BEVERLY HILLS, May 09, (THEWILL) – In this interview with AYO ESAN, a former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, broadcaster, media manager and politician, Dr Yemi Farounbi, speaks on issues affecting the nation, the Yoruba and the media. Excerpts:
What is your take on the prevailing insecurity in the country? How do we tackle the problem?
We have to take some steps. The first one is to remove the factors that have given rise to insecurity. The first factor is the structure of the country, which centralised security. You cannot centralise policing in a federation like Nigeria and not have challenges. So we have to re-organise Nigeria in such a way that policing will not only be in the centre, but also at the state and local governments levels. We also have to re-organise Nigeria in such a way that the creation of jobs for the unemployed, the provision of food for the hungry and the provision of houses for the homeless will be sufficiently decentralised. All the resources of Nigeria will not be concentrated in the centre, too. That is the first thing we must do.
Secondly, apart from changing the police and military command, you need to carry along the people themselves. The people are the ones who will know when strangers come. They are the ones who will know where they are hiding or the route they have taken. In addition to re-organising Nigeria, the masses have to be involved, so that the local government police and the state police will be seen as working positively for the people.
The third step is for the Presidency to shed its clearly partisan image. It must begin to speak and act in such a way that shows it truly belongs to Nigerians and not to a particular set of people. Its officials must also begin to act in a way that shows they are not privileged and favoured people who are above the law. The presidency must begin to behave as if every Nigerian is important, not just a particular ethnic group. But, no matter what we do, if we don’t rearrange the security architecture, which places 774 local government areas and 1 million square kilometres under the Inspector-General of Police, the current insecurity in the country will persist.
A few days ago, Senator Smart Adeyemi, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to seek foreign assistance in resolving the problem of insecurity. As a former ambassador, do you support Adeyemi’s position?
There are times when you have no choice other than to seek foreign assistance. When the Boko Haram insurgency started, we had foreign support, in terms of sharing intelligence, training our own security personnel to fight the insurgents and terrorism. But all of that stopped when the foreigners found that Nigeria was not a reliable partner. They discovered that valuable information given to Nigeria was being leaked to the insurgents. They also found that weapons made available to Nigeria were ending up with the insurgents. So we have to first make ourselves a reliable partner.
It would be recalled that Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Nigeria once had a joint action team. At a particular time, all the other members of this team avoided us because they could no longer rely on us. It would appear that our security agencies and the various departments of government had been infiltrated by the insurgents, and the government and security agencies were beginning to take decisions and actions in favour of the insurgents. That was what led to the fact that Cameroun, Chad and Niger could no longer trust Nigeria and partner with her.
However, apart from what Smart Adeyemi said, I was hoping that the National Assembly would realise that all the things we are experiencing are symptoms of a decentralised federation and they, lawmakers, would rewrite the constitution to give power, resources and authority to the local government councils and the states. If they can do it, Nigerians will salute them as a responsible National Assembly.
The security situation in the South-West recently seemed to take a turn for the worse and despite reactions from people like Chief Sunday Igboho, it was clear that the Yoruba still lacked a truly recognisable leader. Aren’t you worried about this?
It would appear as if the Yoruba lack leadership, but the truth is that leaders are not born in Yorubaland; leaders make themselves. And when the circumstance arises, the appropriate leader will surface. We are not like the people from the other parts of Nigeria where leaders are born. Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was not born as a leader; he worked hard to make himself a leader. That is what will happen. The circumstance will produce the leader. When we had the June 12, 1993 crisis, leaders arose. When we were being intimidated by past military dictators, leaders arose. I have never been worried about the Yoruba when it comes to that. Leaders will arise, depending on the nature and the direction of the circumstances.
The National Assembly and the presidency should be worried when a group of people, who have never thought of seceding from Nigeria, begins to show a strong desire for self-determination. It means that they have been pushed to the wall. They ought to ask why the Yoruba are doing this now. Is it because their forest reserves have been occupied by criminals and nothing was done about it, in spite of their loud protests? Is it about the herdsmen who have been destroying their farms and sexually abusing their women, while nothing was done to apprehend them? Is it the difficult hurdles they had to scale to create Amotekun, including the Federal Government’s refusal to allow them to carry arms for self-defence. Is that the reason?
I expect those who are ruling this country ought to ask why these people are agitating for Oduduwa Republic. They have been the most accommodating set of people. If a group of people who accommodate and have sabos or Gaas for Fulani herdsmen and have many parts of their cities inhabited by the Igbo, begin to ask for separation, then those who are ruling Nigeria ought to know that they have pushed the goat to the wall and the goat is about to turn and bite. So, action had to be taken yesterday because tomorrow could be too late.
What is your assessment of the media’s role in the crises currently plaguing the country?
The media has been the greatest defender of the poor in Nigeria. In the difficult days of the military or in the post-June 12, 1993 era, it was the media that carried on the battle. Today, the media is doing very well. But they have problems. The harsh economic situation in Nigeria is making their job difficult, either in acquiring printing equipment, purchasing broadcast equipment and news print, or in having enough money to do investigative journalism. The problems notwithstanding, the media is re-inventing itself.
As we look forward to the 2023 general elections, the zoning of the presidency remains a burning issue in the minds of many Nigerians. What is your advice to the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, on this issue?
My advice is that the two political parties should first of all abandon the quest for 2023. They should consider building a strong, united and prosperous nation first before any other thing. Let us build a nation that will endure and stand the test of time.
I think the first thing they should be looking at is what has gone wrong with Nigeria’s present structure. Why can’t the political parties gather together like they did in 1963 and produce a constitution that Nigerians will be happy to have? It is that constitution that will let us know if the position of President will be rotated or we should have a Prime Minister or chancellor. You have to look at the foundation of the house that is falling and rebuild it before you start looking at who will occupy the master bedroom.
But those who declared that they will support restructuring and oppose rotation ought to understand that such an arrogant statement can inflame the polity, increase the temperature of the political scene and make it difficult to achieve peace and harmony.
All the registered political parties in the country, including the APC and the PDP, must learn to treat one another with respect. We need very urgently a negotiated consensus on how to move Nigeria forward. It should not be a dictated path, but a way that will be negotiated by all the parties and they will be happy. How I wish the APC and the PDP can be in the forefront of this.
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.
