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�Success of NLC strike, an indication of mass discontent with Obasanjo�
Until recently, he was a branch chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in Cross River State and has been consistent in his clamour for a better democratic culture in the country. To achieve this, he floated the Centre for Democratic Values, a non-governmental organization. In this interview with OFONIME UMANAH, Mr. Matthew Ojua, spoke of his dream Nigeria, the decision of Chinua Achebe to reject the national honours award by the Federal Government and other issues. Excerpts.
What is your impression of the happenings in the National Assembly in the last five years?
I thank God that I am not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party because I would have been selected to National Assembly and I would have resigned by now. I would have been so unfulfilled that it would not have been worth my time to remain in the National Assembly. The House is a direct antithesis of what my expectations were about the National Assembly. I had expected that we would have a National Assembly that will make laws that will be enduring, that will be able to operate within the framework of the constitution. But from what I see of this National Assembly, I would have been so unfulfilled that I would have resigned. It is not all about making money; it is more that profit and loss account. That to me is what is going on there, how much you make is what matters there, not the quality of bills that are being passed. So, I would have resigned.
Are you saying this because of what the Senate president said lately, that some of them had to sell their property to win their election?
In fact, in a proper democratic set up, the Senate president would have been made to account for that statement and it could have possibly cost him his position. It shows that our politicians are a pack of businessmen who must make profit on their investments.
Generally, what are your disappointments?
Qualitative debate which should be the hallmark of a legislature, is almost non-existent. There is no true commitment to democratic ideals, which ought to be an attribute of the National Assembly. If you look at it, they are doing the bidding of Mr President. Now, look at the Labour Bill, which is almost becoming a law now; the manner it was passed, the speed with which it was passed. Senator Uche Chukwumerije even disparaged the Senate on the floor when he said he hoped they would not be caught on the wrong side of history. I understand that some senators have called for the impeachment of the senate president on account of that bill. What a shame.
And now we have a new fuel price regime
Yes. That is the tragedy of our country. We have a president who lacks democratic culture, a president that abhors opposition, a president who will do everything and anything to destroy opposition. He has succeeded in almost crippling the opposition parties. Now, the only voice of the voiceless, the NLC, is about being killed. You can see that immediately after the Abuja Court gave the judgement, the next day, fuel prices went up. So the president has succeeded in putting the final death knell on the last hope of the common man, the NLC, and I feel very sad for the common man. The success of the NLC strike was a clear indication of the discontent of the populace with the despotic governance of Obasanjo.
What is the way out?
The way out of the quagmire is for us to hold a sovereign national conference. The country is drifting. Look at the recent happenings in the country; the one day stay at home by the Igbo, the Niger Delta agitations, the stand off between Ojukwu and the SSS, the issue of which region should produce the president in 2007 etc. There is so much lack of patriotic zeal for the nation. We need to convene a sovereign national conference to discuss our continued existence as a nation.
Your branch of the NBA recently told the Cross River State attorney-general to resign. Why that extreme request?
The attorney-general desecrated the foundation of the legal system. For him to write a letter to the commissioner of police, asking him to disobey a very positive court order, commanding the commissioner to release some detainees, is the very height of rascality and irresponsibility. We expected the governor to sack him immediately. But because the foundation of the government is illegitimate, we would not expect any ideal situation. We had waited for the governor to act and nothing has happened. So, we are now taking the gauntlet by asking him to search his conscience and resign.
That is why I think the time has come for the separation of the Office of Attorney-General and that of the commissioner of justice. While the governor can appoint his political commissioner for justice from his political party, the attorney-general should not have anything to do with politics. The attorney-general ought to be the protector of the rights of the society and that is not what the present AG is doing.
How do you feel about the way some of our governors are managing funds from the federation account meant for the local governments?
The local government is a separate tier of government and I think any state government that tampers with or appropriate local government funds is stealing money that belongs to another tier of government.
The constitution does not empower state governments to appropriate or dispense local government funds. It empowers state governments to make laws for the existence of democratically elected local governments and no more. Any law that is made by a state house of assembly empowering the state governor or even the president to remove or suspend even a councillor is in conflict with the constitution and renders itself void to the extent of the inconsistency. Only councillors can remove or suspend a local government chairman. So the purported removal of the chairman of Akpabuyo Council (in Cross River State) is unconstitutional and a serious affront on democratic ideals. He should go to court to challenge his removal. Unfortunately, the local government chairmen who themselves were a part of the electoral fraud that brought them to power are shy to challenge their master who put them in power. In the same vein, any law that empowers the governor to spend local government money is void ab initio and steps should be taken to have the courts so declare.
But in the case of Cross River, the government has explained that it needed to share the money in a way that development would spread across the state
Yes. But the constitution created the third tier of government and for them to have funds. The state government�s wisdom of spending the money is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. The state governments are given their own funds and any responsible government should be contented with the funds that are allocated to it, otherwise the Federal Government would have said we need the states� money to do this and that and the argument would not end. It is wrong and Nigerians should not fold their hands and watch this large-scale fraud helplessly.
How do you react to the recent rejection by Chinua Achebe of the Federal Government�s honour?
Achebe has been my childhood hero and I have deep respect for his sense of judgment. My estimation of him would have been lowered if he had accepted the so-called honour. Nigerians should collectively give Achebe an award for refusing to be associated with this government, which rigged itself into power and killing Nigerians slowly.
Saturday PUNCH, November 6, 2004.
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