The President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Prof Benjamin Okaba has asked Nigerians not to expect much from the leadership that will emerge in 2023, so long as the present political structure remains in place.
In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the former Provost of the Delta State University, (DELSU) Oleh Campus, stressed that restructuring of the country should precede 2023 elections
Full blown electioneering will start in a matter of days. What are your expectations of the 2023 polls?
The 2023 election is very pregnant because the basic issues of consolidation of our democracy are not addressed. We still have high level of insecurity, and the electoral reforms are yet to see massive improvement in terms of positives changes. In the behaviour of the political class, we still have a lot to be done. Secondly is the question of voter apathy. There is poor voter education. Proper education should be carried out and conducted so that people are mobilised and assured that their decision on who to vote will make significant difference. You can see internal wrangling in the major political parties. In the All Progressives Congress (APC), there is still the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket and in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); there is this Atiku-Wike feud. However, the greater challenge is insecurity that the government should look into.
Thirdly, Nigerians still believe that restructuring of the country should precede the election because after the election and if we continue to work with the 1999 Constitution, which is responsible for the various forms of exploitation, marginalisation and all the crises we face as a people, it might just be a change of garment without a change of the person. The 1999 Constitution is the meat of the nation and if we don’t change the structure we are not going to make any difference. There is no guarantee that a new leadership will come and make a difference because when he gets there he is going to be contained with the problems and challenges that surround this constitution, which is not easy.
Are you saying that Nigerians shouldn’t expect anything better from the next president unless the country is restructured?
Yes. Any other thing we are doing leads us to nowhere unless we restructure this country, unless the issues of true federalism are addressed, unless the questions of resource control are addressed, issues of derivations, state police are addressed. These issues should be addressed before we think of a new guard. If we go through this process of election, we are only changing the names of the president, we are not changing the system. We are not changing the structure. It is the structure that is recognised, it is not about who occupies it. It is not who is the president; it is about the instrument he operates with. Even if you bring an angel with fantastic ideas to be the president of this country, and with this kind of structure we have, he will have problems. For instance, Nigeria is borrowing to survive and if you want to bail her out of it, the first thing you do is to look at the structure; cost of governance. In the president’s office alone, look at how much it costs just for its routine maintenance; you talk of SAs, ministers, you get the National Assembly, etc. Nigerians must come back and see if it is still a viable option. What are those items listed under the presidency? We have to talk of devolution of powers.
Is it not really late to talk about restructuring when election is around the corner?
The Ijaw National Congress has been advocating restructuring right from the beginning, but a lot of people are interested in the change of guard and not in the change of structure. There is nothing like being late. It is a discourse; it is never late until it is over. If you are going on a wrong direction in a journey and you are far away from your destination, the best way is to come back to that point and make a way for the right destination. If you say because it is late, let’s move on, you will be moving far away from the right direction.
Before this time, people had the view that the presidential election was going to be a two horse race, but political pundits are saying that it is going to be a three horse race with the Labour Party included. Do you share in this analysis?
It is very obvious. Before now, it was very difficult to say which of the two major parties, the APC and PDP, had an upper hand. But now, there is third force, the Labour Party (LP) that is also very strong and growing by the day, and the two political parties are aware of it. It is good for Nigeria, and it is broadening the space so that people can have three options, and out of them, they go for one. It is better than narrowing it and making the chances just two. It is a very good development for our democracy.
Many Northern groups have been kicking against the pipeline surveillance contract given to Tompolo. What is your take on this?
It is a misplaced opposition. I don’t like to talk about it because they don’t have any business with the contract awarded to a Niger Delta son in Niger Delta. Who has come to oppose the contracts being awarded in the North East Development Commission? It is not their business. More so, I don’t think the opposition was coming from North; maybe, some Southerners were just using their names.
I’m just bothered about some controversies within. Those are the issues we are also addressing. So, Northern opposition is not a threat and we don’t consider it an issue, but the one from within is the one INC is dealing with. We have set up a committee of five to go round and meet with all the key stakeholders; there is an understanding and we are also taking time to educate the general public that the entire contract was not given to Tompolo. He is one of the five that the contract was given to.
In fact, the contract for that of the Olu of Itshekiri is N11billion per month, and yet, nobody is talking about it. In Tompolo’s camp, even Itshekiri people are trooping to meet him, but in the Olu’s camp, there is no Itshekiri man going there. You can see that the opposition to Tompolo is misplaced. For the same contract, somebody from Edo State had it all over, but the same people were brandishing over the contract to Tompolo.
The same people are keeping quiet when marginal oil wells in our territory are located to people outside the region. For us as Ijaw people, it is an act that is so condemnable. We see it again as an orchestrated attempt to use it to cause trouble among us, to cause division, which is the plan of some elements outside the Niger Delta. I want to assure you that they have failed because we have seen their plans already and we are prepared that instead of this pipeline contract to divide us, as they envisaged, it is bringing us together, stronger and we are taking very full advantage of this pipeline surveillance, no matter its paltry nature, to unite our people and we are stronger. Out of trouble, you get better understanding.
Ijaw Nation is getting a better understanding of themselves because we are now identifying the enemies of Ijaw Nation. When you are living with people, and you don’t know your enemies, you will just be moving on. This thing has thrown up our enemies; those people who claimed to be friends and fighting for Ijaw Nation, this contract issue has thrown them open to the world that these are true enemies of the Ijaw Nation because for a brother to go out and challenge his own brother because he is given a contract tells you all about how he sees the brother and how he sees the struggle.
How do you intend to handle the Tompolo and Asari Dokubo face-off over this contract?
The two have met and they have given their commitment; it was just a matter of understanding and communication gap and they have promised to work together. They even promised to address a joint press conference. This thing is not too much for us to handle; nobody is bigger than the Ijaw Nation. The entire Ijaw Nation is united in this and is saying that by the number of people trooping into Tompolo’s camp to congratulate him, is a signal that the issue is above political parties. Even people in APC who were against him are now congratulating him and we are united in this and united in anybody that is against him.
IPOB alledged that an Ijaw militant group was killing people in Ebonyi, Imo and Abia in order to stop Biafra agitation. What do you say to this?
Ijaw are peace loving people. We have defined the purpose of our struggle, the modus operandi and focus of our struggle; it is not to fight our neighbours. The Igbo and Ijaw people have a common enemy; they have a common problem, but if the Igbo decided to apply whatever principle in their struggle, it is not against us, it is their style, and it is not our duty to go and stop them. As Ijaw people, we have our own strategy. Yes, we are all suffering, but we are not for secession now. If others want it, so be it. For people to go and start killing people in other states using Ijaw name is unacceptable. Ijaw Nation didn’t send them; Ijaw Nation is not associated with them, we are not part of that, and whomever that is doing that is doing so at his own peril. We want the world to know that the Ijaw are not fighting Igbo and there is no reason for that. The INC regards these allegations as weighty and call for serious concern because the Ijaw Nation, the Igbo people and several other ethnic nationalities in the South and Middle Belt in Nigeria have on different fronts jointly confronted common issues bordering on criminal neglect, oppression, environmental degradation, exploitation, insecurity, injustice and other forms of deprivation and hardship suffered in the hands of insensitive leadership in the Nigerian hegemonic state. The Ijaw and Igbos are all victims of systematic insensitivity to the plight of the minorities.
It is on record that Ijaw agitators are known for the promotion and defence of the Ijaw cause for self-determination, resource justice, equity, fairness to all; and the demand for full implementation of principles of the federalism and not attack on other ethnic nationalities of Nigeria. In fact, one of the salient resolutions of the Kaiama Declaration of Ijaw youths, including the agitators which has guided their struggles over the years is the resolution to extend hands of friendship and support other ethnic nationalities’ peaceful, genuine quest and struggle for freedom and self-actualisation.
The Ijaw National Congress at its All Ijaw Summit held in 2021 did, in unequivocal terms, resolve to pursue the noble cause of self-determination, through non-violence, civil engagement strategy and solidarize with other entities that share similar aspirations. Therefore, it will be preposterous to even imagine that Ijaw people of whatsoever background could align, associate itself, encourage or endorse the attacks on other ethnic nationalities in whatever guise and for whatever reasons.
The use of violence against our neighbouring ethnic groups totally contravenes the ideals of the Ijaw struggle. Therefore, militia groups brandishing Ijaw symbolism for selfish atrocious economic adventures, particularly against our Igbo neighbours and other ethnic nationalities, are on their own and are acting at their own peril. The Ijaw nation disassociates itself from such actions and people. However, due to the very sensitive nature of the issue at stake, the leadership of Ijaw National Congress shall immediately carry out further investigations on the alleged attacks by Izon militia group against Igbos and deploy appropriate measures that would prevent the ensuring misgivings from deteriorating into unwarranted and avoidable crises.
A document that has been trending has it that over 90 per cent of top management appointments in NNPC and its subsidiaries are from the North, regardless of federal character, quota system. What is your take on this?
Those are the issues that we are talking about, and we are insisting that unless we revisit the existential question about this country, which is the derivation principle, resource control, we will make no progress. You can see that on daily basis there are clearer infractions introduced by a system that is so desperate at taking it all. Out of a board of 11 members, only one person is from the South-South, one from the South-East, two from the South-West, it doesn’t make sense. And when you are talking about NNPC resources, the oil is coming from the Niger Delta and it is only one person from the region that is represented in the board of 11 members. Those are the imperfections we are talking about. You cannot move forward in a country where you deny the people the representation in the management of resources from their own region. It is very provocative, condemnable and unacceptable.