A lawyer
Anthony Olatujoye believes that only restructuring can move the nation forward.
He also spoke on various issues including the anti-corruption war.
What is your
reaction to the recent clamour for restructuring of the country by some
eminent Nigerians?
It is a call
in the right direction. Restructuring is long overdue. Some of the challenges
facing us today or agitations here and there would have been needless had we
restructured long time ago. Restructuring is about effecting or bringing about
changes that will help unify us together as a nation. For instance, we should
have been implementing fiscal federalism long time ago. By doing this, the
problems we are facing now as a result of global drop in oil price would not
have had devastating effects on us as it is doing now. Our over-dependence on
oil has made us to be lazy, and we are paying the price for it now.
Is
Nigeria not already a federal state?
Yes, it is
true we are a federal state. But in
practice today, Nigeria has become more or less a unitary state, and that is
why all the 36 states have to depend on
the government at the centre, that is Abuja for monthly allocations. Under a
true federal practice, states are supposed to enjoy some autonomy from the
Federal Government , and not only that, states are also supposed to develop
some mineral resources in their domains in order to generate revenue, but this
has not been so. But now that oil price has crashed and many states can no
longer pay their workers salaries, everybody is now talking about the need for
fiscal federalism. The reality we must face today is that if we don’t
restructure, we are only postponing the evil day.
But the impression some people are giving is that
restructuring will lead to break –up of Nigeria….
Those saying
that it will lead to the break-up of Nigeria are mis-informing the people and
this is unfortunate. There is no Society that is perfect. Even America, the
so-called God’s own country, there are still complaints an calls for reviews of
their system from time to time as a way of unifying the people. Restructuring
can never lead to Nigeria’s break-up. It will only help to strengthen the
country. You have agitations all over the country. The Boko Haram insurgency is
there, you also have the Biafra agitations in the South-East, so also you have
the Niger-Delta Avengers wreaking havoc
in the South-South geo political
zone of the country bombing oil pipe-lines and you are saying we
don’t need restructuring.
It is by
restructuring that we can address these problems. I will advise President
Buhari not only to listen to the
agitations for restructuring but take steps towards restructuring of Nigeria.
How can
Nigeria break up when you listen to grievances of people and you then take
steps to address the issues they have raised? We should not pretend as if all
is well. Our leaders should try to address some of these agitations. Today,
what we are practicing in Nigeria is nothing but a caricature of federalism.
Until we do the needful, long lasting peace may continue to elude us.
For those who
are afraid that true practice of federalism will affect some states especially
those that are not oil producing, I say they have nothing to fear. There is no
state in Nigeria that doesn’t have one mineral resources or the other that
can’t be harnessed and exploited for commercial gains. What about cash crops?
In the first Republic when we were still practicing true Federalism, Nigeria
was renown as a leading country for some cash crops. In Kano, you had popular
groundnut pyramids and cotton, in the South East you had palm –oil and coal,
for mid-West and South-West, you had
palm-oil, rubber and Cocoa. At a point, Nigeria was the leading
cocoa producing nation in the world. But what do you have today? Our
over-dependence on oil has put us into trouble. Now we have to look beyond oil
to survive.
Today
about 27 out of 36 states are owing workers’ salary due to fall in oil
revenue, what is your reaction?
That is very
unfortunate. It is sad. A labourer as the saying goes deserves his wages.
If the 36 states have not been over too
dependent on the central government in Abuja, this ugly situation would have
been averted. The states should have been inward looking instead of going cap
in hand to Abuja every now and then to solicit for fund. States as autonomous
structures within a federal structure should be less dependent on the Federal
Government. They should have avenues for generating revenues.
So, what is the way out of the quagmire? Is
bail-outs from the Federal government the answer?
It is very
simple. States should look for ways to boost their Internally Generated Revenue
(IGR) . Other states should emulate a state like Lagos which generates about
N30 billion IGR monthly. There is no
state that is empty but our over-dependence on oil over the years which made us
to become lazy is now having a boomerang
effect on us.
States should
also go back to Agric. We should go back
to farming. We should start mass production of cash crops like palm-oil,
groundnut, rubber and cotton. If we do that, states will become financially buoyant. States
should also endeavor to exploit for commercial purpose mineral resources within
their domains.
Some people have accused some state governors
of not being prudent in the management of monthly allocations they get to run
their states, what is your view?
There is a
need for monitoring of how issues relating to finance are being utilized by
state governors. The anti-corruption
agencies can be strengthened and empowered to monitor governors on their
spending habit. Anyone found to be corrupt can then be put on trial after
serving out his term. There is need for financial sanity in our system.
Another aspect
I want us to address is the issue of local government autonomy. Autonomy of
local government should be respected. Many state governors have tampered with
LG’s autonomy. They divert funds meant for development in local government
areas to other uses. This is not only illegal but also unconstitutional.
The issue of what should be done with
recovered looted funds has also become subject of debate, in your own view,
what do you think should be done with the money?
Part of the
money should be used to fix the epileptic power sector. If the power sector
stabilizes, a lot of other things would be okay. Companies and factories that
have been moribund will bounce back to life, and job opportunities will be
created. A lot of things that were dead before will come back alive. Part of the recovered looted fund can also
be injected into the economy to help as part of efforts being made to pull the
nation out of economic recession.
What is your assessment of the war against
corruption by Buhari’s government?
It is a right
step in the right direction. Looters are regarded as economic saboteurs. They
should not be treated with kid gloves. Apart from recovering money they stole,
they should also be sanctioned, at least to serve as a deterrent. There are
penalties in our law for looters.
However, the trial of suspects must be
seen to be free and fair. They must be given fair trial.
One thing I
however want to emphasize is that government needs to put measures in place to address problems of
hunger, poverty, and unemployment. Nigeria is a blessed nation, we only need
the right leaders to help us attain greatness.
How can
Nigeria attain greatness?
We need a new
crop of leaders who are selfless and dedicated. We need leaders who will no
longer see public officer as an avenue to loot but just only to serve. Nigeria
is destined to be great, we need men and women of honour who will henceforth
see public office as an avenue to serve and not to loot public treasury.
SUNNEWS
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