Nigeria’s Problems Are Now Beyond Constitution Amendment

Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu-Uko is the founder of the highly respected Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, deputy secretary of the Professor Ben Nwabueze led Igbo Leaders of Thought, ILT and secretary-general of the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA.

Coming out from a long spell of silence, Ugochukwu-Uko in this interview speaks on the state of the nation, mulls about issues that have hindered the country’s progress and makes his suggestions on the way forward.

Excerpts:

Question: You have been quiet for some time despite the tension with the nation in the grips of anxiety. Why?

Ans: Point of correction, we don’t have a nation yet. I don’t want to repeat myself.

Everybody knows the solution to our problem, for some strange reasons, they kept the solution in the archives to gather dust. I will be playing to the gallery if I spoke everyday. For decades I screamed myself hoarse to authorities on the need to reconstruct our polity through a new peoples’ constitution that will enthrone true federalism, devolution of powers and equity.

95% of our troubles flow from the unworkable unitary constitution inspired by the military. Repeating myself everyday would either mean that I crave to be relevant in the media always or that I am desperate for political accommodation within this wobbly crazy structure.

I set out decades ago to inspire, influence and awaken youths from my region from slumber all through the 1990s till date, I moved about from city to city organizing IYM monthly seminars for Igbo youths. I was privileged to have great Igbo leaders attend my IYM seminars, conferences, conventions and rallies. The idea was to inspire the younger generation first of all to understand their precarious condition in Nigeria and then to reject it.

I organized 172 conferences all over Nigeria for Igbo youth within 25yrs, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu attended 24 of them. Whether I succeeded in waking them up will be left for posterity to judge. Since I am not looking for a job from government and I am not hungry for publicity, my religion does not permit me to play to the gallery, that is why I refused to repeat myself. Moreover, there is nothing new to say since everybody , including those who called me “Elliot onye ala restructuring” 20 years ago, have finally come to see that restructuring remains the only solution.

Question: But the current President does not believe in it. What do we do then?

Ans: That is unfortunate, but his stand cannot change the truth.

If we do not restructure our polity, our problems will only get worse. So it is unfortunate if Mr. President only chooses to address the symptoms instead of the root cause of  our malaise.

Question: There are talks of amending the constitution by the constitutional amendment committee of the National Assembly.

Ans: Our problems are beyond constitutional amendment by the National Assembly. Our problem is that the framework of our constitution as designed by the military cannot move the country forward in unity and cannot also engender economic and political growth of any country.

We are only surviving as a country purely as a result of the oil money shared by all tiers of government. The day the oil stops flowing and cash stops coming in, Nigeria will disintegrate. Our structure is crazy, strange and funny at the same time. People all over the world do not believe it when you tell them that the state of California, New York, Texas, etc troop to Washington DC every month to collect monthly allocation to run their states and pay salaries. That Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland rush to London every month for monthly allocation and that all the regions in Canada, Germany, India, Australia, etc all troop to the nation’s capital for money every month in order to run their governments, build infrastructure, pay salaries etc.

They will not believe you because that is not done anywhere in the world. The regions and states can only develop when they source their own resources and manage it to develop their region to the envy of other regions. The rivalry between regions will engender competition like it did in the first republic, forcing each region to look inwards, think outside the box, mine and sale every mineral under their soil and then manage their resources so well thereby discouraging sleaze and waste.

It is impossible for one man to effectively run a behemoth of  200 million people from Abuja. It also impossible to force down the same rules, style, format and system on the people of Sokoto and Akwa Ibom at the same time or on the people of Borno and Bayelsa. Because the religious and social cultures of the Fulani and Kanuri is completely different with that of the Ibibio and Ijaw. Nigeria will only experience growth, peace and concord when regions are allowed to develop at their own pace. We have tried for decades now under this unitary structure and we have failed woefully. Why do we find it difficult to face the truth and restructure Nigeria without further delay?

Question: The agitation for session in the East……………….

Ans: (Cuts in) I have said all I have to say on the fact that the younger generation of Easterners have rejected Nigeria as presently constituted. I have said that louder than anybody else. I have also been consistent for more than two decades.

Question: Finally, the Buhari led government………………

Ans: (Cuts in) I don’t want to talk about Buhari’s government. It wasn’t the Chinese nor Mexicans that brought in this government. It was Nigerians that brought him. Those who brought him should enjoy him. I humbly suggest that Nigerians should amend this sick constitution to make him life president. Those who brought him must enjoy him to the full. Moreover, I am not going to criticize Buhari’s government when it is obvious to everybody that the opposition party leaders are all mute, crawling discreetly at night to the same APC government to ask for favour and protection. I will not do the job of opposition for the PDP leaders who are hiding under their bed in fear. Let them enjoy Buhari.  The entire political class on both divides are selfish, ruthless, uncaring and blinded by greed all of them.  

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