Wants NSA, Defence Minister to resign over Chibok

EMEKA Ugwu-Oju, President South East/South South Professionals of Nigeria ,SESSPN, in this interview, warns that if the opportunity presented by the ongoing National Conference to create a new Nigeria is misused,the country most probably will implode.

He also argues that oil should not be seen as the only resources that can create wealth, noting that delegates should avoid pleasing some self serving and selfish politicians at the expense of the needed restructuring of Nigeria. Ugwu-Oju also spoke on other national issues.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU& GBENGA OKE

CALLS for restructuring of the country is generating dissenting views   at the ongoing National Conference. How well do you think that this contentious issue can be addressed?
I will like to use this opportunity to send a very important message to all the delegates at the national conference.   They have to realise that the destiny of this country has been temporarily entrusted into their hands. It means that the survival of this nation called Nigeria as we presently know it hinges a lot on the outcome of the national conference.

EMEKA Ugwu-Oju

Nigeria’s continuous corporate existence depends on how they handle this important national assignment. We don’t need Americans or anyone to tell us that this country may disintegrate in 2015.

We all are living witnesses to what this country has become. Insurgency and terrorist activities has reached the level today that some foreign countries are now sending their counter terrorism specialists to assist   our beleaguered defense forces.. And the confab has the opportunity of changing the way the country is.

The confab if it seizes this chance can create a new Nigeria. That is why we are begging the delegates to take this assignment very serious. They should avoid distractions and realize that this is a golden opportunity to change this country. Unfortunately what many Nigerians have read in the National Dailies as recommendations from many of the committees are mere palliatives.

And it appears as if they are trying to apply band-aid to a structure that everyone agreed is about imploding before our eyes. That should not be the needed solution to the faulty structures of this federation. We hope that they should see the matter before them as a life and death matter rather than giving some self serving politicians what they want. Whether some people want more states or more local governments or not, we should accept that the system we are presently operating has failed us.

We need a system that will encourage and bring out the best in our people. It does not matter how long they spend at arriving at a workable system, all we need is a new Nigeria. We are ready to extend their stay in Abuja so long as they come up with a new Nigeria.

Agitations for an upward and downward review of the 13 percent   derivation formula, is once again bringing the north and south dichotomy to the fore at the confab. What is your position on this?
We the members of   South East/South South Professionals   have been consistent on our calls for   the nation to   create a system that creates wealth. One guiding principle that will make the confab successful, is for them to look at the fundamentals that will encourage wealth creation. It is only through sustainable wealth creation that poverty can be eradicated.

There is too much attention on oil which is wrong. We don’t produce up to three million barrels a day and we have a population of about one  hundred and seventy million. So, even if we produce up to ten million barrels a day, that will not be enough for us. So, when people say that we are rich because we are producing oil, we disagree on that.

We are poor based on our production level and our population. If we were a country of five million people and we are producing 2 million barrels of crude oil daily, then you can say that we are rich,like for instance Libya, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.

When some people talk about derivation, it gives the impression that the only wealth we can create is oil. That is wrong. And I have said here that the oil wealth is not enough even with zero corruption. It is unfortunate that we are so concerned about how to share oil wealth. The whole emphasis should be on how each area can be the best they can be in terms of creating wealth.

When you situate that, the issue of derivation will fall in, because people need incentives for wealth creation. But there is no incentive when oil that is found in your backyard is being carried away by the federal government.

It does not make sense that someone who lives ten thousand miles away is talking about how the oil resources in your locality is to be shared. However it does not mean that Nigeria can not exist without oil. It is unfortunate that people are making it look like that.

There should be incentives for wealth creation from any sort of resources and not oil alone. People should be encouraged to have access to what belongs to them. We are also going to meet with our delegates at the national conference and discuss with them. We want them to know about the Nigeria that we expect them to recreate.