INEC’s early release of 2019 elections time table, good for democracy – Kaka

By Ihesiulo Grace

18 January 2018

Interviews

Senator Adegbenga Sefiu Kaka was the deputy governor of Ogun State between 1999 and 2003. He also represented Ogun East in the Senate between 2011 and 2015. In this interview, Kaka speaks on the recent killings in Benue and Taraba, the 2019 general elections’ time table as released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the fuel scarcity and its attendants problems among other issues of national importance. OKOHUE PATRICK report

How would you react to recent killings of villagers in Benue and Taraba states by the Fulani herdsmen and what is the way out of this menace?
The incident that happened, the emotions are very high now. And the issues involved are very volatile.

So I will try as much as possible to appeal to Nigerians to passionately look at the issues involved so that we don’t inflame the passion and sort of add petrol to the burning fire.

There is no doubt about it, that we have had negligence of responsibilities over the past years. And the negligence is not limited to the menace of the Fulani herdsmen.

If you look at the issue of Niger Delta militants, if you look at the issue of Boko Haram, they are also a shirking of responsibilities.

So, there is no doubt that the farmers generally, both livestock farmers and crop farmers have been neglected over the ages. So I am trying to base my submission around the basics because you can’t build something on nothing and expect it to stand.

So if what needed to have been done have been done, we wouldn’t be having this. The clamouring now for ranching, clamouring for colony, wouldn’t have been necessary if the needful have been done.

There is no doubt that the crop farmers must survive on their sweats, the people of Nigeria must eat crop produce.

So also the livestock farmers must survive and the people must continue to drive their livelihood from animal proteins, so what we need to do is to think ahead of this type of danger.

It is not when valuable lives are lost that we start to look for solution. We know that internationally across the globe, agriculture is subsidized, but without being particular about a certain administration, I can tell you that our votes for agriculture is more or less a peanut.

It is sad that a federal budget cannot move a state agriculture forward effectively. A situation where our annual budget ranges between one and three per cent of the total budget.

That is the budget for agriculture ranges between one and three per cent for the entire country what can that achieve.

And mind you, out of the said one and three per cent, the overhead is going to cart away over 70 per cent, with nothing left for capital expenditure.

So when you look at it fundamentally, you will see that the crisis we witnessed in Benue and Taraba recently are as a result of negligence on the part of all of us.

Now coming specifically to what happened in Benue, I doubt if there is any one that it does not touch. If you look at it, whatever be the grievances, that should not lead to the killing of human beings, not to talk of mass elimination bothering on genocide so to say.

So when you now look at it, the question is, how do we get out of the problem. The Fulani herdsmen are not just surfacing, they have been with us over ages and we have been seeing the signs of these clashes, it has been there since over two decades ago if not three decades.

So we have been seeing it, we ought to have nipped it in the bud by having a balance between the nomadic herdsmen and the farmers.

Convertibility of farm produce, we know it that the produce are converted for human needs, for animal needs. So also the issue at stake is talking about ruminants not monogastrics.

Monogastrics are such animals like chickens, pigs and others that can survive on the same food with lesser fibers. But in the case of ruminants they digests all fibrous plants.

So whatever is the bye products of the crop farming are useful for the animals apart from the fresh grasses . The fresh grasses may be preferred.

But there is opportunity for preservation of grasses during the rainy seasons and that is why we talk of gavages, you dry and keep it.

Then in silages you find a way of preserving it raw so that the animals can have continuous feeding throughout the year.

We also know that the animals are better off if you confine them, their productivity are better, there is less stress on Fulani herdsmen, if you can make them sedentary.

At a time in this country, somebody talked about nomadic education, that was Professor Jubril Aminu. They started it, where has it ended, and a lot of millions of naira was wasted on it, out of the federally collected revenue.

So, how we remedy that situation?
Yes, we need to subsidise agriculture, but it must be meaningfully subsidised in such a way that there would be reasonable and efficient harmonious coexistence between the farmers and the herdsmen which we failed to do.

Now nobody will tell the farmers that what you worked for throughout the whole year at the harvest time, stray animals and nomadic men will just come there and destroy them overnight and expect them to be happy.

That is where as government we need to take charge of our social responsibility by ensuring that the farmers are well protected, and their crop production are not disrupted by any cattle rearing men.

The cattle rearing men are also to survive for all of us to survive. So it is also necessary, there is no half measures to it because the crop farmers and the livestock farmers, they are for profit motives.

Nobody is doing it for social reason. So if it is for profit and they are not subsidising the sale of their produce, even if the government is subsidising the production, you are not subsidising it and you pass the cost on the consumers and make your profit.

If there is need for further investment while don’t you invest in that business you are in. Invest in it and pass the excess unto the consumers, it is legitimate instead of making some people sad because you want to protect your existence.

The fundamental human rights in the constitution is not meant for one person against the other, we are all supposed to be protected. And where the right of one person stopped, the right of other begins.

So all these skirmishes is because we have not been living up to the responsibility expected of us. So, all the fire brigade solutions being proffered, like we are going to do this and that, is not the way to go.

Even we human beings how much protection is being given us, we are under policed. Then we have the Civil Defence Corps, we have Peace Corps, are they being used for the purpose for which they were set up. We still have a lot of inefficiency within the system.

So I would appeal to the people to take things low and not increase the tension. And I would appeal to the government at all levels to be alert to their responsibilities.

Freedom of movement does not say you should come to my house and burgle it, freedom of movement does not say you come to my house and rape my wife or kidnap any member of my family, but they are doing it.

Freedom of movement does not say you must carry Ak47 rifles because you want to protect animals, you then use the same ammunition to kill human beings, it is unheard of.

The benefit of ranching outweighs the nomadic lives. With ranching the herdsmen children will have benefit to be educated, they also will have opportunity for good health care.

The primary health centre will be at their beck and calls. They will also have the opportunity to actually take care of their animals. Because when they trek from the North down to the South following the green belt, by the time they are trekking back they would be tired.

During the last Yuletide, the fuel crisis came up, causing Nigerians a lot of hardship and we are still battling with it. Some are saying that President Muhammadu Buhari has failed as the Minister of Petroleum and that there is the need for the appointment of a substantive Minister of Petroleum. What is your position on this?
Is the substantive Minister going to perform a magic? The answer is no, yes if the burden of the state is too much and definitely it is too much for an individual, there is nothing wrong in devolving responsibilities to others.

But be that as it may, I have said it since 2005, out of concern for what was happening, I wrote a letter to the then president, when we were having excess crude oil money and I was having fear that the excess crude oil money would be squandered as it used to be and it was squandered eventually.

I wrote that letter and I gave suggestions. The suggestion has been reechoed by the present Vice President when he talked of the modular refineries. I specifically suggested that before 2005, the four refineries we are having are already obsolete.

So between 2005 and now it is almost 12 years, so you can now believe that it is more obsolete now. That they should try either to sell it outrightly, if they can get buyers, or scrap them and build six micro/ medium refineries in the six geo political zones.

And thereafter privatise them. I said this at that time because I was aware that people were clamouring for privatisation, deregulation of the downstream sector.

So if it must be deregulated, then there is no reason why people should be talking about subsidy which was not in existence before. This is because the subsidy we have been seeing was due to inefficiency of our processes and operation.

Inefficiency being caused by wastages in our operation, caused by handling charges to and fro of taking our crude oil abroad, paying the freighting, the shipment, the insurance and so on and so forth.

And you now pay the same cost to bring the product back. That is double handling to and fro and you are now saying you want to pass that to the consumers.

On top of it all, the subsidy will not even get to the final consumers, but it would be hijacked by some middle men who called themselves marketers and those who call themselves government officials.

And nothing has been done to them since all these decades. So it is pathetic. It is beyond issue of Mr ‘A’ is Minister of State or substantive Minister of Petroleum, it is actually doing what is required.

We have turned NNPC to a cash cow where anything goes, where inefficiency is the order of the day, people are just populating the place as workers when the result coming from them cannot meet 10 per cent of the efficiency and effectiveness we have in the private sector.

INEC few days ago released the time-table for the 2019 general elections, indicating that political parties must pick their candidates between August and October. Many people are saying that the early release of the election time table may distract governance at the state and federal level. What is your take on this?
I don’t think so, it is not going to distract anything, because there is already an embedded landmark. More political parties are being registered and the more the registration some people may say it would provide for electorate choice.

I will say it will make the choice too difficult for the electorates who are mostly illiterates, because even with two dominant parties, there is no ideological differences, then you are now populating it.

I think we have 67 political parties, then how will the electorate make a choice out of 67 when they can hardly make a choice out of two or three.

So it is becoming unwieldy and proper education is necessary. Instead of talking about distraction in government, if it is possible we should bring forward the nomination of candidates so that the campaign can come earlier to make the electorate to understand the various political parties and to educate the electorate.

I will even say let us bring it down to May, so that there will be good time for campaign and proper enlightenment of the electorate for them to take decision on who their political leaders would be.

Many Nigerians are asking President Muhammadu Buhari not to contest the 2019 presidential election while some APC governors are urging him to go for a second term. What is your position on this?
You know we have freedom of speech. The freedom of speech is enshrined in the constitution of the country. They have their rights to voice out their opinion. But like I said earlier where the right of one ends, the right of another person begins.

So once they have their say, the decision to run or not to run is that of Buhari and his party, the APC. While are people bothering themselves with the issues that doesn’t concern them.

If you say you don’t want Buhari, provide a better alternative and let the people take decision. So within the constitution, Buhari is provided with a constitutional provision that guarantee his reelection.

Except he himself is convinced that he is no longer interested or his party say no to him, there is no reason why somebody who is not in his party and who is not Buhari to take decision for him.

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If it is possible we should bring forward the nomination of candidates so that the campaign can come earlier to make the electorate to understand the various political parties and to educate the electorate. I will even say let us bring it down to May, so that there will be good time for campaign and proper enlightenment of the electorate for them to take decision on who their political leaders would be.