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Essien: APC made unrealisable promises

Chief Nduese Essien, is a former member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2007 and ex- Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. In this interview with TONY ANICHEBE, he speaks on Nigeria at 60, governance in Akwa Ibom State and challenges of the Niger Delta region, among other issues. Excerpts:

 

 

 

 

What is your take on the state of Akwa Ibom at 33?

 

Akwa Ibom State has come a long way in the past 33 years. We have been fortunate to have purposeful and focused administrators. Akwa Ibom does not have administrative problem. One of her problems is the issue of succession from one government to another since the inception of democracy in 1999.

 

The tenure of Obong Victor Attah from 1999 to 2007 saw the laying of the major foundation for the growth of the state. He fought for additional revenue to the state through the abrogation of the on/off shore oil dichotomy, the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the struggle for resource control.

 

Then came the administration of Chief Godswill Akpabio, who spent a better part of his tenure settling his differences with his predecessor. After his tenure came Deacon Udom Emmanuel, who also had to settle with his predecessor.

 

These are issues that have affected the growth of the state and I believe in the forthcoming change of baton, we will not have a situation the successor will come to toe a different line with the predecessor.

 

We expect that those who will contest future governorship election in the state should be people who know the state, people who are prepared to work for the interest of the state and also link up with the predecessor so that there will be smooth transition and continuity.

 

Akwa Ibom State has contributed immensely to Nigeria through her oil resources. Do you think the Federal Government has given the state enough attention, development wise?

 

The Federal Government of Nigeria has been distorted from what it used to be. We are supposed to be a federation but since incursion of the military into governance, we lost the federal structure because the military is used to unitary system against federal structure.

 

We have expected that after the military rule, Nigeria should have returned to federal structure. People feel that Nigeria should be restructured to what it was supposed to be; which is a federation, because of the multiplicity of ethnic groups that abound in Nigeria. The continuous use of this unitary structure has deprived a lot of states the money they could have used for their development.

 

Before the advent of the military, the regions were developing at their own pace, using whatever resources at their disposal. But now, the Federal Government takes all the resources and shares according to its wishes and those who generate the resources are not major beneficiaries as it goes more to those who don’t produce anything. Akwa Ibom State produces up to 30 per cent of the oil revenue in this country but ends up getting just 13 per cent of the production and yet the 13 per cent is far inadequate because of the hazards that accompany oil production which have been on for over 50 years.

 

Therefore, the output from the oil production is not used to compensate the people suffering from the hazards of the job but taken to the federal level and disbursed indiscriminately. Akwa Ibom has a cause to complain and it has been complaining and insisting that the derivation be increased. It is better we return to the federal structure in which each state controls its resources and pay what is agreed to the Federal Government.

 

That is how other federations all over the world are run. I know too well as a former member of the House of Representatives and former minister that there are too much resources available to the Federal Government and it leads to ineffective utilization. When the resources are so much, people always find ways of expending it and some of the ways are not justifiable.

 

You can see what is happening, the Federal Government of Nigeria believes that people can be given raw cash on the streets and villages to live on and they are doing so presently through the =minister of Humanitarian Affairs who goes round with billions of naira to share out to individuals.

 

There are pockets of agitations for additional two states to be created out of Akwa Ibom by some groups. What is your take on that?

 

I have seen a publication in that regard, and just recently, I also saw that the Annang ethnic group is also asking for a state. I think they are just toying around with the concept of state creation. We look at the issues of state creation during the 2014 National Conference which was very comprehensive and it was agreed that it won’t be wise creating more states.

 

It is a known fact that some of the states presently cannot even sustain themselves once allocation is stopped and may readily collapse. We even proposed that rather than create more states, we should merge some of the existing ones instead of remaining the way they are. I believe the agitation is a reflection that there is so much money at the centre to share out.

 

Therefore those agitating for states are looking forward to collecting the federal allocations others are collecting. Akwa Ibom State does not need additional state but if the federal allocations will continue to be shared the way it is presently done, Akwa Ibom should then look for more states.

 

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) created about 20 years ago is still enmeshed in misappropriations of funds and other vices. What is your impression of the commission?

 

It is most disappointing that NDDC, which was established 20 years ago, is so ineffectively run and as a result, has become a cash cow for politicians. It started off as a focused agency and developed a master plan which has not been followed.

 

Subsequently, owing to the appointment of its chief executive, the commission fell into the hands of the Federal Government, which in turn appoints partisan politicians into NDDC.

 

The politicians mostly assemble funds from the agency to pursue their political ambition and unfortunately none of them has ever succeeded. The funds of the agency became dissipated as they are not properly channeled for the intention they were meant for.

 

After 60 years of self-rule, how would you assess Nigeria’s journey so far?

 

Interestingly, Nigeria is now 60 years but the level of disappointment of Nigerians is reflected in some of the cartoons presently in circulation in the country. Some said that Nigeria has reached retirement age and should be retired. Some said new countries should emerge out of Nigeria. That shows the level of frustrations among Nigerians.

 

There is no doubt about the fact that most Nigerians are frustrated about the way things are done. Personally, I have seen colonial administration, I have seen Nigeria at independence, I have seen Nigeria under the military rule, I have seen Nigeria under the various democratic rules including the one from 1999 till date and it has never been as bad as it is presently.

 

The level of indiscipline, the level of corruption, the level of decadence has escalated instead of declining.

 

Members of the National Assembly are saddled with powers to check the activities of the executive; in your opinion are they living up to that expectation?

 

The National Assembly in which I was a member from 1999 to 2007, is no longer the National Assembly we have today. I can remember vividly that ministers were always afraid when invited to the National Assembly and they will come and accord full respect to members.

 

Nowadays, ministers come to the National Assembly to rain abuses on members. I recall one reminding a lawmaker that he is a village boy another telling the lawmakers not to talk too much, so that they not miss the loan he is targeting from China for projects.

 

The security situation in the country has forced some states and region to tinker with their own security outfits outside the federal forces. Why are leaders of the South-South not yet out with one?

 

The security situation in Nigeria got so critically bad that south western states have to find an alternative way of protecting themselves and set up the Amotekun. That is because the South-West, at any stage, is always more united than the South-East and the South-South. The composition of the South-South is multi-ethnic groups that have not b

 

h-South setup the BRACED Commission that was to develop the region. Since the end of that administration, the BRACED Commission has not been heard of. That is our bane in forming a common outfit to secure our territories. When the South-West established a security outfit, it was expected that the South- South and South-East will follow suit. Even some areas of the North find the idea useful even though these were stopped by some interest.

 

What these show is that the Nigeria Police Force is incapable of performing their constitutional functions well. The corruption eating up the country has also permeated the force to the extent that it is so corrupt.

 

People got enlisted in the force with a view to enrich themselves through corrupt practices like collecting unauthorized toll on the road and asking all sorts of irrelevant questions as a means of extorting money from road users. The military also have its own problems and the security agencies in my view are no longer as effective as they should be.

 

What is your view on the APC-led government vis-à-vis its campaign promises?

 

The APC as a political party was desperate to take over the governance of the country in 2015, and made all sorts of promises which they, of course, knew were not achievable just to win support and election. Nigerians saw how the country was then and APC offered to come and improve fortunes of the country from that level to their next level.

 

However when they got into office, they realized that those things they promised cannot be realized. They were just making those promises to take over government from the PDP. It was not a surprise to some of us to see that they have not been able to bring down the Dollar to N 1 to $ 1 or the electricity which they said that any purpose government can restore in six months.

 

The three million jobs annually remains a fluke. We have more unemployed people yearly and some of the unemployed people have formed the growing rank of professional beggars.

 

The fuel price is today all-time high. The very people, who protested when Goodluck Jonathan proposed devaluation are now the ones propagating devaluation and never wanted protest from anybody against it.

 

The APC government has failed and my advice is that they quietly hand over the government to another administration because Nigeria will soon run into a big ditch.

 

There is clamour for return of power to the South in 2023, what is your thought on that and rotation of the presidency?

 

We’ve had the government of Nigeria rotate from one zone to the other, and so far, we have had all the zones taste power at the presidency such as the South-West, South-South, the North Central during the military administration and presently the North-West.

 

If Nigeria is to have peace and move forward, there is need to allow the South- East have the presidency in the next dispensation. I would have advocated for elimination of zoning but because the South-East is yet to have a turn at the presidency, zoning has to continue until after the turn of the South-East in 2023.

 

Thereafter, Nigeria should return to elect the best material to govern the country and no longer on zoning arrangement or rotation anymore. We can’t say we’ve had a peaceful rotation of the presidency if the South-East is not given an opportunity to rule the country.

 

So, we are all hoping that the 2023 election will produce a south easterner as Nigeria’s next president.

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