Alex Ekwueme
PREMIUM TIMES republishes an interview with former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, who died Sunday in a London hospital.
The interview, granted to leading Hausa newspaper, Rariya, was first published by PREMIUM TIMES in 2013. Mr. Ekwueme spoke about his life, his politics, his struggles and his visions for Nigeria.
Excerpts:
How was growing up like in Oko in the 30s?
Well, Oko was a very rural village but I didn’t actually grow up
there because my father was a church teacher for the Church Missionary
Society (CMS) which is now the Anglican Church and at the time they were
called CMS Agents that is Church Missionary Society Agents. Today, they
call them Evangelists. They were responsible for going to rural
villages where Christianity had not penetrated and primarily to set up
Christian churches so although officially I am from Oko, I was not
actually born in Oko. I was born in a village about 11 miles east of Oko
call Uga because sometimes my father was in charge of Emmanuel church
at Uga so I was born within the church premises and from there, after I
was four, my father was transferred to another town Nkpologwu, to
Emmanuel Church Nkpologwu.
There, he stayed for just one year before he was transferred again
to another church, St Jude Adazi Ani where we stayed two years and where
my younger brother, Professor Laz Ekwueme, the present traditional
ruler of Oko was born. After that, we moved to a place called Oba which
is the remotest part of the state that my dad had to serve. He was the
pioneer missionary there. He set up the first church and assimilated the
first Christians and after two years there, we came back to Oko. That
was when we started living at Oko from 1940 generally and that was at
the age of seven.
It was then a very rural setting. And from Oko, I went to a primary
school in a neighbouring town which was about four miles away and as we
moved on foot every day until 2 years after that- February, 1942, my
father died and my aunt then asked me to come and live with her. When my
father died my mother had me and the traditional ruler Professor Laz
and another Prof, the surgeon, Obumneme, and after my father died my
mother delivered twin girls so the burden of looking after three of us
and the twins was too much for her and her husband. So, my aunt asked me
to come and live with her which served two purposes.
First, it relieved my mother the burden of having to look after me
and secondly, I was able to keep my aunt company because she was living
alone. But from there, to continue going to school there meant a journey
of five and half miles every morning on foot which was very strenuous.
But it toughened me because we used to leave in the morning as early as
five o’clock and get to a stream on our way and we stop there to have
our morning bath and from there we start walking from that stream to the
school went uphill and it was very very strenuous. And you have to get
to school on time because when you come late you know you are in
trouble. When we close, we start trekking back five and half miles and
when I get back to my aunt’s place, I had to go to the stream to fetch
water for us to use and come to help cook the evening meal. It was very
strenuous but it was useful as I said it toughened me and I was able to
cope with tough situations later in life.
From there to Kings College. How did you get to King’s College from a village?
That’s a good question. Fortunately, my elder brother had gone into
DMGS, Denis Memorial Grammar school at Onitsha. In fact, my dad just
settled him in at the Grammar school in January and he died in February.
So, he was the one who suggested that I should take entrance
examinations to what he considered good secondary schools in Nigeria and
Kings College was one of them. He mentioned Government College Umuahia
which was also a good school and then, of course, there was DMGS, the
one he was attending, there was Methodist College Uzuakoli, Hope Waddel
College Calabar and so on.
And the first examination that came up was that of King’s College.
And that was June 1944, and then a month and half after we did the
examination I was asked to come for the interview. They sent a warrant
to enable the child (me) travel by train to Enugu at the age of eleven.
And then you settled in Kings College?
Yes, we did the interview and I was given a scholarship…four of us
were granted scholarships and only 25 were taken to class one the
following year. Officially, we would have started in September but it
was during the war so we started in January 1945.
Who were your contemporaries at Kings College?
Out of a class of 25, we were only (those of us still alive today)
about seven. We were four from the east and that four out of coincidence
were distributed among the 4 provinces. I was the only one from Onitsha
province, and there was Gogo Nzeribe the trade unionist, who was from
Owerri Province, there was Okon from Calabar province and there was
another person from Ogoja Province. There were four of us from the East,
twenty from the West and only one from the North, Bashir from Ilorin.
In the class above us, we had Odimegwu Ojukwu and his first cousin,
Emmanuel Ojukwu, and another boy who later became the President of the
Nigerian Bar Association. We had quite a few bright people like
Professor Olaitan who was at University of Benin and who later became an
Arch Deacon. There was Adesugba who later became the Deji of Akure and
others.
Was it after High school that you went to study architecture in the US?
Yes, it was after Secondary school. I did my school certificate in
December 1949 and we finished from King’s College in June 1950. Then in
December 1950, I did a Higher School Certificate examination which is
called A Levels now in Arts subjects- English Latin and history. Then,
when the results came out the following month and I passed, the
Principal who was my mentor, had gotten me back to the school to work as
Technical Assistant and Science Instructor to the junior classes.
While I was teaching there, in December 1951, I took another Higher
School Certificate in the Sciences- Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.
It was the Principal who suggested that I should study Architecture
because it was a field in which there were no Nigerians at the time and
that with my wide background and my ability in arts, I should make a
good architect. Fortunately, then we set up that year and they asked for
arts students in North America in the secretariat in Broad Street and
for the first time, Nigerians were eligible to apply for a scholarship
under the Fulbright Act sponsored by the Department of State to exchange
students.
That year, four Nigerians were awarded this scholarship but because
we were a colony, we were not eligible to be awarded the scholarship as
Nigerians so we were awarded the scholarship as part of the United
Kingdom contingent. So, they took two of us undergraduates and two
postgraduates but they took us first to England where they took us round
all the scenic places: English speaking places like Cambridge, Oxford,
the Theaters, Birmingham and opera and so on. After they thought we were
sufficiently drilled, we went across to the United States.
While you were there, you were eclectic in your choice of
study-philosophy, sociology, law. Why did you take all these diverse
courses and you had degrees in all of them?
First, I had some crucial courses I had passed before coming into
the full programme. I had exemptions from Intermediate Bachelor of Arts
degree from London University so I’d registered for the London
University BA degree before I got the scholarship to come and study
Architecture. While I was studying Architecture… well, the American
system then, coursework, we had to have a certain number of credits to
get a degree and because I had done those Higher school in arts, English
and History and sciences Physics, chemistry and mathematics, I was
exempted from English language courses. I was exempted from mathematics
courses for architects even from the sight and sound which you had to do
in preparation for mechanical equivalent of buildings in architecture.
But having been excepted from all these, I think they didn’t give
me credits for that so I still had to make up to get the required number
of credits required for graduation. So, I used all those open spaces to
concentrate on my electives- philosophy, sociology and so on. Within
three years of my coming in, I took my London University External BA
examination in History, Philosophy and Constitutional law. That was in
June 1955 and in August that year, that’s 3 months after, because I had
accumulated enough courses in sociology, I was eligible to get a degree
in sociology.
Is it true that you were the first to establish an architectural firm in Nigeria?
January 2 1958, Ekwueme Associates Estate and Town Planning was registered and that was the first architectural firm in Nigeria.
You said that when you came back after your PhD, you joined politics. How did that happen?
At a dinner we had in Glasgow after my PhD, there were many
Nigerians there. Around September or so, the military government had
lifted the ban on politics. Those who came from Nigeria were intrigued
by the change from military to the civilian administration and at the
dinner, they all said that I should come back and contest for the
governorship of Anambra state.
I gave two conditions. First and foremost, I had spent 24 months
doing this work and that I was really exhausted…really exhausted because
during the research work and preparing for my LLB examinations, it took
a lot away from me. And I shuttled back and forth to Nigeria 13 times
during those 2 years. Although I had partners who were running the firm
but still those people who gave us their commissions asked of me because
they knew me. So, I had a personal responsibility to ensure that those
projects were properly handled so I travelled 13 times. So, I said first
I need to rest. After that, the next condition was that I didn’t have
the resources for campaign and won’t be able to rush into the campaign
with that kind of energy. What they told me was ‘don’t worry. We will
take care of all that’. That I should just accept the nomination.
I came back to Nigeria in November and by the time I came back, they had formed the parties and it was four days before the primaries but however, they postponed it for another one week. So, I came in 11 days to the primary nomination. And true to the promise they made, they had mobilised people. And many of those who had indicated interest to run all stepped down and said they would support me.
Anambra state as it was then composed, had polarisation between its
north which is now Enugu State and south which is presently Anambra and
people from Enugu state already felt they were dominated by people in
what is Anambra now. And CC Onoh wanted to be governor and from my own
part the state, there were three of us. We sat down and everyone stepped
down except Chuba Okadigbo. So, we came to the primaries and there were
three of us coming from what was then Anambra and only one coming from
Enugu so the result was a foregone conclusion. Then we went to Casino
Cinema in Lagos, on December 10, for the presidential primaries. It was
there that Alhaji Shehu Shagari was nominated after Maitama Sule stepped
down so we didn’t go for a second ballot.
There were general arrangements the party had agreed to before I
came back from the United Kingdom. The north was to produce the
president and they were six of them contesting for it. Four western
states would produce the chairman of the party and what is now the
South-east would produce the vice president and what was called southern
minorities or the south-south today should produce the senate
president. So, after the presidential primaries at Casino Cinema,
matters came up for the selection of Vice President. The committee that
was set up by the party to go to Anambra and Imo to find out whom they
thought would be able to partner with Alhaji Shehu Shagari in the
contest of the country went around but didn’t quite conclude.
In fact they were to do their work between that time and to finish
by December 26th or 27th so what happened was that because I was not
mentally prepared for the post of vice president, what I came back to
contest was that of governor. So, on the 21stDecember, while the
committee was going round, I left the country with my family. We went to
Douala in the Cameroons. Then on the 24th we moved from Douala to
Nairobi and spent Christmas in Nairobi and then came back to Nigeria on
the 29th December by which time we thought they must have finished the
selections but they hadn’t.
At the Hotel Presidential Enugu, where the state chairman of the
party, Dr. Ralph Orizu, former president of the Senate was staying, he
called leaders of the party from Anambra and Imo to come to his suite
and when they came, he told them that the slot for vice president had
been allocated to Anambra and Imo and that Anambra and Imo States should
bring one person each who they would like to occupy the slot. He said
those two people should bring their CVs the next morning.
So, as it turned out, the state executive submitted my name. The
next morning, we submitted our CVs to Alhaji Shehu Shagari and he spent
the next day in Enugu. Then the day after that, they moved us from
Anambra to Benue. When we got to the Anambra/Benue border, the Benue
contingent had come to meet us. While we were exchanging greetings,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari called me aside and said that he had reached an
agreement and that he would like to work with me.
I thanked him for the honour for considering me a suitable
associate for the office of the vice president. So, we went back to
Lagos after the tours and they fixed a National Executive Council
meeting.
I was in London for my convocation when the treasurer of the party
in Anambra state called me on the phone and said ‘what are you doing
there?’ I tried to explain to him and he said ‘jump into a plane and
come back immediately’. I said, ‘what is happening?’ But he said just
jump on a plane and come immediately. I came back and so on the 23rd
January at the NUC, I was invited to Jibowu street and after the NUC
met, they had consultations with Alhaji Shehu Shagari and he announced
to them that the party had adopted me as running mate to Shehu Shagari.
How did you emerge as an Igbo vice president to a northern
President when Zik (Nnamdi Azikwe) from your locality was the
presidential candidate in another party, NPP? Did it add any political
pressure on you since both of you are from Anambra state?
One of the things I mentioned at the dinner in Glasgow was that I
would like to get involved in the governorship thing and I would like to
do it on the platform of a party that has a nationwide appeal. And as
of the time we were doing primaries at Enugu, Zik had not declared for
NPP. Infact, a delegation had gone to see him at Nsukka and I think it
was on their way back that one of them, Chief Agbaje from Ibadan, died
in an accident on their way back. What he told the delegation was that
he would consider their invitation for him to join and that he would
announce a decision in due course. But as soon as we finished the
nomination in Enugu, the following week, NPP came to do their own. Zik
then declared for NPP. He was persuaded by a team that went from Lagos,
some of his old colleagues NCNC, to come and join the NPP and to lead.
Waziri Ibrahim pulled out and took his own group as Great Nigeria
People’s Party (GNPP).
Did you have any form of relationship with Alhaji Shehu Shagari before your nomination as his running mate?
Well, it was when he was commissioner for finance and a mutual
friend of ours who has passed on now, took me to him because the
military were acquiring my properties in Port Harcourt and had
defaulted. They had not paid their rent up to date so he told me that
Alhaji Shagari would be able to help me. So, I saw him and he called
Alhaji Shehu Musa, the late Makama Nupe who was a deputy Permanent
secretary in the Ministry of Defence, and told him that he was sending
me to him and that he should solve the problem. So, when I got to Alhaji
Shehu Musa office, he invited one Shittu, one of his assistants, who
took the matter and they sorted it out and paid all the arrears they
were owing. That was my closest contact with him prior to NPN
convention.
What was the nature of your working relationship with the President?
We had a very close working relationship. He is a person who is
forthright and principled. I tell you one thing. The first cabinet
council meeting we had, papers had been circulated earlier on but
throughout the meeting, I didn’t say anything because usually memoranda
were signed by the president and of course he didn’t draft them. It was
drafted by civil servants but declared under his name. So as soon as the
meeting ended, he invited me to his office. It wasn’t a very expansive
office. From the council chambers to his office was just a flight of
stairs. He asked me why I didn’t make any contribution to the discussion
that went on at the council. I told him that the memoranda came under
his signature and I found a lot of things I was not happy with and I
didn’t think it would be tidy for me to come and start pointing out
those issues because it would seem as if we were working at cross
purposes.
So, I said that there are two ways of handling these issues. Either
I see these memos and add my input before they come which would
preserve the integrity of the presidency or not. He said that I should
go ahead and add my views. He said he didn’t know that this problem was
sometimes created by civil servants and sometimes they come so late, a
day or two before council meeting and there won’t be time to go through
it. He said that I should be free to express my views on any of the
items so I thought it was very unusual because most people would be
sensitive about seeing a paper they signed being criticised by their
deputy. So, we worked together amicably.
One of the traits of your government is that the President and his
deputy were men of proven integrity but the government was accused of
massive corruption. Give us an insight on how two of you dealt with the
issue of corruption
The problem of corruption was magnified beyond proportion because
the media was in total control of UPN which was in opposition to us.
Well, as you can tell, when the military came in and they set up
military tribunals, the first people to be jailed for corruption were
those taking kickbacks from the Great Nigeria Insurance which went up in
flames a few days ago.
It wasn’t NPN government, it was UPN people government. And the
people who had longer sentence for abuse of office was not NPN
governors, it was NPP governors. So, the thing was magnified out of
proportion. When contracts were awarded, it was out of the competitive
tendering process. Directors had power up to N250, 000, permanent
secretaries had up to so much and ministerial tenders board had so much
and beyond that, it has to come to Federal Tenders Board. Now
admittedly, we had a few ministers whose conduct fell below the norm and
it’s a difficult thing to police because it was not something that was
easily proven so that you say this is the proof.
Once you heard that sort of thing and you confront the minister or
the person concerned, he denies totally that there was no such
misconduct. But what happened then was that during the second term, of
course, we knew that this problem was there So, we required all those
who were appointed ministers to sign undated letters of resignation so
as not to cause us any embarrassment so that when we have this sort of
story about a minister collecting money, we would just say that he has
tendered his letter of resignation on personal grounds.
Shortly after the 1983 coup, there was a coup. The
principal officers, particularly at state and federal levels, were
arrested and detained by the military including the president. What can
you tell us about what happened?
As you know I was first the person to be arrested. They came to my
house at about 1 am and then it was my friend’s (Emir of Gwandu) son,
Major Jokolo, who came to arrest me.
After I was arrested, we went to the House of the Speaker where
they arrested Benjamin Chaha from Benue. In the first term, we had
NPN/NPP accord so the Speaker came from NPP and that was how Ume Ezeoke
became Speaker, otherwise, Benjamin Chaha would have been Speaker.
Because of that, he was made a minister. That position was zoned to
North-central. So, Benjamin Chaha was coming to the House for the first
time. He was a school teacher and my house was very close to his place
and apparently, the driver forgot the way to his house and he went round
and round looking for it. So, when we got there anyway, he was very
frightened. When he came to the car and saw me, he calmed down. He said
if I was there and was not panicking, why should he be panicking.
They said you had information that these soldiers were
planning (a coup). Why didn’t you arrest them? It was alleged that both
President Shagari and you got a hint that they were planning the coup?
Maybe President Shagari got a hint, I didn’t have a hint
During the regimes of Buhari and Babangida, you were relatively
quiet. You didn’t engage government during this period but when Abacha
came you were so active even leading some opposition to the military.
What were you doing during Babangida and Buhari period?
First, in the Buhari period which lasted for 20 months, I was in
detention. I went from Bonny Camp first to a House in Temple Road and
from there to Kirikiri then from Kirikiri to Ikoyi Prison. It was there
in Ikoyi prison in August that Buhari was shunted aside by Babangida. It
was Babangida that got us out of Ikoyi prison and back to house arrest
where we started. House arrest first at Hawksworth then from Hawksworth
to Roxton then from Roxton to Milverton. That went on like that for a
space of about 10 months.
From there, I was taken to my home at Oko and placed under
restriction. I could not go out of my Local Government. I was not
allowed to make any statements so naturally, I had to comply because I
signed that I would comply with and I did comply. After the restriction
within my local government, they expanded it and said I should not move
out of my state. From my state, I was kept within Nigeria until 1989.
Six years after that, I was allowed to travel out of the country. That
was why you didn’t hear much from me. Then Babangida came and promised
to hand over after a period of time. He set up institutions, Centre for
Democratic Studies, so many institutions, and created parties. Well,
what I decided was that I would not participate in any political
activity. I wouldn’t be a member of any of the parties and institutions.
Then when Abacha came, what really triggered me was his modus
operandi. He came and it was clear that he didn’t have any regards for
the civilian population. He thought everything was to be accomplished by
force of arms. We organized first as civil society, nine of us to tried
and really appreciated that if we don’t extricate ourselves from the
military, we will remain slaves to them forever. Then from the Institute
for Civil Society, we decided to hold a summit which was held at Eko
Hotel. While that was holding, he (Abacha) sent thugs to disperse us.
After that, we heard that he was planning to transit from a military to
civilian Head of state and we found that that was unconscionable.
So, after the summit, all of us in civil society met again and
recognised the summit and felt it was widely assumed that they were all
supporting Abacha because he was a Northerner so we agreed that they
would make the first move, telling Abacha that what he was doing was not
acceptable. So, we met at Kaduna and drafted a memorandum which Solomon
Lar delivered to him (Abacha) by a group of 18. Then after that, I
called a full meeting at Glover Hotel in Yaba where 34 of us met and I
prepared a memorandum which we gave to him which was G34 Memorandum.
So, it was the G34 that metamorphosed into PDP?
Well, the G34 midwifed the PDP. After Abacha’s death and General
Abdulsalam came, we were allowed to start partisan politics. It was G34
that called the associations we had in Lagos and eventually decided to
get political associations because we had come to the conclusion that we
must forget every difference and come together so the associations that
were in existence came together – ANC, ADP, PDN, PCS, PNS. And so that
was how PDP emerged formally on August 21 at the National Conference
Centre in Abuja. It formally became a party.
During the 1994/95 constitutional conference you championed
the restructuring of Nigeria into 6 geo-political zones. What was the
motivation?
What was exactly wrong with the structure of the Nigerian
Federation at independence and thereafter? We had three regions-the
North, the East and the West. The drawbacks of that structure were that
the north was bigger than the other two regions put together which meant
that in a parliamentary system if all the other MPs vote together, they
will always produce the Prime Minister. This meant that some parts of
the country will consider themselves second-class citizens if they
cannot aspire to the highest office in the land. That was the first
pitfall.
The second one was that we met the structure for each region such
that in each region, we had a majority ethnic group and then a group of
minority ethnic groups. In the north, Hausa/Fulani, then the others like
Kanuri, Gwari, Nupe and so on coming down to others like Angas and
Tarok.
In the West, we had Yoruba and then Edo, Urhobo, Itsoko Itsekiri,
Western Ijaw. In the East, Igbo majority, then Ibibio, Efik the Eastern
Ijaw, Ogoja area, Ogoni. So, all these minority groups felt that by the
structure of the region they were again second-class citizens. So, it
was in their interest that they should be in opposition. The Midwest was
able to be established as the first region. The minorities in the east
and north were not so lucky so my thinking was how do we cure these two
defects.
First, the overbearing size of land in the federating units and
secondly the conflict between the majority and minority groups and of
course if you cure these two then we have a stable country. So, we said
that we should have in the north, 3 zones: North-west, mostly
Hausa/Fulani, North-east and North-central mostly minorities, South-west
mostly Yoruba, the South-east, mostly Igbo and South-south mostly
minorities again. Although we have some Igbo in Delta, you have some
Yoruba in Edo and you have some Hausa in Auchi so, with this
arrangement, we now have 3 majority zones and 3 minority zones.
The presidential campaign you ran during the formation of
the PDP was exciting because of the issues and the difference. Most of
the northern elders like Adamu Chiroma or those in NPN rallied around
you but somehow Obasanjo was also supported by the military. So, the
military was for Obasanjo and politicians were for you and he got it. In
2003, a similar thing happened. What actually played out then?
It was not quite right to say that politicians were for me while
the military was for Obasanjo. Two politicians, for example, were for
Obasanjo. Rimi was a politician. Even in the stadium there where they
were choosing the candidate, he was campaigning for Obasanjo in Jos. And
then Bamanga Tukur who was in ANC who I campaigned for in 1983 when he
was running for the governorship of Gongola. He gave his reasons for
supporting Obasanjo in the book ‘This House Has Fallen’. You see where
he was interviewed and he said that Obasanjo was like a truck driver and
I was like a limousine driver.
You know Obasanjo is a rough person and I was a gentleman type of
politician and that what Nigeria needed at that time was a truck driver
and not a limousine driver. So, he was supporting Obasanjo. Even Solomon
Lar, may his soul rest in peace, who was the chairman of the party and
who was my deputy in all those organisations, supported Obasanjo in Jos.
Jerry Gana who was my Secretary in Civil Society, Secretary in G34,
Secretary in PDP, Secretary of Board of Trustees when I was Chairman, he
was also an ‘Obasanjo’ man.
So, it was not just not a military affair. We had more to it but
what most people didn’t understand is that I could have scuttled the
whole thing in Jos because in November 1998, at a meeting of the
National Executive Committee of the party, which we had before local
government elections of December, the government had said that it was
the performance of the local government elections that would decide
which parties would get final registration.
So, it was crucial for every party to succeed in local government
elections and at this meeting it was stated in black and white that
anybody who did not win his local government will not be eligible to
contest for the presidency. Anybody who did not win his ward will not be
eligible to contest for the governorship. After the election of
December 5, the next NEC meeting, which was chaired by late Afolabi
because Solomon Lar was not present that day, approved and confirmed
this decision of the NEC.
Now in my pocket in Jos, I had a copy of the decision and also the
constitution of the party. The chairman of the party was like the
chairman of the Board and Secretary of the party was like the Managing
Director so it was the Secretary who had executive powers, not the
Chairman. When the result was announced in Jos and they said Obasanjo
won, I had the option of saying I didn’t accept it or say I accept it,
embrace it and work together to make sure the party wins. I could have
said that of all the candidates that contested, it was only 6 that were
eligible.
I had the highest number of votes so I expected the party to send
my name to INEC and having said that and read the minutes of the NEC
meeting it was incontrovertible that a person who did not win his local
government area, he didn’t win his ward, he didn’t even win the polling
station in front of his house so with the NEC decision he couldn’t be
the party’s candidate. And this decision was mentioned at the screening
committee when we applied to contest.
When the screening committee read the letter and its implications,
Solomon Lar (may his soul rest in peace) wrote to them to plead that
they should give Obasanjo provisional clearance to contest.
Secondly, it could have given the military the chance to prolong
their stay which would defeat all the efforts we made and the risk we
took to place our lives on the line during Abacha. My own personal
ambition was not worth putting Nigeria at risk and that was why I
embraced Obasanjo and went on to campaign for him. Few days after,
fundraising was done at the congress hall and I chaired that
fund-raising ceremony.
Times have changed since you left government. One is
corruption. The magnitude of corruption now is very high. The military
accused Shagari government of corruption but what is happening now makes
it look like child’s play. How do you feel?
I feel very sad that I think we must leave the blame squarely at
the feet of the military because the military that was accusing us of
corruption had absolutely no checks. I said earlier on that no contract
was awarded without tender. Except those of defence that didn’t have to
come into the open, military procurement. Otherwise, everything was
transparent. But in their own case, there was no processing. Just call
somebody and give him a contract without due process and unfortunately
the civilians that came after them thought that that was a way to
operate and the public servants helped to encourage corrupt practices in
all areas of governance.
But as I said, when we had a workshop on anti-corruption in 1991, I
told them that corruption exists in every country and most human beings
have the tendency of being corrupt if they think they will get away
with it. Corruption is low in America because it is difficult to get
away with it. They will track you down. We can reduce corruption if we
take just two steps.
The first one is to allow an exception to our jurisprudence
especially the part we inherited from Britain that says you are assumed
innocent until you are proven guilty. And that puts the burden of
proving you guilty on the person who accuses you so that can be very
difficult burden to discharge. So, we need to give exception in some
cases and say you are presumed guilty unless you prove yourself
innocent. For instance, if you are a civil servant on level 10 and you
are driving a Mercedes Jeep and you are living in a palace in Maitama
and your lifestyle is such that cannot be justified or defended by your
legitimate earnings then you are deemed guilty until you prove
otherwise.
If the structure of that jurisprudence makes that exception, then
the incidence of corruption will reduce. The second one is to have
whistle-blowers protection act. Anybody who demands gratification from
you, you are free to meet his demands provided you will blow the whistle
on him immediately and whatever is been recovered from him, some of it
would be returned to you and you will be protected by law from being
accused of inquisitorial harassment. A slight change in our
jurisprudential norms and promulgation of a Whistle-blowers Act will
bring down corruption.
Your last attempt at the presidency was the nearest for any
person of Igbo ethnicity. How do you foresee an Igbo presidency in the
nearest future?
Well, it’s something that has to be based on structural refinement.
I don’t think any Nigerian will be happy if his regional block or
ethnic block or geopolitical block is seen to be excluded from vying for
the highest office in the land for whatever reason. In 1987, I
understand Umaru Dikko gave a press conference in London after he
escaped from here where he said that the coup which took place in
December 1983 was put in place by the Army to prevent me from taking
over from Shagari in 1987 and they didn’t want it to linger until that
time so they decided to do it at a time we were complaining of the
elections, hoping that they would receive the sympathy of non NPN
supporters.
I don’t know how Umaru got his information but that is what he
said. Then in 1999, the same scenario played itself out in a different
way. Also, in 2003. You know the format was that presidency was just a
single term. Now if I had won in 1999, by 2003 I would have served one
term and it goes to the North-east with a vice president from
South-south to serve one term. By 2007 a south-south man would have
served as a president and he would have someone from North-west as his
vice so by 2011, a person from North-west will be president with a VP
from South-west. By now we would have the opportunity for every
geopolitical zone to produce a president and I am persuaded that every
geo-political zone in this country has competent man power and can serve
in the highest office in the land.
How would you like the Nigerian society to judge you?
Well, I cannot and should not blow my own trumpet. My music teacher
in secondary school said you have to blow your own trumpet because if
you don’t, no one will blow it for you until it gets rusty. But I will
like to be remembered as someone who came into public office to render
service and rendered that service selflessly.
What is your vision for Nigeria and the future?
My vision for Nigeria is that Nigeria should become a nation rather
than a country. Ghana is a nation. The type of massacre of people from
certain groups that takes place from time to time in Nigeria won’t
happen in Ghana. You will not see people from Ashanti descending on the
Fantis and the Ga and others and killing them as if they are not
citizens of the same country. And when you talk a Ghanaian without being
told you will see that he is talking as a Ghanaian but when you talk to
a Nigerian, by and large it will not show that they are Nigerians first
and foremost.
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Culled from PREMIUM TIMES
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