We Have
Golden Opportunity To Put Things Right
… Durojaiye
Elder statesman and former senator, Olabiyi
Durojaiye, in this interview with Uzo Chikere speaks on the
2015 election, the challenge before the judiciary and why the country is going
down by the day, among other national issues.
Looking at the tension generated by the up-coming
elections, do you really have fears?
I have no fears at all. My courage stems from my faith
in God; that God loves this country and I am sure he will not allow it to be
destroyed by people who are not doing what they ought to do or who are doing
what they ought not to do. So that gives me the courage that this election will
come and go and by the grace of God, and Nigeria will still remain steady and
peaceful. In fact, there will be an upturn because once we effect the change we
are praying for, things will be better for the country. It is that optimistic
view that I have. Not that I am not aware that there are odds and some serious
challenges ahead of us. But with courage and steadfastness, we will overcome
them.
Where would you say was the juncture at which we started
missing the point?
I think it’s since the intervention of the military. If the
military had not intervened, probably we would have learned from our mistakes
and we would have stabilised. It is the intervention of the military in the
first instance that eroded or destroyed the constitution that our founding
fathers agreed with the colonial powers – the 1960 Constitution, parliamentary
arrangement. It is not that the military didn’t have some reasons, some
excuses, for intervening. But if you compare the challenges of the 1960s, the
level of corruption shouted about in those days, with what we have today, you
will know that we have degenerated. But the beauty of democracy is that it is
self-correcting. So we will have to learn from our mistakes and let the system
correct itself.
What exactly do you see as the issues lacking in our
contemporary political culture?
The fault is in every one of us. We have left being
Africans, aspiring to imitate the Whites and we never got there. The
politicians of the First Republic were respected by members of the society.
Today, politicians can only buy their respect. The respect is not voluntary. It
is two sides. There are two ways to it. The fault lies with the leaders and
also with the followers who feel that whoever wants their support or respect
must pay for it; and the leaders who feel everybody is worth a price. Both are
wrong. Even then, if you trace it further, you get to the family structure.
Society appears to be disintegrating. The Africanness in us, whereby the
juniors respect the seniors; whereby people fear God; whereby people apply conscience
among other values is lacking nowadays. It has reached a level that if you want
to send your son or daughter half a mile away, unless you really persuade him
or her with some money for transportation, the frowning will be so serious. In
our days, we obeyed our parents; the women respected their husbands; the
husbands were responsible. Today the family unit is crumbling. There is no law
and order, even from homes. The family is the microcosm, the minimum unit of
society. If we want to correct it, we have to start from the beginning.
Education has something to do about it – you need to educate the society about
the culture of our people.
Would you say your generation has been fair to the nation
in terms of constructive advice?
Let me not be a champion for my generation. I can only speak
for myself because we don’t speak with one voice anymore. The falcon does not
hear the falconer and the centre is no longer holding. So, I can only talk of
myself. However, if we want to get things right we have a golden opportunity
now to start somewhere. Instead of bemoaning our fate, we have a golden
opportunity now in the next four or five weeks to put things right. Let’s have
a change in the structure of things in the country. That is the way I see it.
If you check some of the interviews I granted in the past
five, six years, perhaps more, I have always emphasised on studying the
performance of those great countries that are practicing democracy. That is,
Great Britain, for about three centuries; the United States of America for
about two centuries; and the largest democracy, India, for about 70 years. They
have operated largely on two-party structure. This is the first time we are
nearing that two-party structure in the country. It is an ingredient for making
democracy work. The issues will be clearer, especially to the electorate. The
manifestoes will be clearer than when we have 50 political parties. People are
confused in such instances. Even literate communities will be confused, let alone
an illiterate community as to the numerous symbols and what they stand for.
Once you have two-party structure as it appears to be emerging now – the APC is
a party to reckon with, and the PDP you cannot dismiss with the wave of a hand.
They are still there. Let the other parties try to align with whichever is
their choice. Now, we’ve seen for 16 years the PDP has been holding sway.
My own judgment is that they have failed. Let APC try. Try four years,
eight years; if we do not perform, there is nothing wrong for people going back
to their first love – PDP. It is then that the democracy is going to be stable.
We don’t have to get the military to do it for us.
Some people are saying that the military should be part
of the election.
The military are not to do that. What are the police for?
The constitution is clear. It is when we have invasion or threat of massive
breakdown that we will invoke the state of emergency. It is then you can call
the military. I do not support military coming to supervise election. It is not
right. If I were in the Senate today, I would certainly vote against allowing
military in the electoral process. This shows desperation, that the government
wants to be there at all costs. But my advice to the government is: don’t ride
the back of a tiger. Those who ride on the back of tigers always end up in the
stomach of the tiger. It is not safe to invite military to come and help. That
is my advice.
Are you worried when you look at the free fall of the
naira and the general state of the economy?
I am not happy about that. That worries me a bit because it
is our own doing, although we know that some of these things are not peculiar
to Nigeria. It is a global event, but our approach to governance also worsens
the situation. It started in 2008. We wobbled and wobbled and wobbled.
At a time we started stabilizing, but now, this little shock
has come. It is like evil wind – we make some steps forward and more backward.
The world is now, as people say, a global village. Whatever happens in America
is reflected here. We are all connected. If there is trouble in Ukraine or
upheaval in Syria, once the atmosphere is tainted, it affects other places. So,
what is happening in the economy is so fragile that everyone is affected. But
let me tell you this: we have the basic gift, endowment of God. God has been so
generous to Nigeria. This is a country we should be calling ‘the country that
flows with milk and honey’, like Israel claims. We have the right to claim it
too, provided we behave ourselves, we curb our excess propensity to out-rich
others. Starting with the leadership, when you bribe people to do your will,
immediately you get the position you want to make back the money. For them, it
is an investment. It fuels corruption instead of helping. Look at the indices,
a lot of piracy going on our high seas. The estimate is given. It has been
published in the newspapers. I have not got any strong rebuttal that about
400,000 barrels of crude oil or so are being siphoned and the proceeds
pocketed. Nigeria must have been extraordinarily strong economically to be able
to sustain that level of sabotage for so long. Look at our refineries, they are
not working. We pay to extract the oil. We pay to export the crude. We pay to
do the refining. We pay to bring it back. Will the price not be high for the
consumer? Then without electricity being fixed, it will be difficult for
industries to thrive. Among the things disturbing the economy is that a good
number of companies have moved out. Once we have a purposeful government that
will plug all those avenues of leakages in the system, which is what I believe
a disciplined progressive All Progressives Congress (APC) government will do,
we will get it right. We need to have a change of government – a government
that has seen all the shortcomings of this present one and will try to put them
right. Things will be better.
How would you assess the role of the judiciary in the
affairs of the country?
At least, there is one word on the defense of the judiciary.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) said recently: “Let me use this opportunity
to sound a note of warning to all judicial officers. Do not allow any political
party or politician to compromise your integrity or your future. We must never
again be used as tools to truncate our nation’s democracy. I assure you that
any judge found wanting will have himself or herself to blame as the National
Judicial Council (NJC) will definitely not spare the rod in ensuring that the
honour, respect and independence of the judiciary is protected.” This is not
Biyi Durojaiye talking. This is the CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, talking. This
was published in The Nation of February 4, this year. It gives me
solace. If the Chief Justice has seen the fear you are feeling, it means they
have taken official note. The man who can put things right has seen it and has
given the warning openly. I don’t remember ever seeing such a stern warning
from the Bench. So, that is the answer. It gives me hope that things will be
better.
There are people that are yet to get their Permanent
Voters Cards (PVCs). Do you have any word for the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC)?
Let me say that INEC has tried. Trying to change INEC
chairman on the eve of the election is out of it. They have tried. Are you sure
INEC was given all the requirements they put to government in the first
instance? These people had almost four years to prepare for this election. We
only hear that PVCs were not ready. Is it everything they ask for that was
given and in time? You may find that somebody is working to make a situation
where things will be unsteady, calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it. I
am not a solicitor for Professor Attahiru Jega. But I can read between the
lines. A responsible person will not allow his name to be soiled because the
whole world is watching what we are doing here. Things have improved in the
past days. I noticed that. But it is asking for the moon to expect that 100 per
cent of the people will have the PVC and 100 per cent will go out on the day of
election and vote according to conscience. It does not happen anywhere. Look at
the statistics in more civilised and sophisticated places. In America, for
instance, I don’t think they ever get up to 60 per cent of registered voters
actually coming out to vote. And it is the majority view that will count. There
is no time we will have 100 per cent coming. Once we have more than 60 per
cent, we should go on.
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