Lawyer and human rights activist, FRED AGBAJE, in this encounter with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, dissects national and international issues affecting the country
Looking at the outcome of the recent Ekiti governorship election, do you see it impacting positively on the nation’s democracy?
Fred Agbaje
The Ekiti election has come and gone. It is not without its political blemish and sad tale of woes. Of course, it proved many bookmakers wrong. In fact, that election has become a metaphor in the political lexicon, in terms of electioneering, politicking and in terms of forecasting election. People went on political permutations and most of them were all disgraced. I am particularly enthralled in the sense that sovereignty belongs to the people; that it is the people that will make the government to either stay or collapse. That was the statement in the Ekiti election.
But whether you would say what happened in Ekiti is a good development for our democracy, I will say yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the people’s votes mattered, as they decided on their choice given the three top contenders. They told the world that they preferred the former governor, Ayo Fayose, to the incumbent, Kayode Fayemi. What happened tells you the power of the electorate, that even the sitting governor could not believe that he could be voted out of office. He believed he had performed creditably, but the voters had other ideas running in their heads. What the electorate have told us is that they are the ones to decide whether a particular governor has done well or not. They did that effectively in the Ekiti election. These are some of the pluses in the election which are good for the development of democracy. But the negative part of the Ekiti election, which I am afraid is dangerous for our democracy, was the siege by security agents. In other words, Ekiti, just because of ordinary governorship election, was highly militarised, and the little I know about democracy is that it does not like anything that has to do with the military; it abhors military style of governance or anything that deals with militarising the environment. When you put such a military siege on a state, you end up intimidating the people. That, in itself, is a psychological war on the people. It runs contrary to the tenets of true democracy. In a true democracy, people vote without fear of intimidation; voters are intimidated with the presence of fierce-looking, gun-wielding security agents all in an attempt, according to them, to keep the peace. Which peace?
This type of siege or military mentality must stop. If the federal government thinks it is justified the way it has done it, it may prepare to do it again during the general election, and as one would ask: Does it have the wherewithal? Does it have the human and material resources to man the entire states of the federation? When people say what has happened is a good development, they are only looking from one side.
You were among those that literally put their lives on the line to ensure that this democracy was enthroned. Fifteen years after, are you happy with the state of affairs?
I do agree that I am one of those that staked their lives and everything possible to have this democracy. But again, according to your question, that I love democracy is beyond dispute. This is because the worst form of democracy is far better than the best military government. The question is what has happened in the last 15 years. Can we say that Nigerians have got commensurate democracy dividends? The answer is no. Democracy is not just about the acronym, its theoretic description; it must be democracy in real life. Democracy is about the right of the people being respected. It is about respecting judicial orders; about ensuring that life is made better for the people because the people have their representatives in government. But what do we have in Nigeria? I can tell you and I am honest about it that my life was better off in 1999 than in this present day. Power never degenerated to this comatose level. Can you imagine the billions that have been sank into the power sector? Inflation is still on the increase. Corruption did not rise to this level; unemployment never got to this frightening stage; our roads and medical infrastructure never got to this alarmingly decayed level. Just name any sector that you can beat your chest and say: it’s now better than it was before this democracy. I have a little cousin. He has a problem they call stem cell transplant. It has to do with the blood on one of his legs. I have a letter from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). They cannot treat it. The boy has just been referred to India. The question I want to ask is: since when has medical “tourism” to India become a way of life for us? Was it as bad as this before the advent of this democracy? What it means is that while our medical infrastructure is decaying under the present clueless leadership, India’s economy is booming at the expense of Nigeria through what we shamelessly call medical “tourism”.
Our political leaders are not showing any concern. Of course they can afford to treat themselves and family at the world’s best hospitals, not minding what happens to the rest of us.
How do you see the Boko Haram insurgents and recent intervention by foreign countries in addressing the menace?
It is shameful that we should be in this mess. It follows what I earlier called the cluelessness of leadership. Is it not shameful that Nigeria, given the resources that abound, cannot fight Boko Haram? The irony of the entire scenario is that government kept deceiving the people all along that it was on top of the situation, whereas Boko Haram had been on top. It was the Chibok girls’ abduction that exposed all their shenanigans, their lies that they started running helter-skelter to cover up. The abduction has become a metaphor in the sense that all that the Nigerian government has been saying concerning security were lies, as there is nothing to back its boastful claims.
But the claim is that terrorism has become a global problem. Don’t you think so?
Must it be Nigeria’s portion? Should Nigeria be part of a terrorist nation, or are you saying that terrorism is now in every country of the world? Is it in every country that bomb is now being detonated and people abducted and maimed as it is today in Nigeria? Should Nigeria be branded a terrorist nation? If those political leaders in Abuja are not ashamed, we are ashamed of what is happening today in the land.
You can see that, to make the matter worse, other foreign powers are here to assist us. They don’t even trust our security. I will not be surprised if Sudan joins them to send security to help Nigerian government. Who knows if very soon, even Niger Republic, Rwanda, Somalia will also say they want to send help to us. It means that Nigeria never appreciated its position in the scheme of things in Africa. In fact, whatever glory Nigeria has made internationally or otherwise has been brought to naught by the present rulers or what I call political marauders.
Do you think the presence of the international powers will impact negatively on our sovereignty?
Of course, yes. Your sovereignty must be affected. We are just deceiving ourselves that we are a giant – a giant that is sleeping. To make matters worse, foreign organisations misled our leadership to believe that our economy is growing; they only rebased your economy and they are delighted, thinking that the economy is growing. Does it have any positive impact on the life of the masses? Has it generated employment? Has inflation stopped because of the rebasing? The presence of foreign powers indicts your integrity. They are coming, if you don’t know, to also violate your sovereignty. Whatever security information they got, they will not give it to the Nigerian security agencies because they do not trust us. There will be violation of our territorial integrity. Americans will not call you to come and help them. Even as small as South Africa is, they will not call you in such situation to come and help them.
Do you share the view that human right activists have gone to bed, even in the face of rights abuses since the onset of the current dispensation?
Yes, I agree with it totally. Where are some of us that were in the political trenches fighting for the enthronement of democracy? Majority have compromised. Except few people like us, Agbakoba, Femi Falana, Bamidele Aturu, and a few others, where are the rest? Some have become lawyers to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), as the agency has buttered their lives. Many have abandoned the struggle because they have joined the other side to better their lives.
Do you think that some of the things happening in the country today, like the security challenge, could affect the nation’s quest for the United Nations permanent seat?
Yes, it will affect us. You are even going too far. There was a vacant Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secretary position, and our petroleum minister, who is still serving, not that she has left office, competed and lost. You think the world does not know what is happening in Nigeria? We will be deceiving ourselves to think that the international community is not conversant with what is happening in the country. When Diezani (Alison-Madueke) indicated interest to contest, I laughed. Is it not the same Diezani that was invited by the National Assembly to come and answer a case bordering on corruption in her ministry, and she has stylishly been avoiding the legislative arm? And to make matters worse, the court is shielding her. Yet the same government claims it is fighting corruption. Shouldn’t the government have come out to say: Diezani, go and prove yourself and tell the world there is no skeleton in your cupboard? The government did everything to aid and abet her. You think the world is not watching us?
Some Northern politicians are insisting that power must shift to the North, while some from the South insist that President Goodluck Jonathan must serve another term. What do you see playing out in 2015 on account of these rigid positions?
I am not a politician. What do they mean by power must shift? Where has the power been all along? Are they not the same elements that are complaining? Were they not the repository of the political power in this country right from Independence? Power has just resided for just few hours in the South and they are already feeling marginalised. Well, let them work for it; that is democracy for you. If they work for it and democratically acquire it, so be it. Going to stage military coup to acquire it will be resisted. Of course, military regime is stale all over the world now. If the North can democratically acquire the power back, I am in support of it. But anything short of democratic approach will be rejected.
What do you see playing out in 2015?
What do you think will change? Have you ever seen any president lose election in Nigeria? It can happen in Ekiti or any other state where a serving governor will lose election. How many federally-controlled PDP states lost election? If you expect any radical change, you are deceiving yourself. I am not a soothsayer. If any political party thinks it is going to vote out President Jonathan, it will be a herculean task. For now, it is wishful thinking, given what they are doing.
Are you saying that the All Progressives Congress (APC) lacks capacity, for now, to provide an alternative?
Which alternative is APC providing? I don’t belong to any of them. APC would have been a good alternative, but how serious is it? How genuinely concerned is APC in terms of providing good governance as an alternative party? The cancer that is eating deep into the ruling political party is also prevalent in the opposition party. Which of the political parties can you beat your chest and say ‘this one is practising true democracy or internal democracy where politics is played in accordance with the rule of the game’? Are they not all victims of imposition?
How would you examine Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and challenge of sub-regional security for Nigeria?
ECOWAS has always been there as a big brother and an umbrella for West Africa sub-region. Nigeria would have been able to play a formidable role both under the African Union (AU) as well as the West African sub-region comprising ECOWAS states. But what do we have that we can export to neighbouring African countries? Is it poverty, corruption, insecurity that you will want to export to them? The issue of Nigeria being a big brother in West Africa is even questionable now in the face of great political, economic, social and development progress in a country like Ghana. Nigeria needs to wake up from slumber to assert its leadership position in the ECOWAS countries and ultimately in AU.
