.. Say’s elections were based on merit, there were justice in court system before…How Obasanjo destroy country’s party political history…The only way out…
An Elder stateman and former Adviser to President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Liaison, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, in an extensive exclusive interview on the 60th Independence day of Nigeria recounted vast experience down the memory lane.
A founding member of defunct NEPU, Yakasai expressed his dispositions on a number of serious national issues among others including the need for collapsing the current 36 states in the six geopolitical zones to curtail unccessesary expenditure and reduces burden on public fund meant for development. He also identified three key factors allegedly destroying Nigeria system and hindering it from achieving its potential as a great Nation it ought to have been. Our Correspondent, Udeh Gabriel, who conducted the interview, reported. Excerpts:
Q. Your rating for Nigeria at 60, are we up or down, worth jubilation or not?
There’s need for Nigeria to jubilation for the fact that God has made it possible for the people to survive for 60 years as independence nation despite some hitches here and there. So is a source of expression of gratitude to God almighty who made it possible for the creation of Nigeria through British colonial system. He created it as a biggest black African concentrated country in the world, with a very large territory with mineral resources deposit, given by God and with a very large ppopulation. Two things make a nation worldwide – territory and population. Once God has given you that, He has give you everything. Its up to you to work hard and realize the potential contained in your Nation. So if we work hard we’ll solve our problems. People of every nation has problem. The citizens work hard to overcome the problems. In particular, Nigeria has different endowment: North has large vast of land that can feed the Nation for many years to come, the Soutth has big ports and agile people as an advantage to complement one another. Everyday every section of the country are benefiting from each other, all sort of minerals and other deposit given by God.So we complement one another. If we’re not together we’ll not be important. During Jonathan, when big countries of the world, about 20 or 19 of them were meeting, they didn’t invite any other country except Nigeria because of our population. And that’s the potential that we’re going to be a great nation in the future, that is why they invited us so that we should be involved in all the decisions that was going to be taken for the future. We don’t see the giant of God in us but others sees.We started very well in terms of development. From independence to 1966, we have done very well, particularly within the level of resources and revenue based of the country.In terms of achievements, East was far better than the West. Every region was doing its own best. People talk of free education in the west. But in terms of acheivements, East achieved far more than the West. People fro’m the West are seperating that it’s their region the first television station was built in Nigeria. I don’t share that sentiment because television does not put food on their table. But education will make you a better person. Thank God too, that the West was trying because of the free education policy of Action Group (AG), they are now far ahead of every region in terms of education. All the biggest ports, imports or exports in Nigeria pass through their area and they get 13% revenue being generated through seaport and airport. But if there’s no Nigeria of over 200 million people they’ll not get that 13%. So we did our best during the first republic.
But unfortunately, this intervention from 1966, military rule, destroyed all the effort that we started. For instance, at the time of Independence, you go to Lagos or P/H from Kano today, and by tomorrow your there by rail but now u can’t do that. We destroyed the whole thing. I used to leave Kano 12oclock and by 5pm next-day in Lagos, the same thing with people going to P/Harcourt, but now is not possible. And look at the road network in Nigeria that we’re able to develop when the british colonial authorities left for 60yrs. Now look at achievements in Nigeria for 60yrs after the British. They are so many. Multiple times of achievements. Interms of education – through out the British rule in Nigeria, they only gave us University college lbadam. Not a full fledge University. A college of a university in London. Nigerians who went to the university college were not given lbadam University college certificate when they graduate, but of British university graduate. Today in Nigeria we have over 200 university within 60yrs period, is a big achievements. Even the Nigeria airways, in 1966, has one aircrafts each to different countries. But is surprising that today we don’t have airline of Nigeria which has one single aircraft each. We don’t have because of military incursion into politics that destroyed them. Also because of politics of money driven election and so on which is the creation of military rule. Now you don’t win election on merit but on how much you can spend. And if you have to look for big money to win election, if got elected, you look for way of recouping your money and making profits. Politics has destroyed itself and it has destroyed business and professionalism because everybody now want to be in politicans. Before then people go into business and make money. And the more money they made the more they put into their business. And the more capital they have the more the profits. The tendency now in the business in Nigeria is that people make money to go into contract and make the money from governoment to destroyed politics. Before, people are elected on the basis of merit – Awolowo, Zik were elected on their merit and Tafawa Balewa, Sardauna, all of them. They didn’t spend money because People believed in them and their commitment. But today no body. Even when people are talking of Tinubu, what’s working in their mind is that he is the only person who has the necessary funds to afford to contest presidential election and win, same thing with Atiku. Nobody will think of anybody because of his ideas but everybody will be thinking of people with money who can contest election and win. The same thing with people who are looking for LG councillor, Chairman of LG, state assembly, house of reps, Senate or Governor. They all think of your money and how much you can command to win election, not what ideas you have to better the lot of the country. This is our misfortune. Is like leaders now, unlike the leaders we had in past like Aminu Kano, JS Taka, Awolowo, alot of them that we had in Nigeria.
What I’m saying is that if we had continue with that tri-jetory, everybody in Nigeria, would have been higher by now. But if we compare Nigeria with South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaisia, even Singapore, Nigeria is nowhere near these countries, why because of those intervention that destroyed politics of ideology and created politics of money power. There three things we must do, a time will come, if we don’t do it now, one-day we’ll do, is: The change in the political parties history. Our political Party history was destroyed the day Obasanjo as President, declared himself as leader of his party PDP. A position that was not incorporated into the constitution of the party. He created it, and at that time there’s nobody that can become anything in the federal government except through the consent of Obasanjo. You cannot be a Chairman, and nobody. Three consecutive times that Obasanjo removed the national working Committee of PDP including the national Chairman and national Secretary and appointed people of his own.
And he appointed also a designated Governors as party leaders in their respective States. So 37 of them decided the faith of Nigeria. You cannot be a massenger in your political party at the national level if the president is not happy with you, including the states, if Governors are not happy with you. And this is what’s happening now. So a day will come when we shall do away with this, and go back to the original idea of Action Group, NCNC, NEPU, NPC, whereby parties are owned by their members not by premier, prime minister. Prime Minister was an equal member and sat among the people in the party. And in those days we had better elections. people tend to respect themselves of elections. In those days, not now anymore. Election is nothing in Nigeria now. Is vandalised. Is the winner takes all. Is money that decides who get elected. Number three, we use to enjoy justice in our court. Today a clever person we look for money, go for contract to make alot of money and wait for election to come and decide how much money he has to spend to make him win, which election, if it’s the presidential election or governortorial, Senatorial, reps, state assembly, LG chairman or councillor. The size of your porket determine which political office that you aspires to vie and you use your money for that office. But when you go for elections, as innocent popular candidate make out possible times as you are. Your elected by the people but they’ll then change the election. Election Commission will manipulate the system, and the person who gave them money gets the result. Even where they managed to conduct free and fair election and you got elected, a clever person with money will go to court and court will take away the mandate given to you and give it to him because of his money.
This three things destroyed the country. And untill we come back and put them right, by ensuring that political party are control by its members, good, credible and fowl free election, Justice without money. These three things, until we get them right, well continue to destroy our system.
Insecurity may divided us in 2023 according to some people. Only lazy people who didn’t look deep to see what’s the cause of the problem. If we divide Nigeria today, remember. Initially we have 3 region. As people agitated for more States, Midwest was first created during the first republic. And people said they’re not satisfied, they insisted for more states, we created 12. Yet people were not satisfied until now we have 36 states. The more states we’ve the more of our problems. So if we separate, and create 36 Nations, the problem in this 36 nation will be ten times, even a hundred times than the problem we are now experiencing. Because the security cannot be handled until you have enough resources. For those who are looking for state police, to set it up required alot of things. All need money, training, adequate salary. If you take people as police and not paying them adequate salary will go and conive with armed robbers and take into crimes themselves. Now you need to accommodate, not hire barracks for them where they’ll not mingle with civilian to influenced criminals. And then you need weapons which is very expensive thing because armed robbers are buying very expensive weapon, Ak 47. Armed police with AK 47 cost alot of money. Now your not able to armed Nigeria police with AK 47, enough, if u divide Nigeria into whatever it is, you’ll have to provide enough money to provide barracks, weapons for the police, not to talk of the army. If you split Nigeria army into whatever it’s, let say into 36, the more you split them the weaker they’re. Yes, insurgence will deal with them over night. During insurgence in Borno, why we still fight insurgence is because people from Anambra, Oyo, Sokoto, Borno all come together to go to that area in Borno to fight them. If you leave it for Borno people alone they cannot cope. Unity means Guarantee for security to sleep with your eyes closed. Your from Benue. If you make Benue state as a country now, you cannot even sleep with one eyes closed. You can’t buy a car because people stronger than you will come and take the car away, in your presence. There is nothing you can do. You cannot even marry a goooy wife, somebody will take her away, yes. This are shot sighted people who can’t do anything rather than cutshort. Create 2,3, 5 States. The more you create states the less the quality of governance. You can see, the quality of governance is better when we’re 3 than now when we have 36 States. So is better with this 36 states now that we can manager. Bring your own, I bring my own, otherwise we can’t cope. Because we’ve to synergy. Issue of security is something we can tackle through synergy.Those advocating for more States said it’ll take devt closer to the people, but is it?. Is thesame lazy people that are agitating for more States. Today we’ve more sin because of more states and we’re spending more than 70% of our revenue, federal and states, because of bureaucracy -building Secretariat, employing SSGs, Governors, deputy, permsecs, commissioners, Ministers etc. So all our money went to sustain them. We’re now dealing with 30% not enough for us to develop our country – build railways, airport, ports, power for electricity to generate power for industries. So they’re lazy people who don’t think far away of the consequences of their thought. Don’t mind them. People now are changing from agitating for more States into agitation for collapsing the states into geopolitical zones. In other words they’re admitting that the creation of more states is not the answer. They’re saying we should go back to regional set up. The only thing is that instead of the original 4, we should go back to six because we’re six groupings. Actually there are 3 groupings naturally in the South. Yoruba, Igbo are distinct and also distinct from the those in the South-South.
In the North, we don’t have this distinction naturally. We’ve idoma which is related to Hausa people, Tiv who have, Both Tiv, ldoma, Hausa, Fulani all came from middle East by origin. Go through your origination, you find that Tiv are from middle East. So we’re from the same root. This is the reason why we’ve the same attitude, life and thesame culture, with the man in Borno in Benue, Sokoto. We’re not distinctly like that of three groups in South. Our three geopolitical zones: NorthWest, East, Central are artificial. There not like Yoruba, one tribe. So many tribes. Even Benue with the largest concentration of non Muslims still have Muslims among Idomas and Tivs. We’ve Emirs in Kano, Sokoto, Tor Tiv. Igbos have Ezes with different fenafenerials from Tor Tiv. Och’idoma amongst others.
