Reviewing the state of the nation since President Muhammadu Buhari came into power, eminent Niger-Delta leader and National President, Ndokwa Leaders Political Forum, Rear Admiral Mike Onah (retd), says beyond the anti-corruption war, there are many other areas in the national life in need of urgent attention. In this interview with KAYODE FASUA, Onah harps on the need to restructure the polity, to secure the future of Nigeria. Excerpts:
It has been 18 years of unbroken democracy in the country since the civilians returned to power in 1999. How do you see this development for our country and the growth of democracy?
It is a good omen for our democracy. Although there have been trials and challenges within the period, but we thank God that democracy has been enduring – what this shows is that we are maturing as a nation. Life is about give and take, nobody is perfect.
My belief is that as we march on in our journey of democracy, we should be tolerant of one another, both the government and those being governed. If we can tolerate one another, we will be able to avoid pitfalls of governance. God has also been on our side; if not for God, we had moments where democracy had been threatened but God has been kind to us to enable us weather those storms.
There is no system that is 100 per cent perfect, so also are human beings. Nobody is perfect. Only Almighty God is perfect. What this means is that we should strive to play the game according to the rules. Elected leaders should strive to serve diligently. Service is about giving your best to the people who repose confidence in you by electing you to serve them; unfortunately, some of our political leaders are selfish and self-serving.
Such politicians should, however, remember that they were put in office to serve the people, and not to indulge in self-service. It is very unfortunate that some politicians have come to view public office as an avenue to amass ill-gotten wealth, rather than to serve people.
If Nigeria is to move forward and advance as a nation, we have to restructure. Restructuring is very important. We can’t continue the way we are going. True Federalism is the way out for us. What we have in Nigeria today is what I will call or describe as Federalism in theory, but Unitary System in practice
What’s your assessment of the about three years’ administration of President Muhammadu Buhari?
What people should remember is that before APC took over power, the country was already in bad shape, and Nigeria is a very big country with equally big problems; so people should be fair to the APC. You can’t blame the party for Nigeria’s problems. The party inherited a lot of problems, which I believe the Government has been trying its best to address, and this cannot be done overnight.
We Nigerians also have a large chunk of the blame for the present situation we find ourselves. We Nigerians are greedy and selfish. We don’t know how to manage ourselves. Corruption is the major problem facing us as a nation.
How would you assess the present government’s fight against corruption?
So far, so good, this government has been successful in the area of fighting corruption. Corruption has been put in check. I’m not saying that we have completely eliminated corruption, but, at least, it has been put in check.
Although some people might say how many people have been jailed for corruption, but the mere fact that these looters are being caught and exposed is a big disgrace. I believe that sooner than later, we will have people being sent to jail for corruption. You know this is a democratically elected government; so, due process must be followed, but I’m very sure that these looters will not be spared. Buhari has done well in this area of fighting corruption. He should be given his due in this regard. What Buhari is doing in fighting corruption and trying to restore financial sanity in our polity, no government has ever done that before.
Exposing looters is commendable. Like I said earlier, Nigeria is a very big country with big problems. My expectation from Buhari is that he should prioritise his programmes. He should not try to resolve many problems at the same time.
Which areas would you like him to give attention?
Power is the first area. Power is the key to many problems facing us in this country. If there is steady power supply, a lot of things that are dead or comatose will be revived. Industries that are almost dead will come back to life. Even small-scale businesses will bounce back to life; welders, hair-dressers, barbers and other small-scale business operators that constitute a large part of our population will have something doing. So for me, fixing the power sector should be given a top priority by the Buhari administration. As the saying goes, where there is a will, there will always be a way. Although past administrations before his own failed to fix the power sector, I believe strongly that Buhari can do it.
Is it not a big shame that with our population, estimated at about 170 millions, Nigeria, the acclaimed giant of Africa, can’t generate up to 4,000 megawatts of power supply? Whereas, South Africa, with a far lesser population is generating 40,000 megawatts of power supply. There are other examples of other countries with lesser population than Nigeria’s in Africa that are generating adequate power supply to meet the needs of their population. So, what is the problem with Nigeria? The problem in the power sector is an area Buhari must tackle with zeal and vigour, just like he is doing with corruption.
How about security?
Buhari should be commended in the area of security, especially for dealing with the Boko Haram insurgency, but there are other areas relating to security, which he must address quickly. Among others, you have cases of kidnapping, abduction, and armed robbery on the increase in some parts of the country. Kidnappers and cultists are on the rampage, and are having a field day in some parts of the country. You also have the Fulani herdsmen issue, which has become a source of national concern – Buhari must find ways to solve these Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on innocent people in their host communities. Something has to be done quickly to avert the herdsmen issue from snowballing into a bigger crisis capable of threatening the corporate existence of this country.
Restructuring has been a contentious object of discussion and debate in the recent time with some advocating for it and others kicking against it. What is your position?
If Nigeria is to move forward and advance as a nation, we have to restructure. Restructuring is very important. We can’t continue the way we are going. True Federalism is the way out for us. What we have in Nigeria today is what I will call or describe as Federalism in theory, but Unitary System in practice. This is why things are not working. The fears of those who are opposed to restructuring is that if Nigeria restructures, some states will not survive; but I want to tell you that such fears are unfounded.
Are you saying that their fears are not justified?
The bitter truth is that many states have become lazy, they have been comfortable with monthly allocation that they go to collect in Abuja every month, that they are no longer keen in exploiting natural resources available in their states for financial purpose.
From my studies at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies at Kuru, Jos, every state in Nigeria is blessed with natural resources to sustain herself. The problem with Nigerians is that we are lazy. People are comfortable with the monthly allocation got from crude oil sales. But do these Nigerians know that, one day, oil wells can dry up? Then, what do they fall back upon in order to get money to run their states? In fact, our overdependence on oil as a mono-product economy is very unfortunate. We should have been exploiting other natural resources in other parts of the country for financial gains.
Now, look at how many states are still in a mess now following a recent crash of oil price at the international market. As a result of the drop in oil revenue, many states can no longer meet their financial obligations. Many of them are owing civil servants and pensioners, whereas if there are other mineral resources that are being exploited apart from oil, when oil price crashed, we wouldn’t have been feeling its biting effects on the nation as we are experiencing it now.
What is your advice to those who have mixed feelings about restructuring?
We have enough mineral resources to sustain every state but it is unfortunate that Nigerians are lazy, they don’t want to carry out any research – free oil money has made them to become very lazy.
A lot of mineral resources are wasting away underground in several parts of the country, which we should have been exploiting, but because Nigerians believe that oil money is there for sharing, they have become very lazy to the extent of overlooking those other mineral resources, which can also be considered as goldmine.
Our overdependence on oil as our only source of revenue is not good. It is not a healthy development for our economy. We should return to agriculture. I used to remember with nostalgia those good olden days in the era of the First Republic and pre-independence era, when different regions of the country were renowned for cultivation of different agricultural products on a large scale. South West was known for cocoa and palm oil; Northern region for cultivating cotton and also famous for the groundnut pyramid in Kano; while the South East and South South were known for palm oil and rubber plantation.
Then Nigeria was making a lot of money from export of these agricultural products, but when crude oil was discovered on a large commercial scale, we abandoned cultivation of all these agricultural products for easy oil money. It is better for us to return to the roots. We need to diversify our economy. Diversification of our economy is one of the keys to solving the multifarious challenges facing us as a nation.
The presidential system of government, which we practise has been described as being expensive by some people, do you agree?
That’s very true. Let me quickly add that the type of government we now practise is also very expensive. Presidential system consumes a lot of money. A lot of money is spent on political appointees and other public office holders with little or no money kept for development.
Under the presidential system of government, you have duplication of offices both at the federal, state and local government levels, and you have thousands of political appointees, while other elected public officers collect jumbo pay. I don’t think presidential system is the best for us. We need to reduce cost of governance in the country.
Whatever step that will bring us peace is welcome. There is nothing bad in Buhari taking some portions from Jonathan’s Confab Report and even Obasanjo’s National Confab of 2005 of which I was a member. It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Buhari should set up a committee to look into the 2005 and 2014 confab reports
Some Nigerians have suggested that President Buhari should have a look at the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference organised by his predecessor, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, in finding solutions to the nation’s problems. What is your take on that?
Whatever step that will bring us peace is welcome. There is nothing bad in Buhari taking some portions from Jonathan’s Confab Report and even Obasanjo’s National Confab of 2005 of which I was a member. It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war. Buhari should set up a committee to look into the 2005 and 2014 confab reports and subsequently take portions or sections, which will help move Nigeria forward.
There is no time to waste. We can’t continue like this. We are sitting on a keg of gun powder, which can explode anytime. Let’s all come round the table and discuss in a harmonious way, how we can move this nation forward without bitterness and rancour. The time has come for Nigerians to jettison all forms of ethnic jingoism, unpatriotic acts and other things, which are inimical to the growth of Nigeria as a nation. We should see ourselves as Nigerians, and not from the ethnic angle of where each person comes from. That is how they do it in America. Whether you are from Texas, Chicago, Nevada, Hawaii, Indianapolis, it doesn’t matter; you are an American, and that is why America is a great country today. We should also aspire to make Nigeria great.
