August 15, (THEWILL) – Chief Sola Ebiseni, a legal practitioner and delegate to the 2014 National Conference organised by former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan is the Secretary General of the Pan Yoruba Socio – Political Group, Afenifere. In this interview with AYO ESAN, he speaks on the lingering issue of insecurity in the country, ethnic agitations, and the efforts at amending the 1999 constitution by the national assembly among other issues of national importance. Excerpts:
One issue that is threatening the country’s existence is the issue of insecurity. How will you react to lingering insecurity in the country?
Security is the beginning and the end of any State, its raison d’etre. In other words, the rationale for its creation, existence and sustenance. It is the aggregate of the powers of the individuals to defend themselves which were ultimately donated to the State as a political entity to better secure life and property of the people. When the insecurity situation gets to the stage as it is in Nigeria presently where the Federal Government, through the Minister of Defence, Governors and traditional rulers called on the citizens to rise and defend themselves, the state has become a failure. People can no longer confidently move within and across the cities and states. It used to be a lot of fun for graduates to look up to life in other parts of the country during the National Youth Service, NYSC year, people now lobby to be posted not far away from their state of origin. The military is made fatigued, having been overstretched by internal conflicts, police have become virtually irrelevant except for prosecution of conventional crimes, and no one has confidence in government and its agencies for security. The undeniable consequences of this reality is that the present administration has lost its legitimacy.
One direct result of the insecurity and seeming helplessness of the governments is the ethnic agitations. How do you want FG to handle the issue of ethnic agitations and the promoters – Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho etc.
Nature abhors a vacuum. I have just told you that people no longer have confidence in the state and by the same token, the government, to provide security. Nigerians are ordinarily happy people even in the face of adversity. The insecurity we are facing is a war imposed by people of the same ethnic nationality with the President. By words and body language, government is seen as being permissive of these armed murderous gang. It was this situation that threw up Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho and their self-determination agitations. For Igboho specifically, Yoruba has never been known for any separatist agitation, all we have always clamoured for is the restructuring of the polity for true federalism. The Buhari administration is not even ready for discussion. My brother, no one group owns Nigeria and for the Yoruba, kakaki kiniun se akapo ekun, ki olukuluku se ode re lototo. (You can be a slave in your own country). Our symbol of resistance is best interpreted in the Amotekun, a creature that cannot be cowed.
The hunting and trials of Kanu and Igboho are exercises in futility. The Federal Government should call for national dialogue and simultaneously put the murderous Fulani ethnic militias on the leash.
Afenifere has been in the forefront of the call for restructuring of the country for years. The voice for restructuring is now loud all over the country but the Buhari- led government seems not interested. What is your take on this?
Of course, you are right in your observation. Obafemi Awolowo, the founding leader of the Afenifere was the original advocate of federalism as the best form of government for the polyglot territory being then contemplated as Nigeria. The advocate by the Afenifere is for a return to founding federal principles of federalism which has been bastardised by military rule. The refusal to allow for internal autonomy is responsible for the agitations by the constituent ethnic nationalities for self-determination. My take is the take of the Yoruba people. Our people say there is more than one way of dealing with a calabash that refuses to be opened.
How will you react to the Southern Governors’ demand that the next president must come from the South West?
To the best of my memory, the resolution of the Southern Governors Forum is that the next President of Nigeria should come from the south. The position of the Afenifere is that Nigeria be restructured before the 2023 elections and other things shall follow.
The National Assembly is making efforts to amend the 1999 Constitution. But many Nigerians are calling for a brand new constitution. If you support a brand new constitution, how do we go about it?
Well, the 1999 Constitution is so fundamentally flawed that an amendment may not be the solution. That’s why every amendment since 2005 has proven abortive. Apart from the fact that the constitution is a military decree and not given by the people, it is also contradictorily unitary, in structure and character. Delivering a new constitution which is truly federal in line with the foundational agreement of the country is the popular opinion of Nigerians. Among the documents that have received consensus are the 1963 constitution, the Report of the 2014 Constitutional Conference and the 2017 Report of the APC on federalism led by Governor El-Rufai. These documents may be collated and modified and enacted by the National Assembly. The product will then be ratified by a referendum conducted along the six geopolitical zones.
But there is no provision for referendum in the constitution.
That is usually the excuse by those do not want Nigeria to move forward. They seem not to understand the desperate situation the country is in. If I may ask, is there any provision against referendum in the same constitution? India was in this desperate position in 1951 when there was agitation for state creation along linguistic groups. Of course, the elected, flamboyant and most charismatic leader, Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian Parliament, at first did not initially support it but compelled by the reality of national survival which led to the establishment of a Committee which recommendations was passed by Parliament into the new constitution. India is a federation like Nigeria and also a former British colony.
Benin Republic, our immediate western neighbour, was in political quagmire and in 1990, elected President Mathew Kerekou who was compelled to convoke a National Conference which declared itself sovereign, dissolved parliament, and enacted a new constitution which has since stabilised the polity.
What is the future of Yoruba in Nigeria’s politics?
The Yoruba is a nation within Nigeria, with identified territory from the Atlantic to the River Niger both at Lokoja and Jebba in the north and the Republic of Benin in the West, we are same people, same culture, and same language. Our aspiration is to have requisite autonomy with maximum security to optimise our potentials and develop at own pace.
We were already involved in Afro-European trades since the 15th century and demonstrated the capacity to defend our territory within the West African subcontinent before British colonialism. We had the first Primary School in Nigeria in Badagry in 1843, CMS Grammar School Lagos as the first Secondary School in 1859, University of Ibadan in 1948. Since the 1800s, we have started producing clergymen, like Bishop Ajayi Crowder, who took Christianity to other parts of Nigeria and West Africa since the 1800. Williams Davies, a Yoruba became the first medical director in 1858, Sapara Williams, the first lawyer in 1879, Samuel Manuwa, the first Nigerian surgeon. We were foremost in Nigerian independence struggles. Obafemi Awolowo and his colleagues gave us world class governance permissible by a federal constitution. Yorubas are freedom loving people for ourselves and for mankind. We have no ambition to dominate any group and will not subscribe to being dominated.
The country aside insecurity is also witnessing hyperinflation. What is your message to Nigerians and your advice to the Federal Government?
Seek you first the security of life and property, every other good thing shall be added to it. That’s my advice to the Federal Government.
Any advice to the South West governors concerning the development of South West region
The best can only come when we have a constitution that guarantees our autonomy over our resources and affairs. They are appreciated for the peoples oriented resolutions they have issued in conjunction with their colleagues in southern Nigeria.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
