Buhari Needs Change - Adebanjo

Chief Ayo Adebanjo is a frontline leader of the Pan- Yoruba group, Afenifere. In this interview with EBERE NDUKWU, he shares his views about the Muhammadu Buhari administration, its appointments so far, corruption
mantra among other national issues. Excerpts:

You are known for your outspokenness, would you say the Buhari administration is going the direction Nigerians expected?

In short, they are serving below expectation, but it has not really got to the stage it can be condemned. But there are certain signs that are worrisome. I was not a supporter of Buhari because of what I know about him hich I said before the election and as I have told some pressmen I still want him to prove me wrong.

I’m not interested in confirming what I have said because if he proves me right, it is not to the advantage of Nigeria. I accuse him of being a dictator, being against the rule of law and tribalistic. On the direction the country is going, I want to take us back from where we are coming.

During the 1954 Constitution, when we went to the London Constitutional Conference, after that conference the three regions then became really federal, that was the time premiership was created in the constitution. Before then, under the MacPherson Constitution, the majority party in each region; East, West and the South were known as bigger opponent because it was a loose central but after the Constitutional Conference of 1958, when we now moved the motion for self-government and the Western region withdrew its ministers from the centre, that caused the constitutional crisis of 1957.

We were all summoned to the colonial office and the commissioner then said that the country is multi-national, multi-religious and multicultural, that you cannot rule it under a unity government. There must be division of labour, all the regions must remain autonomous and have a federal system where each region will develop at its own pace.

As a result, the constitutions of that period were written separately, East, West and the North. That was what we had until we had independence. Because at that time, many will not know why we have independence in 1960, the motion that caused crisis was for self government in 1956 for Nigeria. So, when we went to the London Constitutional Conference, the North said that they were not ready, that was why those regions at that time were giving self government.

The constitution of 1954 failed, by 1956 when each region became autonomous, that was the position until we had independence because it was on the basis of that, that the independence was granted to us and we were asked to wait till 1959 to 60 because the North then said they were not ready for self government in 1956.

We were giving our self government in 1959 and when everybody had self government that was why we became independent in 1960. It was the North that delayed self government. And now Buhari is telling us that they have more competent people than the South. I’m developing the fears.

My own decision on Buhari is not personal; it is purely on principle and was clear when I said he was a dictator Now, how we get to this stage was because of the Military that restructured Nigeria in 1966 after the coup, if Tafawa Belewa had not been toppled and we had continued with the constitution we had at the independence, the country would have been better. It was purely federal, every region has its own powers, revenue allocation was shared on the basis of derivation, the East was having its derivation from palm kernel, the West, cocoa and the North groundnut.

Even after independence, when oil was discovered in the rivers, the rivers then were having 60 per cent. This is important because that is the cause of problems in the rivers. When the army came to power in 1966, it restructured Nigeria and we now have a one-line government. In fact, it was that January 1966 restructure that engineered the coup of July 1966 because the North was against the Aguiyi Ironsi’s idea of unity government. By the time Yakubu Gowon came in, the decision for the creation of more states came in. The minority in the East didn’t want to be part of South-East.

At that time, Rivers, Bayelsa and all those state were known as core area. There decision then was core state forever, they wanted to be separated from the East. If we had accepted the way Nigeria was structured before and during independence and follow federalism without Nigerian factor, we won’t be where we are. So, when the military came and restructured Nigeria we had this problem.

When the army said they want to go, I’m trying to give you where our problem lies, the Afenifere and NADECO then said no, before you go, we must restructure Nigeria to where we were. The call for restructuring resulted to the question of national conference.

We didn’t want Nigeria restructured by force, we wanted where we will sit down and look at what is causing all these problems because it is only at a conference that you can resolve all that. And if you go into record, the position of Afenifere has consistently been against the position of the leaders of the North who are oppose to national conference, they said that national conference will split Nigeria, we said no.

Anybody opposing national conference wants Nigeria to split by force. It is those of us that are calling for national conference that want a peaceful resolution of our coming together in unity. That was how the agitation of national conference started.

So, when Abdulsalami Abubakar said he wants to return the country to civilians, we said no, that the constitution we have been having is military, let’s go and draft this constitution and have the people’s constitution before we have an election. If you were around then, you will remember that the position of NADECO and Afenifere was that, look no election except we have confab. We could look into the future and that is why everybody is now referring back to what Afenifere and NADECO stood for. We said if we don’t settle these things, the moment we get there, forget it.

They said no. When we were insisting, Zimbazi said that these Awolowo people have come again, he said since the military people said they are going, that we should let them go, that when they go, the country can then do what they want, it was that pressure that made us took part in the making of the constitution.

If we didn’t take part in that decision, they would have claimed to have had mandate, so we now contested the election and made the issue of national conference an election issue. When I supported Jonathan, people were saying, I was bought and I said no, I was emphasising then that, this conference he has done is the keynote.

The people who are saying they will wipe out corruption they are all corrupt, I maintain that. The leeway Jonathan had with me is that Jonathan by convoking the constitutional conference and promising to implement its decision will take us back to where we were. As you see now, they have won the election under the old constitution that is imperfect, that all of us said it is lopsided. We said then that the moment you don’t change this constitution, the old injustice will continue and why?

May be you don’t know why we are emphasizing the change of this constitution because many of you journalists have not done your research. Why are we insisting on the recommendation of the confab? The confab brought us back to where we were, it was the coup of 1966 that gave the army power to do the present constitution under which they created local governments arbitrarily in favour of the North, created state arbitrarily in favour of the North and then they said the number of local governments and states should be on the basis of derivation.

That is why you have the problem in Niger Delta. Equity is no longer there, the man who contributes N5 now collect N20. That is the root. And I said by that time, that the change we need is the change of our constitution, the corruption they are talking of now is embedded in the constitution. It is the constitution that put plenty of money in the centre at the expense of the regions, under the constitution we have reduced the amount of money that is giving to the state. So, when there is too much money in the centre, there is no sense there. That is the root of corruption.. I read somewhere that Buhari said that the constitution must be drawn perfectly, no quarrel, he becomes my candidate if he does that.

Does it mean the 1999 Constitution didn’t capture some of these things you are saying?

1999 Constitution is a military constitution I have said it, let them refute it. If you remember, the late Rotimi William said that our constitution is a fraudulent document. And why did he say so, he said the preamble, the content are fraudulent. What did the preamble say, it said, “We the people of Nigeria” did we make the constitution? And the Federal Government of Nigeria; are we Federal? So, all that is there is false. We now say, let’s sit down and make the constitution of our own.

That is why I said the press should enlighten the public about it. Educate our people about it. By calling for a true constitution and recommending the confab, I’m not saying that there is no corruption. I support the war against corruption by Buhari with a caveat that it must be across the board. He must not be selective.

Are you not comfortable with the way he is going about it?

No –no-no! How can you say you are going to only probe Jonathan’s government, is it Jonathan that is only corrupt? The issue of having a single account, the question is who started several accounts? Was it not Ibrahim Babangida? Or he has forgotten that he was the one who made dedicated account during the oil boom that led Sani Abacha to do an inquiry that led to Okigbo’s report. Pressmen please help us! People like me are not agitating for nothing.

You can recollect that about 12 or 20 billion dollars were alleged against Babangida. Okigbo’s report said it and we expected Obasanjo to do something but he pretended as if he didn’t see that report. The News Magazine then published it, but where is it today? That is why I’m asking, why is Buhari trying to limit the enquiry? Is it because he wants to cover his colleagues? He has to make it holistic, you are a clean man, yes, but why should he cover his people? Are we saying that a man who was Minister for Petroleum for eight years, that he is clean? I have no prejudice against anybody. By the time I press the thing down, you have no answer for it. What is fair is fair.

But the argument is that government wants to limit the scope of the probe so that it doesn’t end up distracting itself in the next four years?

When Murtala Mohammed came into power, didn’t you hear of series of governors that were probed at that time? It was only Lagos State government that he spared? He probed everybody. When there is a will there is a way. He didn’t make this excuses; he only said it was only Jonathan government I’m going to probe. That means abinitio, he’s partisan. I support the probe but don’t support the partisan probe. The problem is that we know our problem but have not got the courage to solve it.

Buhari’s only handicap is that unfortunately, each time I talk about him, they say he is clean and I say well I agree he is clean, but I’m also aware of the saying that says tell me your friend and I tell you who you are? Look at how he live, if he can be comfortable in that group, Atiku is in that group, I want to be specific, that is the man that Obasanjo openly accused of being corrupt and he too said well, you said I’m corrupt, what about you? The record is there.

Ministerial appointments will soon be made public; do you see any balancing this time?

He is going to make other appointments which are mostly statutory. Statutory because as he is going to appoint ministers, he must appoint from all the states, is he going to deprive the North from that? And, don’t forget, the presidency was making this excuse that there are other appointments when he had no excuse. His argument was that he appointed those he trusted. It is unfortunate that a person like that now will be expected to defend the indefensible.

But when they couldn’t defend it, they say alright, wait, he is still making other appointments. Will that handicap be covered? People say he has only appointed those he trusted and who are competent and I ask, since when are Northerners more competent than people in the South? If nobody can tell them I will tell them that, since when? When we included federal character in the constitution, it was because of the backwardness of the north. And when we are balancing at that time, it was second rate people we are balancing with from the north. They can’t deny that both in the civil service or anywhere. Suddenly now, they are now more advanced than the South. My dear, say it to the marine.

Did you envisage what we experienced in Buhari’s appointment when you campaigned against his presidential ambition?

No, but his past action, we gave instances of him being a dictator, being against the rule of law and they said it was a hate campaign. We gave instances, we didn’t just accuse him of that. The man is not a democrat, he doesn’t uphold the rule of law, we gave instances of those things. He murdered people under a law that has not been in existence by the time they committed the offence and we showed the photograph.

These are things we used and his supporters said it was a campaign of hate. There were no allegation I made that I didn’t back up with evidence. They said he has changed and that he is now a democrat and we ask, what are the evidences that he has changed or was it that he said he has changed because he wanted to contest an election? The evidence on the ground now is what we have got.

Would you say that Nigeria should still expect worse?

No-no-no, I’m not praying for that. That is where I’m different. With all these things that I’m saying, if you read my interviews in different papers of recent, I said I pray that all these things we are saying against Buhari, he should take note and change. That’s my prayer. Even now, I’m not one of those who say I told you so, 55 years after independence, we are still where we are? That won’t pay me. If I’m gone my children are still around. It will only pay me if Buhari changes and take note of all these things we are talking about. I’m saying it not to destroy him, but for him to change, I want you to note that.

A man we said is not a democrat and has not behaved in any way as a democrat, leading members of his party had the courage to say they don’t know about it. You must have read in the paper that many of them have anxiety about the ministerial appointment. In a democratic society? In a democratic party? Is there no basis for them to sit down and say how many ministerial appointment is coming from your area and what is the basis of selection?

One of the views I have about APC is that it is the conglomeration of incompatibles, there is nothing binding them together. All that bonded them together was to get rid of Jonathan. What form of government do we give, how we’ll do it, APC never agree. If they have agreed abinitio, there wouldn’t have been the National Assembly crises. I am not after Buhari’s failure, I’m praying that he should succeed. For him to succeed, it is in my own interest. All that I’m saying is that some of the things he is doing and some of the supporters are complaining of now, are those things I said before.

Is it because of these strange bedfellows you talk about that made PDP to predict that the party might not go too far?

Those are some of the perfidies about the party, how untrue is the opposition? The opposition people say to government, if they say they can do better by the time there is strong opposition, it put the government on the alert. Let the government be on the alert and prove the opposition wrong.

Would you say Nigerian were unfair to Jonathan?

Look, leave that alone, what is of interest now is which is the way forward? Referring to that now cannot help us. It is just that when I now read APC saying we can do this because Jonathan government did not do this, rottenness for the past 16 years, it make no sense. All that shows unpreparedness of government, I don’t want to be emphasising that now. They are saying when we get there, we meet empty treasury, this that. Before now, were they not meeting for the whole year? Did they not draw the party’s policy, what they will do on education, agriculture and all that.

By the time we came into office in 1952, the issue of education was our problem, we just set up a committee, we only tinkered with policy paper saddled with education. And they have said all that before the election and up till now, after three months, they have not done any such thing.

Whatever ground you are going to have, you must have a minister for education, agriculture, local government and all that. By the time you are planning, have you not mapped out kitchen cabinet? Where they will say “By the time we get there, you are going for this, you are going for that.

All that should have been planned. Whatever you find there when you get there, you must know these are problems you must solve, that shouldn’t delay the appointment. You delay the appointments, you are delaying the progress and it is costing us a lot, we don’t know what direction the country is going after three months of being inaugurated.

It doesn’t speak well of us, I don’t want to be emphasising all that, they are all minus in government. What will you say about Nigeria at 55 I’m not happy about where we are today, particularly what we are now talking about; we should have passed that stage. That’s why when you are asking me about if things will get worse and all that. I’m not interested in saying things that will bring him down; I’m interested in saying things that will make him change the country for the better.

All that happened during the election, all the languages of battle should be put aside. For me now, let the men of goodwill come on the show to salvage the country. Only because APC is infatuated, they should form a national government for unity to salvage the country. Because the question of wiping out corruption he wants to do, by the time he goes half way 70 per cent of his supporters are gone.

He may be aiming on Jonathan yes, for instance, the people are now accusing Jonathan’s administration, when did they go to APC, two years ago? All the governors in APC were they not in PDP? Out of the 16 years, you were there for about 13 to 14 years and you are now saints? My dear, let’s face facts.

Has the country made any progress?

Why not! We have made progress in some areas but we are not where we should be and that is because we have not got the right leadership.

What is the way forward?

I want him to know that he being a good leader, he will be honest to people all over the country, among all parties. I will like him to be a leader. We are in a battle, like during the war against Britain, when the government of Great Britain asked Churchill to come and lead them through the war, he led them in the war and they won, the next election they had an election, they said he was a warmonger and sent him away.

Let him get us out of this situation. If he said he wants to clean this country, let him start with the people around him, he will offend many people by the time he confine his people to the probe, let’s see how many people he will be able to find in his party. You are pressmen, all the governors that are pretending to be APC, how many of them are clean?

He should form a national government to salvage this country from the mess we are in, his party cannot do it. Being a great person, he cannot do it alone without closing the ties with partnership, chose honest people all over the country wherever they are, in the public sector, private sector and lead this country, by the time he does that he will be able to whether the burden and by the time he is doing his probe, he won’t be conscious of any party leaning. Whoever the thing hits will face the law.

(NATIONAL MIRROR)