By Victor Ahiuma-Young

•1999 Constitution fails to address prejudices, values of all ethnic groups
•Says APC’ll retake Edo State in 2024

Architect Austin Ilenre Emuan, is a former governorship aspirant in Edo State in 2020, a Chartered Architect, Development Expert, Environmentalist, Moral Economist who holds two Doctorate Degrees; An Honorary one in Public Administration and an Academic one in International Relations – International Business Major. 

He also runs a Consultancy Firm that renders Services in the Physical Development Sector and owns Building Construction and Energy Services Companies.

In this interview, he speaks on Edo State politics, President Muhamadu Buhari’s scorecard, the 1999 Constitution among others.

  Excerpts:

You were a gubernatorial aspirant in Edo State in 2020 under the auspices of the All Progressives Congress, APC.   Do you have such plans in 2024?

  2024 is some time from now. No one can tell all that the future hold and no one should unnecessary heat up our polity. Edo State deserves some breath of fresh air. So, I will rather wait to see what the political dynamics are in another few months and whatever  God’s will  is shall prevail. Besides, there are many platforms to serve your state other than being a governor.

Do you see APC returning to power in Edo State in the coming elections?

  Why not? I hope you have not forgotten that the present governor of Edo State is of APC Stock and a pure breed at that. But for the ‘Political Abracadabra’, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, by now would have been confined to the archives of political history in Edo State. Looking at the political horizon over our state, I cannot see any storm strong enough to overwhelm us, nor is there any mountain great enough to stop us. Our chances have never been brighter. We only need to avoid tactical mistakes that we are prone to making.

Edo Central is pushing for a power shift to its Senatorial District, do you think it is doable?

Yes, the power shift to Edo Central is deserved and delayed. However, that it is deserved does not mean you cannot be denied. That is the reason we should as a people come out of self-imposed purgatory and heal from the ills of the past. Our quest will not be achieved on Social Media and through rude confrontations.

Secondly, we must access and leverage our strengths, fix our weaknesses, then negotiate and navigate in full cooperation with other senatorial zones. Whatever our weaknesses may be, the most destructive is our lack of cohesion. There is no goal too great to achieve by a people with a common sense of purpose, who work in sync to deal. In this realm, success beckons and is assured!

How do you rate Obaseki’s government?

To me, Governor Obaseki has a direction of where he wishes to go with the development of Edo State, but how he gets to his destination is what is nebulous. Again, he has engaged in too many difficult battles that can weigh anyone down. To this end, he has not been able to blossom his potential thus earning him at best, a pass mark. If only he can build more bridges across Edo Socio-Political structures and reduce all combative tendencies, he should surprise himself. Luckily for him, his second tenure just began. He has an opportunity for a fresh start to turn things around to the benefit of all.

Where do you expect Edo State to be in the next 10 years?

  Where Edo State will be depend on two critical realities. First, What Governor Obaseki does with his second tenure and secondly, if the People of Edo State make the right choice on who succeeds Obaseki. A level-headed soul, who can think out of the box and leverage on our comparative advantages to create wealth, distribute it equitably and ferry many from poverty to purpose.   If we get these aright, Edo State will be on the stead of an enviable rostrum.

What is your stance on Open Grazing?

I recommend Modern Scientific Ranching based on best standard practice. There are countries like Botswana that have been through similar situations we are now, that we need to understudy because they surmounted their challenges and made a commendable success of it. If we do, we can then develop our indigenous solutions that will be of benefit to all.

  What do you make out of the insinuation that Governor Godwin Obaseki tactically refused  to support a ban on open grazing in Edo State as other Niger Delta Governors did?

Refusal as you put it may not be fair on Governor Obaseki’s position on this contentious issue of Open Grazing. If I   get him correctly, he said his Government was going to consult among all stakeholders so as to know the best action to take. I think we should allow him to exercise that prerogative. He will however have a moral burden if this is not done as soon as possible.

How will you assess President Muhammadu Buhari’s government?

  President Buhari has done his best within the resources available and would have done far more, if he had the type of resources PDP mismanaged. Under PMB, impunity has been caged, there has been appreciable infrastructural development, and commendable efforts have been made in developing the secondary economy rather than reliance on the mono-economy of hydrocarbon. No more unresolved political killings, there is fair play in the political arena without interference, and there is an appreciable separation of powers amongst the arms of government and so on.

If you have the opportunity to advise the president, what will you tell him to do differently to fix Nigeria?

  I will simply advise Mr President to Break More Eggs!

Break more Eggs, can you explain what you mean?

  You see, Mr President is too trusting! If he believes in you, he remains loyal to that conviction unless comprehensively proven otherwise. Again, The Change Mantra of APC needs to be well understood and managed. It is a compost of the dynamics of Discovery, Deconstruction, Reconstruction and Harvest of Trophies! The second and third processes are painful and have been unfortunately slow because APC led Government is trying to soothe the pains of Nigerians. Truth is said, some persons have not been faithful in the discharge of assigned duties. Breaking Eggs here means the removal of dead woods to quicken the Reconstruction process of Change. Otherwise, the omelette that Nigerians desire and deserve to savour will never come out from the kitchen to the dining table. Hopefully, as I said earlier, if he can break more eggs, deal with the sponsors of banditry and terrorism and ensure electoral reforms, he would have engraved his legacies in the annals of our history.

Many have argued that the problem in Nigeria today is the 1999 constitution that has afforded a tribe to lord it over other tribes and that we should have a people constitution before the 2023 presidential election. What is your view?

  A study of the Constitutional Development in Nigeria will inform you that there is hardly any Constitution without its peculiar flaws. It is not strange that the 1999 Constitution is an issue,   and badly so because the 1999 Constitution was midwifed by the Military in a hurry without following due process. Peaceful co-existence is an exchange and no meaningful exchange can take place without the full cooperation of the parties involved. That many or few are dissatisfied with the 1999 Constitution is an obvious indication that it needs to be amended with the prejudices and values of all ethnic groups in Nigeria except in some cases where it should address certain cultural malaise such as child marriage, tribal marks, and outcast mentality and so on. In these circumstances, general public interest must be upheld. Above all, inequality must be totally eliminated because it is the major source of conflict. Yes, I agree that the 1999 Constitution is badly flawed but pulling it down now or at a later date completely will amount to throwing away the baby with the bath water because it also has merits. I rather engage in meaningful dialogue and follow the right protocols for its amendment which must involve all Nigerians through their representatives. 

Don’t you think the constitution was skewed by the military to favour the North because the way it is now there is no way the constitution can be amended without favouring the North?

  That sounds derogatory and pessimistic. It is never too late to be the best that would have been. While the view of the Constitution being crafted in favour of the North by the military is popular in some quarters, we should be reminded of the fact that the last Constitutional Conference held in 2014 was held under a democratic atmosphere and under a Southern President and it was largely successful. Yet No Implementation! The question to be asked is why expend so much of Tax-Payers money to organize such a noble Conference and keep its report on the shelves of antiquities? I still think that was an opportunity to deal with many problems that are re-occurring decimals today. It’s not too late to start from there. 

Do you share the view that power should come to the south in 2023?

Yes, I do. Interestingly, that is one of the many recommendations in the report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference that I just referenced. Besides, it is best for our peculiar disposition though some may argue that it could breed mediocrity, yet power rotation remains our best bet.

What is your take on full deregulation of the downstream sector of the Petroleum Industry or what some may call the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly known as petrol as being contemplated by the government?

The Government is ingenious about solving a nagging problem and as such, it is a consequence of Fuel Subsidy removal. From all indices, it is obvious that fuel subsidy is not sustainable. It’s a difficult situation that requires a painful solution. And that solution is wholesome Deregulation of our downstream sector so that many importers who have the capacity can fill in the gaps in the supply chain. I used the adjective wholesome because the deregulation policy must be total and not partial with Government interference.

However, before you deregulate, you must create the atmosphere under which the policy will thrive. My advice here, therefore is that our refineries must all be working at optimal capacity, capable investors should be engaged on Public-Private Partnerships business models in developing new refineries.

We also must plug our porous territorial borders. Left alone, we should leverage on the comparative advantage of Value Addition and not sell our crude oil but maintain a refine to sell a policy. And if policing our borders is a problem, we can partner with all our neighbours and build pump stations in their domain and sell Nigerian refined products at the right prices to them. That way, you eliminate theft and make more money.