Former Secretary to the Lagos State Government Asiwaju
Olorunfunmi Basorun counsels the delegates to the national conference to
take a cue from the recommendation of the 2005 National Political
Reforms Dialogue.
Do you think something meaningful would come out of the na-tional conference? We just have to be hopeful. As someone said, Nigeria has a history of throwing recommendations into the bin. The late General Sani Abacha did it in 1994; former President Olusegun Obasanjo did his own in 2005 and we did not get anything out of the dialogue. And now, we are being asked to come for another round of discussion. I am hopeful that something good would come out of it because, if you look at the list of the delegates, with all due respect, at least, about 60 per cent of them are those, who would make meaningful recommendations
that will make the country better. There are some who are not supposed to be there. They are there without having anything to contribute, except to just be there. So, I am not going to say nothing good would come out of it. But, let us be hopeful, provided that President Goodluck Jonathan is not going to throw the recommendations of the confab into the dustbin. He should either ask the people of Nigeria, which is the best thing, to consider and approve whatever they decide there or he, on his own, would sit down with his own cabinet and implement the recommendations.
But, critics have pointed out that the delegates are too old to make decisions on the future of the country. What is your opinion on this?
Old people constitute the encyclopaedia of knowledge. I am one of the old people, but not a member of the confab. Although, I admit that there some there, who are not only old, but are also dead woods. They shouldn’t have been there. I am not going to mention names. But, old people have more experience. There are things you will ask younger people; they would still have to go to the library. There are things you can ask me now and I will start telling you. I can tell you the history of Abacha, Shehu Shagari and Tafawa Balewa regimes off hand. These are the things delegates must know before they discuss and make recommendations for the country’s future. So, they cannot wish away old people being part of the conference. I went through the list of the delegates and I found out that there are not too many old people there. I particularly saw the names of some elder statesmen and I found those who have not participated in anything in this country in the past 10 years, perhaps due to health issues or age. Why should they be there?
Do you believe that the restructuring of Nigeria should be discussed at the confab?
Yes. Restructuring is necessary. It is a condition for the devolution of power from the Federal Government to the federating states. There is too much power at the centre and that is what is making whoever occupies the Presidency to be power-drunk and act with impunity. If you take the police out of the central government’s responsibility; we take housing, we take health and education, and the Federal Government is allowed to do policy only, states would have more funds to carry out is functions and naturally, the allocation to the Federal Government would be reduced. As you are reducing power at the centre, you will also reduce the allocation. The allocation for the Federal Government is presently at 52 per cent. It should be brought down and give more money to the states and local governments. You would get better service delivery in the country. So, the case of the police we are talking about; any state government that does not spend on the police now would not have good service. Why should we not give state governors full autonomy to control the police? Like I said, I believe we can achieve a lot with this confab, provided the President acts on the recommendation of the confab, either through the referendum or he sits down and take the recommendations one-by-one. He should say ‘this one, we will do; and this one, we will not do’. And, he should give reasons for rejecting the recommendations.
The confab is taking place at a time the nation is preparing for elections. Do you think the President is guided by altruism?
The President has given three months time frame for the confab. It means they will finish in June. We still have a lot of time before the general election.
Do you think that three months would be enough to discuss the fundamental issues militating against the progress of the country?
In three months? What are they discussing? They should go back to the archive and check the recommendations of previous confabs. For instance, I was at the 2005 conference and we decided that local governments should be ceded to the states. That is not new. They should look at our reasons for the decision that power should be devolved to the states. Everything is stated there. We recommended that there should be state police to implement states’ laws and the federal police to implement federal laws. They are not new. It is only those who want this country dissolved that will be playing with these recommendations. I am opposed to power being concentrated at the centre
Do you think something meaningful would come out of the na-tional conference? We just have to be hopeful. As someone said, Nigeria has a history of throwing recommendations into the bin. The late General Sani Abacha did it in 1994; former President Olusegun Obasanjo did his own in 2005 and we did not get anything out of the dialogue. And now, we are being asked to come for another round of discussion. I am hopeful that something good would come out of it because, if you look at the list of the delegates, with all due respect, at least, about 60 per cent of them are those, who would make meaningful recommendations
that will make the country better. There are some who are not supposed to be there. They are there without having anything to contribute, except to just be there. So, I am not going to say nothing good would come out of it. But, let us be hopeful, provided that President Goodluck Jonathan is not going to throw the recommendations of the confab into the dustbin. He should either ask the people of Nigeria, which is the best thing, to consider and approve whatever they decide there or he, on his own, would sit down with his own cabinet and implement the recommendations.
But, critics have pointed out that the delegates are too old to make decisions on the future of the country. What is your opinion on this?
Old people constitute the encyclopaedia of knowledge. I am one of the old people, but not a member of the confab. Although, I admit that there some there, who are not only old, but are also dead woods. They shouldn’t have been there. I am not going to mention names. But, old people have more experience. There are things you will ask younger people; they would still have to go to the library. There are things you can ask me now and I will start telling you. I can tell you the history of Abacha, Shehu Shagari and Tafawa Balewa regimes off hand. These are the things delegates must know before they discuss and make recommendations for the country’s future. So, they cannot wish away old people being part of the conference. I went through the list of the delegates and I found out that there are not too many old people there. I particularly saw the names of some elder statesmen and I found those who have not participated in anything in this country in the past 10 years, perhaps due to health issues or age. Why should they be there?
Do you believe that the restructuring of Nigeria should be discussed at the confab?
Yes. Restructuring is necessary. It is a condition for the devolution of power from the Federal Government to the federating states. There is too much power at the centre and that is what is making whoever occupies the Presidency to be power-drunk and act with impunity. If you take the police out of the central government’s responsibility; we take housing, we take health and education, and the Federal Government is allowed to do policy only, states would have more funds to carry out is functions and naturally, the allocation to the Federal Government would be reduced. As you are reducing power at the centre, you will also reduce the allocation. The allocation for the Federal Government is presently at 52 per cent. It should be brought down and give more money to the states and local governments. You would get better service delivery in the country. So, the case of the police we are talking about; any state government that does not spend on the police now would not have good service. Why should we not give state governors full autonomy to control the police? Like I said, I believe we can achieve a lot with this confab, provided the President acts on the recommendation of the confab, either through the referendum or he sits down and take the recommendations one-by-one. He should say ‘this one, we will do; and this one, we will not do’. And, he should give reasons for rejecting the recommendations.
The confab is taking place at a time the nation is preparing for elections. Do you think the President is guided by altruism?
The President has given three months time frame for the confab. It means they will finish in June. We still have a lot of time before the general election.
Do you think that three months would be enough to discuss the fundamental issues militating against the progress of the country?
In three months? What are they discussing? They should go back to the archive and check the recommendations of previous confabs. For instance, I was at the 2005 conference and we decided that local governments should be ceded to the states. That is not new. They should look at our reasons for the decision that power should be devolved to the states. Everything is stated there. We recommended that there should be state police to implement states’ laws and the federal police to implement federal laws. They are not new. It is only those who want this country dissolved that will be playing with these recommendations. I am opposed to power being concentrated at the centre
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