In this interview with Elliot Uko, President, Igbo Youth Movement (IYM), the need for a national conference receives fervent push. Uko, who insists that where a president hails from would become secondary once there is a national and natural commitment to the Nigerian project, also made it clear that those opposed to the convocation of a national conference are those who are benefitting from the malady of the present structure. He also talks on the many lies told against the Igbo nation.
Some people have been asking: What does the IYM President really want?
I want to lend the voice of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, to the topic of the convocation of a sovereign national conference.
We believe it is imperative and we believe it is for the good of Nigeria. Even if government says it won’t convoke one, we are still saying Nigerians can, in their own best interest, organise and convoke a national conference that would seek to resolve at least, most of the problems confronting them with a view to having, as its outcome, a constitution that would be acceptable to the generality of the people, the constitution being the product of their own deliberations.
Do you truly believe we can bear the cost, considering the logistics, organisation, et al, of a Sovereign National Conference at this time?
I don’t think the costs and logistics should be a problem in convening a national conference. We must look at the feelings in the land, we must look at the present unitary structure, we must look at the tension in the land. And I believe that this feeling will be assuaged when we come together and talk.
First, because the constitution that we are using was handed to us by the military, we’ve been having serious problems within the polity; and unfortunately, nobody saw it, even President Olusegun Obasanjo did not see the constitution until he was sworn-in on the 29th of May, 1999. We believe that at the national conference, Nigerians will plan their lives, we would come to a consensus, we will look into the positions of certain classes and sectors in this country and come to an acceptable mission statement for a new Nigeria.
The truth is that we cannot move anywhere without that conference.
The Federal Government thinks there would be duplication of sovereignties if it is to convene a sovereign national conference. Some say this position of government begs the issue, what’s your opinion?
I don’t believe the Federal Government would not be supporting the issue in the long run.
The number two man, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, did say recently that there would be a National Conference before 2007. The President said that he personally does not believe that the National Assembly cannot achieve what the National Conference would achieve. Now, Mr. President is only an individual in a country of over a hundred and twenty million Nigerians.
Opinions from the North, South, East and West are in support of a national conference; eminent citizens have lent support to it, The Patriots have lent support to it, ANPP supports it, Ohanaeze supports it, Afenifere supports it, Ijaw National Congress supports it. The truth of the matter is that if we don’t convene it, we will be postponing the evil day. We must have a forum to talk, so the earlier we do that, the better. If we continue resisting to convene a conference, ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty, years later, we would at some point talk. That’s the truth of the matter.
There are people who think that the acceptance by the Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, for the convocation of a national conference was political, otherwise why give a blank date like before 2007?
I do not speak for the vice-president, I merely mentioned him to add to so many people who believe in the national conference. Even Gen. Ibrahim Babangida has supported it, from all parts of this country, eminent opinion leaders have supported the call for a national conference.
Let me tell you the truth, my organisation, the Igbo Youth Movement, has a position on the conference. We may not have our way, but we will say it out, we will vent it out, and when every section says their positions, the leaders of that conference aggregates what would become a new constitution.
It will give me and my association a sense of belonging that we did contribute at this parley, that even though we didn’t have our way, at least, this is the new constitution fashioned by a referendum and it will make me more patriotic. We would now re-invent Nigeria. But today, I feel that I am caged, I feel that the constitution is imposed, I know how people were appointed delegates to the constitutional conference, we know how even the draft constitution was doctored and handed over to the present government.
I don’t identify with this constitution; I will identify with a constitution that emanates from a referendum after a national conference and I believe it will re-invent Nigeria. The position of the IYM is that we believe in true federalism, we believe in a weaker centre, we believe that Nigeria fared better with the 1959 Constitution, we believe that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to give the South-West free education with proceeds from cocoa, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello in the North built bridges and dams, irrigation, with proceeds from groundnuts and hides and skin, Dr. Michael Okpara transformed the Eastern Region to the fastest growing economy in the world by World Bank standards, with proceeds purely from palm oil and palm kernel.
I believe that if we have true federalism, there will be healthy competition amongst the federating units, call them regions or states or whatever.
Then we have a concurrent list that leaves the federal authorities with trains, common currency, international relations, immigration matters and leave these federating units to take care of everything else, including health, education, agriculture, believing that by that, we will be re-inventing Nigeria. I believe that is the position IYM, or Ndigbo will take to the conference, we may not have our way.
But whatever happens, after the conference and the referendum, whatever aggregated opinion that Nigeria takes, would give a lot more Nigerians more confidence in Nigeria. We will tend to believe more that this is our constitution than the one handed over by the military. We will tend to believe that we are part of this constitution. It will bring out the love of the country in us.
General Yakubu Gowon says a conference was held even before independence in 1959 ...?
(Cuts in) I don’t know about that, unless he meant the adhoc conference. I am not saying they didn’t but I am aware of the outcome of such a conference and when it was held.
For instance, the 1959 Constitution was fashioned at the 1958 Delegates Conference in the Camberley House in England and representatives were from political parties not regions. All those at the Lambert Conference did not come as people defending their regions, they came as Action Group, NCNC, NPC and much later, Joseph Tarka’s UMBC. From the Richards Constitution, Nigerians did come together to draft a constitution, was that what Gen. Gowon called a National Conference? And in any case, let us even assume and agree with what he has said, the next question which Nigerians should ask General Gowon is: Is Nigeria being governed today based on the outcome or based on the constitution which emanated from that 1958 or 1959 conference?
Some may say because the Igbo perceives that the 2007 Presidency may not come their way that’s the reason you are coming out to support the Sovereign National Conference...
My dear brother, my name is Elliot Uko, by the Grace of God, I am the President of the Igbo Youth Movement, the Igbo don’t give a damn who the hell the President of Nigeria is. We want justice, equity and a level playing field, that’s what we want. Nigeria can cater for everybody.
Would you have been campaigning for the Sovereign National Conference if you had the assurance that an Igbo will emerge as President in 2007?
I do not believe that if you become president of Nigeria that your presidency will benefit me.
I do not believe that where a president comes from should matter. It doesn’t matter to me. What I am saying is that we have a skewed republic, we have an unfair and inequitable constitution, we have an unfair structure. Let me give you an example. Lagos State has 14 million people, 20 local governments are recognised by President Obasanjo, Kano State and Jigawa together have about 60 per cent of that population, with 73 local governments. Is that justice?
Kano and Jigawa, when combined, do not match Lagos numerically, but have more than three times the number of local governments as Lagos. This is just one of the absurdities we are talking about, not where the President comes from. You see, the Igbo have their faults, but Nigerians try blackmailing the Igbo which some people say is out of envy.
So, this is just one of the lies they contrive against the Igbo. This one is even a harmless one; they have said worse things about the Igbo that are not true. When the Igbo defined their position and support in that conference, it would not have anything to do with where the president would come from. I have just told you I don’t give a damn if the President is from Benue, or Cross River, I don’t give a damn.
What I am telling you is that the way the country is structured today, the state structure, the local government structure, the electoral laws, this unitary structure, this military constitution, we are doing ourselves a disservice. We can do better if we call a national conference, talk, agree on certain points, carry out a referendum to support it.
Supposing this government does not convene a national conference, what will be your reaction?
Yes, those who say they are power elements will benefit from the system. Don’t you think we should talk? Those who oppose it have their reasons. But we must talk. The truth of the matter is that I believe from the depth of my heart that those who are afraid of the national conference are misinformed, and whatever part of the country they come from will benefit, because I believe that everybody will benefit because this conference is for the good of every Nigerian.
I don’t think that the national conference will benefit only the Yoruba, or the Ijaw. I think it is the best thing we can do for ourselves, for posterity and for our beloved country.
