--- On Sun, 8/15/10, Kalajine <aganaba@globalkal.com>
"The emboldened part is current history. Leading south-south people like Ken Saro-Wiwa and Senator Ellah were there amongst others. I was there when a leading Igbo figure told Saro Wiwa, 'Now you get your own region, we do not have to fight each other anymore.' "
Kalajine
- Monday 16th August 2010
How Igbo created South-South
People & Politics Aug 16, 2010
Share |
By Ochereome Nnanna
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nigerian constitution today is combination of Constitutions which were written in 1960, 1963, 1979, 1989, 1995, and 1999. .... continuity of the principles of federal character and zoning. web.ceu.hu/polsci/dissertations/orji.pdf
THE 1995 AND 1999 CONSTITUTION WHICH USHERED IN THE CURRENT NIGERIA DEMOCRACY AND CONSTITUTION WAS FORMULATED BY COMBINING 1995 AND 1999 CONSTITION FOR TODAYS CURRENT NIGERIA CONSTITUTION
SHA'ABAN 21 1431 A.H.
DAILY TRIUMPH
MONDAY AUGUST 2, 2010."In 1995, during the General Sanni Abacha Constitutional Conference, Dr Alex Ekwueme and Chief Emeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu supported by other Southern Politicians and members of that conference championed the cause of zoning the presidency among the six geo-political zones. It was also Dr Alex Ekwueme who divided the country into six geo-political zones we have in the country today. They are called geo-political zones for the purposes of rotational presidency after the annulment of June 12 election. The crises it generated and the Abacha's military regime which had kept the North in power for over thirty years of Nigeria's independence then led to the resolution.
The agitation for rotation of presidential powers and the division of the country into six geo-political zones were very popular among the Southern delegates and people but unpopular among the North. I remember vividly Alhaji Mohammed Gambo, who served as the National Security Adviser to Abacha's government who took part in the conference saying, in opposition to division of the country along geo-political zones and rotational presidency that " North will not hesitate to shed blood to keep Nigeria one." It was very glaring that the Northern political establishment did not forgive the former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme for the breakthrough at the constitutional conference.
The inclusion of zoning in that constitution was removed by General Abdul salami Abubakar who considered it as not in favour of the North. The North also used this against Ekwueme's Presidential ambition in 1999.He was accused of the tendency to divide Nigeria and his penchant for confederation as a political option forNigeria. It was the fear of Ekwueme and the Bola Ige that led to the North's dragging of General Olusegun Obasanjo into the Presidential race. The desperate campaign for the Obasanjo's presidency was hinged on the expectation that President Obasanjo would favour the North in his administration's policies as he did in 1976-1979.They claimed that he allowed his second in command Shehu Musa Yar'dua a lot of leverage to control the government. In the 1979 election he supported Alhaji Shehu Shagari against his kinsman Obafemi Awolowo.The North enjoyed that period and wished a repeat."
Daily independence August 14 2020 by Emeka Alex Duru group life editor
On several occasions in contemporary times when Nigeria's journey to self actualisation had hit the crossroads, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice President, had offered the guide light for the way forward.
He is, for instance, among the principled Nigerians that stuck out their necks in instituting the current civilian dispensation. And this was not without cost. By 1998, when the nation was literally convulsed with the maddening chorus of the late General Sani Abacha's civilian transmogrification agenda, Ekwueme led other courageous Nigerians who called the bluff of the late head of state. Abacha and his cheer leaders had manipulated the then five political parties in adopting him as their sole candidate in the 1998 presidential election. This was with the obvious intention of selling a dummy to the international community that Nigerians were begging him to transform to a civilian president.
However, Ekwueme and other compatriots fired a well-worded letter to the military ruler in which he was bluntly told that his antics were bound to fail. Abacha and his goons did not take kindly to Ekwueme's audacity. But Ide Oko, Anambra State was hardly bothered. For him, the action of his group was motivated by the need to save the father land.
He had performed similar feat earlier. At the 1994-95 constitutional conference in Abuja, the former vice president, not known for banging on the table while making his points, had mobilized progressive members of the confab into arriving at an arrangement that resulted into the country's current six geo-political structure. The initiative has provided a platform for addressing some of the fears hitherto entertained by certain component parts of the country.
Even with the onset of democracy, he has never rested in his quest for a just and egalitarian society. Remarkably, in his agitations, he regularly falls back on the Constitution and law as his guiding instruments. In the current controversy occasioned by divergent views on the PDP zoning arrangement, Ekwueme, a foundation member of the party, has offered an informed insight into the principle.
Rising beyond the cacophonic voices of ill-informed or rented commentators on the topic, the former PDP Board of Trustees chairman has taken the issue from its roots at the 1994 confab, proffering insight into how the arrangement came about and the need to make adjustment if that is what is required to move the nation ahead.
"At that conference, it was agreed that there would be rotation between the South and North; and in the North between the three geo-political zones; and in the South, between the three geo-political zones. All this was contained in the 1995 Constitution which General Sani Abacha was to promulgate before taking up the proposed civilian presidency in October 1998. As you well know, he died in June of that year. So, this constitution was not promulgated", he said.
The Constitution, he explained had envisioned a one-term five-year presidency. The agreement, Ekwueme added, was inherited by the facilitators of PDP at its formation. "It was not actually until 2002, I think it was when President Obasanjo wanted to have a second term…that is really at the root of this problem, that he called an expanded caucus meeting of the party at the villa, and there the caucus agreed that he could have a second term – which was contrary to the basis of our original agreement", he added.
While 47 of the participants voted for the proposition, two kicked against it and two abstained. Ekwueme said he was one of the two that abstained, given that there was no basis for the proposition. He stated further that in the euphoria of the moment, former Kaduna State governor, Lawal Kaita, argued that in the event of Obasanjo having his two terms, at the end of his tenure, the North will go for two terms. And they agreed. Ekwueme however argued that with the peculiarities of President Goodluck Jonathan's emergence coupled with the fact that the South south geo-political zone from which he comes had not had a shot at the presidency, it may not be realistic insisting on the zoning principle. He however insisted that "those who are saying there was no agreement because the agreement was breached are also not being realistic because this was an understanding".
The former vice president's explanations have earned him favourable comments from enlightened minds. Retired Major-General David Jemibewon, another PDP chieftain and incidentally, chairman of the party's drafting committee, has for instance, thrown his weight behind him. "I agree with whatever he says. He is a decent man. He is an elder statesman. So, I agree with whatever he says", Jemibewon noted.
Ekwueme, who hails from Oko, Anambra State, was born on October 21, 1932. He was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983. He started primary school at the St John's Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King's College, Lagos As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the United States America (being one of the first Nigerians to gain the award). He also attended the University of Washington where he earned Bachelors degree in architecture and city planning. He obtained his Masters degree in urban planning. Ekwueme also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (Honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School
LAST UPDATED AT Thu Aug, 12 2010
Emeka Alex Duru Group Life Editor
On several occasions in contemporary times when Nigeria's journey to self actualisation had hit the crossroads, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice President, had offered the guide light for the way forward.
He is, for instance, among the principled Nigerians that stuck out their necks in instituting the current civilian dispensation. And this was not without cost. By 1998, when the nation was literally convulsed with the maddening chorus of the late General Sani Abacha's civilian transmogrification agenda, Ekwueme led other courageous Nigerians who called the bluff of the late head of state. Abacha and his cheer leaders had manipulated the then five political parties in adopting him as their sole candidate in the 1998 presidential election. This was with the obvious intention of selling a dummy to the international community that Nigerians were begging him to transform to a civilian president.
However, Ekwueme and other compatriots fired a well-worded letter to the military ruler in which he was bluntly told that his antics were bound to fail. Abacha and his goons did not take kindly to Ekwueme's audacity. But Ide Oko, Anambra State was hardly bothered. For him, the action of his group was motivated by the need to save the father land.
He had performed similar feat earlier. At the 1994-95 constitutional conference in Abuja, the former vice president, not known for banging on the table while making his points, had mobilized progressive members of the confab into arriving at an arrangement that resulted into the country's current six geo-political structure. The initiative has provided a platform for addressing some of the fears hitherto entertained by certain component parts of the country.
Even with the onset of democracy, he has never rested in his quest for a just and egalitarian society. Remarkably, in his agitations, he regularly falls back on the Constitution and law as his guiding instruments. In the current controversy occasioned by divergent views on the PDP zoning arrangement, Ekwueme, a foundation member of the party, has offered an informed insight into the principle.
Rising beyond the cacophonic voices of ill-informed or rented commentators on the topic, the former PDP Board of Trustees chairman has taken the issue from its roots at the 1994 confab, proffering insight into how the arrangement came about and the need to make adjustment if that is what is required to move the nation ahead.
"At that conference, it was agreed that there would be rotation between the South and North; and in the North between the three geo-political zones; and in the South, between the three geo-political zones. All this was contained in the 1995 Constitution which General Sani Abacha was to promulgate before taking up the proposed civilian presidency in October 1998. As you well know, he died in June of that year. So, this constitution was not promulgated", he said.
The Constitution, he explained had envisioned a one-term five-year presidency. The agreement, Ekwueme added, was inherited by the facilitators of PDP at its formation. "It was not actually until 2002, I think it was when President Obasanjo wanted to have a second term…that is really at the root of this problem, that he called an expanded caucus meeting of the party at the villa, and there the caucus agreed that he could have a second term – which was contrary to the basis of our original agreement", he added.
While 47 of the participants voted for the proposition, two kicked against it and two abstained. Ekwueme said he was one of the two that abstained, given that there was no basis for the proposition. He stated further that in the euphoria of the moment, former Kaduna State governor, Lawal Kaita, argued that in the event of Obasanjo having his two terms, at the end of his tenure, the North will go for two terms. And they agreed. Ekwueme however argued that with the peculiarities of President Goodluck Jonathan's emergence coupled with the fact that the South south geo-political zone from which he comes had not had a shot at the presidency, it may not be realistic insisting on the zoning principle. He however insisted that "those who are saying there was no agreement because the agreement was breached are also not being realistic because this was an understanding".
The former vice president's explanations have earned him favourable comments from enlightened minds. Retired Major-General David Jemibewon, another PDP chieftain and incidentally, chairman of the party's drafting committee, has for instance, thrown his weight behind him. "I agree with whatever he says. He is a decent man. He is an elder statesman. So, I agree with whatever he says", Jemibewon noted.
Ekwueme, who hails from Oko, Anambra State, was born on October 21, 1932. He was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983. He started primary school at the St John's Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King's College, Lagos As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the United States America (being one of the first Nigerians to gain the award). He also attended the University of Washington where he earned Bachelors degree in architecture and city planning. He obtained his Masters degree in urban planning. Ekwueme also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (Honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School.
LAST UPDATED AT Thu Aug, 12 2010
Emeka Alex Duru Group Life Editor
On several occasions in contemporary times when Nigeria's journey to self actualisation had hit the crossroads, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice President, had offered the guide light for the way forward.
He is, for instance, among the principled Nigerians that stuck out their necks in instituting the current civilian dispensation. And this was not without cost. By 1998, when the nation was literally convulsed with the maddening chorus of the late General Sani Abacha's civilian transmogrification agenda, Ekwueme led other courageous Nigerians who called the bluff of the late head of state. Abacha and his cheer leaders had manipulated the then five political parties in adopting him as their sole candidate in the 1998 presidential election. This was with the obvious intention of selling a dummy to the international community that Nigerians were begging him to transform to a civilian president.
However, Ekwueme and other compatriots fired a well-worded letter to the military ruler in which he was bluntly told that his antics were bound to fail. Abacha and his goons did not take kindly to Ekwueme's audacity. But Ide Oko, Anambra State was hardly bothered. For him, the action of his group was motivated by the need to save the father land.
He had performed similar feat earlier. At the 1994-95 constitutional conference in Abuja, the former vice president, not known for banging on the table while making his points, had mobilized progressive members of the confab into arriving at an arrangement that resulted into the country's current six geo-political structure. The initiative has provided a platform for addressing some of the fears hitherto entertained by certain component parts of the country.
Even with the onset of democracy, he has never rested in his quest for a just and egalitarian society. Remarkably, in his agitations, he regularly falls back on the Constitution and law as his guiding instruments. In the current controversy occasioned by divergent views on the PDP zoning arrangement, Ekwueme, a foundation member of the party, has offered an informed insight into the principle.
Rising beyond the cacophonic voices of ill-informed or rented commentators on the topic, the former PDP Board of Trustees chairman has taken the issue from its roots at the 1994 confab, proffering insight into how the arrangement came about and the need to make adjustment if that is what is required to move the nation ahead.
"At that conference, it was agreed that there would be rotation between the South and North; and in the North between the three geo-political zones; and in the South, between the three geo-political zones. All this was contained in the 1995 Constitution which General Sani Abacha was to promulgate before taking up the proposed civilian presidency in October 1998. As you well know, he died in June of that year. So, this constitution was not promulgated", he said.
The Constitution, he explained had envisioned a one-term five-year presidency. The agreement, Ekwueme added, was inherited by the facilitators of PDP at its formation. "It was not actually until 2002, I think it was when President Obasanjo wanted to have a second term…that is really at the root of this problem, that he called an expanded caucus meeting of the party at the villa, and there the caucus agreed that he could have a second term – which was contrary to the basis of our original agreement", he added.
While 47 of the participants voted for the proposition, two kicked against it and two abstained. Ekwueme said he was one of the two that abstained, given that there was no basis for the proposition. He stated further that in the euphoria of the moment, former Kaduna State governor, Lawal Kaita, argued that in the event of Obasanjo having his two terms, at the end of his tenure, the North will go for two terms. And they agreed. Ekwueme however argued that with the peculiarities of President Goodluck Jonathan's emergence coupled with the fact that the South south geo-political zone from which he comes had not had a shot at the presidency, it may not be realistic insisting on the zoning principle. He however insisted that "those who are saying there was no agreement because the agreement was breached are also not being realistic because this was an understanding".
The former vice president's explanations have earned him favourable comments from enlightened minds. Retired Major-General David Jemibewon, another PDP chieftain and incidentally, chairman of the party's drafting committee, has for instance, thrown his weight behind him. "I agree with whatever he says. He is a decent man. He is an elder statesman. So, I agree with whatever he says", Jemibewon noted.
Ekwueme, who hails from Oko, Anambra State, was born on October 21, 1932. He was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983. He started primary school at the St John's Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King's College, Lagos As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the United States America (being one of the first Nigerians to gain the award). He also attended the University of Washington where he earned Bachelors degree in architecture and city planning. He obtained his Masters degree in urban planning. Ekwueme also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (Honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School.
LAST UPDATED AT Thu Aug, 12 2010
Emeka Alex Duru Group Life Editor
On several occasions in contemporary times when Nigeria's journey to self actualisation had hit the crossroads, Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme, Second Republic Vice President, had offered the guide light for the way forward.
He is, for instance, among the principled Nigerians that stuck out their necks in instituting the current civilian dispensation. And this was not without cost. By 1998, when the nation was literally convulsed with the maddening chorus of the late General Sani Abacha's civilian transmogrification agenda, Ekwueme led other courageous Nigerians who called the bluff of the late head of state. Abacha and his cheer leaders had manipulated the then five political parties in adopting him as their sole candidate in the 1998 presidential election. This was with the obvious intention of selling a dummy to the international community that Nigerians were begging him to transform to a civilian president.
However, Ekwueme and other compatriots fired a well-worded letter to the military ruler in which he was bluntly told that his antics were bound to fail. Abacha and his goons did not take kindly to Ekwueme's audacity. But Ide Oko, Anambra State was hardly bothered. For him, the action of his group was motivated by the need to save the father land.
He had performed similar feat earlier. At the 1994-95 constitutional conference in Abuja, the former vice president, not known for banging on the table while making his points, had mobilized progressive members of the confab into arriving at an arrangement that resulted into the country's current six geo-political structure. The initiative has provided a platform for addressing some of the fears hitherto entertained by certain component parts of the country.
Even with the onset of democracy, he has never rested in his quest for a just and egalitarian society. Remarkably, in his agitations, he regularly falls back on the Constitution and law as his guiding instruments. In the current controversy occasioned by divergent views on the PDP zoning arrangement, Ekwueme, a foundation member of the party, has offered an informed insight into the principle.
Rising beyond the cacophonic voices of ill-informed or rented commentators on the topic, the former PDP Board of Trustees chairman has taken the issue from its roots at the 1994 confab, proffering insight into how the arrangement came about and the need to make adjustment if that is what is required to move the nation ahead.
"At that conference, it was agreed that there would be rotation between the South and North; and in the North between the three geo-political zones; and in the South, between the three geo-political zones. All this was contained in the 1995 Constitution which General Sani Abacha was to promulgate before taking up the proposed civilian presidency in October 1998. As you well know, he died in June of that year. So, this constitution was not promulgated", he said.
The Constitution, he explained had envisioned a one-term five-year presidency. The agreement, Ekwueme added, was inherited by the facilitators of PDP at its formation. "It was not actually until 2002, I think it was when President Obasanjo wanted to have a second term…that is really at the root of this problem, that he called an expanded caucus meeting of the party at the villa, and there the caucus agreed that he could have a second term – which was contrary to the basis of our original agreement", he added.
While 47 of the participants voted for the proposition, two kicked against it and two abstained. Ekwueme said he was one of the two that abstained, given that there was no basis for the proposition. He stated further that in the euphoria of the moment, former Kaduna State governor, Lawal Kaita, argued that in the event of Obasanjo having his two terms, at the end of his tenure, the North will go for two terms. And they agreed. Ekwueme however argued that with the peculiarities of President Goodluck Jonathan's emergence coupled with the fact that the South south geo-political zone from which he comes had not had a shot at the presidency, it may not be realistic insisting on the zoning principle. He however insisted that "those who are saying there was no agreement because the agreement was breached are also not being realistic because this was an understanding".
The former vice president's explanations have earned him favourable comments from enlightened minds. Retired Major-General David Jemibewon, another PDP chieftain and incidentally, chairman of the party's drafting committee, has for instance, thrown his weight behind him. "I agree with whatever he says. He is a decent man. He is an elder statesman. So, I agree with whatever he says", Jemibewon noted.
Ekwueme, who hails from Oko, Anambra State, was born on October 21, 1932. He was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983. He started primary school at the St John's Anglican Central School, at Ekwulobia, then he proceeded to King's College, Lagos As an awardee of the Fulbright Scholarship in the United States America (being one of the first Nigerians to gain the award). He also attended the University of Washington where he earned Bachelors degree in architecture and city planning. He obtained his Masters degree in urban planning. Ekwueme also earned degrees in sociology, history, philosophy and law from University of London. He later proceeded to obtain a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Strathclyde, before gaining the BL (Honours) degree from the Nigerian Law School.
Saturday, August 23, 2008 DAILY INDEPENDENCE
CHIEF ALEX EKWUEME SAID "Because what we prepared in 1994/95 was prepared in the final form after amendments by the various committees and was to be promulgated before October 1, 1998 by General Sani Abacha. I have a copy of that constitution in its final form and that document solved most of the problems we are experiencing now. Unfortunately, when Abdulsalami (Abubakar)took over and wanted to hand over to a civilian government, he set up a 23-man committee headed by Justice Niki Toby, now of the Supreme Court. That time, he was still in the Appeal Court. The committee was to look at the 1995 Constitution and consider what should be the constitutional order for 1999. Unfortunately, because that 1995 Constitution was done during the tenure of Abacha, and the NADECO (National Democratic Coalition)who felt that nothing good could come out of Abacha regime persuaded the Toby committee that there was nothing worth salvaging; that it would be very unacceptable to use that 1995 and that, in fact, there was nothing wrong with the 1979 Constitution. So, the 1999 Constitution was not derived from the 1995 Constitution which we prepared with the amendments; it is derived from 1979 Constitution. Just a few differences such as declaration of assets before being sworn in. I can tell you what they took from the 1995 Constitution. One, the National Judicial Council (NJC), which we initiated and which, in fact, actually derogates from federalism. But we felt it was necessary to curb state governors' powers over the judiciary, so that the judiciary would be assured of funds at all levels, and then the judicial council would be in a position to discipline judges, if they are corrupt or guilty of misdemeanor. So, we put that in. As I said, it wasn't really in consonance with the true spirit of federalism, but it was borne out of necessity to have a strong judiciary. Now, surprisingly, that element of the 1995 Constitution was retained by the one of 1999. The other thing that they kept was the 13 per cent derivation which we put in the 1995 Constitution. And we said 13 per cent minimum. I don't know whether these two items they retained had anything to do with the stature of the chairman of the committee that the jurist, being an appeal court justice and a person from an oil-producing area, or maybe just coincidence. But I am trying to say that if they had left the 1995 Constitution as it was, we would have saved ourselves a lot of headaches. First, that constitution, for instance, prescribed a single five-year term for governors and the president; one term of five years without self-succession. The idea being that an incumbent governor should not be in place presiding over his own election or the incumbent president be in place presiding over his own election, when the military, the police, the SSS (State Security Service)are all beholding to him, and he is a candidate in an election. Even if he doesn't want to distort the results of the election, some of these operatives may feel very eager to please the person who is in power as they go out of their way to ensure that the governor or president is returned. So, we decided that five years would be enough. In the first year, you study the terrain, you have second, third and fourth year -- three full years -- to transform the place and then, the fifth year, you start preparing your handover notes, winding up. Now, you will be there and somebody else will be elected to replace you. That person who is elected to replace you will have five years. After his own five years, if you are so good that people feel that it was a mistake for you not to have had a second chance, you can then come back for another five years. But you cannot have five years followed by another five years; you cannot succeed yourself. A single term of five years without self-succession. Now, the same way, that 1995 Constitution stipulated the six geo-political zones. In fact, that is the only document in which you find the six geo-political zones as espoused at the Constitutional Conference put down in black and white. And then, also ensuring that six principal offices in the country are spread one to each zone so that every zone has a sense of belonging. The president, vice president, the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, president of Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives. That was put in black and white. Of course, in the PDP, we made our own internal arrangements for this zoning. We ensured the president, the vice president, the president of Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)and the chairman of the party, must be held one from each geo-political zone. The idea being that if these six people holding these positions meet to consider a matter and then take a decision, then not only are the six zones of Nigeria party to that decision, but also the executive represented by the president and vice president, the legislature represented by the president of Senate and speaker of House of Representatives, the party that produced these people represented by the chairman of the party and the bureaucracy represented by the SGF are all involved in decision-making. So, everybody is carried along at all levels. We made that internal zoning arrangement. But in the 1995 Constitution, as amended to be operated from October 1998, the six positions there, we had prime minister and deputy prime minister, which Abacha wanted because he wanted to be president and have a prime minister like the French model -- president, vice president, prime minister, deputy prime minister. The six positions spread among the six zones, so that if these people, everybody in Nigeria is represented, nobody can say he didn't know how a decision came about or that he was not a party to it. "
SHA'ABAN 21 1431 A.H.
MONDAY AUGUST 2, 2010.
DAILY TRIUMPH
Zoning and the pedagogy of political arrogance
By Billy Onoja
The history of the human race and the chronological conducts of men and women of power have shown in all epochs that men seek for power, money and women than they seek for peace, justice and equity.
The major lubricant to the wheel and chain of this unquenchable thirst for vain glory and material success is arrogance. This does not allow individuals while in privileged positions to realize their past and put the future in proper perspective. The lucre of power, money and women blinds power and authority wielders from seeing the long term implications of their myopic ambitions, desires and immoderate taste. I have no doubt that this albatross to man: the inability to have a firm grip of one's personality, utterances and the failure to remain modest in all its ramifications led to the admonition by the celebrated writer and master story-teller, Chinua Achebe that "those whose palm kernels have been cracked by the benevolent spirit should not forget to be humble."
I make this categorical reference to the emerging disposition of President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan .A former teacher at the College of Education Port-Harcourt, former Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State, former Governor of Bayelsa, former Vice-President, former Acting President and now, the President and Commander –In- Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces. This erstwhile humble scholar and politician, who came to national limelight through the benevolent spirit of men and women who acknowledged his simple mindedness, humility , modesty and gave him public positions seems to have lost his innocence.
In his first media chat with journalists, President Goodluck Jonathan expressed himself with a good dose of arrogance while responding to the questions on whether he would for the sake of peace and in deference to the PDP ZONING FORMULA stay away from contesting the next election. The President in response said, He was at the meeting where he represented his then boss, former governor Diepriye Alamesieya. Jonathan said the meeting presided over by President Obasanjo where the "SO-CALLED ZONING" was discussed. It was shocking listening to President Jonathan referring to a major political strategy of his party by which he has benefited and stability has been achieved as "SO-CALLED". This is not fair as it is was the first sign to me that President Jonathan has lost originality. For sure, President Jonathan in a typical human nature standard has climbed with a ladder and now wants to destroy it so that no other person will make use of it . He has adopted the old antics of men of power like General Abacha, Babangida and Obasanjo who used pretence and insincerity as weapons of political manipulation. He is so short sighted in his pursuit of power and fame .This has vitiated his understanding of the history and spirit of zoning in Nigerian politics. He has failed to realize like Obasanjo that eight years in Aso Rock will also finish.
Suffice it to say that PDP as it is known today is not the architect of zoning arrangement in Nigerian politics. As far back as the second republic, the national Party of Nigeria {NPN} operated the zoning formula as a strategy for the re-unification of the country after the civil war. The part of the country that lost the war –Old Eastern Nigeria produced the Vice-president Alex Ekwueme, Senate President Joseph Wayas and the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Edwin Ume-Ezeoke in a coalition government where positions were shared by the National Party of Nigeria {NPN} and the Nigerian Peoples Party {NPP}.This was done to maintain stability in the country and give every part of he country a sense of belonging. Some other civil society groups like Academic Staff Union of Universities {ASUU}, Nigeria Labour Congress {NLC},Nigeria Bar Association {NBA} and National Association of Nigerian Students {NANS} have operated zoning in their leadership and this is responsible for the smooth leadership successions they have enjoyed over the years.
In 1995, during the General Sanni Abacha Constitutional Conference, Dr Alex Ekwueme and Chief Emeka Odimegwu-Ojukwu supported by other Southern Politicians and members of that conference championed the cause of zoning the presidency among the six geo-political zones. It was also Dr Alex Ekwueme who divided the country into six geo-political zones we have in the country today. They are called geo-political zones for the purposes of rotational presidency after the annulment of June 12 election. The crises it generated and the Abacha's military regime which had kept the North in power for over thirty years of Nigeria's independence then led to the resolution.
The agitation for rotation of presidential powers and the division of the country into six geo-political zones were very popular among the Southern delegates and people but unpopular among the North. I remember vividly Alhaji Mohammed Gambo, who served as the National Security Adviser to Abacha's government who took part in the conference saying, in opposition to division of the country along geo-political zones and rotational presidency that " North will not hesitate to shed blood to keep Nigeria one." It was very glaring that the Northern political establishment did not forgive the former Vice-President, Dr Alex Ekwueme for the breakthrough at the constitutional conference.
The inclusion of zoning in that constitution was removed by General Abdul salami Abubakar who considered it as not in favour of the North. The North also used this against Ekwueme's Presidential ambition in 1999.He was accused of the tendency to divide Nigeria and his penchant for confederation as a political option forNigeria. It was the fear of Ekwueme and the Bola Ige that led to the North's dragging of General Olusegun Obasanjo into the Presidential race. The desperate campaign for the Obasanjo's presidency was hinged on the expectation that President Obasanjo would favour the North in his administration's policies as he did in 1976-1979.They claimed that he allowed his second in command Shehu Musa Yar'dua a lot of leverage to control the government. In the 1979 election he supported Alhaji Shehu Shagari against his kinsman Obafemi Awolowo.The North enjoyed that period and wished a repeat.
However, the focus of this piece is neither the North, nor Ekwueme and Obasanjo .The issue is zoning! I have only tried to throw some historical illumination on the issue of zoning in Nigerian politics. That it was purely a southern agenda for power rotation. That the Niger-Delta was been exploited was one of the reasons why it was important for all sections of the country to wait for their turn. The Yoruba having been n power for eight years 1999 to 2007 will have to wait for 40 years for that presidential position in Nigerian again. It had been worked out that zoning was going to bring presidential powers to all sections of the country in the course of time. But President Goodluck emergence in the presidency has generated another controversy that will drag Nigeria backwards politically. If he contests and wins this presidential election, he would have for selfish reasons violated a political arrangement fought for by many statesmen who have valued the unity, stability and development of Nigeria. This will re-open old wounds and bring back political tensions that were already dying.
The better option is for Jonathan, having become president and enjoyed presidential powers and privileges while it lasts, to conduct free and fair elections by next year and hand over power to a properly elected candidate. Jonathan cannot guarantee a free and fair election in an election where he is a candidate. He should in the national interest look in the direction of Abdulsalami Abubakar for some lessons in power management .As Bill Clinton once said while presenting a lecture in Nigeria, "politics is not only about contesting elections and winning, it is also about knowing when to quit." For President Goodluck Jonathan, It would not be out of place if he realizes that the time to quit is 2011 .he does not need to push his good luck to far like Chukwuma Soludo who after a "glorious " tenure at the Central Bank went to contest an inglorious election. Today he knows better!
Engaging Dr Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme in an interview is like going through chapters of a well-edited encyclopaedia of contemporary Nigerian politics. The former vice president of Nigeria has remained a factor in all major political events in Nigeria for the past 30 years, especially on the side of democracy and civilian governance.
advertisement
In 1998, before Gen. Sani Abacha died, Ekwueme and his colleagues already knew that Nigeria was going nowhere without true democracy, rule of law and popular participation in governance. On Abacha's death, Ekwueme's group, the G-34 (Group of 34 eminent Nigerians), became the vehicle through which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)was formed and nurtured as a popular movement with broad-based participation and membership that would serve as a bulwark against further military intervention.
The PDP, in the eyes of Ekwueme, was equally to provide the platform for economic revolution and national integration through the zoning of key offices and the enthronement of true civilian democratic governance. The Second Republic vice president provided leadership in all these and impacted the whole polity with his integrity, experience and prodigious intellect.
In this down-to-earth interaction with Assistant News Editor, EMMA CHUKWUANUKWU, and Photographer, Goddy Umukoro, the Ide of Okoh in Anambra State narrates how 'armed robbers' hijacked the 'PDP house' he built, chased away the founders and architects of the winning party and turned the people's party into what Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, called "nest of killers". He also explains why he never contemplated leaving PDP for any other party, despite the humiliations he had been subjected to by the "pretenders" who took over the party and why he chose to be patient, adding that the party chiefs who assisted former President Olusegun Obasanjo in derailing the party would eventually regret their actions. He says he has been vindicated today as the PDP runs back to him like the prodigal son for leadership and direction.
The former vice president also speaks on various issues including the distortion of the Nigerian constitution by the military rulers that threw the nation into avoidable constitutional crisis, the Second Republic, the Niger Delta crisis, corruption in the public service and lots more.
Dr. Ekwueme speaks like he has not done in a long time, for a man not given to frivolous statements, a thorough-bred politician and an intellectual blessed with a keen mind for details. Read on...
Let us start this interaction with the latest national assignment you have just concluded for your party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), reconciling aggrieved members of the party who have left the party and even those who have issues with the party. Most of your recommendations seem not to have been implemented by your party. Do you think that exercise was worth all the trouble you undertook?
Well, I think it is not for me to judge whether the exercise was worth all the trouble, and I don't know what you mean by saying that the recommendations have not been adhered to by the party. My business was to try and bring back estranged party members, and, as far as I know, a person like former speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali Na'Abba came back to the party after our intervention. Former governor of Kano State, Abubakar Rimi, who was the first chairman of the finance committee of the PDP when it was formed also came back to the party, and many others from various parts of the country because we toured all the six geo-political zones of the country and had the opportunity of talking to all the party leaders for all the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. Many responded to our intervention by foregoing their grievances and coming back to the party, and I am sure the party is stronger for that reason. So, to that extent, I think we succeeded. Now, as you probably know, the party set up another committee headed by one of our members to work out an implementation programme for the recommendations we made, and I think the committee's report has been considered by the National Working Committee (NWC)and I believe that today, Tuesday, August 5, the National Executive Committee (NEC)of the party is sitting in Abuja to consider the report of that implementation committee. That will only help to straighten out some of the loose ends that we discovered and get the body moving on an even keel. So, I think the NWC will consider our report and the report of the implementation committee objectively and dispassionately. They may have considered it. I don't know yet. I've not made contact to find out what the result of the NWC meeting.
But some are of the belief that the PDP has been very unfair to you over the years, and we feel the party should have reconciled with you first before you can now go ahead to reconcile other aggrieved members. How would you react to that?
The fact is that people don't understand why, despite failing to reconcile with me, I still persist, when called upon to do so, in doing my best to put the party together. This is because if anybody can claim credit for forming PDP, I should be the one to do so. But for reasons of modesty, I don't do so. The PDP was midwifed by the G34, which opposed (Sani)Abacha's plan to transmute from a military head of state (to a civilian president)without resigning from the army. And it involved enormous amount of risks on the part of G34; those of us who were listed as subscribers to that memorandum and on my part in particular as the person who actually signed the document. If you go back to some publications between April and May, 1998, one magazine actually carried a headline 'Ekwueme Takes On Abacha'. And that is not something that one can consider lightly in those days. And it was this risk that we took that gave credibility to the PDP, because people felt that the people who were midwifing it were those who stood against the military regime of Abacha in his effort to move from being a military dictator to become a civilian president nominated by the four extant political parties at that time. And surprisingly, when some of those who were saying that there was no alternative to Abacha at that time were mostly found in the APP, and they did not attract any credibility. So, having built that house, if I may put it that way, and in December 5, 1998 local government elections, it was the first test of the popularity of the associations and which was the prerequisite for the associations being registered as political parties, PDP swept the polls in 28 or 29 out of the 36 states of the federation easily. And the following January, in the governorship elections, PDP had all the five governors of the South East, six governors of the South South and 10 out of the 19 governors of the three regions of the North. So, the party was overwhelmingly popular. Unfortunately, as things went on, the party was hijacked by people who did not know how it was formed; people who were not there when it was formed, and did not contribute in any way towards its formation. They had no sentimental, philosophical or spiritual attachment to the party. And that was why things went the way they went. And, of course, people like that would not appreciate the enormous sacrifice made by people like some of us who started the party, and they thought they could ride roughshod over us by virtually moving to frustrate us out of the party. Some were frustrated out of the party, but on principle, I refused to be frustrated out of the party, because I didn't think it was wise to build a house and if armed robbers come to attack the house, you abandon it to them to take over. That was my attitude. So I refused to be frustrated out and I stayed in the party. I never left it for one minute. And I continued to do whatever was necessary to keep it together till now that it is a shadow of what it was in 1998, 1999, to try and bring back its lost popularity, dignity and acceptability to Nigerians. That's what I feel I have a duty to continue to do in any way possible.
Sir, you contested twice for the presidency of this country and many of us believe you were cheated out by your party men. Was it on principle too that you refused to fight back against such obvious injustice?
Yes, precisely that.
I am a believer in democracy and in civilian democracy. Clearly, a lot happened in Jos at the first nomination convention of the PDP. And it was a very easy thing for me to generate a crisis in the polity which might have tempted the military to stay longer than necessary or resulted in a very traumatic transition if it went on. I didn't want it recorded in history that because of my personal ambition, I was prepared to sacrifice the peace of Nigeria. So, in spite of everything, I decided to cooperate and I spent my own money campaigning for Obasanjo in all the radio stations in the Eastern region and in the national network of the FRCN (Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria)at my own cost, telling people not to cast protest votes, because some of my supporters were disappointed that my candidacy was truncated, which, of course, has been admitted by some of those who were pretending they didn't know anything about it. It was a plot by former military officers to put one of their own in the presidency for their own protection.
With all your experience in politics so far, and all the sacrifices you have made to build party politics in Nigeria, what would be your assessment of party politics in Nigeria, given your own experience in the PDP?
Well, it has not been ideal and I don't think the decision to open the floodgate for registration of parties so that we end up with 50 political parties in Nigeria was a healthy development for party growth. In 1979, when we first contested elections under the constitutional civilian democracy after 13 years and nine months of military rule from January 15, 1966, the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO)as it was then registered five political parties only. And the main criterion was that these political parties must be nationwide parties. They should not be based on narrow, regional, ethnic or religious considerations. To be nationwide, they must have offices in two-third of the states of the federation. They must have executive members drawn from majority of the states of the federation and so on. But within four years of that dispensation, the political structure had devolved to two main blocks, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)on the one hand and then the Progressive Parties Alliance (PPA)on the other hand comprising the other parties. So that with time, if the military had not truncated the growth of the system, maybe we would have ended up with two political parties arising by evolution, not by fiat. So that even in the First Republic, when there was no limit to the number of political parties that could be formed because it was a parliamentary system, by the time of the coup of January 1966, there were effectively two political groups in place; the United Progressives Grand Alliance (UPGA)and the Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). Again, we had two political parties coming up by evolution rather than by fiat. And once that happens, we are more likely to have a stable development of political parties. But in General Ibrahim Babangida's time, he created two political parties by fiat, which produced interesting results in the sense that if June 12 election had not been annulled, we would have made some progress in terms of having a national outlook in politics. But then, that had its dangers which most people don't seem to appreciate. And the dangers are that anybody who manages to take over control of any of those parties becomes a lord. And as it were, the Social Democratic Party (SDP)then was virtually taken over by the late General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, which meant that anybody coming into SDP would have to play by his own rules. He would decide who would be chairman and no matter how popular Ekong Etuk was, no matter what he had, if Shehu Yar'Adua decided that it was Tony Anenih who was going to be chairman of SDP, so it was. You can imagine that the same thing happened in the National Republican Convention (NRC)and there was somebody who took over that party, then it means that the whole democratic programme is already hijacked by people who control the party, whereas under the old system where, if party system works by evolution, there was always room that nobody could come and say that he took control of the party machinery and everybody will have to do his bidding. So, that is my assessment of that situation.
The situation you just described seemed to have played out in the last general elections being complained about nationally and internationally. What is your comment on the April 14 general elections?
Well, the elections being complained about is a picture of the social malaise that Nigeria has been suffering from. You cannot expect to have dishonesty in the lifestyle and ways of doing business of doing things in every sphere of the polity and then suddenly in the electoral process, you import angels who will work altruistically and honestly. It is a reflection of the decadence in the society and in the polity. It is unfortunate because once people lose confidence in the electoral process, that's the end of democracy. If people's votes count for nothing, why would anybody bother to go and stand in the sun or in the rain waiting to vote, if the results would come out any way in spite of his voting or not voting. So, that is a very unfortunate trend. I hope that with the exercise being conducted now under Justice Mohammadu Uwais, retired CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria)trying to reform the electoral process, that we would be able to evolve a system that will guarantee free and fair election as much as possible. If India with more than one billion population and over 400 million voters can manage democratic elections successfully, not once, not twice but seven times, there is no reason we cannot learn from experience to evolve a system.
How do we dislodge the emergency politicians who have no respect for democratic principles that you say have hijacked your party, the PDP, and restore credibility to the political parties, especially the PDP?
I was talking about PDP in terms of its history, and the trouble, of course, must be laid at the feet of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was not around when the party was formed and who had no sentimental or spiritual attachment to the party. He only saw the party as an instrument or vehicle for attaining political power and once that was achieved, his next concern was to make sure he controlled that vehicle, to ensure that the party did his bidding at all times. That was why we had four, five chairmen of the party within the eight-year period he was in office as president. Fortunately, we now have a thorough-bred civilian president who saw the political party as all of us and the role it should play and his own role in making sure that the party is strong and well organised but not something that he should put in his pocket and use as he deems fit, change the chairman, change whatever he wants. We don't have such a president now. So, at least for the PDP, I believe that party organisation will be positioned on a healthier basis.
We have 50 registered political parties as at now in Nigeria. Are you advocating that they should be reduced by fiat or ...?
I don't endorse anything being done by fiat because we are not in a military regime. What, of course, can be done is to put boundaries to what a political party has to achieve to continue to exist. What's the point in putting 50 political parties on the ballot paper and putting so much money in printing the ballot papers, if 40 of them will not get any votes anyway? They won't have any member in the National Assembly or elsewhere. So, what we can do is to say that any party that does not generate at least 10 per cent of the votes cast has no business calling itself a political party. Or we can say right away, so as not to make it too onerous, any party that does not generate two per cent of the popular votes cast has no reason for existing and should just die a natural death or decide to merge with another party that has succeeded. And as we keep doing that, over time, the number will keep reducing until we probably end up with four or five parties. By the time we have 10 parties, we can say any party that doesn't generate 10 per cent of the popular votes, which is the average, anyone that falls below the average will die a natural death until we get to a number that is viable and manageable, and that would conduce to a good party structure.
You were a very powerful voice during the Constitutional Conference of 1994, 1995. And most of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution we are using now were actually your submissions during the conference, particularly the six zonal structures we have now. What is your view about the move by the National Assembly to amend the 1999 Constitution? And do you think the current zonal structure has helped in uniting Nigeria and addressing the various complaints of marginalisation by various ethnic groups?
No, I was not a strong voice in the constitution we are using now. Because what we prepared in 1994/95 was prepared in the final form after amendments by the various committees and was to be promulgated before October 1, 1998 by General Sani Abacha. I have a copy of that constitution in its final form and that document solved most of the problems we are experiencing now. Unfortunately, when Abdulsalami (Abubakar)took over and wanted to hand over to a civilian government, he set up a 23-man committee headed by Justice Niki Toby, now of the Supreme Court. That time, he was still in the Appeal Court. The committee was to look at the 1995 Constitution and consider what should be the constitutional order for 1999. Unfortunately, because that 1995 Constitution was done during the tenure of Abacha, and the NADECO (National Democratic Coalition)who felt that nothing good could come out of Abacha regime persuaded the Toby committee that there was nothing worth salvaging; that it would be very unacceptable to use that 1995 and that, in fact, there was nothing wrong with the 1979 Constitution. So, the 1999 Constitution was not derived from the 1995 Constitution which we prepared with the amendments; it is derived from 1979 Constitution. Just a few differences such as declaration of assets before being sworn in. I can tell you what they took from the 1995 Constitution. One, the National Judicial Council (NJC), which we initiated and which, in fact, actually derogates from federalism. But we felt it was necessary to curb state governors' powers over the judiciary, so that the judiciary would be assured of funds at all levels, and then the judicial council would be in a position to discipline judges, if they are corrupt or guilty of misdemeanor. So, we put that in. As I said, it wasn't really in consonance with the true spirit of federalism, but it was borne out of necessity to have a strong judiciary. Now, surprisingly, that element of the 1995 Constitution was retained by the one of 1999. The other thing that they kept was the 13 per cent derivation which we put in the 1995 Constitution. And we said 13 per cent minimum. I don't know whether these two items they retained had anything to do with the stature of the chairman of the committee that the jurist, being an appeal court justice and a person from an oil-producing area, or maybe just coincidence. But I am trying to say that if they had left the 1995 Constitution as it was, we would have saved ourselves a lot of headaches. First, that constitution, for instance, prescribed a single five-year term for governors and the president; one term of five years without self-succession. The idea being that an incumbent governor should not be in place presiding over his own election or the incumbent president be in place presiding over his own election, when the military, the police, the SSS (State Security Service)are all beholding to him, and he is a candidate in an election. Even if he doesn't want to distort the results of the election, some of these operatives may feel very eager to please the person who is in power as they go out of their way to ensure that the governor or president is returned. So, we decided that five years would be enough. In the first year, you study the terrain, you have second, third and fourth year -- three full years -- to transform the place and then, the fifth year, you start preparing your handover notes, winding up. Now, you will be there and somebody else will be elected to replace you. That person who is elected to replace you will have five years. After his own five years, if you are so good that people feel that it was a mistake for you not to have had a second chance, you can then come back for another five years. But you cannot have five years followed by another five years; you cannot succeed yourself. A single term of five years without self-succession. Now, the same way, that 1995 Constitution stipulated the six geo-political zones. In fact, that is the only document in which you find the six geo-political zones as espoused at the Constitutional Conference put down in black and white. And then, also ensuring that six principal offices in the country are spread one to each zone so that every zone has a sense of belonging. The president, vice president, the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, president of Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives. That was put in black and white. Of course, in the PDP, we made our own internal arrangements for this zoning. We ensured the president, the vice president, the president of Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF)and the chairman of the party, must be held one from each geo-political zone. The idea being that if these six people holding these positions meet to consider a matter and then take a decision, then not only are the six zones of Nigeria party to that decision, but also the executive represented by the president and vice president, the legislature represented by the president of Senate and speaker of House of Representatives, the party that produced these people represented by the chairman of the party and the bureaucracy represented by the SGF are all involved in decision-making. So, everybody is carried along at all levels. We made that internal zoning arrangement. But in the 1995 Constitution, as amended to be operated from October 1998, the six positions there, we had prime minister and deputy prime minister, which Abacha wanted because he wanted to be president and have a prime minister like the French model -- president, vice president, prime minister, deputy prime minister. The six positions spread among the six zones, so that if these people, everybody in Nigeria is represented, nobody can say he didn't know how a decision came about or that he was not a party to it.
Do you think the current effort by the National Assembly to amend the constitution will yield the desired results? Are they going about it the right way to achieve a constitution that will correct all these anomalies you have identified?
What they tried to do the last time and the matter ended in fiasco because of the third term was to do a wholesale overhaul of the constitution and I don't know if that is what they want to do now. There are areas in the constitution which are clearly defective, and which everybody has accepted, and there are some areas which require Supreme Court's intervention, which they have done in a few cases, but not necessarily by direct amendment. Take the matter of the creation of local governments. It is put in such an awkward manner in the constitution. It says 'after' the local government had been created, then the National Assembly will adopt them so that the schedule will be amended. And some people say that states have no right to create local governments. But the constitution says it is after they had been created that the National Assembly will come in. There are awkward provisions like that which need to be cleaned up. They may not be more than 50 or thereabouts of such awkward provisions. Those could be addressed; they won't be very contentious. Get those cleaned off and then continue. If there are any problems that arise later with other sections of the constitution, we can look at them. For instance, the matter of some people that are indicted; if such indictment is approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)or a state executive council, is the affected person fit to contest an election? Then, the Supreme Court, I think because it wanted to curb the excesses of the vice president, decided that it must be a matter of conviction. So, on that basis, Atiku was declared eligible to contest that election. But actually, the matter of conviction is covered by another section of the constitution. So, if you have such nebulous terms like indictment, you have to explain what indictment means. Does indictment mean conviction? If not, how far does it go to identify indictment as it affects somebody's eligibility to contest elections? These are things that could be straightened and cleaned up without going into total overhaul of the constitution which will be tedious and might result in total failure, if one item is unacceptable just like third term was unacceptable that time and the whole thing was torpedoed.
You mentioned the celebrated open confrontation between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Obasanjo. You were vice president to President Shehu Shagari for over four years, did you at any time have cause to disagree with your boss at that time?
Well, I didn't say anything about an open fight about president and vice president. I was only talking about Supreme Court's decision on indictment in terms of the vice president's qualification to contest for the last election. But if that is the way you put it, that is your language, not mine. As you know, as you've heard from me, you've heard from Shagari. We worked very well together throughout the four years and three months we were there. We didn't have any cause for serious disagreements, and I say serious because any two people working together like husband and wife will have disagreements at one time or another. But we did not have any serious disagreements that would result in open fights that other people would know about. No such thing! We worked very well together. You know, Shagari was a full-blooded democrat. He started his political life in the House of Assembly, the House of Representatives in Lagos and then served as a federal minister. Then he eventually came back and served in the council at that level. So, he served in all tiers of government and he is a thorough-bred democrat. He had no dictatorial tendencies. So, he was open to discuss any matter and would accept superior argument. When we first started, there was a memo that came before the Council of Ministers. We didn't call it Federal Executive Council; we called Council of Ministers. The first memo that came under his signature was the first in council. I had a few reservations about some of the contents and some of the recommendations. So, advisedly, I said nothing throughout the meeting when that memo was being considered. After the meeting, he called me and asked me why I didn't make any contribution. So, I told him that we had to work out a modus operandi. If he would like me to comment on any memo, I could do so before it comes to council. Then he can consider my input before putting final documents, because it would seem embarrassing to come to council and start shooting down everything in the memorandum. It will seem as if the house is divided. So, he told me that it didn't matter; that I should say whatever I want and put forward any argument I had.
Your government was toppled mainly on allegations of corruption and ineptitude. Considering the level of corruption in the present democratic dispensation, how would you react to such allegations during your own democratic regime?
Well, allegations are allegations. You would appreciate that when we were there, we had a formidable opposition in the UPN, NPP, GNPP and the PLP, and the UPN had a virtual monopoly of the media, the Lagos-Ibadan axis. So, whatever picture they wanted the people to have of the government so as to put it down or to derogate from its credibility, they would create it. Eventually, when the military came and toppled us and started their investigations, the first people they tried in court and jailed were the very people who said we were corrupt. They said how they shared the commission they got from an insurance building, and so on. All that came to the open. And whether we were corrupt or not, I think I'll ask you to get a copy of the Justice Uwaifo report which was a judicial panel that looked into Shagari's matter and my own, a retired military police and a civilian equivalent, a judge. And they went through all our assets and liabilities with a toothcomb and they announced their verdict of how we performed. So, when I hear people talk about corruption in the Second Republic, I laugh because there was no contract at that time, except defence for the military that did not go through scrutiny at the Council of Ministers level where everybody made an input. Of course, if it is below two million, it would be dealt with at the ministerial tenders' board at the ministry's level. But we didn't have the capacity to just call somebody and just sign a contract worth so many millions without going through tender, which happened when we left office. From then on, people were signing contracts based on negotiated figures without competitive tendering and without coming to council. So, I pleaded not guilty to those charges of corruption during the Second Republic, which was orchestrated by the opposition who had control of the media and who brainwashed Nigerians to believing them. But as I said, when the chips were down and when the military decided to open up the can of worms, they were the ones mostly affected.
Your party, the PDP, has been accused of high level corruption both at the states and at the federal levels. How do you react to that?
I don't know about now. I don't know of anybody accusing the president and the in-coming government of corruption. I've seen accusations levelled against the last government of Obasanjo during his eight years mostly based on public, open enquiry conducted by the National Assembly which they are entitled to do under the constitution. Well, that's the way we see it. He (Yar'Adua)has to answer for himself; I cannot answer for him.
You are an accomplished architect, a thorough-bred professional who was well to do even before entering politics. One would like to know what prompted you to enter politics which many people regard as a dirty game decent people should avoid.
Yes, they told me that in 1979. They said: what are you going to do in politics? It is a dirty game. If you go there, they will mess you up. I said: but you have a chance to serve and to make a difference. And I don't regret getting involved in it, though they tried to mess me up. They succeeded very much, but as I said, the truth will always come up. The Uwiafo report is clear. You see, one single decision you make in politics could affect so many lives. For instance, people don't remember it now, before 1979, in the public service, the senior staff had car loans and car basic allowances, that's for transportation. They had housing provided. But the junior staff had no such things. I personally took the responsibility and credit for the fact that I said well, it is inequitable. What we should do is have a formula so that level 1 to level 17, each person, at every level, you have so much for housing allowance, so much for transportation allowance. If you get your transport allowance and you want to convert it into a loan through a bank to buy a bicycle or motorcycle or a car, that's your business. But I stopped the disparity between junior service and senior service. I created an egalitarian situation. Junior staff all over the federation who now get transport and housing allowances don't know where they came from. But I know where it came from because I started it. I couldn't have started that if I was running my office at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi Lagos. One decision you can make in public service can affect thousands of people. So, anybody who has an opportunity to serve and make such an input should not avoid it because it (politics)is a dirty game.
You have been in government and you are familiar with the Niger Delta crisis. What will be your recommendation on how to resolve the Niger Delta problem?
I don't have an off-the-cuff solution because it is a problem that has existed for half a century. The Willinks Commission report was in 1958, and a few other reports. We are in 2008 now, that's 50 years ago. It started with the Niger Delta development report, followed by the Willinks report. But that didn't impact too solidly on the quality of life. But over that period of time, the quality of life has been degraded enormously.
Environmental pollution. It appears as if as the volume of crude oil extracted has been on the rise and income generated has been increasing, but the quality of life of the people from where crude oil is being extracted continues to plummet. I won't say I feel happy, but I feel slightly relieved that the 13 per cent we are talking about now was my creation at the Constitutional Conference of 1994/95. The revenue allocation committee of the conference had some people from some parts of the country saying that under no circumstance should derivation increase more than three per cent. In the end, they moved it up to five per cent. Then we countered and we were saying it should be 50 per cent or nothing. Eventually, by doing some arithmetic, which was unassailable, it was clear that 13 per cent was minimum, and we put it in those terms that under no circumstances should derivation be less than 13 per cent at any time. And that has resulted in influx of revenue into the main Niger Delta states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom; and to a smaller extent Edo, Cross River, Imo and Abia. But that was supposed to be the minimum, and it was envisaged that periodically, it would continue to be reviewed upward, not downward. Unfortunately, nobody took the initiative to initiate that review and now the matter has got out of hand and 50 years neglect cannot be cleared overnight. But still, the direction to go must be to have infrastructure development, education, health services, good social services, water supply, electricity, and then employment, economic development for the area. There is no reason the whole of the Niger Delta area should not be a model for quality life compared to the rest of Nigeria. But it is something that you cannot do by fiat. It will require proper planning, comprehensive planning, programming and the cooperation of everybody, all Nigerians, including the Niger Deltans themselves.
The issue of Ndigbo in Nigerian politics is disturbing to a lot of Igbo people and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo. It became more disturbing recently when we heard that the list of those you recommended to Yar'Adua for appointment into various boards was thrown out by the president. What's your reaction to the marginalisation of Ndigbo in Nigerian politics?
Well, I can only speak for the schedule of positions allocated to Anambra State. I was out of the country when they did the allocation. But if you look at it, it's not a very healthy, very inspiring list. It just happened that I have it here. (Brings a list out of his pocket, and reads): "Anambra State; Details of Chairmanship of Federal Boards. 1-- National Universties Commission--one member; National Examinations Council of Nigeria--one member; Voice of Nigeria--one member; Public Complaints Commission--one member; Federal Polytechnics--one chairman and one member; Federal Colleges of Education--one member; Federal Universities--two members; Federal Medical Centres--one chairman and one member; National Troupe of Nigeria--one member; Medical Rehabilitation Therapist Board--one chairman; University Teaching Hospitals--one member; National Hospitals--one member; National Investment Chemical and Leather Technology, Zaria--one member; River Basin Development Authority--one member; National Institute for Sports--one member; National Institute for Trychonosmiasis Research, that's Tse-Tse Fly--one member; National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons--one member. Psychiatric Hospital Management Board--one member." These are the slots for Anambra. I don't think anybody will look at it and think this is an impressive allocation for a state for federal boards. So, that is the situation as it is on paper.
If you should meet President Yar'Adua, what would you tell him concerning the list you just read out?
I will tell him that it is important that every citizen, every part of the country should have a sense of belonging. That is the bottomline and I am putting it very simply. And you cannot have a sense of belonging if your board members are for psychiatric hospitals, national troupe, tse-tse fly research and leather something in Zaria. So, where are all the others?
Sir, with over 40 years in politics, do you have any regrets?
Forty years? No, just 30 years in politics. I don't have any regrets. It's rough at times. And it's a thankless job in every respect when you get involved in it. I would have thought that after all the sleepless nights and all the risks, one would be rewarded by a better society, a better country. But as I said, I have no regrets.
As an architect of international repute, you must be pained by the many incidents of collapsed buildings across the country.
Yes, I am pained and it is as a result of lack of compliance with laid-down regulations for putting up buildings. The Architects Registration Council has consistently insisted that buildings must be supervised by qualified architects and builders. But what do you expect when buildings are being construted by draughtsmen with unknown quantities of building materials?
Zoning agreement no longer realistic —Ekwueme
Ekwueme
FORMER Vice-President Alex Ekwueme was central to the original agreement of the founding fathers on power rotation and zoning. In this interview with Festus Eriye, Managing Editor, he retraces the genesis of the power-sharing pact, and argues that the solution to the current row over zoning is to review the agreement
Let's start with the political hot potato of the moment – zoning. There was purportedly an agreement within the PDP about it and yet none of those who came to this understanding agrees on what the particulars are. You were at the heart of the formation of the party: what is the real story of the zoning arrangement?
I think we have to go further back than the PDP. We have to go back to the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference because that's where all the basic agreement about zoning and rotation was hammered out. At that conference it was agreed that there would be rotation between the South and North; and in the North between the three geo-political zones; and in the South between the three geo-political zones.
All this was contained in the 1995 constitution which General Sani Abacha was to promulgate before taking up the proposed civilian presidency in October 1998. As you well know, he died in June of that year. So this constitution was not promulgated. But the heart of that agreement was, unquestionably, that the presidency was to be on the basis of a single term. There was no contemplation in the 1995 constitution of a two-term presidency, or two-term governorship, for that matter. It was stated clearly that the presidency would go from geo-political zone to geo-political zone every five years.
The president would serve for a single term of five years. The governor would serve for a single term of five years, and the governorship would rotate between the three senatorial zones of the state. It was stipulated that this rotation, of course, would go on for a period of thirty years, by which time we assumed that all the six geo-political zones in the country would have had a shot at the presidency for a single term of five years – during which period we would have built, expectedly, a Nigerian nation so that after that nobody would be thinking about geo-political zones or ethnic origin and so on.
We would then look for the best Nigerian from wherever he comes who would develop the country and who would the give the masses of the people what government is supposed to give them. So at the root of the whole argument was the question of a single term for the president. Now this 1994/1995 agreement was inherited by the PDP when we formed it, because those of us who were active in the agreement at the Conference, were also active in the organisation of the PDP. It was not actually until 2002, I think it was when President Obasanjo wanted to have a second term… that is really at the root of this problem, that he called an expanded caucus meeting of the party at the Villa, and there the caucus agreed that he could have a second term – which was contrary to the basis of our original agreement. Forty-seven people voted for that proposal.
Did you say 47 ?
Yes. Two against and two abstained. I was one of the two abstentions because I felt the whole basis for the discussion was not related to the basis of the original proposal. There was no reason why Obasanjo would want a second term after having four years – otherwise if every zone had their eight years and it would go down the six zones, it would take 48 years before it came back to the original zone, and that wouldn't make any sense.
Forty-eight years is too long for us to build… Twenty-four years is enough for us to work and put our act together and forge a Nigerian nation, and after which we would look at the best person – no matter where he comes from – to give us leadership. That was why I abstained because the basis for the discussion was flawed. And, as you know, in 2003 I contested the primaries against him and some others did. Now it was when the discussion was going about whether Obasanjo should have this second term or not, that one of the members of the caucus – specifically Alhaji Lawal Kaita, former governor of Kaduna State in the Second Republic – said if we are going to give Obasanjo a second term making eight years, then it should be understood that after we in the South have taken eight years, then the North is going to have two terms as well making up eight years – before it comes back to the South.
And because the people were very anxious to support Obasanjo's second term, they did not bother to consider the full implications of the proposal made by Lawal Kaita. They said, 'Yes, okay, okay, okay!' So if you see the minutes of that meeting – and it's been published in the papers – it said there that we would have eight years after which it would come to the North for eight years. The issue is this: at the time all this discussion was taking place, nobody had the contemplation or gave thought to the possibility that a president might die in office. So the people who are adopting extreme positions – who are saying that the North must have eight years, are not being entirely considerate of the situation because the eight years was regarded to be a two-term presidency of four years each.
Clearly, there's no way we can now have the late President Yar'Adua to have a second term. And those who are saying there was no agreement because the agreement was breached are also not being realistic because this was an understanding. What all this boils down to is that the elders of the party who worked out this agreement in the first place must sit down and look at it again in the light of circumstances that have arisen. First, that there is a president in place whose zone has not had a shot at the presidency, and therefore is entitled to have a shot at the presidency. Secondly, that the former president from the North has passed on and therefore cannot be revived to have a second term.
If you look at the 1995 constitution that I referred to earlier, we did make provision there for multiple vice presidency because we took time to think about some of the problems that could arise. We felt that one of the vice presidents would come from the zone of the president. So that if it is the turn of the South – and you have Southern vice president and Northern vice president – if anything happened to the Southern president, it is the Southern vice president who will take over so that the presidency does not move across rotational boundaries and zones.
All that was thrown away in the 1999 constitution which did not take into consideration all the work we did for 12 months – from June 26, 1994 to June 26, 1995. We considered so many things based on Nigeria's history. For instance, you would find that there was provision for, more or less, a government of national unity at all times. The president would appoint half of the ministers from his party, but the other half would come from all the parties that contested and that were able to get a certain percentage of the vote by proportional representation.
So it wouldn't be that the question of government of national unity would now be at the president's discretion. It would have sufficed so that this Pull-him-down syndrome would have been eliminated: everybody would have been a part of it and any disagreement would be discussed, and work out what would be in the interest of Nigeria and everybody would be carried along. This is just to give you two examples of provisions that were made and which have been abandoned.
A similar thing happened with the governorship because if the governorship was not moved from senatorial district to senatorial district initially, it would have become impossible for people from certain districts to become governor. That is why the demand for states would continue to come up. I can think of two examples right away. In Benue, it would be very difficult under the present arrangement, without zoning being entrenched in the constitution, for anybody other than a Tiv to be governor. In Kogi, it is very difficult for anybody other than an Igala to be governor.
We saw this in 1999. Our party was in control of Kogi at Local Government and House of Assembly elections, but when it came to governorship elections because ANPP, APP as it was then, nominated somebody from Kogi East – an Igala as candidate – and we nominated somebody from Okun as our candidate, even our own PDP members who are Igala must have swung across to vote for the ANPP man and we were defeated. When it came round now and we nominated Ibrahim Idris (Ibro) from Kogi East, he won. So Kogi and Benue are examples. We took time to think about all the problems we've had over the previous 45 years and work out solutions to them. Unfortunately, all this work seems to have been wasted and thrown into the dustbin.
The long and short of this is that the elders of the party who were at the ground floor of the zoning arrangement must get together and revisit the issue in the light of circumstances as they now exist. It is going to be unconscionable to tell an incumbent president who's had only a year not to contest an election which he's constitutionally qualified to contest –especially given the fact that his zone had never held power.
In the keynote address I gave to a meeting of South East people at Presidential Hotel in Enugu in 1994 before going to the conference, I gave an analysis of those who have held power as head of government since Independence – starting with Tafawa Balewa from the North-East, Bauchi, 1960 to January 15, 1966; Ironsi, South-East, from January 15, 1966 to July 29, 1966 – that is barely six months; Gowon, North-Central, from July 29, 1966 to July 29, 1975 – exactly nine years; Murtala Muhammed, North-West, from July 29, 1975 to February 13, 1976 – barely seven months; Obasanjo, South-West, from February 13, 1976 to September 30, 1979 – three years and seven months or thereabouts; Shagari, North-West, from October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1983 – four years and three months; Buhari, North-West, December 31, 1983 to August 26, 1985 – that's 20 months; Babangida, North-Central, August 26, 1985 to August 25, 1993 – that's eight years less one day; then Shonekan, 82 days, from the South-West; then Abacha who was there as at the time I was doing this analysis, he was from the North-West. Of all the six zones, the South-South had not produced a head of government even for one day, and the South-East had produced a head of government for barely six months.
So our proposal at that conference was that the first head of state when we got back should be from the South-South. So this is the first opportunity… I am not going to get into the problem they have suffered in terms of degradation and decay that they suffered in the process of producing the resources that have sustained Nigeria. This is the first opportunity that a person from there has to become the head of government. So it is clear that we must look at the whole scenario holistically and review our understanding in the light of the circumstances that have evolved, and then get a new solution to the problem.
My reading from what you've just said is this: there was no written agreement but there was a gentleman's agreement and understanding between the elders of the party. In principle, you are not saying that zoning should be dumped, but that a special case has to be made, in this instance, given the circumstances under which this president has emerged. Is that the case?
Well, you've summarised it in your own way. First, let me be clear that I am from the South-East and I am interested in having somebody from the South-East become president of Nigeria in my life time, not myself necessarily. I have had my innings and made my own effort. But it would be very sad for me to die believing that South-East is still not part of Nigeria. So we must work out a system that would ensure that every zone of the country must have a chance to govern Nigeria, because we must have Nigeria before we have all the items that come your way. Having Nigeria means having everybody in Nigeria feeling that he's part of Nigeria, and that is to some extent, one of the raison d'etre for our original submission of zoning and rotation principle.
Your colleague, Adamu Ciroma, was quoted recently in the newspapers as saying if PDP goes back on this original understanding on zoning, it would pay a price in the North. Others have equally argued that if the party refuses to accommodate the South-South aspiration as represented by Jonathan, it would also pay a price down South. As a party insider do you think there's room for middle ground and political solution? Do you also fear that PDP would pay dearly if the North does not throw up the party's presidential flag bearer for 2011?
I have not read everything that's been said on this subject because I've been out of the country for sometime, but what I read on Ciroma's statement…he said he would like the matter to be based on agreement and not for it to be done by ambush. I suspect that he would agree to what I am saying now that the elders of the party must sit down and review the original agreement in the light of circumstances that have evolved and, if possible, modify that agreement to accommodate everybody so that we move together as one party instead of people pulling in different directions.
In this environment it very difficult to go against the incumbent. But in 2003 you decided to run against the sitting president – Olusegun Obasanjo. You mentioned earlier that you abstained in the vote that allowed him to run for a second term. So were you just trying to make a statement or did you really believe at that point in time that you could win the PDP ticket?
I hope I would not be misunderstood as being unnecessarily critical, but I didn't think the president, as he was then, performed in his first term. Such was the confidence reposed in the PDP almost totally throughout the country – apart from the South-West at that time. All the six states in the South-South were PDP, all the five states in the South-East were PDP and 10 of the 19 states in the North were PDP; and we had representation in the National Assembly. If with that type of support from the public we could not run a government that would be acclaimed by the generality of the masses of Nigerians, then something is wrong somewhere.
So, in my view, the president did not perform well throughout his first term. Secondly, as I told you, the basis of our original agreement about zoning was a single term. And I didn't think it was right to assume that talking about South was equivalent to talking about South West, or that talking about North was equivalent to talking about North-West. Our thinking at the Constitutional Conference was that anybody who had a programme for Nigeria should be able to accomplish that programme within five years, and make his mark and move on.
When it comes round again – if he has done so well that Nigerians want him – they would bring him back. But it isn't right for him to be an incumbent, sitting there and supervising an election – which creates a lot of problems. I was hoping that Nigerians in PDP would understand the position because even in 1999 when both of us ran in Jos…I don't have to give you reasons; you people already know the reasons why he was foisted on the electorate.
I won't call it a military coup, but it is not too far from that. So I thought 2003 was the time to correct that, and let us move on in a full civilian way, and get this rotation thing going so that every part of the country would have it so that within 24 years we would try and build up Nigeria and focus on national integration. But instead of having national integration, the first four years of President Obasanjo tended to pull us apart more than bring us together.
In our environment leaders often see that sort of move as a personal challenge. Did your decision to run against Obasanjo for the party ticket in 2003 affect your relationship?
With President Obasanjo?
Yes.
No, not at all, as far as I am concerned.
Your access to him was still there…
Yes.
When you conceived the PDP, I gathered that, at that point, what the leading politicians in the country wanted was a model fashioned after South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) that would bring everyone under one large umbrella. Would you agree that the PDP in the last 10 years has lost its way in terms of that original concept?
First, we did not achieve that objective because the people who were with us in the formative stages of the party from the South-West…Chief Bola Ige, may his soul rest in peace, Olu Falae and others with whom we were in the Institute of Civil Society, with whom we organised the All Politicians Summit, with whom we organised the G34 and all of us were present and endorsed the memorandum which we sent to Abacha, at the last minute – from what I heard…because they felt that the presidential nomination of the party was already sewn up in my favour because I was the one promoting the party as chairman at the time… naturally, the people who had presidential ambitions did not think there was room for them there. So first they moved out and tried to get an understanding with ANPP and they did.
That one collapsed and they formed AD on the last day before the registration of parties. Actually, as we all know, AD did not qualify for registration at that time, but the military said that for security reasons they would register it. So already we had lost a chunk of our constituency if we were thinking of forming a party that was all-embracing, including everybody – something that would be a mass movement rather than a local party. The fact that political leadership of the South-West was not part of it; and then we had already failed at that ab initio… so that was the reason for the collapse of that effort. But it still could have been managed by good leadership which unfortunately, as I have said, I don't think President Obasanjo provided at that time with a view to bringing everybody on board and having all parties work together with a view to eventually having a national mass movement.
I think that one of the major criticisms of the PDP has to do with internal democracy. People feel it has been a real disappointment, and has not set a good example - being the party that controls the largest number of positions in governments across the country. Would you accept that such criticisms are justified?
Well, in the sense that you can't sell what you don't have, and if you look at the report of the Reconciliation Committee which I headed and which was promoted by the late President Yar'Adua, we harped on this matter of internal democracy. Almost every section of it hammered on internal democracy, and I am happy that the new chairman when he took over also emphasised that point. We must have democracy at the party level before we can really promote it at the national level.
In the South-East PDP started with five states. Today, you are down to just three – and that is because someone crossed the carpet. Some have suggested that the party's decline is a personal failing on the part of its leaders like you from the South-East. Do you accept that responsibility?
I don't accept that responsibility at all! If a president with all his federal and state powers sets up upstarts in my state, people of no consequence, supports them and gives them the resources with which to destabilise a whole state – not just me – burning government property and cause a lot of havoc just to undermine what you think is my home base, I haven't got resources to fight a president. So the whole problem is contrived. The results you see about the PDP losing were in these states contrived results.
Just to take you back to the G34 episode for a minute. Did you receive any threats to your person on account of your leadership of this group and the memo that was sent to General Abacha?
Yes and no. I know that one of Abacha's friends – I won't mention his name – while making a speech at Awka in the East said I was a foolish man who was trying to fight a lion with bare hands, and that he was sorry for me because I would soon die. He said this publicly. I also got to know that there was an instruction that I should be kept under 24-hour surveillance. So that was a warning and a sign. Fortunately, I had friends even in his own organisation, so I was alerted and had to be very careful. So I cannot say that there was a direct threat to my person. I didn't have any gunshots or invasion of my house.
Virtually every governor that is available is decamping to PDP. Is it possible in this country to have a true multi-party system?
Yes, I think so. If you look at the historical antecedents… in 1959 before Independence we had three main parties – NPC, NCNC and Action Group. But five years after that in 1964 we had two broad formations – United Progressive Grand Alliance (UPGA) and Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). If the army had not interrupted that development we would have ended up with two parties. Similarly, in 1979 we had five political parties – NPN, NPP, UPN, PRP and GNPP. By 1983 NAP joined – making six parties. But, by and large, we had again two broad formations – NPN and PPA and, again, if the military had not interrupted that development we would have ended up with two parties by evolution – not by fiat the way the military did it.
When the two parties emerge by evolution, then it would last for a long time. Unfortunately, since 1999 the efforts to evolve two parties have not worked. But at the presidential election of 1999 there were three parties – PDP, ANPP and AD. AD and APP fielded one candidate – so there were two candidates contesting the presidential election. This would have led to the evolution of two main political blocs if AD and ANPP had consolidated that arrangement and extended it to state level instead of just presidential candidate level. By now we would have had two strong political parties.
But that didn't work out, and then to confound it all, Gani Fawehinmi and co, may his soul rest in peace, went to court and challenged INEC…they said it had no power to register political parties. So if a couple of people got together and formed an association, they must be registered. We started with three political parties and now we have 60 or more. That makes nonsense of the whole party structure. When you have that kind of proliferation, then the tendency is for the big fish to swallow the small fish. That is why you have this type of movement
Comments (11 posted):
Naija -Man on 08/08/2010 07:45:32
Let the truth be told, Dr Alex Ekwueme is one if not the only credible politician in his generation. This interview has exposed the schemings and half-truths about zoning. I wish other so-called PDP chieftains will explore the options Dr Ekwueme listed and calm this storm circling Nigeria's corporate existence. I respect you Dr Ekwueme, you are a true statesman.
0emodi on 08/08/2010 08:10:59
I always knew that Dr Ekwueme was a very intelligent man but until now I never knew that he was a Statesman.I hope that the country is paying attention.The race is now on.0Kingsley Ukaoha on 08/08/2010 08:14:31
Well done, the wise sage from the East and one of the best never to rule Nigeria. Your suggestions at the defunct Abacha constitutional conference which metamorphosed into the 1995 constitution would have greatly changed our dear country if it was followed. I really support zoning on the basis of rotation and on a 4-year basis. That would have curbed the excess hunger and desperation for power at all costs and would have foisted on us focused leaders. In the light of the present circumstance where we have an incumbent whose zone has never ruled Nigeria, I support the zone (South-South) retaining power but not on a forceful basis. Other zones have to be carried along in order to achieve cohesion and the zoning arrangement has to be re-negotiated again.
More grease to your elbows sir and may our great Creator grant you many more years of service and relevance to your fatherland0DrP on 08/08/2010 08:17:58
They should have stuck with that 5yr single term rotation, it would have taken only 30yrs to get back to each zone and the turnover of leadership would have made Nigeria very dynamic, if we can control the circulation of elites.
But then who dared to speak about power rotation under Abacha, the protege of Tanko Yakassai0Emodi Mo on 08/08/2010 08:24:13I already knew that Dr Ekwueme(VP)was a very intelligent man but I just found out that he is also a great Statesman. I hope that his party will call on him to resolve what seems to be their impending doom.0JOHNSON. on 08/08/2010 11:46:25
Daddy,you are indeed a great man,a HERO of our time. posterity shall vindicate you and all your struggles for Nigeria shall never be in vain. May GOD continue to bless you and increase your peace Amen.0bona chris on 08/08/2010 11:53:56
i have always take ekwueme by his words and i will continue to do so. the lawal kaita suggestion then was taken less serious then by obj and his gangs. the problem is people like you are rare and even if the elders sit and talk, the objs of this world make your stands inconsequential and meant for posterity to savor.0Engr Ishmael Oforibika on 08/08/2010 12:06:48
U've spoken so well Daddy.This is the most comprehensive report i've received on this zooning issue and i believe it contain the solution to the zooning problem.Godbless u with more yrs of wisdom.0TATA on 08/08/2010 16:57:48
i beg to disagree...zoning is still realistic...natural rotation has just hastened the rate at which zoning takes place...1ipaga japhet on 08/08/2010 17:19:55
Sir you are one of the most sincere elder states men we have left.you have said it all lets revisit the zoning formula and having it in mind that the south-south have not gotten any shot on the presidency.So Goodluck E Jonathan have the constitutional right to contest.zoning or no zoning0Chika on 08/08/2010 19:08:21
it is said that he came out of power in 1983 poorer than he went in. In truth we would have a more credible election in the incubent does not contest. I do hope that some day a true leader would emerge in this setup, an individual that sees beyond power. Most intelligent discuss on Zoning so far.0total: 11 | displaying: 1 - 11Igbos and the politics of zoning
By Ugochukwu Emenike
Thursday, August 12, 2010ALTHOUGH my effort here is the place of Igbos in the political scheme of things in the face of the raging debate on "the principle of power rotation or zoning" in Nigeria; I have commenced this treatise deliberately with the above title fully convinced that by origin of the Igbo, we are not just found in Nigeria only; there are Igbos in the Diaspora and we have accepted ourselves as descendants of children of Abraham, the Jewish patriarch.
So we are part of the African Jews whose ancestry is traced to Israel and relatives are found in Ethiopia. The Jews and their descendants have suffered several persecutions in different parts of the world. The story of concentration camps in Hitler's Germany is a common feature in history books for those who are not familiar with the story of the persecution and killing of six million Jews.
The story and persecution of the Igbo in Nigeria is also well-known in the country. Wherever they are found, the Igbo and Jews have been major creators of and contributors to human progress. The Jews are a major force in the United States on the basis of their creativity and resourcefulness; so are the Igbo in Nigeria, nation-builders despite institutionalised marginalisation by state authorities.
The civil war between the Nigerian State and the Igbos in Nigeria that lasted from 1967 to 1970 is a story of self-defense in the face of genocidal attacks. Since after the civil war, this race mainly found in the South Eastern part of Nigeria have been in the struggle for self- rediscovery and reassertion in the mainstream of the Nigeria's national life. This has been very challenging!
The Igbo have faced their greatest obstacle in the process of taking their rightful place in the post-civil war Nigeria in the political front. There have been planned and sustained effort to keep them out of the control of state power. The Nigerian state has operated for over 40 years on the basis of Igbo-phobia, particularly in the era of military juntas who coincidentally fought the war.
Despite this situation of affairs; the Igbos have carried on with their lives with a kind of determination that is uncommon among mere mortals. They have also worked for civil rule and democracy which from every indication offers them more in terms of a voice and a stake in the national scheme of things.
They have always brought their best to participate in all the civil debates in terms of constitutional conferences, political reform conferences that are geared towards creating a more equitable and just society, where no man will be discriminated against on the bases of tribe, ethnicity or religion.
This was the background and condition under which the Constitutional Reform Conference was held in 1995 where the issue of power rotation among the various sections of the country was conceived. It was at the conference that the former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, an Igbo, in a sheer display of political wizardry and ingenuity developed a political master-plan for the sustenance of the unity and stability of the country.
He divided the country into six geo-political zones for the purposes of distributing or sharing national positions, including the rotation of presidential powers.
This idea was vehemently opposed by the North but however, reluctantly accepted and included in the constitution that was to be promulgated by then Head of State, General Abacha.The sudden death of Abacha changed a lot of this plan as that constitution was extensively altered by Abdulsalmi Abubakar who inherited the throne after Abacha's death. One of the casualties of the alteration was the zoning principle. It became purely a political party affair which have successfully run for 10 years now by the ruling PDP. By that simple calculation of power sharing between North and South, the Igbos would be producing the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by 2015.
However, the death of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has also thrown up another challenge that is trying to rubbish the little success Nigeria has achieved in political re-engineering. The Goodluck Jonathan presidency constitutes a major hindrance in the efforts of the Igbo people to assume leadership of the country by 2015.
Mr. Emenike, a commentator on national issues, writes from Imo State.
del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Facebook--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment