Pa Reuben Fasonranti, the leader of the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, in this interview with ADE AKANBI, talks about the expectation of his organisation from the Muhammadu Buhari-led government
In the last presidential election, the Afenifere
supported former President Goodluck Jonathan. Now that the election did not go
the way you expected, do you have any regrets?
No, we have no regrets. We decided to support
Jonathan because he agreed to organise the (2014) National Conference to solve
the problem of this country. He also agreed that if he won the election, he
would restructure Nigeria, so that everybody would have a sense of belonging.
That was why we supported him. During his campaign in Akure (Ondo State), he
came to my house and my people welcomed him and we stated our terms that if he
won, he would restructure Nigeria because the system of government being
operated in the country is a form of unitary system; there is much centralisation
of power at the centre. Every month, the governors go to Abuja to collect
money. By restructuring Nigeria, it would give each section or region of the
country a sense of belonging and self-determination.
But President Muhammadu Buhari also promised to
restructure Nigeria by tackling corruption, insecurity, economic problems…
(Cuts in) Those are topics; restructuring Nigeria
means each region. Like the time of Pa Obafemi Awolowo, will have a sense of
belonging and self-determination. For instance, we shall have the power to mine
our mineral resources, which is not so at the moment. For example, we have had
bitumen in this state (Ondo), but for many years now, nothing has been done
about it. If each region is given the power, there will be plenty of
opportunities; each region will be able to mine its resources. Mining, you
know, is on the Exclusive List and by so doing, each region will be able to do
what it likes with its mineral resources. Another example is railway. If there
is restructuring, a region will be able to construct its own railway the way it
wants, and many other things like that.
Now that President Buhari has begun his
administration, what are your expectations?
Our expectation is that we shall continue to say
the same thing, and that is for regions to have self-determination; that the
six geopolitical zones should be given the opportunity to decide on certain
things that affect their region. Apart from being able to mine our resources,
we will be able to develop our ports. There will be more money in our regions
to carry out many developmental projects. Also, like I said, the state
governors go to Abuja, every month to collect money, which has led to laziness
on the part of the regions. If one is allowed to fend for himself, then one
will find ways of generating funds to develop one’s state instead of expecting
money from the Federal Government every month. Now, most of the states in
Nigeria are insolvent. Look at Osun State and many others now, they cannot pay
salaries of their workers. If they had been given that opportunity to look
inward and look for sources of revenue, they would be able to determine their
own fate.
Do you think Buhari will move towards this
direction in his administration?
I don’t know because I am not a member of his
party, but we will keep on reminding him. We shall keep on repeating the same
thing, because that is the basis on which we decided to support Jonathan.
Whether we like it or not, that is the way forward for Nigeria.
As an elder statesman, how would you advise Mr.
President on the current state of the nation?
If I was to advise him, I would say he should
encourage true federalism. He should allow the regions to do some things that
will give them self-determination. We will continue to tell him until he does
these things. We will allow him to settle down, still visit him and then tell
him all these things we have been saying. True federalism is the only solution
to this country’s problems. It is the best thing to allow the regions develop
at their own pace and also look for ways and means of generating funds to cater
for their needs and development. At the moment, the states are in a messy
situation. Osun State has not been able to pay salaries for the past six
months; most of the states are crying seriously and there is no money. They
should be allowed to fend for themselves, to find their means of surviving.
Some people believe that operating federalism the
way you present it, there may not be equal development among the states. What
do you say to this?
That is what we are saying; all the states cannot
develop at the same pace. For instance, during the time of Awolowo, the now
defunct Western Region was dictating the pace; the region started free
education, it focused on agriculture, especially cocoa production. Therefore,
it is not possible for all the regions to develop at the same pace but it will
give rise to healthy rivalry among the states in the country. I could remember,
it was when the Western Region started free education that the defunct Eastern
Region followed. Initially, the Eastern Region did not believe in it but when
they saw what was happening in the Western Region in terms of development, the
region too began its development process. We cannot keep some regions down for
others, we should just allow them to develop at their own pace.
It is believed that corruption is the bane of the
nation’s development, and Buhari has vowed to eradicate it. Do you think this
is possible?
As a matter of fact, corruption is our major
problem. But let us wait and see if he will be able to do that because it is
neither here nor there. Tell me who is not corrupt in this country? The
top-notches are corrupt; even within the rank and file of the All Progressives
Congress, they are corrupt, within the Peoples Democratic Party, there are
corrupt people. If Buhari is serious about it, he should close his eyes and
perform a surgical operation. It doesn’t matter whose ox is gored. Even within
his own rank and file, they are corrupt, but if he can close his eyes and do
the surgical operation, he will succeed.
But is it possible for him to do this as a
politician?
If he is still the person he was when he was a
military Head of State, it may be possible. For instance, I was a victim when
he was the head of state. I was kept away for 20 months for no reason. I think
he was trying to instil discipline at that time. If he can still maintain that
stand, if he can still maintain that frame of mind and if he determines to
work, he will make a tremendous progress. But if Buhari has some sacred cows,
it will be very difficult for him to fight corruption in this country.
The President is taking some steps now to tackle
the insurgency in the North-East geopolitical zone of the country and one of
them is to relocate the Defence Headquarters to Maiduguri. What is your take on
this?
He is a military man. If he makes up his mind to do
so, if he strategises and reorganises the security forces, I am sure he will
make progress. He should also seek the assistance of the neighbouring
countries, like Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroon to tackle the insurgents, and
I am sure he will get their cooperation.
It is generally believed that until certain
amenities like electricity are put place, Nigeria cannot have any meaningful
development. Do you see Buhari succeeding in this area?
It depends on his advisers and what he himself has
in mind to do. It is unfortunate that at the moment, we cannot generate enough
power to go round our country. Look at South Africa, the population is less
than that of Nigeria and it is generating more than enough electricity to go
round its country. In our own case, we cannot boast of 6,000 megawatts. Thus,
these are some of the things we will emphasise when we visit him.
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