By Hugo Odeiogor

Prof. Epiphany Azinge, a former Director General of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, (NIALS), was, recently, appointed as a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat of Arbitration Tribunal (CSAT). In this interview, Azinge speaks on political developments in Delta State and Nigeria.

The governor of Delta State Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, recently, cried out that he inherited a debt of N636 billion. This has been the trend across the country. Is there no way we can legislate against the practice where outgoing governors mortgages the future of their state and frustrate their successors with humongous debt burdens?

It an unfortunate situation in the sense that the debt profile, as stated by the Governor Okowa, is mind-boggling. My experience in government tells me that it is almost a norm that the government of the day caters only for its own interest first, believing that the next government would sort out itself. It is a case of survival  that went astray,  but I don’t think that we can legislate on that.

The challenge I see is that when the government of the day, as represented by the governor, controls all the arms of government, then what we have seen here will always play out. The whole essence of  separation of power is to prevent this sort of situation through checks and balances. It to ensure there is, to an extent, a measure of autonomy and independence of the other arms of government as guaranteed by the Constitution.

But in a situation where the executive arm of government lords it over other arms of government there will be this type of abuses. Our Constitution is very clear on how certain things should be done and a good number of these things could not have happened without the consent, knowledge and acquiescence of the legislature.

If the legislature was strong and independent-minded enough to say that this cannot happen, the executive arm alone cannot go ahead with it. That some of these things have happened can only be traceable to the fact that the consent of the legislature was obtained. So, it is the government not the governor, not the executive arm of government that conspired to put us in this kind of mess.

So I take it that this lack of prudence in management of the economy and elements of fiscal  financial recklessness or whatever you may call it,  has been exhibited because of acquiescence of the legislature.

But all said, experience has shown that when governors are in office, it gets to the stage where they come face to face with history and more often than not, this comes towards the end of their  administration. At this stage,  somebody is now struggling to see how history would record  him and especially, what legacy they want to leave behind.

Then they begin to embark on projects, some well conceived some not.   The whole essence of chapter 2 of our Constitution, which is all about  Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, is what any governor that is worth his name should familiarise himself with, and use that as the basis for governance.

Indeed the Constitution says “that people should aspire to conform not comply” in Chapter 2. I can assure you that any governor who strives “to conform with the provisions of Chapter 2 the constitution,” will not find himself in a situation where he will put his state back to the time of N636 billion debt. So far, it is regrettable and I also sympathise with the new governor.

But I think it should be a mark of leadership for him,  to navigate through  this murky waters. The information of the indebtedness is already in the public domain and Deltans should know that Governor Okowa is walking tight rope. What has come to the open will be a signal to all and sundry that it is not going to be business as usual. People should be prepared to tighten their belt. We have seen some states are already taking loans to run their administration. Are we likely to go that way?

Or are we likely to find ways to improve on our IGR and stem the tide of conspicuous consumption? Okowa must cut down on the  extravagant culture of politicians and government functionaries. Naturally, people will complain, but it will not be good for the governor if civil servants begin to complain over unpaid salary. Although many states are owing salaries, Delta has maintained a culture of paying its workers as and when due. Okowa should not become the first governor of Delta to default in payment of salary if he hopes to retain the goodwill of the people.

The history of not paying salary must not start with him, if he plans to stay in office beyond 2019, I believe that he has the strength of character to get out of this hopeless situation in which he has found himself as the governor of Delta State.

We now have a new political party at the helm of affairs in Nigeria. What is your position on the implementation of National Conference report by the new administration?

At a point in time it was almost becoming the most important issue for campaign at the national level. Members of the present ruling party were not favourably disposed to the National Conference and they alluded to the fact that conference report is not their priority. I don’t think the President has  made any reference to that report. To me, you can politicise anything for the purposes of politics, but when the dust settles, politics would have given way to governance and statesmanship.

The President should sit back and find a way to to look at some of the issues contained in that report. Former President Goodluck Jonathan presented the report to the last National Assembly which did  not want to be seen to be implementing a report made by people who were not elected as representatives of the people like they are. So, maybe out of self preservation, the new National Assembly may not want to consider the report but they can take aspects of the report for politics and ideas also for governance and decision-making.

If that is done, even without giving credit to the report and those who fashioned out, all that Nigerians want is progress. But the thrust of the report is that there should be restructuring of the system somewhere along the line and I bet you those who participated are strong enough in the system to continue agitation whether implemented in the shortest possible term or in the long term. So, my take on this is that you cannot throw away the baby with the bath water.

There is so much contained in that conference report that will serve the interest of this country of policy, in terms of law, in terms of administration and what have you. So my take is that we should give that report a kind of breathe of life and recalibrate it in such a way that even if there are some areas that are not politically correct, and have not served the interest of some parts of the country, there is so much in the report that we can deal with and is capable of impacting positively on the polity.

So, I will urge the President to take that which he considers to be good and he can discard what he thinks is not important. But what I think will not serve the interest of this country is a whole sale condemnation of that report for whatever reason. I think that President Buhari is a listening president and I believe that together with the National Assembly, that report will not be consigned to the footnote of history.

As the chairman of the 90th birthday of the Asagba of Asaba, are you preparing for the event?

We have made appreciable progress.

We want to use it as an opportunity to showcase the culture and ways of life of Asaba people. We also want to use it as a platform to show gratitude to the Asaba of Asaba, as a first monarch that is second to none in Nigeria.

We did not lose sight of the fact that apart from being a monarch, the Asagba has been an intellectual of the highest order, one of founding fathers of the University of Ibadan, in terms of indigenous scholars that the school has produced, and somebody who carved a niche for himself at MIT, Boston and North Carolina University; so given that pedigree, we feel that, at 90, this is an opportunity for us to celebrate him.

What is the programme like?

The birthday will run from July 21 through to 28, but we have worked out a plan of action that will enable us to use this period to rebuild and refurbish some of our tourist infrastructure, especially, some sites that we consider to be the top class tourist attractions in Asaba. We are starting with a tour of tourist sites in Asaba. The sites include Ani Ahaba.

We also have colonial sites like the Anchorage of the Lander brothers, Mungo Park building, the early cemeteries and missionary schools, in Asaba amongst others. Indeed, we have counted about 32 sites, including the Government House, Delta State House of Assembly, St. Patrick’s College Asaba. We noticed that  when people visit Asaba, they have no idea of what to do. So, we want to use this opportunity to promote these tourist sites. The birthday programme will kick-off with the induction of the Asagba into a Hall of Fame in Asaba.

This has never been done before and we imagine that a monarch cannot induct himself. But we feel that it will be symbolic and exemplary for us to do that as a way of showing appreciation for the transformational tenure and the peaceful nature that we have enjoyed under the reign of his majesty, it will be also an opportunity to eulogise, applaud and congratulate him on the 90th birthday.

Thereafter, there will be a world press conference where the Asagba will give account of his reign in the past 24 years, make public statement. He will also make projections into the years ahead. After the press conference, there will be a cultural exhibition close to the palace. This exhibition will run throughout the celebration period.  This is where the rich cultural assets and artefacts of Asaba people will be presented to the public.

On Wednesday, July 22, we expect about 60 groups, individuals, institutions, corporate bodies, indigenes and non indigenes of Asaba to pay homage to the Monarch at his palace.

On Thursday July 23, there will be dance carnival and musical float that will go round Asaba. The carnival has been planned to rank among other notable carnivals in the country like the Calabar, Uyo and Port Harcourt carnivals. The carnival troupe  will end its parade at the Arede in Asaba. The musical concert has been planned to get the youths to participate. We know that if not properly handled, the young people may feel excluded and many people may feel that it is elitist. The football competition, which has kicked off, will come to an end on July 26th. The grand finale will be attended by the Asagba, who will present the trophy to the winners.