Security of Benue people my topmost agenda in Senate – Senator Udende

In this interview, Senator Emmanuel Menga Udende representing Benue North East, who is a lawyer by profession, says the controversial Anti Open Grazing Law in the state will be strengthen by the current government by filling the observed gaps. He also spoke on insecurity in various parts of the country, unemployment, the recent allocation of N70 billion to the National Assembly, fuel subsidy removal and other national issues. Excerpts from HARUNA SALAMI .

What are some of the pressing issues in Benue North East where you represent that you intend to bring to attention of the National Assembly ?

I have just two. First, is security. About three or four local governments are bedeviled with the issue of security. That is a very big problem for us, just like the North West or North East. This has been disturbing us for a very long time. It’s an agenda for me in the Senate to try to see if we can tackle it. You can notice that about two weeks ago, there was an attack in my own local government where about 24 people were killed by bandits.

It’s something that has been disturbing us. Since 2015 the military has been after these people, but very little have been achieved. Our major aim is that at this time let’s adopt a stick and carrot approach. Those ones that are moderate, let’s talk to them. If they can lay down their arms, we integrate them back to the society and ask the military to go after those who are hardened.

We are working on it. Recently Service Chiefs have been confirmed. It’s the concern of my governor too. We are jointly working on it. We have set up a very small committee to give us modality on how to go about it. As soon as the committee gives the report, we will take the next step. It’s a very challenging situation; the economy of the place has gone down. People can no longer go to the farm.

Before, it used to be Fulani herdsmen and in a bid to chase away the Fulani herdsmen, there is a problem internally because the boys who were armed to chase these people have now turned their guns on the people. So, it’s a very big challenge. We are looking at it and God willing, we will be able to sort out the issue.

The second one is unemployment. Generally, there is unemployment in the country with graduates from the university, polytechnic roaming the streets. Now that I’m in the Senate to make laws, my proposals in the budget will be to areas that will alleviate this menace. It’s a very big problem, which if not curbed can take us into security challenge too. An idle hand can do anything. It’s my aim to have intervention that can really take some hands off from unemployment.

Before this time, the Benue State Government promulgated Anti Open Grazing Law. How do you assess its implementation?

Well, I’m a lawyer by profession. I was called to bar in 1986, that is a long time. I looked at the law. There are gaps, the implementation by the past administration is very poor. There is no desk officer. The first thing is to create a department in the Ministry of Agriculture that anybody who wants to breed animals could go there and ask for land. That will be better, but for now there is none.

We believe that this government will do something by creating a department in the Ministry of Agriculture that will enforce the implementation of this law. It was left for this livestock guards who most of the time will create problems, attack and carry cattle. The Fulanis in trying to get the cattle back, once they come and the cattle are not complete, come back for revenge. The innocent people suffer. I believe there should be a desk officer who you can approach if you want a ranch and there is an infringement, these can go after.

Do you foresee the present government coming up with an amendment to close these gap?

I think so, because during the campaigns he promised the people that he is going to strengthen the law. You can only strengthen the law if you fill gaps and then you are good to go.

Distinguished, to solve any problem you must first get to the root of it. Don’t you think legislators should go to the root of the problem first?

The root of the problem is that the farmer wants his land and the grazer wants to graze on the land. There must be some negotiation, not the law itself alone. Even as they fight in Ukraine now, they must come to negotiation table. The guns and whatever will never win the war. In this case too, the two sides must come to negotiation table and find a lasting solution to it. The law alone may not find the solution.

You defeated a former governor and senator to be here today. How was the journey?

I’m a Christian and I you are a Christian go and read 1 Corinthians 1:27. It says God chooses the less privileged to confound the wise, to make the wise look foolish. That is what God did in this case. I have nothing to say. It’s just the grace of God that brought me here.

What has your experience been like since your inauguration?

Well, I have been in the National Assembly before. I was in the House of Representatives between 2011 to 2019. I’m in a familiar terrain, it’s just a few changes; whereas in the House you don’t debate infrastructure bill, here they debate it. In the House, once it is infrastructure motion, once you move it, then it is passed without argument. It makes the process very fast.

In the House the Deputy Speaker presides in a committee of the whole, but here it is the Senate President who does it. These are the few differences I have noticed; otherwise, it is the same thing. Committee on Rules and Business acts like the Attorney General in the House, here it is silence. The Leader drives it.

What are your expectations of the 10th National Assembly?

Like every individual, you will want to surpass your predecessors. Our expectation is that we will surpass the performance of the 9th National Assembly.

But from the beginning now people believe you are here to serve yourselves. Many Nigerians see the N70 billion allocated to the National Assembly in the amendment to the 2022 Appropriation Act as for your welfare?.

No, you see, the problem with Nigerians, and I don’t blame them because the world over, it is the legislator that takes the bashing. If you go to America, it’s the same; they take the bashing for whatever privileges they have.

Do you expect a minister, if they bring the list, the day they come here and they are sworn in, the ministry will provide working tools for them. The N70 billion is to provide working vehicles for the National Assembly generally; it’s not for the welfare of legislators. Very soon, once the committees are set up, we go into committees. It’s not for welfare, like The Sun said.

The Sun did the arithmetic and said N128 million each. You see, we expect that where you don’t understand, you ask. It is not palliative to National Assembly; it is for provision of vehicles for the working of the National Assembly, and not only the Senate, but for the House of Representatives too. Right now there are no computers. Part of the money will go into buying office equipment for National Assembly generally and the other one will into buying vehicles. Don’t we deserve to have working vehicles and working tools?

What do you have to say about the removal of fuel subsidy?

For me, I’m a believer in the removal of fuel subsidy; it’s a scam. The people that benefit from fuel subsidy are not you and I. See people in the oil sector that are benefiting. You can imagine that the expenditure is about N400 billion monthly. Multiply that by 12 months. Now without the subsidy, I think consumption has been cut by 28 per cent. We were subsidizing, not only Nigeria, but neighbouring countries, and that has stopped.

I think it’s good for us. What I will advise the government to do in the interim is to provide palliatives that will bring succour to the man on the street. I won’t agree let’s go back to subsidy regime, rather I will prefer they subsidise agriculture where every man on the street will get food to eat. But subsidy for petroleum products, no.

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The few people that are benefiting, some of them present their bills, nobody to check. It is only NNPCL that buys, you don’t know how much they are buying. They tell us they recoup whatever expenditure they have made. I think the President has done well by removing the subsidy. Everybody should support him. No matter the hardship, it will be temporal. We believe the prices will come down once we allow market forces to play.

Some people are of the view that instead of palliatives, why not use the money build a refinery and solve this problem once and for all?.

My biggest problem is that we have four refineries, but they are not working. The problem is not even building refinery. If we don’t want the ones we have, sell them to private individuals who can manage them. Since we cannot fix existing ones there is no need building new ones. I don’t subscribe to building new refineries.

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