Those Calling For SNC Are Loudmouths, Says Hambagdah
From the class room, in the University of Maiduguri, where he was Dean of Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, to the National Assembly, where he is member of Senate Committees on Solid Minerals; Police Affairs; Privatisation; Health; and Aviation; and also the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Omar Abubakar Hambagdah, representing Borno South Senatorial District told KAMAL TAYO OROPO, that talk on 2007 election is the "craziest thing imaginable."Excerpts:
On the race for 2007
To talk of 2007 is the craziest thing imaginable. When elections are held, at least you are not expected to hear about next election. Until 2006, we should not be talking about 2007. We should be concerned about governance for now. It is very crazy to start talking of 2007 barely a year after the last one, three years to next one. People started talking about 2007 the day 2003 were concluded.
This goes to tell you the kind of people we have in government. For now, those who are interested in 2007 should wait till 2006 when parties are ready to do their primaries. They should sit down and govern. And those who are not in government should allow those in government to govern well and wait till 2006 to realise whatever ambition they may be nursing.
No one has come to me to canvass for my support. I am not interested. I don't have time for that now. I have a lot to deliver to my constituency in terms of democracy dividends.
On the indegene/settler problem
First of all, the indigene or non-indegene problem in the north is not the creation of the ordinary man; it is the creation of the elite. But the elite must solve this problem. Politicians and leaders have the responsibility to solve this problem. The PDP National Chairman and the Vice-President recently initiated a committee comprising those of us from the north in the Senate and ministers. They sat down and brainstorm and every body appears not to be happy with what is happening in the north. The crisis is uncalled for, it was just the creation of the elite which they must solve.
We have now got a background paper on the crisis and a draft paper on ways to convene a major meeting of all stakeholders; some Heads of State, retired Generals, ambassadors and so on, from the north. This is now what we are planning to do. Convey a meeting and tell ourselves the bitter truth. We should not be playing with the lives of our citizens just because of our individual and political interests. That security of lives and property of Nigerians are paramount. The sanctity of Nigeria is paramount. Nigerians should feel free to live in any part of the federation.
No Nigerian should be a settler in wherever he is. All of us are settlers. The fact is that we are all Nigerians under a Constitution. Part of the problem is of course poverty. So we should work together to eradicate poverty genuinely. This is one area the elite are manipulating to whip up all the emotions and sentiments. The government must come up with genuine programmes to, at least, reduce poverty. We have resources that can take good care of us right from the local government level through to state and federal levels.
On Sovereign National Conference
You see, what do you mean by Sovereign National Conference The problem is that people who are talking of Sovereign National Conference don't just understand what Nigeria is. Every state or ethnic nationality in this country has similar problem that the federal government is having. Every local government has the same problem the country is having. Are you going to be having National Conferences in every local and state government in the country as well as the federal
Again some agitators of the conference have some agenda of their own. Certainly, this agenda does not include one Nigeria. If after several years together we now say we cannot live together as one, that is wrong. It is crazy to say that we cannot live together. The issue is not whether you break Nigeria into 20 or 100 pieces. The issue is good governance. When there is good governance no one would be talking of Sovereign National Conference. Go to the states, both in the south and the north, the governors are becoming billionaires over-night, they are taking the resources of the states. If they invest these resources in productive ventures and everybody is happy, nobody will be talking of Sovereign National Conference or ethnic conference. Even if you have thousands of conferences no matter how many conferences, if the same system that promotes this corruption and kleptocracy persists it will not solve the problem. I do not think that the agitation for a Sovereign National Conference as the solution to Nigeria problems is correct. As far as I am concerned the biggest problem is discipline, honesty, integrity and good governance. If we have these, everything will fall into place.
United States is more heterogeneous than Nigeria. The people are confident in the government, people have trust in the government. And United States is moving forward because people have confidence in the institutions.
Tell me, how can I be in Nigeria, and if I am sick, I am unable to finance my sickness and I have to advertise on Radio and on TV for people to come and donate to my well-being, in which country except Nigeria will that happen Go to the United States, nobody will die because he or she does not have money. In Nigeria people are dying everyday because they cannot foot their medical bills. That is why you may not have someone saying that I am a Nigerian and I am ready to die for Nigeria. The country does not care about your life. These are the things we should look at deeply.
There is a National Assembly in place, the members were elected by the people, and that National Assembly has thrown the Constitution open to every Nigerian, so that we can now have a people's constitution. The agitators of the Conference do not come forward, they just insist that they will not accept the Constitution, whereas some of them cannot even win election in their villages. If they can win elections they would have come to the National Assembly. What they cannot achieve by their inability to make it to the National Assembly, they now want to do outside the Assembly.
They said they want every ethnic-nationality to have representatives, that is because they cannot win elections in their villages and they have big mouths. Tell me, where, in this world, has this ever happened
The Conference can only be based on representation of geographical units, otherwise you are bringing more than one million people in the Assembly. And whatever you are going to have out of that will be ridiculous. You have to have a manageable number. Something under 500 or 700 Nigerians elected by their people to represent them. We now have people who cannot win election even in the wards, but with big mouths, who can corner the press and can talk loud because they do not have confidence in those that have been elected, simply because they themselves cannot be elected. That is why they believe that if they move down to their small ethnic minorities, they will become champions and they will be elected and that is all. They don't even bring their views, on what they want to be inserted into the constitution forward.
On independence of the National Assembly Nigerians think that you can only operate and do your constitutional duties if you are at loggerheads with someone else. You can only be seen to be working when you are quarrelling. The purpose of separation of powers is to enhance the process of checks and balances on various arms of government.
Must we be fighting even if there is nothing to fight about Just to prove to Nigerians that you are not rubber stamps.
During the last debate on the national budget, the National Assembly stopped it believing that it was doing what is right in the interest of the public, it stamped its feet. It is not the case of shouting impeachment , or the threat of it that is the most important thing. The present National Assembly has done well so far.
Now with this peaceful approach, the President is at least implementing the capital vote this fiscal year. Previously, the President refused to implement any of the capital votes for four years. We are considered rubber stamps and the President is implementing the budget. So you can see the way Nigerians think. People think it is only when you are fighting that you are doing your work. Let us seek more understanding. Let us seek co-operation. Both the legislators and the executive are working towards the same goals for the country. And if there is no sharp difference, must we fight because that's what people expect We are merely approaching issues in a workable way and in the interest of the nation.
