By Tony Nwankwo

Dr. Sylvan Ebigwei is president, Aka Ikenga. In this interview, he discusses Nigeria’s security challenges, the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference and other national issues.  Excerpts:

Aka Ikenga canvassed for the success of President Jonathan at the elections.  He is President for a year now. Any regrets?
We cannot have regrets for backing Jonathan.  Knowing full well that it is only a mad man that dances to the same beats for more than 40 years.

The power has been resident in a particular region of this country for more than 40 years.  So, I believe that it is time for a change and we believe that a citizen from a minority group in this country should come on board. Those are some of the factors that made many of us become interested in him, and supported him to rule this country.

But the man is barely one year as elected president, and we have this clamour for 2015?
The President has not said he is going to contest in 2015.  But that should not be the bone of contention.  A macabre dance, within the political scene now is so dirty because people think only about taking power from who is holding the power, they don’t think about this nation.

Ebigwei

Nigeria is bedeviled with a motley of problems of which the least  a Nigerian politician should be thinking about should be 2015. It shouldn’t come into play. What should be on the scene now, is how do we amend the economy of this nation?  How do we unite Nigeria to ensure it is not dismembered?  How do we tackle the security challenge that is facing the nation?

Poverty is  rife, we have health challenge, transportation challenge and a litany of challenges that are facing the nation now.  This should be the main issue that should be confronting the National Assembly, the Executive and other Nigerians, not who governs in 2015.

Where do you stand on the Sovereign National Conference?
The Sovereign National Conference is the answer to the problems of this nation.  As far as I am concerned, Nigeria’s federation is a lie. We call it federation, but what are the powers of the federating units? Zero!  Everything is concentrated on the centre, and this started during the military era.

Many who lived in Nigeria during the pre-colonial period knew how Nigeria was governed.  Each of the three regions was self sufficient in terms of development funds, in terms of income generation and expenditure. There was competition. The North was competing through groundnut pyramids,  East  through palm produce and the West had cocoa. So, money accruing to them was internally generated. They had enough to feed their people, give scholarships, fund education, fund health structures, fund their local governments, and take care of the elderly.

But during the military regimes, they collapsed all these regions and concentrated everything at the center as if we are a federation. We are a federation but there is no fiscal federalism there, because the center collects all the collectables in this country and give handouts to states. The SNC should address the issue of the Residency Clause, etc.

If you don’t bring money for fiscal development to my area, you shortchange us, if I decide to leave my region to go to another region, where you are spending money, what will be my take?  If I live there for three years, can the people accept me as a citizen of that area. No, they cannot accept you. Only an SNC can address all that. The Nigerian constitution is just a contraption of issues pieced together by the military that is being addressed by the National Assembly now.

The present National Assembly cannot do anything because they will be protecting their own interests. And the composition of  the National Assembly, membership is weighed to the detriment of  certain regions in the country.  When some people are producing more than 700 delegates, others are coming with 100 delegates. How can they match the others?

So, the National Assembly can never correct the ills of this country through the amendment to the Constitution until the SNC decides how we are going to govern ourselves. We will table all these with respect to humanity and with respect to each other.