Mrs. Ifeoma Idigbe, former banker and an executive director in a federal government parastatal, was deputy chairman of the committee on agriculture and water resources at the last national conference. In this interview with Thisday, Idigbe says the conference exposed her to the “big division” between the North and South of Nigeria and also showed Nigerians as a people willing to live together. Excerpts:
You participated in the just concluded national conference. How would you describe your experience?
It was an eye opener in the sense that there are lots of things you know intellectually and you talk about it with people. But when you are in the midst of people from all over Nigeria and they raise their issues, it brings home to you the reality of those issues in the lives of people. In the first instance, the conference helped me to get to know people from different parts of Nigeria and to realise their pains. The second realisation I had is that there is a big division between the North and South and it is not about religion (although people may use religion), it is about power game. And that I think is what needs to be balanced critically. It was an eye opener and sometimes I just thought there is a lot of work to be done in Nigeria if we understand each other. Anybody who was at the conference, I believe, got a better understanding of Nigeria. But the second part of it is for each person to be less selfish about what they want and be willing to compromise.
You talked about division between North and South and power game. Can you throw more light on this issue?
There is a distrust and suspicion. It means if you discuss or say something the other person is looking at your angle. In a normal human relationship, if I don’t give you fundamental trust our relationship can never work because there will always be a crack.
Generally, how would you assess the conference?
I thought it was a good conference. I thought the report was more detailed than the reports of previous conferences I had seen. I thought the conference covered more ground. A lot of ideas came out which showed that Nigerians are very intelligent. The issue is, why can’t we do it or what is it that stops us from being able to do it if we can think it. Why can’t we then put all those things together and execute it. I realise that our problem is execution.
Do you think there are areas the conference should have given priority that it didn’t?
I think all areas were touched. However, the area that people were more concerned with is “sharing of the money,” resource control, fiscal federalism that has to do with Nigeria being a true federal republic. It was addressed in a certain way, i.e. what are the federating units? The states are the federating units and the local governments are no longer. Initially, there were three tiers: the federal, state and local governments. The conference decided that the local government should not be. Therefore, that money going to the local government area should pass through the state. That decision generated some debates and difficulties from the northern side because of the idea that they have more local government areas and, therefore, it means that they are going to get less money.
Does it mean that local government should be scrapped?It was an eye opener in the sense that there are lots of things you know intellectually and you talk about it with people. But when you are in the midst of people from all over Nigeria and they raise their issues, it brings home to you the reality of those issues in the lives of people. In the first instance, the conference helped me to get to know people from different parts of Nigeria and to realise their pains. The second realisation I had is that there is a big division between the North and South and it is not about religion (although people may use religion), it is about power game. And that I think is what needs to be balanced critically. It was an eye opener and sometimes I just thought there is a lot of work to be done in Nigeria if we understand each other. Anybody who was at the conference, I believe, got a better understanding of Nigeria. But the second part of it is for each person to be less selfish about what they want and be willing to compromise.
You talked about division between North and South and power game. Can you throw more light on this issue?
There is a distrust and suspicion. It means if you discuss or say something the other person is looking at your angle. In a normal human relationship, if I don’t give you fundamental trust our relationship can never work because there will always be a crack.
Generally, how would you assess the conference?
I thought it was a good conference. I thought the report was more detailed than the reports of previous conferences I had seen. I thought the conference covered more ground. A lot of ideas came out which showed that Nigerians are very intelligent. The issue is, why can’t we do it or what is it that stops us from being able to do it if we can think it. Why can’t we then put all those things together and execute it. I realise that our problem is execution.
Do you think there are areas the conference should have given priority that it didn’t?
I think all areas were touched. However, the area that people were more concerned with is “sharing of the money,” resource control, fiscal federalism that has to do with Nigeria being a true federal republic. It was addressed in a certain way, i.e. what are the federating units? The states are the federating units and the local governments are no longer. Initially, there were three tiers: the federal, state and local governments. The conference decided that the local government should not be. Therefore, that money going to the local government area should pass through the state. That decision generated some debates and difficulties from the northern side because of the idea that they have more local government areas and, therefore, it means that they are going to get less money.
No. They are important because you have to use the local government to get to the grassroots. What it means is that the federal government would not give them money directly anymore, so that any allocation to the local government would pass through the state. Not only that, the state would be allowed to determine how many local governments they should have to work effectively. It means that if they have 40 and they feel they should have only 30, they can reduce it. And if they have 10 and they feel they need 25 they can increase them. That is the kind of power we want to give to the states. If you look at Lagos State, for example, when it created local government areas and federal government said they were not going to fund it, they (Lagos State) still went ahead and they are funding those local government areas.
But it is common knowledge that prior to this new proposal most state governments held the funds of their local councils?
They may be operating under them but they are considered a third tier of government and they have allocations. Different things happen in different states and because local governments operate under the responsibility of the states, I can say I don’t know how they operate with their state governors.
How would you respond to the feeling in some quarters that the national conference did not do justice to the core issues in the Nigerian question, such as true federalism, resource control, and fiscal federalism, which were central to Nigeria’s progress in the early years of independence?
Nigeria started with three regions: The North, the West and the East. The Mid- west was carved out of from the West. At some point we had 12 states. Nigeria was a smaller country then with fewer people. Remember, it was a nation that was just starting then, things were being developed and thought out. And if Nigeria was working so effectively, why did we have the problem? Why did we have the civil war? Why were people complaining about the politicians? What was the need for any coup? So let us not pretend that it was all roses. It couldn’t have been. I was a child then but it couldn’t have been mere roses if people felt agitated enough to complain. It is good to talk about the good old days but the reality is that there are 170 million Nigerians; there are 170 million points of view. I view that the essence of the conference, which came out in the president’s speech, is about consensus and getting everybody to the same page.
Should the report of the conference be taken to the National Assembly or national referendum for ratification?
There are three classes of the reports. There are policy recommendations, recommendations for changes in legislation and constitutional amendment. I think the executive can start with policy changes. He can start looking at the recommendations and have a team that will work out how the policies can be executed effectively. Legislation has to go to the National Assembly while there should be a referendum on constitutional amendment there. You can’t dictate to people what requires discussion. That was why the conference took place, in the first instance. Based on recommendations for change in the constitution, we had some amendments that were proposed for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
Do you think President Jonathan would have the courage to push for a referendum to ratify the report of the conference?
I do. I have looked about Mr. President and I have also read a lot of things written about him. Mr. Jonathan is a man of courage. He is also a man who pauses before doing anything. In life, we like people who take decision immediately. It is not always the best thing. Everybody has their strengths. If the president could convene the conference, in spite of all the agitations against it, he is capable. His opening speech was fantastic and it set the tone for the conference.
You were deputy chairman of the committee on agricultural and natural resources at the national conference. Would you say the Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority has lived up to its mandate?
That is the question that puts me on the spot. I think the Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority is crucial to the success of the agricultural transformation agenda of Mr. President. It is also crucial to the provision of water. The parastatal is federal and it works in states, local government areas and communities. So it traverses the Nigerian community from top to bottom. They have contracts in states: they build dams, they do irrigation systems. And those dams are multi-purpose dams, providing water for irrigation and at the same time supplying water to the cities, like Owena Dam. Even when there is no dam, they use bore-holes to set up irrigation systems for farmland and also make land available to the communities. You can also have fisheries within those dams. So I consider the parastatal very critical. And because they are located on ground there are certain things that have to be looked at: how much water is on ground? How do we manage the water resources Nigeria has? How much rainfall do we have? Is the water in the rivers good? We are supposed to collect data on the aforementioned. We need an equipment to do this and this requires funding because all this will help towards planning for water management in Nigeria. It will help towards finding out the level of impurity in our water system. The parastatals introduced chemicals into the ground water and even all the agricultural chemicals.
In 21st century, Nigeria is still combating the issue of Cholera. What do you think is the problem and how do you think it can be tackled?
It is part of what the parastatal does. And how do we nip the cholera in the bud? I think everything starts within. There have to be an attitude change in Nigeria. It is cannot always be about money. We have to be more sensitive to the needs and challenges of our people. It was one of the issues raised at the conference, that attitude change is necessary for us to achieve our potentials. Nigeria will be 54 in a few weeks’ time, and we are still talking about potential. There is a problem. When are we going to realise that potential? Nigerians who go abroad realise their potentials. A few of us here may realise our potentials. And there are few successes here and there. When will it extend to the larger body? When would it be massive on the scale of our abilities? I think the attitude change applies to all of this across the board.
Nigeria started with three regions: The North, the West and the East. The Mid- west was carved out of from the West. At some point we had 12 states. Nigeria was a smaller country then with fewer people. Remember, it was a nation that was just starting then, things were being developed and thought out. And if Nigeria was working so effectively, why did we have the problem? Why did we have the civil war? Why were people complaining about the politicians? What was the need for any coup? So let us not pretend that it was all roses. It couldn’t have been. I was a child then but it couldn’t have been mere roses if people felt agitated enough to complain. It is good to talk about the good old days but the reality is that there are 170 million Nigerians; there are 170 million points of view. I view that the essence of the conference, which came out in the president’s speech, is about consensus and getting everybody to the same page.
Should the report of the conference be taken to the National Assembly or national referendum for ratification?
There are three classes of the reports. There are policy recommendations, recommendations for changes in legislation and constitutional amendment. I think the executive can start with policy changes. He can start looking at the recommendations and have a team that will work out how the policies can be executed effectively. Legislation has to go to the National Assembly while there should be a referendum on constitutional amendment there. You can’t dictate to people what requires discussion. That was why the conference took place, in the first instance. Based on recommendations for change in the constitution, we had some amendments that were proposed for the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
Do you think President Jonathan would have the courage to push for a referendum to ratify the report of the conference?
I do. I have looked about Mr. President and I have also read a lot of things written about him. Mr. Jonathan is a man of courage. He is also a man who pauses before doing anything. In life, we like people who take decision immediately. It is not always the best thing. Everybody has their strengths. If the president could convene the conference, in spite of all the agitations against it, he is capable. His opening speech was fantastic and it set the tone for the conference.
You were deputy chairman of the committee on agricultural and natural resources at the national conference. Would you say the Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority has lived up to its mandate?
That is the question that puts me on the spot. I think the Benin/Owena River Basin Development Authority is crucial to the success of the agricultural transformation agenda of Mr. President. It is also crucial to the provision of water. The parastatal is federal and it works in states, local government areas and communities. So it traverses the Nigerian community from top to bottom. They have contracts in states: they build dams, they do irrigation systems. And those dams are multi-purpose dams, providing water for irrigation and at the same time supplying water to the cities, like Owena Dam. Even when there is no dam, they use bore-holes to set up irrigation systems for farmland and also make land available to the communities. You can also have fisheries within those dams. So I consider the parastatal very critical. And because they are located on ground there are certain things that have to be looked at: how much water is on ground? How do we manage the water resources Nigeria has? How much rainfall do we have? Is the water in the rivers good? We are supposed to collect data on the aforementioned. We need an equipment to do this and this requires funding because all this will help towards planning for water management in Nigeria. It will help towards finding out the level of impurity in our water system. The parastatals introduced chemicals into the ground water and even all the agricultural chemicals.
In 21st century, Nigeria is still combating the issue of Cholera. What do you think is the problem and how do you think it can be tackled?
It is part of what the parastatal does. And how do we nip the cholera in the bud? I think everything starts within. There have to be an attitude change in Nigeria. It is cannot always be about money. We have to be more sensitive to the needs and challenges of our people. It was one of the issues raised at the conference, that attitude change is necessary for us to achieve our potentials. Nigeria will be 54 in a few weeks’ time, and we are still talking about potential. There is a problem. When are we going to realise that potential? Nigerians who go abroad realise their potentials. A few of us here may realise our potentials. And there are few successes here and there. When will it extend to the larger body? When would it be massive on the scale of our abilities? I think the attitude change applies to all of this across the board.
No comments:
Post a Comment