National conference delegate and former President-General, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr. DOZIE IKEDIFE, talks to Special Correspondent, CHIBUZOR NWACHUKWU, on efforts of the confab in addressing some of the critical issues in the country, dismissing the fears that resolutions of the body would be thrown away by the National Assembly.
A lot has been said and argued about the national conference and the legality of the body. What is your take on the argument?
Dr. Dozie Ikedife
People have the right to air their views on any issue; that is what democracy is all about. There has been clamour for re-definition of the polity. This was what gave rise to the litany of agitations from all the ethnic groups and geopolitical zones. At some point, we had the militants from the Niger Delta making demands for compensations over the level of infrastructure decay in their villages and constituencies. We also had agitations from the Movement for the Actualisation of a Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which Ralph Uwazuruike is championing. We also had the Arewa Forum in the North making its own demands.
Even some other smaller ethnic groups in the country had their own reasons for making agitations, insisting that they were being marginalised in the country.
Later, people started canvassing for Sovereign National Conference (SNC), so that we could right the wrongs in the country. After several demands, the president agreed to a national conference, and that gave rise to where we are today.
But they called for SNC and not just a national conference.
We are not talking about how to remain or not to remain as a country. If you go for that, somebody will one day say that the president should go, and there will be a vacuum. What our country wants is how to make sure that all interest groups are given fair hearing and made to benefit from the Nigerian polity. If we can right all the wrongs that affect our country, the issue of SNC will not come up again. We have to look at the issues of true federation, revenue derivation, state creation and all that. So that is the essence of the national conference.
You spent some months at the conference. Would you say that the South East has realised its aspirations from the exercise?
At any rate, we have tried our best as Ndigbo of the South East. But what you must appreciate is that all the delegates from the South East extraction did not come there to represent and fight for the interest of Ndigbo; some came under the umbrella of professional bodies, civil liberty or human rights organisations. So when they get there, they speak for the bodies or organisations that sent them there as delegates. So it becomes pretty difficult for us as Ndigbo to make those demands and get them actualised. You also look at the number of delegates we have. Our number is too small compared to the delegates from the North or South West.
South East has five states while some parts of the country have seven or eight states. When the delegates come to the conference and our issues are put to vote, we cannot win. We would almost remain in the minority. So we have to go to those areas that have numerical strength and we are at their mercy. That is, if they agree and if those demands do not infringe on their own interest.
So you can agree with me that it has not been easy for Ndigbo in the South East at the conference. However, we have been able to attract an additional state for the South East and other issues. The case of true federalism has not been easy. We are of the view that there should be six geo-political zones in the constitution, and that is where the issue of numerical strength comes in.
We do hold meetings of Igbo delegates but how many of them attend our meetings? So when we make demands, we do not even have our people to sit and harmonise these issues and form a common front.
There was this report about the resolution of the conference being doctored and some powerful forces trying to smuggle in a draft constitution to be imposed on the body. What is your view on this?
It would be difficult for that to happen. Some people have been making those allegations, and one wonders how it can be forced down the throat of all members. Our brothers from the North, I learnt, have been nursing those fears and we are waiting for them to substantiate their claims. If this allegation is true, it does not help our polity. That would mean our return to the drawing board, and this exercise has been defeated.
You talked about an additional state for the South East. With that, would you say the zone is still being marginalised?
Yes, but the committee recommended one more state for the zone, making it six states. But the committee also said that if more states would be created, then all the geopolitical zones would be having equal number of states. That means all the zones having eight states each. However, the committee had a proviso that the issue of population should be considered in the course of creating more states. So, it is not all about creating more states, but to ensure that we do not shoot ourselves in the foot by merely answering the demand for state creation.
We also need to consider the number of local government areas in those states and their geo-political zone.
Some states have less number of local government areas than other states despite their population, and some geo-political zones have half the number of local government areas in one state. This is unfair and improper. It does not show fairness and equity. So, while we address the issue of state creation, we should also look at the local government areas and even the federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, which represent the imbalance in the polity. This issue has adversely affected the country, especially some geo-political zones at the National Assembly.
But there is this apprehension in some quarters that the delegates, out of anger, may abandon their duty due to sectional interest. Is there any indication to that effect?
Nobody will abandon that job. The country expects more from us, and sectional interest will not affect us. It is normal for people to make case for their zone, but that does not ultimately become a threat to the conference. We had cases like derivation and it got to a point that we left it the way it is at the moment. This is because we considered the situation in which the country finds itself, and it would be dangerous for us to further heat up the system. We are elder statesmen and we understand clearly the consequences. So, those issues that would further cause problems are carefully handled in the interest of the country.
Are they parts of the no-go areas that some people are talking about?
This is not a question of no-go areas. Before we went on break, we had almost exhausted all the areas needed to be looked into. For example, some people were talking about true federalism. That means the regions being somehow independent in the area of the constitution and all that. There is nothing wrong about the idea, but it has to be put before the members and be deliberated upon.
It is not a question of somebody lording it over us and we all agree to it. We owe Nigerians a lot and we will try as much as possible to see that things are put in better perspective. It would not be all rosy in some areas, but it is all about give and take. I know that before now, the South East had well-tailored plans and agitations about what it wanted. So is the case with other zones. But when you get there, you have to look at your demands, consider other people’s demands and fashion a way out of these issues. So, when you say some people have already written a draft constitution to impose it on us, I wonder how that could be possible at this point. In as much as we had agreed that we are not going back on what had earlier been looked at, there could be need for us to look at some of them, if necessary.
Looking at Nigeria the way it is, some people feel that it is a time bomb waiting to explode. Do you subscribe to that?
These are the fears people always entertain due to the issue of the insurgence by Boko Haram. But I feel that the matter would be addressed and it will take time. But our worry is the brazen manner these people boasted that they would overrun the South East and later we heard of the arrest of over 400 suspected Boko Haram members in Aba and a bomb being discovered at a church in Owerri. That shows that the people are serious. So those nursing those fears cannot be said to be wrong at all, only that the politics that goes with it has not helped matters.
Professor Ben Nwabueze recently called for the redeployment of all police commissioners in Igbo land out of the zone because they are Muslims. What is your view on that?
Yes, that is what it should be. If you post an Igbo man as police commissioner to a state in the South East, he becomes morally compelled to ensure security in his area. But these people are from the North and they are Muslims. So they cannot be said to be directly attached to keeping peace, beside the routine police work.
Some people also called for at least three police commissioners to be posted to their zones along with three or four commissioners from other zones to be posted to other states in the same zone, and I subscribe to that. What it means is that in the South East, we have police commissioners from the zone posted to two states; then the rest of the three states would have commissioners from other zones.
There is also the allegation that the number of police commissioners of Igbo extraction is few. Do you consider that proper?
What is wrong about promoting our people to the rank of Police Commissioner? We know of our people who are supposed to have attained the rank of Assistant Inspectors General (AIGs) of Police, yet they are still Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACPs) and Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs). What is wrong with promoting them and posting them to the states? We in the South East have suffered so much marginalisation in the force, and it is time for us to correct this thing. We are all Nigerians and we should enjoy equal opportunities like other Nigerians. People should not tell us that we do not have police officers that can be promoted to the rank of CPs. We have our people who have all it takes to become CPs or even IGP. They are educated and experienced as police men and they can stand the challenges that are attendant to such positions.
What is your take on the suggestion of paying some form of compensation to what the North calls genocide, through fighting Boko Haram?
It is not wrong for a people to make demands, but this is more of the kettle calling the pot black. They are directing this to retired General Azubuike Ihejirika and the fight against insurgence. But we have to start from somewhere. That even brings me to the submissions at confab when the North talked about appropriating some money, like five per cent or so, to be shared to three states in the North due to the destruction by Boko Haram. We had to look at it and say okay let that percentage go for all the areas affected by destruction.
However, Boko Haram is ongoing and we cannot begin to talk about the extent of damage in the North because the religious sect and its activities have not stopped. It is my view that the issue of the Nigerian Civil War should be considered first. Those who talk about genocide have failed to consider the genocide that took place before the war and during the war. They have not considered the people of South East, South South and South West that are being killed by the bombs from Boko Haram. There is no state, constituency, senatorial zone or local government area, especially in the South East, that has not lost a brother, sister, relation or friend to the Boko Haram sect. Yet some people are calling for compensation for war crimes.
There are fears that the National Assembly may not accept resolutions of the national conference. What is your view on this?
It would be too early to consider if the Senate and House of Representatives would accept what we have done. But you cannot say that we went to Abuja for a jamboree. We went to the conference to discuss Nigeria. No one can wake up and say that the cream of the country made up of professionals, elder statesmen, women, captains of industries and all that are just in Abuja for the conference are for fanfare. It is not true.
