For Nigeria to move forward, it must return to true federalism -Olaitan

Hon. Oladipo Olaitan is a chieftain of the Pan-Yoruba socio political group, Afenifere. He was also the Alliance for Democracy (AD) leader in the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003. In this interview with journalists, he speaks on the performance of APC led Federal administration in the last two years, the renewed call for restructuring, the recent victory of PDP in the Osun West Senatorial bye election among other issues of national importance.

On APC, some Nigerians have expressed surprise that though the party is not facing any major opposition from other political parties, but internal strife within the party is causing a lot of distraction, that the party members are always at loggerheads, what’s your take on this?
I have no problem with that at all. It is to be expected. We all know how APC came about, how the party was formed. What is happening in APC is part of politics. Nigerians should understand that the various components that came together to form APC had their own core values, and they brought those core values into APC, so whether you like it or not, there must always be friction in APC but it is nothing to worry about.
Presently in the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister, Theresa May had to reach out to a political party to enable her form government, but this political party members have their own core values while Theresa May also has her own core values, but the two parties have to respect each other’s core values.
Referring to APC as a party of strange bed fellows as some people have been doing does not even arise at all; there is nothing strange in strange bed fellows sitting together.

What’s your assessment of the last two years of the APC administration?
My candid assessment is this, one thing is clear; APC is not prepared to govern. This is very apparent. All APC was prepared to do was to snatch political power. They didn’t prepare to govern, and when you don’t naturally planned to succeed, you naturally plan to fail. APC didn’t plan to govern and this is why Nigerians are experiencing what we are passing through now.
So far so good, APC hasn’t done well. Things are very hard in Nigeria today. Recession is having biting effects on the citizens; insecurity and crime are also on the rise. Kidnapping has now become a very thriving business.
Things were never bad like this before. No Nigerian is safe now. The economy is also in terrible shape. And again this is the first time government would be unable to pay workers salaries.
Before when you secure employment with government your mind is at rest that at least you won’t be owed and that your salary even though may not be fat but will be secured. But that was then not now when some states governments are owing workers months of salaries, even the Federal Government is owing. Salaries are no longer regular. Pensioners are also being owed.
Some state governors are even running their states like one-man show. Some of them don’t appoint commissioners; they appoint Sole Administrators and all these are unconstitutional. Everything appears to have been turned upside down. All these are happening because APC was not prepared to govern. They only planned to win election, and not to govern.
The situation has also been compounded by President Muhammadu Buhari’s health challenges.

Are you saying that things would have been better if President Buhari was not facing health challenges?
Things perhaps would have been a little better, but I’m not sure that even with Buhari around that we would have been out of the woods. You ask me why? We were in the woods before Buhari fell sick, and I’m not quite sure that if Buhari is around that we would completely be out of the woods.
Buhari doesn’t appear to know how to govern. Sickness or no sickness, health challenge or no health challenge, Buhari couldn’t have done better.

But he was a former Head of State, and are you now saying he can’t deliver?
There is a lot of difference between being a former military ruler and now a civilian leader. It is a different ball game when you are a democratically elected president. Before, Buhari can wake up and bark orders, and people obey, but he can’t do that in a civilian setting. He must follow laid down rules, he must follow due process in doing things.

Some Nigerians are saying neither PDP nor APC has met Nigerians expectations in terms of delivery of dividends of democracy, some are even canvassing the idea of a mega party to wrest power from APC in 2019, what is your own position on all these?
Political parties have failed Nigerians. To me it would have been a fantastic idea if there has been a provision in our constitution for Independent Candidacy. I would vote for an independent candidate if our constitution allows it. Some countries have provision for it in their own constitution.
The idea of an independent candidate is not that such a person will rule the country alone. He is going to run government with people who believe in his own political ideals. It is not going to be a one-man show. What is the difference between PDP and APC? Nothing. Go and check the manifestoes of both APC and PDP, they don’t even work with manifesto.

APC has provision for restructuring in its manifesto, but surprisingly the party’s National Chairman, John Odigie Oyegun is saying he doesn’t believe in restructuring. How do you reconcile that?
Political parties have failed Nigerians and the earlier we make provision for Independent Candidacy in our constitution the better so that individuals can come out to seek elective offices based on their own merit and accomplishments and not based on political parties.
Independent candidacy I believe can work in Nigeria, and we should give it a trial.

You were one of the prominent Afenifere leaders that took part in the recent Southern Leaders Meeting which brought together eminent leaders from South-West, South-South and South-East, but that meeting was described as a gang-up against the North by some Nigerians, what’s your take on that?
Gang-up? I can’t understand what those saying that meant. If you held a meeting on how to protect your interest and the interests of your people, do you call such meeting a gang-up? It is only mischievous elements that would describe that meeting as a gang-up. We held the meeting to deliberate on how to foster peace and unity in the country, and also how to move the country forward. There was a threat issued by some Arewa youths and Southern leaders met to deliberate on the issue. It is only a tree that you will tell that tomorrow we are coming to cut you, and tomorrow you will still find the tree there.
Do you expect Southern leaders to fold their arms with that threat? We are being patriotic by talking about it. If we have an ulterior motive, we could have issued a counter-threat to the Arewa quit notice, but we didn’t do that, we only deliberated on how to protect Southerners’ interests and also to promote harmony among the various ethnic nationalities in the country.

Restructuring being canvassed as the way forward for Nigeria is being given different meaning by individuals, and groups, some are now even confused by the word restructuring, to you what does restructuring mean?
Those who are saying that they don’t understand what restructuring means are just being devilish and mischievous. You call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Restructuring is very simple.

When this geographical entity called Nigeria was to come into existence, the founding fathers asked the question, on what terms are we to be together?
We know then that all the various ethnic nationalities were not the same, that they had their differences, the Hausas knew they were Hausas, the Igbos knew they were Igbos, and Yorubas also knew they were Yorubas. We also have the minorities.
Then they all agreed to regional government. Each government in the regions then, that was in the First Republic had their own constitution, not only that they were developing at their own pace. There was healthy competition. Then some regions were even paying better salaries than what the Federal Government was paying. What restructuring means is that we should come back to that arrangement.
It is when they want to confuse you that people will start using different interpretations and different grammar for restructuring. Restructuring means true practice of Federalism and it is only when we return to true practice of Federalism that Nigeria can truly move forward. It was the military intervention that truncated true practice of federalism in Nigeria.
Each region under Federalism developed and exploited resources in their region to develop their area and you just now pay tax to the central government. The Federal Government will only concern itself with issues relating to defence, external affairs, immigration and things like that.
If the constitution of the First Republic allows for secession and referendum it was even the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello that insisted that the provision must be made for secession in that constitution, that if the North want to secede, that the region should be allowed to secede.
Why are the Northerners now attacking Nnamdi Kanu, and IPOB members who are clamouring for a separate state of Biafra? It is all hypocrisy. The Northerners first insisted that the right of any region to secede should be incorporated into the constitution of the First Republic.

Are you now saying that a return to the government of the First Republic would help move Nigeria forward?
Yes. That government allowed true practice of Federalism, and it is only true practice of federalism that will solve various problems confronting Nigeria today.
The major reason why some Nigerians are afraid of true federalism is because they have become lazy. People no longer want to develop resources in their region. Everybody believes in easy and free money being got from crude oil sale. But Nigerians should realise this, oil wells may dry up one day, and then what do we fall back upon. Even dependence on our oil was not as strong as before by developed countries. Most of those nations that buy our oil now have alternatives.
They have even developed cars that don’t use patrol. They have invented and are now using electric cars.
Those opposing restructuring are lazy people who don’t want to be enterprising.

What is your reaction to the defeat of APC by PDP in the recent Senatorial bye-election in Osun West?
It is the beginning of the end for APC in Osun State. APC is gone in Osun State. APC has come to the end of the road. APC has brought nothing but misery to Osun State, and people are tired and angry. They are also hungry. The defeat is an eye opener to APC leaders that Osun State people are no longer with them. APC should forget Osun State in 2018 when the governorship election will come up and in 2019 during the general election.
APC can’t rise again in Osun State. The people of Osun State have sent a strong signal to APC with that bye election which APC lost. The days of Osun State people’s romance with APC is over. With that defeat, APC has become history in Osun State.