Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Olabode George spoke about 20 years of civil rule and other issues at a recent conference in Lagos. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE was there.
Nigeria has just marked 29 years of civil rule. How will you assess the period?
Historically, from the time we started the First Republic in 1960, to the period the crisis in the defunct Western Region started, everybody thought it was going to be restricted to the region until it consumed the country. We went into the civil war and when you look at the problem from that time, which I will explain, we should be able to assess whether we are really moving forward or stagnant. In 1960, we got independent and at the centre we had a prime minister in charge of the country’s affairs. We had premiers at the regions; they were powerful, because they manage the resources of their domains. This is the real definition of democracy. If you look at the three major regions at the time, in the north we have the majority tribe and minorities. In the east, we have the majority tribe and minorities and in the west, we have the majority and the minorities. Don’t forget that the Western Region started in Ibadan and extended all the way to Ajegunle; the area called Boundary that was the extent of the region. Even though I came from the Lagos Island, we all benefited from the management of resources executed by the Western regional government. Each region developed its pace, based on the resources available to it. But, we lost the golden opportunity to be great. When the crisis started from the Western Region, we could not manage it well. We lost the opportunity and eventually a section of the country subverted the constitution and this led to the emergence of the late General Aguiyi Ironsi, who was the head of the army. The military ruled the country through its concept of operation. Its management style was replicated across the country, which mode of operation was from top to bottom. That of course is not democracy. Democracy must flow from the bottom to the top, because the people are involved. Now, the major problem identified during the First Republic was the issue of the minorities. Otherwise, everybody developed according to the resources at its disposal and merely contributed a token to the national coffers. Now, this is where we deviated; every resource now came to the central administration. The centre became extremely strong and big.
But, why did General Yakubu Gowon not correct it?
When General Yakubu Gowon came, the minorities were merely seen and not heard. The status quo came under scrutiny: whether it was only the majority that should have access to power. Gowon created 12 states to resolve the problem. But, by the same token, he created another problem, by allowing the centre to be strong, rather than allowing the states to survive on their resources. That was one of the major problems. Having seen both sides and lucky to serve in the military, it would be fair to say we failed to make correction when it was apparent. In the military, tribal sentiments were not issues for us, because you don’t go to war and say only Yoruba people should fight the war. Your comrade is your comrade; we always have one goal. I now want you guys to go and check, the creation of states, creation of local governments; it has never been handled by any civilian administration. And then all the resources of the country till today go to Abuja that was not the concept accepted for the development of Nigeria. Lagos produces almost 80 – 85 percent of revenue of the country, but when it goes into the national basket what comes back here is about 11 per cent. Is that justified? And unless we correct the mistakes there will never be a way out. Nigeria is massive and I am happy that I have the opportunity to traverse the length and breadth of this country. Just as you go from one local community to another resources are found. There is no area that has no natural resources. While some have crude oil, some will have dongo yaro trees, with proper extraction by the bio-chemist, they can make out a lot from the trees. So, different regions are blessed with resources that can make the country enormously great. And when we achieved democracy, we should have gone back to the real concept of true federalism; rather we continued the military concept of operation. That is where our problem lies. If you don’t refer to the mistakes of the past and correct them, how can you say you are moving forward?
How can the mistake be corrected?
That 2014 National Conference has already spelt out the how the mistakes can be corrected. It came out with a brilliant solution. Thank God, I was there and every item on the agenda was debated. At the end of it everything was unanimously adopted. Some of the issues raised included restructuring. Though some people said we should go back to the old regional government. It is like we should go back to Ibadan, the capital of the defunct Western Region, Enugu as capital of the defunct Eastern Region. It is like you are tell an Ekiti man that he should head back to Ondo or an Osun man that he should head back to Ibadan or a Katsina man to go back to Kaduna. But, we understand these are no longer feasible. In the new concept, let every state take control of its resources for the benefit of its people. In Nigeria, everything is controlled by the Federal Government. How can one man sit there and know my problem in Isale Eko? It is humanly impossible. How can someone sit in Abuja and know what is happening in Ajegunle or a Zamfara local village? The solution lies in proper restructuring, so that everybody decides to vote competent people for governor, who will be fully responsible to them. People will now realize that if they do not elect competent man to manage their resources, they will suffer for it.
June 12 is now Democracy Day. Does the declaration fulfil what MKO Abiola fought for?
The declaration of June 12 as ‘Democracy Day’ makes lot of sense for us to remember the sacrifice of our heroes past. It compensates for the misdemeanor against those who have been wounded in the past, those who have been badly managed in the past. But, what is the benefit of it? The benefit is for you to make sure the mistakes of the past are no longer repeated.
Put it there that June 12 is Democracy Day, but has that brought food to the people? Has that taken children to school, improved our roads and network? The manipulation of election results, has it disappeared? Has the judiciary been channeled to be fair and just? What impact would it make and no matter how you manipulate procedure MKO Abiola will feature greatly in history. Now they beat their chest; they can even beat their back, what have we learnt and what impact has it made for the people? We are talking about the reality before the people. Are the investors happy to head back here and why are they running away? I don’t give a damn that June 12 is Democracy Day. Is it going to add value to my life, to your life? Rather, they are beating their chest. The tribal division, religious division in this country has never been this heightened. Since I was a child, in Lagos, the Fulani in the north have been bringing their cattle. They sell their malu, as well as agunmudadani. Every parent during my childhood days patronized the Fulani, because of its efficacy of the concoction. They used it for convulsion for kids, which was quite high in those days. They will sell all their products, go back to the north to bring fresh ones. Why are they behaving now as if they are an army of occupation? June 12 has not got anything to do with this. What is going on? We have existed together for long, why this sudden change? My best friend and brother till today remains a Fulani man. I met him in the military. The way we are going about creating unnecessary tribal divisions is not in our interests.
So, is Obasanjo’s comment justified?
When President Obasanjo left office as a military head of state and Shagari’s was elected in 1979, a lot of our people said he should have given it to Baba Awolowo, but he gave it to a Fulani man. Obasanjo is not a frivolous person. He will tell it the way it should be. Recently, he made a comment as an observation that things are not going right. He is also a farmer; the farmers’ association is calling him about what is going on their farms being plundered. My friend, Sule Lamido, gave a nonsense remarks concerning Baba. It is an insult calling Obasanjo a religious bigot. Did he know what Baba suffered? He has always been a nationalist in the eyes of the people of this country. Was it not the same Obasanjo who gave him an opportunity; who made him a foreign minister and now he is calling him a religious bigot. What Lamido should have done was to find out from him, why Baba made the statement. As a concerned Nigerian, Obasanjo made the remarks, so that President Buhari must go out and nip the matter in the bud. Obasanjo has been a patriot, as a military head of state. If he did not want Shagari, he would have done something else during the 1979 election. So, you ought to be careful in the comments we make.
So, tomorrow if an Ibo man becomes the President of the country, they should carry cutlasses and start destroying the livelihood of others? The Oga patapata should use his position as President of the Fulani tribes in West Africa to address the issue. It is a challenge to him. He did it before when Lam Adesina was governor of Oyo State, and he should do the same thing now.