Former Military Administrator of Rivers State, Air Commodore Luke Ochulor, retd. in this chat he shares his thoughts on the political logjam in Rivers and offers a way out. He also spoke on the need for virile opposition to avert the emergence of dictatorship.

As a former military administrator of Rivers State and an advocate of what true and ideal democracy should be, what is your take on the in-fighting between a supposed godfather and a godson in Rivers?

Since 1999 when Nigeria embraced true democracy, things have been going from bad to worse. Very worrisome is what is happening in Rivers State right now. The people of Rivers, by nature, are gregarious and we thought that the democracy reaching every nook and cranny of Nigeria will make governance easier for our people. But this has proven to be otherwise.

I have nothing against any individuals as this scenario is not only in Rivers. However, the one in Rivers now has gone out of control. I couldn’t have imagined that somebody or some people who went into government through a democratic process are displaying traits that do not ennoble democracy; they appear not to study or understand even what democracy means.

We decided to imitate or adopt the democratic system as practised in the United States of America since 1979. But you see, there are so many things, so many varieties and so many activities by our politicians that are really quite disheartening.

Normally, if we want to adopt a democratic system, we should know that practising impunity is out of it. Now, when you look at it, it is the people who vote for somebody to go and represent them in the House. I thought, and I believe it is the people of Rivers State who sent those members to the house and that’s why they are described as honourable members.

They have to be honourable. If people didn’t vote for them, I don’t know which part of the law they would quote. The whole thing looks like a brigandage and I can’t imagine people who were elected into the house ganging up simply because they have something against the governor.

And they know that they and the governor were elected into office. Some could have been elected into office through other political parties. Somehow this time it happens to be the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

I’m not holding briefs for anybody or any party
I tell you honestly, if this is the way democracy is practised, we have blown our own. We are not practising it at all. I’m not trying to talk about it happening everywhere but that of Rivers is out of control. Everybody who is a Nigerian, regardless of his political party, is supposed to respect the president as a head of state.

You don’t have to be in his party before you can respect him or before you can be a part of the Nigerian system. This tendency of leaning towards the party where the president is, is what is likely going to mess up the Nigerian democracy. Something must be done.

People must start thinking correctly. Political parties are political parties. The fact that you are not in a political party with me doesn’t make me an enemy.

But some Nigerians have made the mistake of looking at somebody who is not in their political party as an enemy. It’s not possible. Some governors will come out and say they will deal with their enemies. Who are their enemies? Those who don’t belong to their political party. We can’t get it right in that way.

There are two takeaways from your analysis. One is the issue and danger of godfatherism. Do you think this can ever be stopped in Nigeria considering the Rivers perspective?

What is happening in Rivers State is very shameful. People elected you into that office and you are expected to represent and serve the people who elected you. You don’t have to go there to serve an individual or to start ganging up, cooking up issues against the governor. And let me tell you the likely outcome.

That governor comes from a well-known area in Rivers State. What are you going to tell the natives of that place? The impression you create is that you don’t care about them or that you don’t reckon with them. This runs contrary to the spirit of democracy. It is not right. And the rules are very clear.

If you belong to a political party and the party elects you into office, you stay there and serve the party. If you want to leave, then you can, even if all of them want to leave. But then, they have to wait for another election before they can defect to another political party. That’s the law. I’m not a lawyer. Lawyers will tell them that what they’re doing is very bad. They’re trying to put our democracy in danger.

That’s the way I look at it. The second issue you raised has to do with the danger of Nigeria heading towards the one-party system, where the ruling party wants to take and swallow every other party and make them irrelevant. The way Nigeria is going, if we don’t take our time, what we shall be practising is not democracy because there are people who get into office by all means.

They get there and stay there and adopt whatever means it takes them to win an election. That is not correct. So, unless we make up our minds and have ruling parties and opposition parties, we will be in great danger of losing out. Opposition parties are relevant.

Their job is not to run down the president. No. Their job is to help the president govern the country well; to help the president direct the country well. Nobody is going to stay in office forever. You don’t have to make yourself relevant by coming to stay in the president’s kitchen before you can be recognised as a true Nigerian. If we don’t change our attitude, that of the winner- takes-it-all; if we don’t change that attitude in future, and allow the opposition to flourish alongside the ruling party, we will be in danger.

For me, people are always trying to misunderstand our statement with an erroneous mindset that these people were in the military. Why are they disturbing us in our nascent democracy? Our democracy is not nascent. It’s old. A child you send to university and he stays there for 10 years without graduating, that child will never learn.
If we keep leaning towards one-party system as we tend to do now, what will follow will be a dictatorship. It won’t be a democracy. If we are learning, let us learn correctly. Let our members learn how to think.

A word of advice for Rivers State House of Assembly members

It’s not a question of people getting to the house. When you are elected to the House, you must behave and adhere to the true ideals of democracy. I advise them to reverse and retrace their steps to avoid the question of creating what I may call tribal wahala in their state. It could even result in bloodshed if members of the state House of Assembly do not retrace their steps. The governor was elected by the people, and it is their constitutional responsibility to protect him and help him to succeed.