Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife , Harvard Trained Economist, elder statesman, former Governor of Anambra State, member of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) and one time Presidential Adviser on Political Matters to Pres¬ident Olusegun Obasanjo,speaks on the chal¬lenges that had confronted the just concluded national conference asserting that the National Assembly has no role to play on the draft con¬stitution. He also speaks on other issues in Ig¬boland and Nigeria.
What would you consider as the major challenge that confronted the just con¬cluded national confab?
The idea of the confab was the first challenge. Many people like us have been demanding for the National Conference. I was lucky to be part of it. We went to Lagos for the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly meeting. It was there that I canvassed further for the confab. I told Nigerians to put pressure on Mr. President who is the focal point of Nigeria’s sovereignty and force him to convoke the confab. I am not saying that this was the cause, but just two weeks after, the President of the Senate, David Mark joined in supporting the National confab, and we added more pressure through the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly by publishing another demand; saying that the con¬fab should start immediately Mr. President eventu¬ally accepted it. Though, he was very reluctant over the idea of National confab.
There were other obstacles, the northern elders especially those who have been responsible for the under-development in the north did not want the conference to hold. For those of in the south, we were not interested in doing something against the north, but we were out to do something for the permanence of Nigeria. My objective and that of Anambra, South East and Southern People and well-meaning Nigerians was for the permanence of one Nigeria. Our concern was to address what might make Nigeria to break-up. If you were in the position of the north, you will react the same way they have reacted. Why? They have advantages in the country. The south said that there are struc¬tural imbalances in Nigeria and who are the people benefiting from the structural imbalances? It is the north ,especially the North-West that has seven (7) states.South East has five (5) states, Kano has 44 local governments while Lagos has 20, If you combine the total number of local governments in Katsina State and Kano it has out numbered the total number in the South East. So the north has that advantage and there is nobody in the history of politics that has an advantage and wish to give it out easily. So if a southern person is angry and cast aspersion on northern leaders that person is not wrong. So, we need to understand ourselves, let us not think that the south is more conservative than the north. It is just that there are differential advantages.
At the conference, I made the statement that time is running out on the unfair advantages heaped on the north by their military leaders like Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Abacha where they distributed the states and local governments to the north. Nigeria is made up of north and the south, but today, north dominates the political scene. If you go to the National Assembly, because of the structural imbalance they are the majority. If you take anything to the National Assembly that is un¬favourable to the north, you must think about it. That is why many of them are saying, there is a National Assembly, why did you call the confer¬ence? The National Assembly will do the job. This was part of the challenges we encountered in the confab. But, how many things are in common be¬tween the National Assembly and the recommen¬dations of the confab?
Are you saying that the national assem¬bly has no role to play in the approval of the recommendations of the confab?
They should have no role to play. The recom¬mendations of the confab which has been put in a draft constitution, whatever name you may call it, the paper given to us was called a draft constitution and that was why we came to produce it and show to the people, which after approval it becomes a constitution ‘that we the people of Nigeria make and give unto ourselves’. So, many peoples’ reason of participating in the conference was to produce a draft constitution and it has been produced.
Do we put aside the 1999 constitu¬tion or should the confab recommenda¬tions be an amended version of the 1999 constitution?
The issue is this, what is called draft constitution is an integration of the new recommendations from the conference which those aspects of 1999 con¬stitution are thrown away. So, what is not thrown away was what we have decided in the conference from the draft constitution.
One of the recommendations of the confab was the creation of more states in the country with the south east having more. Do you think that it is easy to imple¬ment?
The confab also set out criteria for deciding on states creation. If we had found ways of avoiding that, I would have been happy. We came to the conference hoping to make the geo-political zones federating units, not the states. And if we had made the geo-political zones federating units, each geo-political zone would have gone home to resolve all their internal conflict,s and the need for the creation of states would have not arisen .But because of those internal problems in the geo-political zones, there are people who don’t want the sun being blocked by taller trees. They wanted new states to be created. And those states may be difficult. For me, the 36 states in the country are nonviable and I would have preferred six federating units, six gov-ernments which has doubled what we have before.
It alleged that Ebonyi State dele¬gates at the confab voted against the mo¬tion for the six political zones to become a federating unit?
I am disappointed. First, the people of Ebonyi State who opposed the zones as federating units are living in the past. In that past, people from the rest of Igbo land dominated Abakaliki, and they felt inferior, we were angry. Today if you tell them about going back and belonging to the old region, they will tell you that they don’t want to return to Egypt. They carried the message to the extreme. I, Emeka Ezeife, first proposed that since Ebonyi has the greatest reservation in integration, let us give them the opportunity to decide the form of gov¬ernment we will have in the South east, let us give them the veto power. And nobody opposed it. I also said, since you are afraid of returning to Egypt, what if you are made the Pharaoh of the Kingdom? What I meant was that there should be power rota¬tion among the states in the Southeast and Ebonyi State that is afraid should take over the zonal gov¬ernment and lead first for eight years. They should be in charge for the first eight years. After that, an¬other state which is afraid like Enugu should take over from them and rule for another eight years, after which Anambra which is least afraid should come last. In fact, this was a proposal that got the minds of everybody. We had important persons in the conference that I thought would have made the final decision. On his way to Abakaliki, he sent me a message that he has accepted the proposal that when he gets to Abakaliki he would see the gover¬nor and present it to hi.But finally they said no to it, claiming that the governor was responsible, and if that will take him to hell, he will support the gov¬ernor. But I remember that people change slowly.
Why do you the want geo-political zones as federating units instead of the current system?
We want meaningful development for our people, meaningful generation of electricity, em¬ployment, distribution of social amenities to the communities and meaningful fight against eco¬logical problems which comes in zonal formation. The South-east as a whole has the same ecological problem as the North .Ecological problem comes in a large scale which the states cannot solve. There is economics of scale which says producing for a larger number will give you a lower unit cost than producing for a smaller number. If we generate power for the whole of south east, it will come at a lower unit cost for anybody using it than produc¬ing for Anambra State because it will be too small. This was what people don’t understand. They are playing politics because they believe that they will have more governors and representatives who will be powerful. The reason for the existence of gov¬ernment is for the welfare of the ordinary members of the society, not for creating governors.
Do you think the confab has been able to resolve the crisis that may have aris¬en in 2015 general elections?
I don’t know about 2015 general elections. If the president as usual is guided by God and he finds a way to implement the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference, a new Nigeria will be born from it. A Nigeria where there is greater feel¬ings of belonging with sense of fairness, equity and justice. A Nigeria where there is more equality of citizens. Don’t mind about all the side talks. Out of anger some people said the southerners should go home. Where is the home for southerners? And where is home for northerners? If I am leaving Kano to lokoja, where do I stop?. Have I left the north? Some people are talking without thinking. One Nigeria is best for an Igbo man, Hausa, Yo¬ruba and the minority groups. As one country, we will be forever.
This is the time for us to extend love to each other, especially the Igbo that lives everywhere in the country. Whatever the Yoruba can do for the people let them do it. The Igbo has civilized the whole country. We have commercialized the whole country. We were in the process of indus¬trializing the whole country before were attacked. And we wanted to go on our own, but they drove us back to Nigeria. Perhaps, if Biafra had succeed¬ed today, going to Biafra would have been like go¬ing to New York or London. It is the gift from God. Somebody said that if we leave Nigeria that we are going to lose property worth trillions of Dollars. That is nonsense. We created those property. We will create a better one if our home is organized. Look at what Anambra governor is doing, let an¬other governor from the South-east start doing the same thing, and we will find a home in the east that will be will be envied by New Yorkans and the English men. It is a gift from God. Our tradition of child up bringing and other gifts God gave us makes it impossible for us to be a loser. Igbo will find its way. We are in every country. Igbo village has been created in America. Only four groups are recognized by the America as the builders of the United States of America and Igbo is one of them. That is why we have Igbo village in Virginia. Anybody that thinks that we have developed too much for them, and they can take and run away with it, that person is being myopic. When we take over the leadership of this country as the president, Nigeria will change drastically, you will not recog¬nize Nigeria after 8 years of an Igbo man being a President. It is ordained by God.
Did the confab recommendations in¬clude other sources of generating rev¬enue for the country outside the oil in the South -south?
I am proud of the National Conference.That was an assembly of the best brains and most ex¬perienced people in Nigeria. No nation can create an Assembly of that quality. Sector by sector, we diagnosed the problems of the country and prof¬fered solutions to the citizenship, environment, agriculture, environment and others. All aspects of socio- politica issues, religion and developments in Nigeria were covered. You heard of the derivation because that was a contentious one .It was not con¬troversial at all because the committee that dealt with it worked so hard. As we closed from the con¬ference the derivation remains 13%. It is some of us that shouild be blamed for any controversy. For me I don’t see how the whole south-south should go home with 13% and they will say that they have achieved something. They may even burn the oil installation, that was the fears of some of us who tried to increase it beyond 13% had.
What are your expectations in the south east in 2015 general elections?
Everybody from the South-east and friends of the South-east should be concerned about the candidates emerging for the contest of gubernato¬rial elections in Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo. We want to rebuild Igboland for our people. We don’t want candidates with doubtful background to emerge as our governors in any part of the South-east. We want traditional marriages to be celebrat¬ed peacefully in the south east without harassment from anybody. Such ceremonies should never be done outside Igboland again. We want both the rich and the poor to be free at home without intimi¬dation or fear of being intimidated by kidnappers and armed robbers. We want everybody to be free at home and enjoy his or her wealth.We want the best for the South-east in 2015.
We want people that have the spirit to promote their people and Nigeria. This is why I like people with sound minds, educated and philanthropists to be the governors of the five states in the South East. If you come to Enugu State, the person that comes to my mind is Emeka Ugwuoji. I also like others whose names I have heard, but Emeka is a man who has not indicated interest to contest the gov¬ernorship of the state. But he has the background to change things for good. He is currently the chairman of the Southern Professionals where he is performing wonders. We don’t want drug push¬ers or fraudsters chasing everybody in the villages. Our people should learn how to vote for progress. They should not go for money, though, they can be enticed with money which they are free to col¬lect and still vote for the right candidates. After all, the money some people give during elections was stolen from the people directly or indirectly. So, the people can still collect the money and vote accordingly. In an election, many candidates buy gifts and distribute to people, some even buy wines,so if you look at it critically the voters might have collected gifts, wines or money from different candidates running for an election. Can the people vote for all of them at the same time? The answer is no. Money offered to the voters during elections is like drugs which expires with a definite date. If it requires that voters must take an oath and collect money, let them do that because oath in politics does not kill but justice kills. It is your conscience that will kill you if you do something wrong. The person that is giving you money so that you can vote for him is trying to cheat you of your right and conscience. Take the money and vote accord¬ing to your conscience and cheat the cheat. So, if anybody offers you money collect it and vote for the right candidate that will bring meaningful de¬velopment to the society.
Do you think that the South east is po¬litically matured for this kind of ideology?
Maturity comes from education. We did not come from our mother’s womb knowing every¬thing. You the Press men have to spread this mes¬sage. If this idea is repeated constantly and people find it to be the truth, the ideology will live with the people for a long time. Because the money that is given to the people during elections was one way or the other stolen from them, and it is being given back to them. When I was contesting for the gov¬ernor of Anambra State, Chief Arthur Nzeribe said over his dead body will I become the governor of Anambra State. He did not say it because he hated me, but because he knew that in Anambra State people pay attention to their Christian denomina¬tion and I belong to Salvation Army. How many are we? Very few of us. So, he thought that because of my denomination, I was not a good candidate to support. But when he made the statement, he tried to rubbish the people listening to me. But I told him, Nzeribe, I was going to be the governor of Anambra State, but you will not die. You will attend my inauguration ceremony. And it hap¬pened like that. I won the election because I told the people the truth. I canvassed in every village in Anambra State more than twice. They knew where I stood at every point in time. They held me and judged me according to my words. The denomina¬tion did not even come to play. There was a town I went for campaign, they said we have seen you as the best candidate but which church do you attend? I knew that it was a difficult question because Ro¬man Catholic dominates Anambra State. I said to them, let my people answer for me. When they listened to my campaign coordinators, they said this is the man we have been waiting for. They cast their votes according to their conscience. So, that is what you get when you campaign with truth and people see the quality in you.
What is your assessment of the admin¬istration of president jonathan so far?
People might have judged President Jonathan in one way or the other. People have seen him in action. Most people think that he does not know what is happening in the country and he does not react fast enough, but we have seen that Jonathan appears to be a tool in the hands of God to do God’s will in Nigeria and for Nigerians. In 2015, if it is the will of God that Jonathan should be there, then he should remain there. When people said they will go their different ways, I supported him and eventually they turned back and joined me. I am the number one supporter he had in Igboland. Now, I don’t need to fight for him because God is fighting for him. With the experience of people like IBB and their comments, if you read their comments deeply, anybody that is knowledgeable enough don’t go hitting his head on the wall. It is the will of God that it has appeared to be so. We have fought enough in this country. They killed the Igbos but we have forgiven them. The Igbo nation is extending their right hand of fellowship to every Nigerian. Let’s rebuild the love for one another. It is the will of God that Nigeria still exists. Nigeri¬ans should wipe away the shame of slavery on the face of black man. And the only way to do it is to develop to be among the world super powers in order to restore the dignity of the Blackman and Africa as a whole.
For me, I am happy at what happened in the confab, because I am not in PDP. I am not able to help many of my colleagues, associates and rela¬tions to get employment from the government because I was in an alliance with Alliance for De¬mocracy (AD). It was a choice I made with my two eyes open. Chief Abiola went to every part of Igbo land with the siren of Anambra State. No Yo¬ruba man fought harder than I did for Abiola after he was denied the mandate in 1993. As a founding member of NADECO, G34 and Alliance for De-mocracy (AD). When people asked me to come to PDP and be the chairman of Board of Trustees, I said no, because I saw the Yoruba and the Igbo going on parallel lines in Nigerian politics. Paral¬lel lines don’t meet. So if the Yoruba and the Igbo continue this way, they will be permanent slaves in Nigeria politics. I sacrificed my political career in order to make the parallel lines to meet. For the South-south, in August 10, 2010, we went to She¬hu Yar’Adua Center to negotiate with the north on the future of the country, instead of what we agreed to do to get ideas, our people signed an agreement to support the north and in return the north will support us in 2015 which is not feasible. I said no and stood alone.
Today, the South-south people are well disposed to me. They know that I trust them and they trust me too. The same with my relationship with the Yorubas. I trust them and they trust me. What happened at the conference is a confirmation that the Yorubas and South-South understand us and we understand them too. We are working for the North to understand us better because we want a united Nigeria that will make progress. In one of the meetings we had in Lagos, an Ogoni man was there defending an Igbo man. These are people that were brought up to hate us. They were told that an Igbo man will take what belongs to them. A very good friend of mine whom I went to London with said to me, you are an Igbo man, I replied yes I am. He said to me again, I was brought up not to like an Igbo man but I have found out that there is no truth in what they told us. What I have found in you is different from what I was taught. When I attended the burial ceremony of Akpan Isemin , the former governor of Akwa-Ibom State, I was asked to give a tribute, I dropped a bombshell. I told them that as long as South-south and South-East continue the lone race in Nigeria politics? For how long will they eat their political frustrations? But if they were to speak with one voice with proper integra¬tion, whatever they ask from Nigeria is what they will get in the country.
What are the chances of the APC in the 2015 elections ?
I don’t see APC making progress in Nigeria unless the presidential candidate is Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu. That is where they can have a foot hold in the country.
Source: Sun
