By Daniel Kanu
Respected scholar, Prof Anthony Killa, who is the Institute Director General at CIAPS, and Jean Monnet Professor of Strategy and Development in this encounter with Sunday Sun, speaks on The Patriots visit to President Bola Tinubu, the need for a new constitution, mistakes
of the Tinubu-led government on the economy, and the National Assembly emoluments among other issues. Excerpt:
Recently, elder statesman, Çhíef Emeka Anyaoku led the respected The Patriots team to meet with President Bola Tinubu on the need for a new constitution as well as restructuring Nigeria.
What is your take on the visit?
Well, I have already put up a commentary on the on-going issue. My view is that, I think, it
was on Friday, August 9, the President, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, officially hosted
that group of eminent Nigerians popularly known as the Patriots at the
presidential villa in Abuja. The purpose of the visit was primarily to receive
the Patriots’ demand for a new Nigerian constitution, which, in the Patriots’
view, must result from people’s input and consent. I observed that The Patriots also used the occasion to wade into the issue of the then ongoing protest, and wanted the government to dialogue with the protestors at all levels of the federation and they also asked the government to stop law enforcement agents from using lethal weapons on protesting civilians. For me The
Patriots’ position, as presented to the President, can be summarised thus: that the country’s current constitution is illegitimate and inadequate because it lacks a direct and clear people’s mandate and does not reflect the diversity of Nigeria’s people. The Patriots also hold that many issues affecting the country are, in reality, symptoms and consequences of an inappropriate structure of the country. To solve these structural and functional problems, The Patriots propose that the President, through an executive bill, facilitate the creation of an elected constituent
assembly that will review the reports of the 2014 national confab, the 1963 Constitution, and other constitutional reports and, from all these reports, come up with an appropriate constitution that will be put to a referendum. Of course, knowing The Patriots, as I do, there is no doubt that talking to the President is just the beginning, not the end, of their mission. These people have somehow made the art of the long game their lifestyles and mode of operation. They will
not wait for the President, and I know they will push and pull until they get what they want and understand to be just for the country. However, in their quest for a new Nigerian constitution, there are some practical and notional issues that this Emeka Anyaoku-led Patriot will soon need to address. How will The Patriots convince Nigerians that spending money and time on a new
constituent assembly is a worthy investment, not a waste? The world will be waiting to see how the Patriots can birth (or at least help birth) a new constitution without them turning partisan and sectional. So far, The Patriots have proven to command the attention of the ruling class in the country; the next step and test is to see how they can convince the people. Also, it is
worth remembering here that the Patriots were more than instrumental in convening the 2014 national conference. Still, a lot has happened since then, and the world has also learnt that conveying does not automatically mean implementation in Nigeria. We should not only convey but implement the agreed referendum.
There are some Nigerians whose views are that having a new constitution is not the problem with Nigeria, but the human factor, the leaders who manipulate the Constitution. What is your take on this position?
I was coming to that because some people say the problem of Nigeria is not the Constitution
but its operators. Let us be clear: those who despondently think and say the problem is not the constitution and system but the people who manage it, thereby inferring that the quest for a
new constitution is unnecessary, are wrong. Their discouragement is understandable, but they miss the way social constructs work. Few things can galvanise a new orientation and direction for the country, like the moments of sitting together to write the rules of relating with each other within such a country. Such a process not only guarantees the recognition of the aspirations and concerns of different segments of society but also allows all to know what their rights and duties are to the union, the commonwealth..
The Council of State met recently and passed a sort of vote of confidence in President Bola Tinubu-led government despite the hardship in the country, so much poverty, hunger and other frustrations?
Well, the first thing to be said is that this vote of confidence that was passed on the president is a strange thing because it is not the tradition of the council to pass vote of confidence. But, you know, it is good for the president. Since we were not there we have to assume that he may have explained his plans to the council and perhaps, he must have explained to them what to expect. So they may say yes, we agree with you, you are doing well but there are two things to it.
Number one: A vote of confidence by the National Council of State has no legal or substantial value because we are not running a parliamentary system. So, it means nothing. Definitely the Council of State and the forum of governors, which is the echelon of political power in Nigeria… I think, it shows that the political class is with him. We must also remember that the Council of state and that of the governors are multi-partisan; you have the APC, PDP, Labour party and NNPP the party in control of Kano state, no matter the numbers. So if they all say they agree with Mr President, that is good for him. But there is nothing legal or substantial about it. But it also shows that they are not in sinc with the rest of the country by putting a vote of confidence in the president. The vote of confidence shows they are not conversant with the reality on ground. It would have made more news if they had gone there and say they are not happy the way things are going. That would have been the strong thing. The truth is that there is hardship in the land and Nigerians are suffering. But I am worried about one thing: we should be careful not to drag the Council of state into mundane, everyday political affairs. It is a delicate Council that should be there for high level matters and I don’t think them supporting the government of the day is a good thing. I will see them supporting the government of the day if we are in war or something very crucial like that, not just for governance of the day, unless perhaps, the government and Council think that we are actually in a precarious state. We have to look at it that way as well.
Nigerians are gradually being turned to beggars according to Chief Afe Babalola,SAN, with the way the government is giving palliatives, sharing rice…?
(Cuts in) Let’s talk fact. The fact is that Nigeria is in a bad state, people are poor, food
and services are expensive, they are scarce, there is high unemployment and the
cost of production is high. Those who say the contrary offend their own intelligence and assault their conscience. Whether you love the government or not, whether you are part of the government or not you will know that things are tough out there. The hope is that it should get better. But what lead us to this thing? it is not a disaster of God…yes it is something coming from past administrations that have mismanaged opportunities but I hold this government
accountable for the policies that they have made. I believe that there was no need to rush to remove the fuel subsidy the way they did it. It was immediate without warning, they did it without putting necessary things in place to manage the effect of the removal. They have thrown the people out of the window and after that they are throwing cushion but they should have first put the cushion on the floor, so to speak, so that when they land, they get soft landing. The forex thing is another problem, devaluing the Naira and we are import-led country. It increased the cost of production and the distribution of goods and services. When you do that you also shrink possibility of employment, so that is why things are tough, coupled that we have a state of serious insecurity where people are no longer going to their farms. For me, the worst thing the
government has done is the palliative business. They have given people fish to eat rather than teach them how to fish. The government should be enabling people to create jobs and wealth rather than doling out money. The government should be facilitating people who can create jobs. They should be facilitating projects and endeavors that can create jobs so that we have sustainable wealth. They have not done that. When you share money, worst still, and you have not increased the amount of goods and services to buy, you have more money chasing the same amount of goods and services, and that will lead to inflation and that is why prices are going up. If I was advising the government I will tell them to : instead of sharing the palliatives to invest and not dole out money, see how people can get access to more production, create a country of people who can produce more food, goods and services and that way, you will increase the supply of things, you crash the price, the value of the money you have goes up. Another thing is to work on credit facilities so that people can have access to it. It is a way to energise and encourage production at the same time. There is a problem with the party in power, there
is a disconnection between the people in power and the rest of the party itself. Also the opposition is not doing its job because they are in disarray, so there is no voice for the opposition, part of the reason people take to the streets to protest.
How will you react to the emoluments, salaries of the National Assembly?
What is happening there is an indictment of leadership and the system we have. The fact that we cannot even get simple figure straight of what they are paid. One will say its over one million naira, another lawmaker will counter to say, he gets over 22 million naira a month. It is a shame and an embarrassment. The person paying says he is paying x and the person receiving says he is receiving y, it just tells you there is something really bad about that system. If you beam searchlight there more, you will see more rubbish and more dirts. let me speak as an economist that has figures in my hand. Overall, the amount of money being spent by the National Assembly cannot change Nigeria’s economy; it’s like a cup in a bucket of water but the optics are bad because you cannot say you are serving people who are so poor and you are living so large, just because they elected you, that is bad. It is also bad because countries whose GDP is 10 times and 100 times better than Nigeria, their politicians do not earn such amount that Nigerians are earning. But these politicians, especially the lawmakers are not delivering for what they are earning. They go on holidays so often, we don’t feel their impact, there are so many of them you can’t cite what is their position in matters. Majority of them are there, more as a parasite but there are still few of them that are good, no doubt.
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