Do you think the Ruga initiative will curb herders-farmers clashes?
Ruga policy does not hold the automatic solution to the problem of farmers and pastoralists in Nigeria. Rather, it portrays the government as desperate in its determination to enforce a policy on vulnerable states across the country. The contradictory position of the Federal Government on the herdsmen identity, which they once conceded were illegal emigrants from neighbouring countries, and their sudden untold compassion for these non-Nigerians sparks a measure of curiosity. More than anything, it shows that the government is deliberately insensitive to the emotional sensibilities of the various cultural groups who are complaining of the parasitic relationship that the herdsmen have maintained with them lately. If the nature of the herdsmen is basically nomadic, that is moving from one place to another in as much as it promises a greener pasture, what then is the source of our national confidence that the people would not require more land when they realise the ones allocated are not enough later on? This effort, if not checked, may ignite internal rivalry because of the legality of land apportionment. Fulani herdsmen have lived among other people for centuries. The fact that they are becoming more emboldened by using arms and ammunition is enough to tell us all is not right. It is also a fact that people, especially in the South-West, are concerned about the current administration being sympathetic towards the herdsmen. The Presidency’s actions and refusal to act on some occasions are yet to prove the South-West people’s assumption wrong.
Why do you think the Fulani are now armed, killing and kidnapping people in the South-West?
As people speak in their various corners, they say that the occupation of the South-West is, to the Fulani herdsmen, an economic necessity. To the outspoken Yoruba, the mere reason that it is concealed as business escapade does not cancel the age-long dream to overtake the land. Harmless Fulani people have cohabited with the Yoruba people for a long period and have developed mutual trust between each other. The sudden arming of herdsmen with sophisticated weapons under the disguise of guarding their cows deserves more than superficial consideration. Although the Federal Government’s silence over the issue is confusing or misleading, it appears they have the backing of the government. They would have been flushed out if genuine interest is given to it, particularly with an understanding that they are illegal occupants. The weapons they brandish have regulations guiding their possession and use, thus putting a question mark on how they have access to them in the first place. Policies such as this rub people of their trust in the government’s ability to protect them, and consequently crush their spirit of patriotism. They may resort to defend themselves and this is an invitation to civil unrest.
If rearing cows is the business of an ethnic group, the maintenance of them should be their exclusive business. It should not be a national issue, after all, government does not offer similar land subsidy to private hospitals and schools.
Should the Oodua People’s Congress, Agbekoya and other vigilante groups be involved in ridding the South-West region of bandits?
The question we should ask is if the effrontery displayed by this group of people is bearable or not enough to provoke reactions. If within our objective judgement, bearing in mind the numerous occasions of kidnap for ransom, disruption of the existing peace for parochial reasons and the increased confidence with which they intimidate people of dissenting opinions, all of which are aggravating lately, we consider those affronts as deserving urgent internal security measures, engaging the services of the OPC and others would not be a step in a wrong direction.
The fact that these groups are the cultural rescue squads of the Yoruba people confers on them the authentic right to rise to the occasion. How we can engage them is the appropriate question we should ask. We must come to the realisation that contemporary undertaking of issues like this requires workable plans and quality road map. The constitution of the OPC and Agbekoya should exclusively be sophistication-driven. Governors must come together and stop illegal allocation of land to poachers; otherwise they would be understood as complicit in this technical territorial expansion of unidentified marauders. This then would be followed by continuous ransacking of the forest, where they reportedly strike and usually take cover.
Do you think ECOWAS Protocol on free movement should be reviewed to check the influx of criminals into Nigeria from neighbouring countries?
The formation of a body such as ECOWAS is predicated upon true and genuine intent to organise the inter-country activities and safeguard the African identity through the provision of security welfare for the people across board. The body takes into consideration the differences that occur among the African people and formulate some policies that will help govern them amicably without bias and prejudice. If ECOWAS has a standing protocol, considering free movements of people across the continent, this would be subject to modification owing to the current prevalent migrations that are not only illegal but harmful to the host communities.
This review is necessary because the safety of the people is sacrosanct and it is the cardinal reason why the people are enjoying harmonious relationship among and within themselves. Therefore, the policy should be reviewed so as not to lose the bond binding everyone together and avoid situations where people resort to violence to protect themselves.
How can small arms and light weapons in circulation be mopped in the West African region?
Getting ammunition is not a wrong thing on its own. The scary reality of its getting into wrong hands should be a matter of urgent concern. In fact, if we would be pragmatic, we should understand that Africa does not have sufficient weapons needed to guard and guide its civilization. Throughout the world, civilizations are defended with weapons. This is a stark truth. Man’s evolution, or maybe the inappropriate placement of moral correctness, has made Africans to think they do not need weapons in their quest for normal living. This is wrong. In this jungle we call earth people would only respect a country or group of people who are bold enough to maintain their stand in every ramification. Therefore, the government of each country should show seriousness about weapon control, as these weapons are sold by known foreign countries and taken with diplomatic immunity to people of other countries.
How do you think the high level of insecurity can be addressed?
Insecurity happens to every country of the world. The difference lies in the government’s sincerity to deal decisively with it. At no point in known history has any country been entirely peaceful or rid of violence for a straight decade. In fact, in most cases, people mastermind violence with a view to getting economic or political power. What is special in the Nigerian case is the profitability in insecurity. Unless we are being economical with fact, only then can we deny that security consumes the lion’s share of annual budgets. The fact that the condition is worsened tells an obvious fact. The conduit purpose that violence serves for the political class makes the problem extremely difficult to surmount. The country would remain difficult to rid of violence if we continue to concentrate security duties in the federal tier of our government. The primary focus of the federal power should be on international assignment; about the ways the country would be given an admirable shape at the comity of nations. Thus, true federalism, where power would be strictly devolved to the state government on security and other important issues, will address the issue of insecurity.
In what ways can technological devices improve the security situation in urban and rural parts of the country?
The first is through database. Each state should, as a matter of political and security necessity, have in their own archives the information concerning each occupant of the state. This would help in keeping track of the activities of everyone. New members would always be known at the appropriate time. Countries like China have sufficient CCTV cameras in their cities and this makes it readily difficult to carry out actions with the aim of getting away with them. Therefore, the political will and the commitment to effect the required change are things needed. In collaboration with local governments, the CCTV cameras can be installed at different locations to monitor the various activities of the people.
The 21st century is peopled by individuals whose lives are wired around the use of phones. That could be a way to monitor people’s activities after knowing their data without giving the likelihood of suspicion. Doing this will help report cases of misconduct quickly and attract prompt proper judgement. What is required to execute this basically is political will. It is better to make proactive measures rather than dedicate a large sum to correct those things post-event time.
What is your view on restructuring?
We have seen the country run under regionalism, a synonymous term with restructuring. We have equally witnessed its running under federalism. To seek one’s opinion would not be necessary if we place these two periods under objective comparison. During the former, there were better and more workable plans easily executed because the burden of governance was not needlessly concentrated at the centre. Hence, each region was in a healthy competition for progress. And such environment creates the needed atmosphere for development. We can look around today and ask ourselves the number of states faring well under this pattern of governance; and states that are engaging in any form of competition like in the olden days. We would realise there is a need for restructuring as a matter of national urgency.
The leadership of the country should shake off the fear that the country would disintegrate if states are given full-fledged autonomy. Matter-of-factly, the forceful imposition of identity would equally not fare well with them with the current trends of things. If the country can adopt the form of federalism practised in America, we will fare well and live up to global standard among the comity of nations.
Is the present administration fighting corruption the right way?
Any activity that seeks to question the immoral and injudicious use of the country’s wealth is a fight against corruption. The political colouration that is given to this anti-graft war is too glaring to be seen as fair. The deliberate blind sight of the government to people under its political tent whose cases of corruption hang loosely makes it difficult to be considered as genuine. Beyond this, the idea of corruption should be given a modernised perspective. People who misuse offices for personal and provincial purposes would not escape the stigma of corrupt practices. Therefore, if we consider the lopsided appointments, emotional consideration of some set of people over the others, and the imbalance treatment of some as sacred cows over the others that characterise the government of the day, it would be safe to say we have repositioned the country to a fresh start in the business of building the country.
Nigeria has rich cultural heritage. What benefits does this have for the nation?
There is no divorcing a people’s cultural heritage from their knowledge system, values, religious rites, customs and artifacts. The misinformation of Africans has made them to think that their objects, gods and goddesses are evil. This has provoked hostile reactions either in the form of abandonment, stark dissociation from traditional heritage, or inglorious name-calling, which has all culminated in a steady erosion of these values in worth and respect. However, the reality that these abandoned cultures have unlimited capacity to attract tourism, which will in turn lead to economic breakthroughs, makes it both sad and unfortunate that Nigeria is not considering making maximum use of its nature’s gifts.
In this age of technology, we can only imagine the magical ways by which we could derive many economic benefits from cultural heritage alone. More than before, the contemporary world comes with a promise to preserve cultures through its different technological inventions and transform them into consumables for other people of different cultural and ideological backgrounds. The Notre Dame Church in France that was razed recently serves a dual purpose of being a religious structure and a tourist attraction site from where the host makes a fortune.
In what ways can Nigeria use technology to turn its economy around?
Nigeria stands to gain mouthwatering turnaround in its economy if it uses technologies for its agricultural activities. In other words, agricultural revolution holds enough economic benefits for anyone who ventures into it. The best way to enable that is to introduce technologies into areas which are hitherto handled by human labour. Most of the things that are imported into the country have their raw materials produced from here, which means that the lack of the technological fervour deprives them the opportunity to embark on refining or converting those things into consumables. This therefore makes us dependent on countries that have embraced technology. There is no denying the fact that Nigeria is rich in natural resources. But this does not translate into any economic gain. Nigeria does not produce most of those things it consumes. And if a people consume what they do not produce or produce what they do not consume, they may be exposed to economic dangers in the long run.
Is Nigeria ripe for electronic voting?
Electronic voting is an encouraging development that has become an integrated culture in developed countries. These countries, we must understand, encounter myriad of challenges in the process of enforcing and selling that idea to their people. Characterised by the tendency for human manipulation, the people’s resistance to such emergent culture is founded on a solid ground. This makes electronic voting a process, which requires proper education, transparent electoral system, willing followers and committed leadership who would unanimously agree to embark on it, having come to a conclusion that majority support it. However, an objective look at the demography of voters in Nigeria reveals that many of them are either not sufficiently given the needed education to navigate their lives or denied the opportunity to even get education at all. There is however a temptation to think that electronic voting does not require acute scientific education for an average citizen to use it. The use of technology will improve the conduct of elections.
But the fact that the people would see no reason to contest doctored results would in the end show the missing link of education in the whole process which naturally would have made them to stand up to see their mandate judiciously making impact. With this, therefore, Nigeria, a country with indefinite database of its citizens, is not ready for such move. Even nations where this is currently practised such as the United States still face constant problems emanating from it. In some places, they have to rely on manual voting techniques.
What is your position on the high number of political parties in the country?
Political parties are organised groups that are meant to espouse worthwhile philosophies that would place the country on the right pedestal. They are therefore expected to have members with quality and sound intellectual who would structure the parties’ agenda in a way that will clearly show seriousness of purpose and remarkable moral rectitude. Growing or developing a country, in most cases, does not require many parties. It requires goodwill and constant modification of ideologies with a view to meeting up with the contemporary challenges. Governing a country is not a battle of conquest where number is given better priority over tact. What is needed is an undaunted determination for a change and progress at the same time. But this is an elusive reality to Nigerians within the context of political party formation. In fact, people found new political parties anytime their ambition is dashed by opposing ideas.
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that many political parties do not have convincing ideologies; rather, they are primarily seen as an avenue to overtake government, positions and negotiate for juicy appointments or national contracts. There are growing voices among African elite against multiparty system.
PUNCH
