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2015 election ll determine Nigerias fate

Published by The Nation on Mon, 20 Oct 2014


Legal luminary Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) spoke with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN on the National Conference report, corruption and preparations for next years general elections.Did the National Conference succeed in addressing the national question'The National Conference addressed some of the national problems, not all of them. If the conference recommendations are fully implemented, it would assist in galvanising the country into the path of progress. For instance, one of the greatest banes of Nigeria is the over concentration of powers in the centre. Like I did say at the plenary of the conference, most countries that disintegrated had problems of over centralisation. A case in point was the old Soviet Union. Before its demise, there was no country that was as coercive, militarised, oppressive and centralised like the old Soviet Union. But, it broke into pieces. Today, we have Russia, Georgia and Ukraine etc.That was why each time I watch our political leaders, who are largely illiterates on television or read them on the pages of newspapers, saying Nigeria cannot disintegrate, I laugh at their folly and ignorance. Nigerian leaders dont read; they dont appreciate the immediate and remote causes of disintegration of countries like Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Sudan and the like. Take for instance what happened in the United Kingdom (UK) in recently. If not for the timely intervention of political leaders from all shades of opinion, Britain would have broken into two. Look at the type of concessions made by Prime Minister David Cameron. For almost a week the Prime Minister and leaders of opposition were on their kneels begging the Scots, making concessions, devolving executive, legislative and judicial powers to the Scots and the Welsh.One of the most instructive lessons of the UK episode was that British political leaders used the Scots experience as a contact point to address the complaints of Wales and Northern Ireland. They did not wait for them to start their own agitation. Powers were devolved down the ladder because everybody is becoming local champion the world over.How do we relate the UK episode to the Nigerian experience'The British experience is similar to our local experience. Before President Goodluck Jonathan conceded to the idea of national conference, the tension among the ethnic nationalities was very high. Even now the tension is still there; it is so thick that you can slice it with a knife. If the various complaints of the aggrieved nationalities are not addressed, the life span of Nigeria may not be up to 20 years and God forbid, Nigeria will go the way of Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Sudan.What should be done to avert disintegration'Nigeria and Mr. President have started on a good note by bringing about the conference. Even though the recommendations are not far reaching enough, but if fully implemented, the political leaders would have succeeded in assuaging the feelings of the aggrieved, at least to some extent. But, if the recommendations are not implemented and the grievances are not addressed, we dont need the United States or the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to tell us that Nigeria will break into pieces. It is not a prediction; it is an event that will become inevitable. Its just a matter of time.Can we say that Nigeria is a failed state'The ominous signs are there. One of the most informed Nigerian leaders is Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State. He is cerebral. He happens to be one of the few leaders that thinks before he speaks on national issues. After the Ekiti election, he posed 13 questions for national discourse, which unfortunately, the sociologists and opinion writers have not addressed. Two days ago, the same Fashola posed two fundamental questions over the national disgrace that was brought on us in far away South Africa through the exportation of $9.3 million by some charlatans in our midst. Rather than address the questions, our National Assembly has been trivialising it, for the purpose of sweeping it under the carpet.Corruption has never been this celebrated in the annals of this country. Criminal charges are being withdrawn against rogues, including those from whom several millions of dollars had been recovered. All they need to do to sustain their loot is to join the ruling camp whether at the centre or state level. Many of those who go about claiming to be disciples of Awolowo and Sardauna lack the discipline of these great nationalists. Those leaders were leaders through and through. They were not businessmen. The present crop of leaders double as political leaders and businessmen. Hence, they are the financiers of their political parties. They have their hands in banking, oil and gas, aviation, media, hospitality business and real estate. They have stolen too much for the owners to see (apology to Chinua Achebe).Meanwhile, the larger section of the society is suffering. There is injustice everywhere. Injustice is the root cause of Boko Haram insurgence, kidnapping, political thuggery and the rest of the vices we have in this country today. To say Nigeria is approaching the status of a failed state is an understatement. We have only been lucky in Nigeria because when there are crises in one part of the country, the rest of the country remains calm. You can imagine now that we have Boko Haram in our hands, if we have to add Niger Delta militants and Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) political crisis in the Southwest and MASSOB violence in the Southeast, all at the same time, there will be nowhere to run to. Today, everybody is running to the Southwest, especially the political leaders who have relocated their families to Lagos because the Southwest is the safest region in the country. Where will they run to if we are to have similar insurgence in the Southwest' A time will come when there will be a spontaneous crises in all the geo-political zones, if the grievances and complaints associated with over centralisation are not addressed.Do you think the general election scheduled for next year would hold, in view of the security challenges in the country'It will hold, but it might be the beginning of the end of Nigeria, if votes are not allowed to count. I must say I pity those who dont have community values in their regions and communities; those who dont relate with their kith and kin in their places of birth. A time will come when Abuja and Lagos will be too hot for them to stay. They are now thinking they are safe. Unfortunately, for them, they dont even have feelings for the locals in their host communities. Anyone in doubt should go down the memory lane and read about what happened to the British and the Asians in Uganda and currently what is happening to British farmers in Zimbabwe.The bottom line is that we should address the fundamental issues of poverty, injustice, cheating and the issue of our core value system, which has been jettisoned.Are you confident that the INEC would conduct credible elections next year'The Yoruba have a say that morning shows the day. When you are talking of credible election, it is not something you situate solely on the door step of the INEC. It is an event that will necessarily need the contribution of all the stakeholdersthe political class, the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and the security agencies. Election is a process; it is not one day event. Elections generally are made in Nigeria before the polling day. The INEC is just one out of the many stakeholders involved.INEC Chairman Professor Attahiru Jega had expressed his commissions frustration when he said politicians vote money before the election to bribe electoral officers, police, State Security Service, military personnel, traditional rulers, election observers, media houses, opinion writers and political analysts. So, who is left' Who can stand up confidently and say he has not been compromised' We will be asking for too much to expect any miracle from the Jega-led INEC. What do you expect from INEC in a situation where the powers that be rolled out tanks and militarised regions that are opposed to the ruling party, where all opposition leaders are rounded up on the eve of election' Can there be free and fair election in such circumstance' The 2015 election is not about Jega alone, but all of us.Are you saying that the elite are promoting corruption'When we are talking about corruption in Aviation sector the other time, a particular regional newspaper mobilised all its columnists to defend the fellow accused of improper conduct and official corruption. To them, nobody from that region must be touched even when caught hands down engaging in corrupt practices. That paper has set out to defend people from that region alleged of ignoble conduct. How do you build a nation in that type of set up' It is impossible. Why should we blame Jonathan for failing to fight corruption when supposedly informed people have taken it upon themselves to defend their kiths and kin irrespective of the crime they committed'Again when a particular minister was accused of filling up all available space in her ministry with people from her ethnic group which was too glaring for everybody to see, the army of defenders from the same ethnic group saw nothing wrong with it. This underscores the fact that Nigeria cannot survive for long. During the 2011 election, a state in the South-south with 1.3 million voters recorded 1.29 million votes and yet the judiciary certified that result. With this kind of things, there cant be free and fair election.]]>
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