By Festus Ahon
Radical human rights activist and constitutional lawyer, Dr Akpo Mudiaga-Odje in this interview with Vanguard spoke on Niger Delta problem, true federalism, constitutional amendment, State creation, Jega-led electoral commission and other issues. Excerpts:

You have been at the fore front of the Niger Delta struggle; do you think fiscal autonomy is the solution to the region’s problem?

Certainly. Devolution of power is part of fiscal autonomy. The major problem is that there is concentration of power in the central and that concentration is as a result of the control of the financial power.

Dr Akpo Mudiaga-Odje

Once the finance devolves to the grassroot, there will be justice, there will be equal right, there will be rule of law. It was the great Gamaliel Onosode who once said that it is regrettable for a system to turn the owner of a product to a thief. That statement today, is incontestable, it is sad.

The producer of a product is now a thief of his own product; this is because there is no fiscal autonomy. There is no devolution of power to the grassroots. The concentration of financial strength is too much in the central. So the people naturally, are disenchanted, angry and aggrieved.

If these youths were actually given good education, those who cannot go to school, are trained in one skill or the other and are employed in  oil companies and government oil related agencies, these boys will not fight anybody because they will now become stakeholders in the enterprise.

As part of the Federal Government Post Amnesty Programme, the ex-militants are now being trained. Do you think this will give them economic independence?

The Federal Government asked them to accept amnesty and they have accepted. The Federal Government is training them. Our question is what next? You are training, will you employ them? Or empower them in respect of what they have been trained for, that is the question I ask the Federal Government. If you train me and leave me without a job, I don’t believe it is significant.

To this end, what will be your  advice to the Federal Government?

The Federal Government should look for a way to admit all the trained freedom fighters who are granted amnesty and that will make the difference.

As a legal practitioner, what is your comment on the constitution amendment by the National Assembly?

The National Assembly only amended the constitution to suit its members. The National Assembly did not amend the constitution. They only rewrote the constitution to help themselves. It is not constitutional amendment and you can see the bizarre situation going on, liking it to the American Constitution which according to them does not require the presidential assent. So the National Assembly has recoated our constitution for us and that have already passed it and it has become law.

How does that make you feel?

I believe this country, like my dad always say; is the eight wonder of the world. There are seven wonders but Nigeria has been rightly ranked as the eighth wonder of the world.

Let issues of true federation, issues of section 162 (1), issues of Excess crude oil account which is institutional, issues of section 55 which has sequestrated my language, Urhobo.

As an ethnic minority in this country, my language is not recognized in this constitution. Section 55 said the process of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, Yoruba, Hausa or Ibo. I am not a Nigerian by virtue of my language.

I am not recognized as a result of my language, yet my resources is used to print the constitution, my resources is used to pay for members of the National Assembly yet my language is not in the constitution. Can’t you see that the amendment has nothing to do with the popular will of the Nigerian people? It certainly does not and did not.

The centralization of power is still there. All they did was to facilitate their re-entry and for that purpose they had to amend the constitution. So I tell you right away, they did not amend the constitution. They re-wrote the constitutional provisions for their own benefit.

Are you therefore calling on them to revisit the constitutional amendment?
The next  National Assembly just have to do so because nothing has been amended in the true sense of the word. The amendment does not reflect anything, it does not improve anything, it does not put food in your table, it does not increase the capacity of Nigerian, neither does it improve content and quality of the Nigeria character.

It does not improve anything except for the fact that it provides for  how people can now cross carpet, how elections can now start and end, that is what they amended.

They did not come to say the people of Niger Delta can now have 50% of their resources or derivation. They did not say let us repeal the Land use Act which says land does not include mineral, neither did they address issue of population and why should a certain state have 24 members of House of Representatives and my own state, Delta has 10.

Why should the whole South -South as a whole have 55 members of House of Representatives when only one state have 24. Why have we not checked that? All the amendments they did, did not address these issues.

In the face of these anomalies, the National Assembly is still making moves to create states. What is your reaction?

Creation of states without ability. Go and look at the monthly payment report of the Federal Ministry of Finance, some states are just liabilities they are wasting away. Agitations for states creation fine, it is constitutional right, but whether they will form the bedrock upon which our development will lie is yet to be seen.

For the sentimental reason that every ethnic group wants to be identified by a state, okey create them like America, but let the constitution guarantee them fiscal autonomy, that is when the creation will make more sense.

Even as we want Federal Government to create more states, we want government to remove the centralized nature of power from the constitution so that states the they are creating will now become more effective financially, politically and economically.

Looking at the qualities of persons in the National Assembly, do you think it is possible for them to create states that will be viable in this country?

I don’t want to indict or give a general statement, but the point I make is that when constitution is being amended even in India people carry out plebiscites.

They ought to have conducted a plebiscite, come here, meet the people, talk with the people, take responses, make consultation and based on those consultations, and report you now sit down, make your own report undoctored and present to the House and if the House can pass it base on the constitutional provision then it becomes the popular will of the people, by virtue of the sovereignty of our constitution. But what did they do?

They amended a constitution that will cover the whole of Nigeria sitting in Abuja The document is reflecting the views of those people who passed the law, nothing more.
Prof. Jega is asking for some billions of naira and has received same in pursuance of the 2011 elections. Do you see the commission ‘s boss conducting a credible elections in this country?

I heard he has been given the money and the electoral Act has been amended. But let him tackle the issue of one man one vote. That issue of one man one vote is politically expedient.