BY GBENGA OKE
You were Secretary to the Rivers State Government  when violence by militants ravaged the state and the Niger Delta region. How did the state government manage the violence vis-à-vis the Federal Government Amnesty programme?

The truth of the matter is that Rivers State Government under Governor Rotimi Amaechi did not think that Amnesty should be granted. Before the amnesty programme, we already had a programme in Rivers State. We have a rehabilitation camp and the Federal Government Amnesty committee actually learns a lot from us on what we were doing but we did not give any of the militants money.

Because we did not think there is any rationale to give money to people, who have carried guns against their country and were doing things we all agreed was wrong. Yet we could forgive them, but we did not want to give them privileges and that was why we did not subscribe to giving them money.

However, once the Federal Government took the decision on Amnesty, as Nigerians we have to respect the decision and cue into the programme and ensure that it works.

*Senator Abe

How will you advise the Federal Government to tackle the issue of Boko Haram?

I have told you that l will always respect the Governor of Rivers state for his personal courage in fighting this type insurgency in the state. I will like if the federal government can use the Rivers approach in Borno state to tackle the issue of Boko Haram. For me, l do not know what the Boko Haram sect wants and their agitation. There is so much about the Boko Haram that if one is not careful, what you will be saying will be speculative.

What l want to say about the issue is that it requires leadership and total courage. Courage on the part of the leadership and the leadership must adopt consistency approach.

Besides, l wants to commend Mr President for voting more money in the security in the 2012 appropriation. However, money without proper leadership, monitoring and commitment will not achieve the desire result. But you must have money to be able to fight insecurity. Because whatever instruments you chose it has to be paid for. So money is important but a lot of other factors are involved.

As a member of Senate Committee on Security, l have the opportunities of been briefed severally by the National Security Adviser (NSA) and Director General of the State security Service (SSS) and l must say that lam very impressed by what they have told the Committee and what l have seen because security detail is not what you discuss in public but l know that a lot of work have gone into it.  I think security is about persistent and consistent and you will get the result.

In security, when they succeed nobody praises them. As a member of Senate committee on Security, I know there are a lot of things have been done by the SSS which are not known to the public. Fighting insecurity is a very thankless job. However, they need to be focused, consistent and avoid distractions as well as full political support of the leadership and the community.

In Rivers State when we brought in the Military Joint Task Force (JTF), the people were saying that they did not want them but the state government insisted that the JTF must be there and we kept talking to the Soldiers to be humane.

Sincerely, God blessed us with crop of humane Soldiers who earned the confidence of the people, because without the confidence, tackling insecurity will be difficult. When we came in as government, the people of Rivers State were hailing the Militants as their saviour but the government has to turn around the table by building confidence in the people.

The Boko Haram issue is a challenge that we must overcome. Take for instance, there was a time in Israel when bombs were going up everyday but today they have overcome it.

Will you however say the Amnesty programme has achieved its desire result?

Well, I can say it has achieved what it was intended to achieve. At least, the oil production has gone up and there is less violence in the Niger Delta region. I will commend the present approach being put in place by the Amnesty managers which is focusing on education.

We believe in education and any money put into education is not wasted. I believe investment in education will always yield something positive at the end of the day. Apart from investing on education, paying money to people who were not doing anything is like giving opportunities to people who have not earned their weight properly in the society.

The long term effect may not be helpful to the society. However, l commend the federal government on the aspect of education. But for me, thinking strategically on the long term effect on the society, l did not support the payment of money to the militants.

I commend late President Musa Yar’Adua who initiated the Amnesty Programme and I equally commend the focus which President Goodluck Jonathan has brought into it as well as the current managers of the programme for placing emphasis on education.

What is the position of the Senate on the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government?

There was a time in this country when they say if there are private Radio and Television stations, Nigeria is going to collapse but here we are today, there are private radio and television stations and Nigeria today is very successful in that regard. Today, private stations are giving voice to the voiceless and scores of Nigerians are working in these stations.

In Ghana, there is no subsidy and Ghanaians are doing businesses and are living well. Nigerian need to actually focus on what is important. We have the culture that everything is being shared and must be shared. That anything that will affect what we are sharing must not be allowed to work.

In Nigeria, Oil is a generational wealth. It was created by our ancestors. Is it right for one generation to use the resource from oil to buy petrol, shoes, for payment of their own salaries e.t.c. without considering future generations?

We should ask ourselves what are our own contributions to this generational wealth and what are we doing to develop this generational wealth? If we use oil money to pay our recurrent bills and the oil dried off, what will happen to the future of our children.

For instance, England was a very small country but with the opportunity they have they created in infrastructural base in Maritime sector among others, they conquered the world and created a financial base.

As for me, the whole conversation about fuel subsidy is misplaced. We need to actually look at what direction this country is heading towards. It is sad that Nigeria is not a productive and wealth creating country. Our concern is to share everything that comes our way.

Every position is being given to people on the basis of what to share. Anything that will affect the sharing becomes a problem and nobody is concerned about it.

In 2012 Nigeria budget is about N4.7 trillion. What is the total in dollars? Then we should ask what is the total budget of Havard University annually. We cannot continue to run a country of about 160 million population like a country of about 10 million people. Nigeria today is a very poor nation, unless we create wealth Nigeria cannot develop. We should look at the economy holistically and draw from its values.

In the few months you have spent as Senator, how will you access the relationship between the Senators and will you say so far the Senate is working towards achieving the desired goals it set out for?

In the Senate, there is nothing like new entrant or old entrant. We are all peers. My people voted for me and that is why l got to the Senate. I was not appointed by an old Senator. There is nobody in the Senate that is not experienced.

In the Senate, there are retired Police officers, Justices, former Ministers, Governors, House of Representatives members’ e.t.c. For instance, I was a former Minority Leader in Rivers State House of Assembly. The seventh senate which l belong  is a united senate.

What l always say is that the people need to support the legislature. If you do not fund the legislature there is nothing we can do. For instance, if you are building a house, you will allocate money to buy materials, pay labour and supervisors.

Nobody has ever asked the legislators what are their constraints. The Legislature needs the support of everybody. Nigerians need to be educated about the roles of the legislature. And it is sad that Nigerians are not supporting the Legislature. Without that support, if we allow the Legislature to run to the executive for support, then we will loose the respect and integrity.

If we want true democracy, the Legislature must be funded and supported because the success of the Legislature is the success of the democracy.