperinflation in the country. The rate of inflation is approaching 20 percent. Then, the Naira has depreciated by more than a hundred percent. So, the purchasing power of our currency has almost vanished. Therefore, everybody is affected, except, perhaps, those who have access to the treasury of the government. The majority of the citizens don’t have access to any treasury. I am a medical practitioner. I know people do not have money to go to the hospital when they are sick. They cannot afford it. Everybody is affected by the choking state of inflation and deteriorating economic problems and challenges. But these are the ways to resuscitate the political system.
I recall that it was the Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that went before one of the National Assembly committees to tell them frankly that the Parliament, made up of just 400 people, was gulping 25 percent of the recurrent expenditure. The situation remains the same. So, our leadership is much more interested in self-preservation than to serve the country and restore confidence and happiness among the citizens. The youths are already rising up; that is what brought up the likes of Sunday Adeyemo, otherwise called Sunday Igboho. His uncle, a Ph.D holder and agriculturist that employed hundreds of people and invest so much into agriculture, was killed. And that is what is bringing up all the agitations, because they believe that our own generation, in their own opinion, has failed, whereas we are doing our best. But we just felt that Nigeria, perhaps can be salvaged if our leadership is sensitive, sensible and good enough. For example, I cannot see anybody coming to the South-West to campaign for presidency or governor in 2023.
In spite of the ongoing crisscrossing by politicians to prepare ground for the next general election, there are reports of defections, plan for congresses, convention and realignment of forces within and outside the parties?
Has anybody openly come out to declare any ambition? It is the media that has been abuzz with such speculations. I am yet to see anybody from Yorubaland say that he wants to contest for presidency. Look at the Igboho crowd within six months. They could not have been given those thousands of youths following him. Where would he have got the money from in virtually all the states in the South-West; it is because of frustration; the youths are frustrated and they form about 70 percent of the population, if we want to be realistic. So until we change the current political system to make elected people fully and truly responsible to those who elected them, the problem of hunger, poverty and deprivation among the people will continue. It will not take a longer time to tackle and resolve it squarely if we have a new constitution. It is achievable and doable in six months if the political will and sincerity of purpose is there. It is all about people willing and ready to make the necessary sacrifice to make things work again. I heard the president made a statement on the problem of hunger ravaging the people. He cannot go beyond that (pronouncement). This idea of distributing N20, 000 to women cannot tackle the core issues on ground. To me, it is aggravating poverty.
Whatever they call the scheme is bringing poverty to the fore. We are importing food in a country that has so much fertile land, because those who are in charge of power are too far away from us. I have not seen the member representing my constituency in the House of Representatives at my level since he was elected. You can now imagine if I said I have not seen her in two and half years, how much more of the common man? They are very far from the people; they just gather some youths, compromise them with small amounts of money during elections and sometimes buy motorcycles for them; that’s all. They do not want to have access to us, because we would ask questions about their stewardship, especially concerning the welfare of the people. I have not seen the senator representing my area at my level.
There has been a mixture of applause and reservations on the coming of the Petroleum Industry Act. What do you envisage now and in the future in terms of impact of the law in the oil-producing areas in particular? What kind of transformation do you foresee across the country?
We thank God for the PIA. But the PIA, as far as I am concerned, looks for more resources that would accrue to Nigeria, not exactly the resources that would accrue to those whose land and water has been destroyed. Just three percent allocation was set aside for the host oil communities? It is very unfair; it cannot be justified. The health of the people is also being destroyed due to oil exploration and exploitation in the region, because we don’t seem to talk about that. There is cumulative damage to the health of the people. The three percent allocation amounts to exploitation. At least, it is one step forward; there is room for amendments.
And the current effort to amend the Electoral Act 2010 has equally triggered controversy, because of the ambivalence of the Senate on e-transmission of election results?
I’m surprised that you can have a National Assembly in the 21st century that would not make electronic transmission of results the order of the day. There can be no excuse whatsoever for it other than you want to manipulate the votes. There is virtually no part of Nigeria today where you do not have telephone connectivity. So, what is the problem?
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