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Retired Generals in politics are treasury looters -Isong
Evangelist Emmah Gospel Isong is one
cleric who does not shy away from making comments outside his calling as a man
of God.
Isong, the founder of the Christian Central
Chapel International, (CCCI), Calabar, one of the fastest growing Pentecostal
movements in the Niger-Delta region, took some time off the pulpit, recently,
to comment on some issues related to the nation’s contemporary
socio-economic and political milieu. In this interview with our Correspondent Bassey Inyang in
Calabar, Isong speaks bluntly on the need for the convocation of a Sovereign
National Conference (SNC), the June 12, 1993 elections and the on-going campaigns
towards the 2007 elections. He concludes that the domination of Nigeria’s
political scene by retired military officers is an unmitigated proof that they
have looted the nation’s wealth, declaring that the much-talked about
zoning of the office of the President is an aberration. Excerpts:
Do you think the
present administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo has made any positive
impact on the economic life of Nigerians?
From what we have observed, there are two demanding calls here. One is the
diversification of the nation’s economy from total dependence on the
petroleum sector. The second is the call for the convocation of a Sovereign
National Conference (SNC). The arbitrary increase of the pump prices of
petroleum products is making the masses not to understand whether the Federal
Government has good intentions. It is becoming too rampant and we have not
recovered from the one of last year.
I
would rather advise that even if we want to increase prices of petroleum
products, we should allow the current price kerosene to stay because it is the
basic product of the low, the poorest of the poor. That way, there would not be
much problem because each time there is increase in the prices of petroleum
products, they are the worst hit. Let me say that it is not healthy for Nigeria
to depend solely on petroleum for sustenance of the nation’s economy.
This dependency is the cause of the arbitrary and incessant increase in the
prices of petroleum products. It is high time government looked elsewhere,
developed agriculture properly and not on pages of newspapers. We should
venture into manufacturing and other aspects of economic development, else we
will continue to create the impression we are not ingenious.
I
also mentioned the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference. The
convocation of a Sovereign National Conference is inevitable and urgently
needed because it is necessary to avoid doing it at the wrong time.
The
questions are on constitution, nativity, tribal issues, resource control,
political power sharing, position of political parties, quota system and so on.
It
is important now because if you don’t link up former generations with the
present generation, the country will die. You know that many of the elder
statesmen who would be needed at the SNC are transiting. So if we don’t
convene a SNC now, it might be too late. It is not the inevitability I am more
concerned about, it is its urgency because if it is not held now the dependable
persons who would have linked up ideas on the authentic ethnic nationalities of
Nigeria, people who are to give us leading opinions would have all gone.
Today,
Ronald Regan of the USA is gone, but in his case, he had laid a solid
foundation for the USA, whereas, here, we have lost almost all our dependable
elder statesmen. Tell me how many elder statesmen are remaining in Nigeria
apart from Military Generals who are queuing up to contest elections in 2007? I
am talking about true-hearted Nigerians. We do not have the likes of Nnamdi
Azikiwe again; Awolowo is no more, Mbakwe is gone, so let us raise the few
remaining people so that they can talk and straighten things in the country.
The
SNC will stop Civil War , it will stop civil strife, it will avert agitations
that are not necessary. It will define a new role for Nigeria. It will make us
know why we should continue to stay together and how we are staying together.
It will define the position of Sharia and to whom it is meant for.
Maybe
before now, it would have been too early, but after now it will be too late. We
may have run into too much crises beyond reconciliation and the possibility of
our continued stay together would have been completely jeopardised.
But
opponents of SNC are of the view that the Federal Constitution and the National
Assembly have all that is required to answer the Nigerian question. What are
your views?
You
see, the constitution does not go into all these ethnic questions. The constitution
has all these colonial ideas of federalism and only expresses the legal
background of government’s actions and policies. Nigeria is different and
peculiar when compared with either Britain or America. Our democracy has to be
different because we are mixing the British and American systems.
We
have the Senate; we don’t even know which one is the House of Commons or
the House of Lords. They are not expressly defined. We carry American system of
government in one hand and we carry the British system on the other hand. So we
are running British law with the American political system. How do we march
this contradiction? This is one of the reasons we have conflicts in our
political system.
Because
the constitution carries British face, the political system carries American
face, our judiciary is most times in conflict with the executive and
legislative arms and the political landscape is heated up at all times. We have
not defined our national identity. We have a National Anthem and National
Pledge, but we don’t have a National Identity that is truly called
Nigeria.
The
National Assembly is not and cannot be Sovereign National Conference or
National Conference. If a mother and father and brothers and uncles meet in a
road junction and greet, that is not a family meeting. I am just bringing a
local example. A family meeting must be convened. You see, representation
through political parties is not representation through ethnic nationalities
and opinion leaders. This is one interesting thing about a Sovereign National
Conference.
So
if the National Assembly members are the ones hindering this National
Conference project because they are threatened, because they feel they would
surrender their positions or decision that will be taken will affect them or
erode their functions, if they are truly the people’s representatives,
they should know that a SNC is the Assembly of the people that voted them.
In
fact let me put it this way, the National Assembly is not a truly
constitutional representation for true National question to be answered. Theirs
is monitoring, checking and balancing the actions and decisions of the other
arms of government. Theirs is an arm of government, an arm of government
different from the voice of the people which is the true representatives of
ethnic nationalities, beginning from the cradle of the society; beyond age
limits; there is no academic qualification, there is nothing like you
don’t have a degree, so you cannot come and talk to your people.
Whereas
to go to the National Assembly you need a certain financial deposit, I think
for governors it is N5 million, National Assembly N2 million so this is the
issue. It has nothing to do with ethnic Nationalities.
After
all, in local government area, if tribes “A.B.C” live together and
tribe “A” is the majority in that locality it will continue to send
people to the House of Assembly, whereas in a National Conference, we will need
representatives of tribes A,B,C,. So, it is not a game of numbers and because
results will not come out saying you have won, there will be fair play. If it
is the President or whoever is exhibiting such misunderstanding between
National Conference and National Assembly, they had it wrongly.
Let
us gather there and talk so that we will not raise machetes and knives in our
quest to know why things are this way and not the other way. The South-South
will say we are cheated, and we want clarifications for that.
In
fact, the basis for National Conference is that when the constitution was
drafted, we did not participate, it was handed over to us as a set of rules and
we have only been amending it. We want to sit down and define our status quo.
We want to ask our mother, who is our father. She will tell us the history. We
want to ask her, mummy, why is it that you always give clothes to the other
children and why are they answering different names from mine? We will
understand why the Hausas speak a different language and why God and nature
gathered us together. And then we will make rule on our terms and conditions of
living together. This is where it is frightening. If those terms and rules are
not comfortable for you and I, we separate or go for a referendum to be
supervised by the United Nations (UN) Charter and we become 15 nations or more.
Is there any sin in that?
Let
the West take their cocoa, let the Niger Delta take her oil and let the North
take their groundnuts. That is what we are saying.
In
Sovereign National Conference, it is not like three, four persons saying the
next president will come from the North. How educative is that statement? Is it
agreeable to a greater percentage of Nigerians or is it a decision by some
political cabals? These are the intricate things that cannot be discussed at
the National Assembly.
There
is also the line of thinking that the organisation and convocation of a
Sovereign National Conference will cost the nation a huge fortune, what is your
view on that?
This
is the ignorance we are taking about. If Nigeria can spend billions of naira to
host the whole of Africa in sports, is it impossible to arrange a hall and call
it National Conference hall?
Now,
can I shock you? I visited the UN Security Council recently, courtesy of a
friend. This office of mine is a little bit smaller. The Security Council is
not as big as people would think. You see, these people had in mind that the
Security Council will take 18 people while the General Assembly takes all he
representatives of countries of the world and even makes provision for other
that will join later.
If
we can have a hall that contains all members of the Senate or House of
Representatives, we can arrange a hall or use a stadium. Let us meet and talk.
All the Ibibios will not go. We can have five opinion leaders from Ibibio land
who we know can represent us. You understand!
Listen
to me. No serving politician wants Sovereign National Conference. You know why,
because every house girl is afraid of another girl coming to the house even if
to drink water.
Must it be a Sovereign National Conference, why not National Conference
instead?
It
has to be Sovereign. If it is not Sovereign, it is not binding. It should not
be like the Oputa panel where you meet, talk and at the end, we close and
nobody cares about who appeared and who did not appear. I am not talking about
a conference organised by government and not the one intended for traditional
rulers, but of all ethnic nationalities.
Every
traditional ruler is driving government car and recently in most states all
traditional rulers have been given cars by government. So there is no
traditional ruler that will talk there. That one will not work. It will be a
kangaroo conference.
A
conference that is not truly a representative of people of different ethnic and
opinion groups in the country will cause more confusion.
What
do you think is the solution to the frequent ethnic and religions crises that
have plagued the nation in recent years?
The
recent killings in Jos and Kano are most unfortunate to both Christian and
Moslems, although it is our Moslem brothers that started the problem. You
cannot enter a church and kill 46 Christian without expecting reactions.
The
problem is that one of the religions permits the killing of people on behalf of
God as it is written and taught in that religion. So, the killings will not end
until they stop believing and practising the command of that particular verse
of their holy book. If I believe that if I kill I will go to heaven, then many
people who share my belief will want to go to heaven through killing of their
fellow human beings.
And
once you kill Christians, there is a limit they can take it, they will react.
On the contrary, our Holy Bible tells us that he who destroys by the sword will
die by the sword. So as a solution, our politicians should stop using religion
as an instrument for their campaign and support. Are there no Moslems in the
south? Why are there no religious riots in the west and the East?
I
think some people have been using religion as an instrument of destabilisation.
That is my observation. The people and government should maintain security.
There are so much interwoven relationship between religion and politics. They
should separate it. Everybody should go and worship his God and allow people to
carry their Bible and preach. The Moslem should be at liberty to worship and
praise Allah at anytime, and above all, people should mind their businesses.
Nigeria is a secular country and if I feel safe and secured in Moslem nations,
than in Northern Nigeria, then, there is something wrong. I have stayed in
Malaysia where the population is 98 per cent Moslem.
Apart
from the religious dimension, there is a tribal dimension and there is a
political dimension to it, which I have already explained.
On
the political aspect, somebody is using it as nuzzle to climb up the political
rostrum or to retaliate and fight a Christian in power or agitate for control
of political power.
Then,
the tribal dimension, I think one tribe is afraid of the growing strength of
the other tribe and is trying to silence that tribe. You know what I am talking
about.
Islam
means peace and if it means peace, no Moslem should carry machetes.
Christianity means love and love should guide our activities and rule our
thoughts. We should also be tolerant and patient. People should be allowed to
express their views on what they like or dislike. Allow the person to do what
he is doing. After all, it is only God who knows a true Christian or a true
Moslem.
We
should feel safe in this country and move around, do our business, preach the
gospel and leave it to the individuals to determine their faith.
Somebody
should not propagate his religion by force. Somebody should be able to convince
me to join him, but not by force because once you infringe on the basic human
rights, there is bound to be trouble.
That
is why we raised up intercessors on Saturday June 12, this year, together in a
solemn assembly to pray for Nigeria. We also do that every first Saturday of
the month, by 6 am that is what we tag “Morning Dew”
Why
solemn assembly?
It was a mere coincidence. This programme just fell on June 12, and we are glad
to have used it to pray for the nation. I think, this is about the most popular
political date in this country except October 1. After October 1, it is June 12
and after June 12, it is May 29. Nobody can argue about that. It has nothing to
do with Abiola or Tofa. It is the first that it is a popular day, which cannot
be wished away by any force.
The
campaigns for 2007 general elections have already commenced and the
front-runners for the office of President are retired General of the Nigerian
Army. What are your views, especially with the domination of the Nigerian
political scene by retired military personnel?
When I hear people talk about 2007 I become very angry. I become angry because
we just concluded “elections” one year and three months ago and the
expectations of the people have not been met, but suddenly people are talking
of campaigning for 2007. If I may ask, what have the political office holders
done with the “mandate” given to them in 2003? The people have not
been freed from the political dungeon and politicians are talking of sharing
offices in 2007. In my view I suggest that government should ban further
campaigns and sanction any politician who flouts the order.
In
the United States of America (USA) where the presidential election is billed
for November, the Republican Party is just beginning to talk of the next
president. What we are going to have is political god-fatherism. They simply
want to sit down and share political offices and patronage ahead of 2007 when
they would select a President. It is unfortunate and ridiculous that we have
not gone halfway into the 2003 mandate and they have started talking of who
grabs what.
For
the military men in politics, as retired Generals, they have proved that they
are civilians, but there is a problem that they are leading the pack among
those campaigning for Aso Rock in 2007. The simple reason is that they are
those who looted the nation’s economy. Ask any of them how much they earned
as military personnel while they were in the service and you will understand
what I mean. Some of them were earning N12,000 as monthly salary before they
retired. So, where did they get the billions of naira they are spending on
campaigns? In Nigeria you need money to contest election, so where did they get
their money? Why is it that no full-fledged civilian can stand up and challenge
the retired military men? It is because they looted the wealth of this country.
Nigerians should see military Generals coming up as those who stole their
money.
DI:
What is your comment on the zoning of the nation’s presidency in 2007?
ISONG:
Nigeria is believed to have six geo-political zones, but in reality there is
nothing like zoning of the leadership of the country at the highest level. This
thing called zoning is just a discussion of three or four cabals and they pick
from among themselves who becomes the nation’s president. There is always
who will be president before zoning. If we believe in zoning, is it not surprising
that the President of this country have always emerged from a particular area?
How
southern is the south and how northern is the north? There is no zoning in
Nigeria. Since Nigeria’s independence, if there was zoning, why is it
that a man from Akwa Ibom or Cross River has not become president of this
nation?
We only have a situation where people will pretend to be
campaigning and pasting posters and at the end there are no elections.
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