SUNDAY KATUNG, former Kaduna State Commissioner for Finance and Water Resources, is a House of Representatives aspirant for Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency on the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with OSIGBEME MUSA, he speaks on his reasons for seeking an elective office, his agenda for his constituents and other issues
Impression on Nigerian politics
SUNDAY KATUNG
Let me say that politics is still developing in our nation. The present attempt at democracy is just about 15 years. So, if you want to draw comparison with the more developed societies, you discover that we still have a long way to go. Again, any such comparison will also be inappropriate, since our level of development and operating environment is not the same. Thus, if I am to draw any conclusion about politics in Nigeria, I will borrow from an elder statesman’s analogy, that politics in Nigeria is about elections and struggle for offices.
Where Nigeria ought to be politically
We certainly are not near where we should be as a nation after 100 years of nationhood, and the reasons are not far-fetched. In my opinion, while we had no control over what happened during the pre-Independence era because we were under colonial rule, the same cannot be said of the events that occurred after Independence. Whereas we had the best leaders in control of the country at Independence (like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello), the advent of the military into the nation’s political scene completely altered and delayed our progress towards nationhood. The civil war followed, arising from lack of equity in the society, fuelled by personal ambition. The rest, as they say, is history.
Reasons for aspiration
Politically, my intention is to ensure that our laws have a human face, because when a law begins to bring hardship to the citizens, it must be changed. Indeed, laws are made for man and not man for the law, and every law must seek to confer happiness on the highest members of its citizens. Also, political parties must be made or allowed to evolve based on ideology rather than what we have today which is more like a collection or gathering of office-seekers.
Once this is implemented in the political realm, we will see a more robust debate in our National Assembly based on the will of the people and devoid of personal ambition and grandstanding which ultimately will hurt the people you are elected to represent.
Economically, the fundamental problem we have today is lack of proper planning. In this regard, there is a big disconnect between the rulers, the representatives and the citizens. From experience, the ruler and representative sit in one location and, without consultation with the people most of the times, decide what the people want. Planning, for it to be effective, must get the buy-in of the people, and that is the only way you can get them to protect government assets located in their communities. But if you sit to scramble and partition projects and resources without consulting the people, that is defective and must be corrected. Thus, politically and economically, I will maintain a constant presence with my people to ensure that I carry out their will rather than mine.
Agenda for Zangon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency
My agenda for my people is to give them good, effective and responsible representation by empowering and giving them a voice in the affairs of the nation. This is far from the occasional visits of some representatives to distribute the so-called dividends of democracy in a manner depicting the people as beggars. I would rather empower communities and provide a platform for self-development by bringing governance closer to the people instead of empowering a few individuals to the detriment of the larger society. In this regard, emphasis will be placed on empowering the youths and women through cooperatives. This way, the impact will be far-reaching.
Nigerian politics being dirty
To be candid, I shared this view of politics being dirty from 1999, until I had the opportunity of working closely with two elder statesmen and observing them closely. The first was Dr. Ahmadu Ali (former PDP national chairman) and the late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa (former governor of Kaduna State). The two actually broadened my horizon and changed my views of politics. Yes, there are dirty politicians; but politics itself is not dirty. In the course of my interaction with the former national chairman, in response to my assertion that I will not join active politics because it is dirty, he said to me: “With all your brilliant ideas and principles, if you do not partake in politics, how can you influence change? If you close your eyes for bad people to pass, you won’t see when good people will pass.” With the passage of time and serving as Commissioner in Kaduna State, my perception about politics has changed.
Aspiration for National Assembly
I have stated earlier that I have observed there is a need for true and effective representation by the people, coupled with my desire and ability to deliver on what they need. I have equally noticed that there is disconnect between the elected and the people, and this is sometimes attributed to the fact that your ability to win elections is determined by the size of your pocket. Thus, once people influence the voters with money, they spend their time trying to recoup what they expended. It is like an investment. I want to steer people away from money politics as a guarantee for true representation. In addition, I am counting on my modest contribution as commissioner in the state and letting the people know that I can represent them well at the National Assembly, if I could accomplish anything at all as an unelected person.
