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Chukwudi Nweje
Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He speaks on the nation’s independence anniversary and the need to restructure the country and other national issues.
Nigeria will mark its 59th independence anniversary on October 1. How far do you think the country has come?
In 1960 as we approached independence, the whole country was optimistic; we all wanted to get out of colonial rule which we thought was oppressive and exploitative. But shortly after that independence, everything fell apart. For a very short period between 1953 to about 1960 when the Regions were created, Nigeria was most peaceful, progressive and cohesive. When we started planning for the general election in 1959 that will usher in independence in 1960, where we will have a Federal Government with a Prime Minister and a President, the struggle for the Centre created tension in the country among the Action Group (AG), the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC); since that election, Nigeria has never been at peace.
How is that?
The fact of the matter was that the NPC won the election with a narrow margin and needed to form an alliance with either the AG or the NCNC to be able to rule. It eventually had an arrangement with the NCNC. This alliance was what you could call an unholy alliance because it lasted for barely two years. In 1962 as preparations were being made for the next election in 1964, things fell apart. During the 1963 census, the Eastern Region said it was a fraudulent exercise and that it would not participate in the election in 1964. When the alliance between the NPC and the NCNC broke up, the NPC leaders needed a new alliance and went to the West. But because Chief Obafemi Awolowo was not ready to enter an alliance, they went to Dr. Samuel Akintola. When the NPC formed the alliance with Akintola, it seemed they had rigged the election in his favour even before the general election. From there, it was the military coup in 1966 and then the civil war in 1967.
From the military government of Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi to Gen. Yakubu Gowon, they started centralising power. Since then, we have had a unitary government which is more in line with the military command structure than a democracy.
What were the implications?
Nigeria has never known peace since then and we have not made the kind of progress we would have made; that is why some of us are saying that the only way forward is to restructure Nigeria and go back to a similar structure, the regional self-government we had before independence. It was not as if we had three governments or countries. No, we had a loose federation where each region had control of its governance, its local security that is quite different from the army, each had control of its education system and international trade. All resources coming from any region belonged to that region and are used for the progress of that region. Unfortunately, the centralisation of the government destroyed all that.
Are you suggesting going back to the 1963 structure?
You must not forget that no system is perfect. Even democracy is an ongoing exercise, a work in progress. What I will suggest is that the six geo-political zones should be quasi-independent like Dr. Alex Ekwueme once suggested. I suggest a system I call the three Ds, -decentralisation of the Federal Government; devolution of powers to the states and diversification of the economy. The two major problems in Nigeria today are the economy, bordering on unemployment and poverty and then insecurity. You may ask how restructuring solve these problems? If there is true federalism and the regions have control of their mineral resources, they will use them to develop their areas and we will make progress.
There is more wealth in Northern Nigeria than in the South. In the North East, North West and North Central, they have several mineral resources like gold, uranium, copper and sulphate. If every geo-political zone is allowed to develop its resource, we will be as rich as the states in America. Some states will definitely be as rich as others but we will be so rich that even the Federal Government will be rich from collecting taxes from the states. The South East today has the ninth largest deposits of natural gas in the world, but look at the level of poverty and unemployment over there. If the geo-political zones have control of their resources, we will develop economically and once we develop economically, other issues will be resolved because poverty is the bane of all the problems in Nigeria today.
On security, you can almost say there is no policing in Nigeria. You cannot secure Nigeria from the centre; every local government and state should have their own police funded by them. Look at what happened in Benue State; the state already had an anti-open grazing law but couldn’t enforce the law because they don’t have police. What is the meaning of a state in Nigeria when the state governments run to the Federal Government every time, they need money? You cannot depend on only crude oil for revenue.
Northern Nigeria opposes restructuring whenever it is mentioned. Why is that the case?
It is not all of them. You must realise that the North is not monolithic. There are some people in the North that understand what we are talking about. During the years of regionalism, the North produced its resources and supported its people without waiting for money from the Federal Government; no region got money from the Federal Government. Those against restructuring are afraid because they have been beneficiaries of the largess going on now. Restructuring will make the centre not to be as attractive as it is currently. Those that have thought about the absolute powers they now have know it amounts to nothing because the system we have now is more detrimental to the North than the South. It is in the North that you have the greatest level of insecurity to life and property; it is in the North that you have the highest number of illiteracy and it is in the North that you have the highest level of poverty, therefore, it is the North that will benefit from restructuring. The problem in the North is that their leaders are their worst enemies. All the gold they are mining in Zamfara State, where is it going?
Look at the education which is the antidote to poverty; illiteracy rate in the North is terrible and I am talking about illiteracy in western education. That is why we are talking about restructuring the education system. We have to restructure their education system based on their culture and tradition. As it is, Northern Nigeria will never be able to compete with Southern Nigeria in western education but could if they have an education system as they have in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and Dubai, which is based on their culture and tradition.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently inaugurated an economic advisory council that will report to him. What do you say about that?
President Buhari is the most disingenuous person I’ve ever known. Why is he setting up an advisory council that will report to him? What does he know about the economy? Buhari is the one that destroyed this economy. He doesn’t even understand what it means to survive in a capitalist economy. The economic advisory team is as good as the president wants it to be. All the people that have reported to him have failed the nation because he will not understand their submission. Buhari does not understand that the political climate has a lot to do with the economy. Look at the insecurity all around the country, who do you think will invest in such a situation? Until we do the right things, it doesn’t matter how strong the people in the advisory committee are, we would not be able to move forward. We have to take care of the security of the country.
There are insinuations that the Presidency wants to edge out Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and make him redundant ahead of 2023. What do you think?
It would seem that from the onset, the president and his associates had never had respect for Vice President Osinbajo. On many occasions, he has been walked out of meetings. Whenever the president is travelling, instead of automatically handing over to Osinbajo, they begin to debate whether it should be the Chief of Staff or the vice president. Buhari has never wanted anybody from the South to be powerful enough to run for president in 2023; it doesn’t matter whether it is Osinbajo or if it is the All progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). His concern is for power to remain in the North.
However, whatever Buhari does will boomerang against the APC. In my opinion, Osinbajo does not have the political clout in the APC South West. Bola Tinubu also wants to run for president. The key thing will be whether the APC leaders in the North will allow the zoning of the presidential ticket to come to the South. If it comes to the South, will it be the South East, the South South or the South West? But what I know is that Osinbajo is not his only target, his target is every politician from the South.
