Former president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and now the president of the Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of Niger Delta (CENND), Prof. Kimse Okoko, said President Goodluck Jonathan risks alienation from Nigerians over the removal of fuel subsidy. He spoke with Kelvin Ebiri in Port Harcourt. Excerpts:DO you think President Goodluck Jonathan faces any political risks with the removal of fuel subsidy'The removal of fuel subsidy will further alienate Nigerians from the president. It is very unfortunate. It will make him lose tremendous goodwill. There is no question of the tremendous goodwill he enjoys as old and young people who had never voted went out to vote for him and they expected much from him.Already the common citizens of this country are going through excruciating poverty and they are not responsible for the crisis in the oil sector. The NNPC is the bastion of corruption and with the little exposed by the National Assembly, we know where the problem is. Jonathan knows why the refineries are not working. We thank God that the government has decided that the turn around services should be given to those who build the refineries. We should have done this long time ago. We have a highly corrupt NNPC that is not accountable to anybody. Recently, they arrogated to themselves the power to use part of the crude oil that was not used by the Kaduna refinery, by selling it to take care of their expenses. How can they do such a thing'Fuel subsidy is occasioned by the massive corruption in NNPC with their collaborators. They mentioned some independent marketers. Let them mention those who own the companies. They are the ones wrecking this country and now you remove subsidy for the ordinary citizen to bear the burden. With the removal of subsidy prices will go up and the Federal Government won't be able to control the pump price of fuel. What type of punishment is that' We should go after those who have looted in NNPC and the politicians who have looted our treasury. If we check corruption that is ravaging this country and block the loopholes subsidy won't be a problem.About N240 billion was budgeted for subsidy last year and it suddenly shot up to N1.3 trillion. Can anyone satisfactorily explain to us the basis of this astronomical increase' And the easiest way for them to deal with it is to remove subsidy. I would have thought that there are other ways of dealing with the problem. If in two years they can build refineries and they are operating optimally, then part of the problem could have been solved. If they can tackle the corruption in the country and in particular NNPC, subsidy will not be a problem because these fake figures that they are throwing out will not exist. Let the President tackle corruption in NNPC, the civil service, among politicians, crude oil theft and there will be sufficient funds to build infrastructure, fix roads, power etc. Subsidy will not solve the problem. It will fuel corruption.What kind of political reforms do you think President Jonathan should pursue'He will leave his name in gold if he convokes a sovereign national conference or whatever name he calls it as long as it is made up of all ethnic nationalities. A national conference that will decide the best form of our union will be the best legacy he can leave for us. This country has to be restructured along the lines of true federalism. States must have their own constitution and police. The Federal Government should be concerned with foreign affairs, defence, customs, immigration etc. The Federal Government should not get involved in areas that the local councils or the states should take care of.Where do you place the National Assembly in your suggestion for a national conference'I don't believe what the National Assembly is doing by reviewing the constitution piecemeal. It will not work because they will not touch the fundamental perverted structure in this country. We have an over bloated federal system; a system where the centre expropriates resources and those who own those resources have no control over the resources. The fundamental defects must be addressed. And the National Assembly as presently constituted cannot do that. Whatever changes they want to bring about in the constitution will be ephemeral. We saw how they fooled around with the Electoral Act where the irresponsible amendments they made are not workable and are contrary to the 1999 Constitution. The National Assembly cannot do it and no committee will be able to do it. Let us sit down as brothers and sisters representing various ethnic nationalities and decide the best form of union. A federal system is the best given the fact that we are in a multicultural society. But it has to be a truly federal system. If it is regions, let the regions control their resources, as this will promote initiatives, innovations and creativity. Obviously we cannot get 300 zones representing nationalities so we will agree on number of zones. Nobody is saying that this country should disintegrate, but running it as it is now, is likely to bring more problems that will lead to disintegration.What do you make of the spate of bombings linked to Boko Haram'It is a very sad development. The issue of Boko Haram cannot be treated lightly. The statement some security chiefs have been making is disgraceful. They talk as if they do not understand the seriousness of what is before us. They excuse their failure with the belief that the Boko Haram phenomenon won't go on forever. The question is what are they doing to root it out or even confront it' Nigeria is not the only place with terrorist activities. Those other countries take it serious and confront it head on, to either halt it or in the process reduce its impact until they uproot it. But that is not the case with our security agencies. Each time there is a bomb blast, the security chiefs promise they will secure lives and property, but a few weeks after, another bomb goes off. Nigerians have lost confidence in the security agencies. They are not capable of protecting lives and properties. It becomes an enormous problem when those saddled with protecting lives do not appreciate the magnitude of the problem or are at a loss on how to bring tackle it. They have not demonstrated that they understand the complexity of the problem and this is scaring. The Boko Haram sect knows what is going on within the security apparatus and act at will. Nobody can stop them or prevent the bombings.Do you think there is anything worthy in the suggestions that political or sectarian interests motivate the bombings'I believe that those who said they would make the country ungovernable if election results don't go their way are part of the problem. Those comments fuel the Boko Haram onslaught.Right from the beginning, some irresponsible politicians who wanted power at all cost threatened to make this country ungovernable for Jonathan. There is definitely that political element in it. If you keep on making those inflammatory statements as a political leader, you should know that it has consequences. Your followers might begin to believe that action is required. If you say you are going to make a country ungovernable, how do you do it without the support of your followers' I don't have any doubt that these politicians preaching violence are partly responsible for the mayhem in this country and it is rather unfortunate.The recent bombing of a Catholic church sends out a message that it is now becoming a sectarian warfare, which is scaring. It is difficult to convince Christians that targeting churches is not sectarian. This is a dimension that nobody wants and we should not let it slip into a bloodbath. I will urge the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to join other forces to push the idea that this country must be restructured to make way for true federalism. This is the most peaceful route in the resolution of the conflict we are witnessing. Let the ethnic nationalities decide the best form of union among the nationalities of this country. The federal structure we have does not work and cannot work. It is over centralised and perverted. As long as we retain this, these problems would continue. So rather than seek for retaliation, I urge the leadership of CAN to join forces with an emerging majority in this country demanding the convocation of sovereign national conference.Has terrorism become a burden we have to live with'I don't think anybody wants that kind of burden. It is not a situation we would want to persist. We should learn from what is happening elsewhere in the world. Terrorism is not a temporary thing; it can go on for many years. We must know that what is happening is not a temporary thing and if we don't take the necessary steps, it will go on for a long time. We must stop it. We are facing enough problems. Apart from the excruciating poverty, we are far behind in all the indexes of human development. And now, Boko Haram is added to it.Is the failure of the government to subdue Boko Haram not projecting President Jonathan as a weakling'I believe he has a problem with the security agencies. He has to come to grips with that and reorganise the agencies for them to live up to expectations, because if these bombings continue and nothing is done to checkmate them, then it is not necessarily the weakness of president. The first thing is for the security agencies to prevent these things from happening and for the president to take decisive action on what should be done to the security outfits to ensure that they live up to their responsibility. That is where the problem lies.How do you assess the Federal Government's handling of the East-West Road project'When I go to Bayelsa from Port Harcourt using the East-West Road, I am saddened by what I see because the contractor has abandoned site and this is the height of the dry season. And nobody is explaining anything to Nigerians and the people of the Niger Delta. The contract was reviewed from N40 billion to N80 billion in 2011.Do you share the fears of some people that Jonathan might be the last president of a united Nigeria'If we insist on this perverted federal system, or continue with the situation where bombs continue to rain on the people and the churches, then of course the handwriting is on the wall. While I sympathise with those who say Jonathan might be the last president of Nigeria, I believe we can save the situation through a national conference where I hope reason will prevail. The sooner, the better so that we can prove wrong those who think Jonathan will be the last president or that Nigeria will disintegrate in the next few years. But if we allow the activities of Boko Haram to continue alongside corruption in a situation where the health, education and power sectors have failed and critical infrastructure have collapsed, then this country is in trouble.
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