…says we must decide if we still want to be together’
…insists it’s time to revisit 1914 amalgamation
…blames sad state of nation on citizens who elect bad leaders
An accomplished academic, administrator, Professor Ango Abdullahi, is a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, in Zaria, as well as the convener of the Northern Elders Forum, (NEF). In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, he spoke on the state of the nation and the need to look at Amalgamation Decree of 1914 imposed by the British to unify the country. According to him, Nigerians need to decide wither or not to continue to live together. Excerpt:
As a respected voice in the country, could you please give us your appraisal of the state of the nation under the current Bola Ahmed Tinubu government?
Well, the state of the nation is very sad. That is the best way to describe it.
Will that be your appraisal of the government so far?
(Cuts in) We can spend the next few days or months’ talking about what is going wrong with regards to the numerous problems affecting the country. That is why I have given you the summary that the state of the nation is sad. You can search your conscience and then come up with your own conclusion with respect to what is going on in Nigeria.
Who do we as Nigerians now blame for the sorry state of the country?
(Cuts in) I blame all Nigerians and their leaders for this.
Where do you think we have gone wrong as a people sir?
Collectively, Nigerians are guilty for always electing wrong people and officials to lead them. They are not insisting that their leaders do what is right. They are not doing enough to hold their leaders whom they elect into office accountable.
Let’s now be more specific in our conversation and go back to the current government…
(Cuts in) President Bola Tinubu is my personal friend. He is only one year in office and Nigerians elected him to lead them. I don’t know what else to say other than there’s so much that is being complained about against his government by the same Nigerians who elected him a little over a year ago. They (Nigerians) say there is acute hunger in the country, there is poverty in the country and there is insecurity in the country. You are a journalist who daily records these complaints of Nigerians to the government. I feel that you feel the pulse of the nation and you should know but you can’t pin me down with issues relating to President Bola Tinubu. Like I said before, he had only been in office for just a year and the problems of hardship have not been going on for just a year but for a very long time before he came by those who have been in charge of the country before him. If you go back to the last 10 years, at least (former President Muhammadu) Buhari was largely in charge of the country.
If you have the opportunity of meeting your friend, President Tinubu, what are you going to tell him with regards to how to move the country forward?
What I will tell him is that there have been some complaints all over (the country) against his government by the people. He is the centre of it and he should make sure that those who are assisting him listen properly to these complaints about the government and report back to him honestly and sincerely. They should not just be telling him what they feel he needs to hear, they should tell him what really needs to be done to address the complaints of the people as soon as possible. The problem is that people who want to hang on to office whether as ministers, advisers and the likes are not willing to talk honestly to him. This is what we saw of (former President) Buhari who was trained and seen to be a good man but we saw what happened tragically under his watch where people were abusing their offices and he did nothing about it. I will advise my friend that what he should do is not only to listen to those close to him who are government officials but should also devise other ways to make sure that what they tell him is correct. He must ensure that they are reporting honestly and correctly to him. Wherever there’s breach of the law, he should punish any official who would have been found wanting. He must not have any reservations in punishing anyone who offends the law.
With the situation of things in the country, are you considering booking an appointment with him with a view to offering advice to him on the state of the nation?
(Laughs) We know ourselves very well, we’ve been friends for over 20 years or so. I’m sure that there are some people who are very close to him who speak to me from time to time and I usually let them know my honest position on the state of things. If they are reporting correctly, they should also be able to tell him how Ango Abdullahi feels about this and that with regards to government’s policies and programmes but I know that he would have picked some information with regards to my views on some issues within the country from them. Directly, may be, you might say that (information) is better sourced from the person’s mouth. To be honesty with you, I will not try to see him.
Recently, a senator from the North, Senator Ali Ndume, from Borno South made some comments that were not too well received by government and he was promptly relieved of his position as the Majority Whip by the leadership of the Senate. Are you saying that his position tallies with yours as they relate to the state of the nation?
He said so and we all saw what happened. The Senate President and some colleagues, including some senators from the Northern parts of the country rallied round and kicked him out of his seat. This is the kind of things we saw during the Buhari administration.
Are you saying that Senator Ndume was not well treated by his colleagues?
(Cuts in) Of course, he wasn’t. Is this what you call democracy? I’m supposed to say my mind as long as I haven’t offended the law in anyway. In his own case, he’s supposed to represent a constituency composed of human beings. He is supposed to be the representative of the people that he represents. That was his right and it was also his duty to say what he said and if he is punished for it, then there is something wrong with the government.
Nigerians are protesting against perceived hardship in the country, what’s your opinion about this?
(Cuts in) Hunger is real in Nigeria, not perceived. I know you are not hungry, you are well fed.
Do you think it is justified for people to protest the current state of the nation?
What does the Constitution say (about protest)? The Constitution gives Nigerians freedom of expression; it gives you freedom of association; freedom to be where you want to be, so long as you are not offending the law. So, the protest is intended to communicate to the authorities that certain thing are wrong. I talked to you about people in government not reporting to their principals some of the things that are going wrong in the country. Now, if they have failed to do so, the people have the right to come out and show that they are not happy about certain things. So, what’s wrong with that? Nothing is wrong with that, it’s about the best thing to do.
Are you satisfied with the response of government to the protest?
I haven’t followed what the government has been saying but I am aware generally that the government doesn’t want the protest to take place. And if the government doesn’t want the protest to take place, they (government officials) should know that they are also breaching the right of Nigerians to freely express themselves. What is critical that the government should do is to appeal to the people to be peaceful. There is nothing wrong with protest, it is part of democracy to show either anger or appreciation or resentment to whatever is affecting them.
You are a very powerful voice in the North, appraising the current government under the leadership of your very good friend, President Tinubu, would you say that his government has been fair to the North so far?
I don’t know if you have conducted a research along that line as a journalist, whether you have made the necessary comparison with other regions. I mean between what he has done in say, the South West where you are and the North where I am. To me, this is the only basis on which we can rate the government on this. If you haven’t done so, do so and then you can say that the ‘North has been treated this way or that way.’ You will have to give the details of what the North has benefitted from the current government after a year or so. I don’t think it is necessary to comment on whether the North has benefitted in anyway or not.
The President recently signed into law, a bill creating the North West Development Commission; how do you see that?
You know that there is a North East Development Commission that was created by the Buhari government. If for example, you can say that development commission has worked specifically for the people of the North East, do you think it would also work for the people of the North West? Maybe the people in the North West feel since it was established for the North East, they too will require one to help them to overcome certain challenges in their area but I don’t think this arrangement tends to serve the country well. That may not be the necessary way forward. If the NNPC has been with us for over 60 years, how much do you pay for a litre of petrol in Lagos? The question will now be, ‘are they working?’ You are also aware that Nigeria has crude oil, gas and everything that are supposed to be working and producing by- products for the country, rather some people are working not to make the refineries work in connivance with some other people, so that the country can import these products and cheat Nigerians. The thing that I saw is a concerted effort to stop a Nigerian from operating a private refinery. This is someone that has continued to receive worldwide acclaim. This is a man that has invested so much talents and resources to build the refinery and yet, the government is refusing to sell him crude oil in the same country, where he is a citizen.
How do you react to suggestion that Nigeria should revert to the 1963 Republican Constitution and practice Westminster Parliamentary system as well as going back to regional governmental structure?
Have you read about the Amalgamation Decree of 1914?
No sir.
This (the amalgamation) was done in Zungeru in 1914, where the British that conquered many parts of Nigeria, I mean places like the Lagos Colony, the Southern Protectorate and the Northern Protectorate was. The British enacted a decree in 1914 and that law was very specific when it stated; the contraption called Nigeria will expire after 100 years. They stated that within these 100 years, Nigerians must strive to build a country. If it fails to build a country, even a nation, that 100 years expired 10 years ago. Nigerians have strived to build a country within the last 100 years. We have a country for 64 years and all that the country could boast of is 3,000 megawatts of electricity which is not enough for a house in some countries, let alone for a town. We have not been able to build a country according to this edit. The British say if we fail after 100 years, we should go our separate ways.
What are you now suggesting sir?
I am suggesting that Nigerians should look at the document again and come to a conclusion whether they have done enough to be together or they have failed and take the appropriate steps that have been recommended.
What kind of advice would you give Nigerians on this issue?
I am asking that Nigerians should convene a conference on it. We are already late by 10 years. We have to look at ourselves and see whether we have strived enough to build a nation before and after Independence. My honest opinion at the moment is that, it has not and that is the need to bring the conference together. At this time, there is no need to be sentimental about it, we cannot really build a country the way it is now. If at the end, we could not achieve any form of consensus, then we should go our separate ways.
It seems you have now joined the call for the restructuring of the country?
We have been restructuring the country since 1960 till date. How many constitutional conferences have we held? I think till date, it’s been about four. We have been saying the same thing year in, year out. These hollow talks have not really been about building a country and that is why we have to go back to that decree. Really, we have to look if we have succeeded and where we have not, we will have to go our separate ways.
You were part of the former President Goodluck Jonathan government organised constitutional conference…
(Cuts in) I was not. I refused to attend.
People believe that the various recommendations of the conference are capable of addressing th numerous problems plaguing the country, do you think so?
It was a badly constituted conference. I discussed with the late Professor (Ben) Nwabueze and when we saw that the conference should hold, we refused to attend.
(New Telegraph)
