It is indeed surprising that up till today, we have failed to identify the simple solution to the problems affecting us as a nation. Could it be our problem is the first of its kind in the world that
defies solution? I do not think so. Almost every Nigerian within and outside the country knows that the solution lies with us all. However, we all have been hiding behind the thick cover of self-denial
in admitting the knowledge of the problem much less proffering the required solution. This rather unsolvable problem is a single word which all reasonable person always tries to associate with even if
they fail at it.
The English dictionary simply defines the word “honesty” as: ‘Freedom from deceit, cheating, lying, stealing etc’. This is a word that all parents drum into the ears and heads of their children and punish them if found wanting; but that which adults vehemently ignore. Of course, some might disagree with me; but let us look deeply into the few facts that will be projected below. We may or may not agree
the word if fully analysed and implemented; it would be found that lack of honesty is the main obstacle to solving our national problems. The lack of accepting the meaning of the word led us to commit actions that bred many illegal activities; and in trying to cover these actions, further atrocities were and are still being carried out leading to our current unpredictable position the country finds
itself. Another meaning of the word honesty in the Oxford dictionary pointed that “Honesty is the best policy. It pays to be honest’.
We have been dishonest in practically all we do in this nation; Selfishness is now a part of us; where we talk more of what we can get from the system instead of what we can contribute to make the
system more effective. We selfishly criticize ideas that contradict our personal views not because the ideas were non-productive, but because they are contrary to our belief system. Constructive criticism
with better alternatives was and is very much foreign to us. For years we have been battling with unacceptable census figures which are very vital for development; but due to our selfishness and dishonesty every section of the country believes the other would inflate its figures to
gain more share from the national allocation.
There was a time when a part of the country was accused of counting the legs of their cows to add to their population figures; and probably some fishtails; cocoa pods and palm oil fruits were also
added. Unknown to many, this lack of an honest and accurate population figure certainly affected developmental programs. Again, that word slipped from our national dictionary. When we commenced to play politics, the dreaded word also eluded us as political Parties were formed not on ideologies but on personalities. While the initial parties were ethnic and parochial, the latter so called parties were
no better than personal associations based on available resources and the unfulfilled promises given to literates and uneducated poor citizens.
This lack of honesty was inherited from the British colonists in the amalgamation of the different sections that made what was then called Nigeria, politics being a game of numbers and with the north being very large though behind in western education was bound to hold a large portion in any democratic set up. Initial party system though democratic based on the British Westminster was based on regional cum tribal bases; thus making the parties regionally based and tribally oriented. The Northern People’s Congress (NPC) catering for the northern region, the Action Group (AG) for the western region, while the National Council for Nigeria and Cameroon (NCNC) catered for the
eastern region and the then Southern Cameroun. With each party catering for its area of jurisdiction, we had a COMPOUND of parties supposed to act for a one united country; and that unrealistic
concoction was held together by the colonial British administration up to the granting of independence in 1960. Maturity of these leaders helped to hold the country together up to the unsuccessful coup of the five majors that culminated to the unnecessary civil war of 1966 to 1970. As the then head of state proclaimed, there was “NO VICTOR NO VANQUISHED”. But had we and the British been honest, the conflict would have been avoided by balancing the components of the then regions. Why was the country not adjusted by creating a MIDDLEBELT from the then very large Northern region, as was done by creating Midwest region from the western region, and the SOUTH-SOUTH region from the then eastern region, then returning the country to its original parliamentary system instead of the complicated and expensive Presidential system which no one seems to fully understand how it
works? I believe it was not the system of government that was wrong in the early days of the country’s independence, but the lopsidedness of the composition of the parts making the federation.
Though the military recomposed the country in order to make it easy to administer, a mistake was made in handing over the administration to civilians by changing the mode of Government from the one the populace was groomed on as the parliamentary Westminster to a rather complicated marriage between the American and the French presidential system. Had we continued with the old system, I believe, the
politicians of the old republic would have modified their old system and educate the new breed on the art of Government from a system that had been and is still being operated in Britain successfully today.
From 1979 to date, the old breed refused to learn the new system while
the new breed were busy criticizing the operators of the system with the country at almost a standstill or in reverse mode. I reflected and wrote on this topic before the handover to democratic rule in 1999 in which some media houses carried it with the tittle ‘going forward or backwards’, but as usual, we are fond of throwing away suggestions especially if they tend to go against our own parochial view. The military created states in order to execute the civil war not minding the fact that the creation of states in a country that fought a war to keep it united is counter productive. As for those calling for a sovereign national conference, I would urge them not to put the clock too far back. Let us be honest to ourselves
and work through the present houses and pass through the necessary changes that will bring back the parliamentary system using the present six geopolitical zones with necessary alignment and
adjustment where practicable; and an honest referendum can even be conducted to facilitate the change and the usual legal interpretation of the present constitution to be waved where necessary; after all, we have been crying that the present constitution was thrust upon us by the military. It is to be noted that almost all the political problems we have in the country had to do with the nomination or election of the executive offices which is either by zoning or vote rigging. In the parliamentary system, the election of the top executives is left to the relevant parties. All members of any of the executive arm
of either Federal or Regional Governments must win an election from his or her constituency, thus change the status quo where some people who contested and lost elections will become ministers. Additionally, majority of our people are not that enlightened as to Vote using numerous parties as at present; therefore this arrangement plays a very important role in rigging elections. It is arguably said that the best election we ever had was that of the SDP/NRC in 1993 which was annulled. Part of the reason for the success of that election was the choice between two parties which was easy for
any individual to make. At the moment, I am sure some of the high ranking political party holders cannot identify or defend what their party manifesto is. Honesty should be key; and politicians should be
bold enough to uphold truth and correcting the wrong. Majority of the developed countries of the world hardly have more than three political parties; why should a large, developing country like ours go for
mushroom parties that all of us know could not make the round?
I am happy to see some people calling for the return of the parliamentary system of Government using the present six geopolitical zones. Political lawyers should therefore please give the masses a
chance to choose the best for themselves. Another example is where the people of the then southern Zaria Province now cash in the military’s merger of Katsina and Zaria provinces into Kaduna state but failed to retain Zaria State as done to Katsina province. Kaduna was never a province, why then create a Kaduna state? Old Zaria Province only had Jemaa Federation added in mid 1950 from Bauchi Plateau for
administrative convenience.
SECURITY AND ECONOMY.
Security and economy go hand in hand as in most cases, the economic situation of the country determines the crime rate it contends with. The imbalance in the sighting and distribution of economic generating projects in some parts of the country created a dichotomy between the haves and have-nots. Discovery of oil in Nigeria was a blessing and a curse as it became the source of security and economic problems downturn. It was a blessing in that it helped us fund the unfortunate civil war without going cap in hand to other nations which could have had serious effects on our lives today; while on the other hand, it turned away from other economic potentials and enslaved us to oil wealth. The two colours on the national flag green and white depict agriculture and peace; but even though the green portion covered two thirds of the flag, agriculture has been almost totally neglected especially in the Northern part of the country. Reliance on oil made us neglect agriculture and a drain on the provision of raw materials to the numerous industries especially in the Northern leading to a large unemployment crisis creating insecurity in the region. The availability of oil money in the south also created easy means of
wealth through kidnappings and militancy as being experienced in the Delta region despite the amnesty given to them by late President Umaru Yaradua.
In the North, the roaming ‘almajiris’ who are easily cajoled to commit atrocities in cities also contribute to the insecurities crisis in their areas. Therefore the use of traditional leaders from the village
to district heads and chiefs to help in identifying criminal elements must be reintroduced as was done before. Deployment of police officers with knowledge of the area of deployment is very essential, though the senior officers need not to be from the locality as this can prove Counter productive.
I had written about my opinions and suggestions on how to tackle this in the past, and it was published about the present idea of central ‘almajiri’ or destitute in the north. The late general Hassan Katsina
and Alhaji Aminu Kano all of blessed memories once said ‘Kowa ya koma gidan ubanshi’ which literally means ‘everyone should go back to their fathers’ house. And to date, the best solution is to get all roaming almajiris and destitute repatriated to their hometowns by the respective states, together with their Mallams and the respective states together with the relevant local Governments and to enlarge the existing secondary schools to accommodate the repatriated children in the spirit of the free primary education for all. Both the children of rich and poor should sit on the same desk and those too old to be
educated in the primary schools should attend adult education classes ‘YAKI DA JAHILCI’. The Malams should be employed at the extended schools to teach Islamic lessons as we did and still do in all
Government schools. Traditional and Religious leaders to educate parents that the days of sending children to GABAS to learn the Quran is gone. There is no village, no matter how small that will not find a mallam to teach children the basic Qur’anic education. Parents should realize that Allah has ordered the upbringing of off springs to the parents and any lapse in that area is against his directive. It is the
responsibility of state and Local Government Authorities to cater for the citizens of their area. The Federal Government could come on the initial repatriation and expansion of the schools. The present
almajiri schools are really only a window dressing for the selected children of few not the majority; and one of the major solutions is also to create jobs for the trained destitute as is being started by
some states. No child will set fire to any house in his village as is being paid to the roaming almajiris in the cities. If what is god for the goose is also good for the gander, it is time the Federal
Government creates a ministry for the Northern destitute in parallel with the one of the Niger Delta region. The poorest masses in the country are found in the North; therefore Creation of employment is
what is needed and not building universities that further increase the number of roaming unemployed graduates without jobs. States should also embark on opening new trade centers and colleges
of technology. But what we seem to be doing now is just like what the madwoman did after tying up the fire wood she made and found she could not carry it. Instead of reducing the pieces of wood to a size she can carry, she took her axe and went back to the forest to make more firewood. Here we are swamped by graduates looking for employment and instead of creating something for them, or reducing the outflow, we are busy churning out more by establishing more universities. Just like the mad woman, let us revive the industries and open up more farms. Let us lay more emphasis on technical matters rather than producing the non technical roaming graduates of the present. Justice and impartiality plays an important role in reducing insecurity. We must be bold enough to punish criminal offenders, no
matter how highly placed they may be and justice must be seen to have been carried out so as to act as a deterrence. Our prisons are now breeding grounds for would be criminals due to the long awaiting
trials in congested prisons where the basic purpose of incarceration was to reform and turn the freed persons to be acceptable to the society. The case of amnesty for the militants and bullets for alleged
criminals does not portray justice. Some people are rotting away in jail for a case that should have been adjourned years ago. There must be many major Hamza Al-Mustaphas’ in our jails crying for justice. The
saying that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’ is still very relevant.
We must learn from the mistakes of the United States of America when they went with all their military might to fight communism and finished with ‘a bloody nose’ and lost both the battle and the war.
Nowadays, dialogue pays more dividends than use of force. Even in the military, firing at a wrong target is waste of ammunitions; let us therefore adopt dialogue from all sides. This takes me to the call for
creation of state police which in my opinion will only complicate the security situation at hand. With allegations of some politicians operating personal security outfits, it will be like the numerous
generators now in many houses which still do not solve the power problem. If we are to go to the six regions and operate a para military system; the idea might be something to consider. But for now,
what we need is to strengthen the current police by merging them with some recently created paramilitary as some of the units are being duplicated such as the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC) which are literally
doing police jobs. This action can boost the NPF and relieve the now constant use of the military in the aid to civil power.
ONSHORE/OFFSHORE DICOTOMY
The issue of the interpretation of the law of the sea with regards to the control of sea area is still generating some controversy. The basic misunderstanding to me is in the word ‘state’. The United
Nations convention on the law of the sea of 10th December 1982 which was updated on 9th November 2011, stated in part ‘coastal state have sovereign right in a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with respect to natural resources and certain economic activities, and exercise jurisdiction over marine science research and environmental protection’ now the world state being referred to in this case is a ‘Nation or a Country’ and not a part of it. The Supreme Court judgement S26/2001 that gave the definition of the word is very correct and this can be explained in layman’s language of a land owner with his C of O which limits him to the beacons on the plan but does not give him the
right to the road in front of it as that belongs to the local authority. It is a simple case as the limit of any coastal nation finishes at the low water mark. So the literal states in Nigeria cannot claim an inch of the sea. The law of the sea involves the sea area between nations. We should not be the only ones in the world that will give a different interpretation to an international convention. The Supreme Court had delivered the correct judgement let us therefore be honest and abide by the correct interpretation of the Supreme Court.
As the matter is generating so much debate, I sent my observations and comments to the concerned senators and a more detailed write-up in August 2008. Although the Federal Government had indicated the closure of appeal on the matter, I only want to emphasis the security elements on seeding the whole of Bakassi to Cameroon as this greatly affects the entrance to the Calabar River and port. In the worse case, we must occupy sufficient islands harbouring the Calabar River to allow us deploy sufficient security to safeguard the free entrance to Calabar and other parts of that region. I must however commend (Mahmud) Jega’s observation in his Daily Trust column of Monday, October 8, 2012 under
the heading of ‘Like rainstorm at night’ as he hit the nail on the head with a master stroke. The only area he failed to identify, to my understanding was the vital importance of Bakassi to the territorial
security of the Nation. Giving away Bakassi to Cameroon will affect the naval activities in the eastern reion which contains numerous economic elements such as the access to the port of Calabar in the
event of any unforeseeable dispute within that region. As pointed out by Jega, we must not be the good boys to anybody on matters that will be detrimental to us. Colonial days have gone and so should such
dictates. We cannot surrender.
COAST GUARDS
In March 2011, I wrote another article which was published by some newspapers on the use of Niger Delta militants for the security of oil platforms as members of the coast guard. This is a wrong idea as one cannot entrust to the one damaging his resources with the responsibility of safe guarding it. I gave the simple example of ‘Leaving your herd of goats under the care of a hyena and expect it not to eat them at will’. Establishing a coastguard is well overdue; but it must be properly established as an arm of the Nigerian Navy administratively and under the Chief of Defence Staff operationally. Recruiting may be made in a similar manner to that of the armed forces and not sectional as being operated presently. Coast guards are to have operational area covering all out coastline and not restricted to any specific area.
PILGRIMAGES
In 1984 while working in the office of the then chief of staff supreme headquarters, LATE GENERAL TUNDE IDIAGBON, I had the heavy duty of controlling the number of Muslims that can perform hajj as we were told that previously, up to a hundred thousand were allowed to perform hajj. But we found the figure too high; so we pegged the number to 20,000 and I refused the pressure to give JNI the seats to distribute. Instead, for fairness I distributed the seats to all the states including the Christian dominated states of Imo, Anambara, Rivers, etc. as hajj is recommended only for those who can afford it and once in a lifetime. We started the screening of intending pilgrims which continues till date.
The office of the Amirul hajj being operated in Nigeria has been stopped in Saudi long ago. We should therefore allow the hajj commission to organize its affairs without intervention. It is wrong to use public funds to send people on pilgrimages; individuals can sponsor people but not with public funds. The case we are having with female pilgrim’s shows the reason why it was not correct to appoint a highly placed leader like the sultan of Sokoto as the permanent amirul hajj. As the president of the supreme council of Islamic affairs, he should be the one to arbitrate but it seems the error happened under his watch. That exalted seat should be given its rightful status. The presidency can, annually send a small delegation of about four to five people to observe the hajj for about one week and report back. But the hajj commission must be allowed carry out its duties without interference.
Similarly, the Christians also requested to go on pilgrimage. Even though there was no record of such organization, but to be fair, we investigated through tour agencies like BUCKY TRAVELS and obtained a maximum of 1250 people who travelled to Rome and Jerusalem in any one year. As with hajj, we did not allow CAN to distribute the seats, but the present Alake of Egbaland Lt Colonel Adedotun Gbadebo handled the first official Christian affairs. Allocations included Muslim dominated states such as Sokoto, Kano, Katsina etc. As with hajj, the current use of public funds by government should not be encouraged. Summarily; to conquer the mother of our problems, we need to be bold enough to vote for a major change in the constitution to what will be beneficial to the majority of Nigerians; which is the Westminster parliamentary system. Referendum, we are told is not in our present constitution, but after all, the constitution is not a scripture from God which cannot be changed. Give the common Nigerian the truth and let them choose what is best for the them and not just to the very
few.
Admiral S. Sa’idu,Former military administrator of old rivers state 1978/79 and Retired
Chief of the naval staff, Nigerian navy 1993.
