Presiding Pastor of Living spring Chapel International Lagos, Pastor Femi Emmanuel spoke with Sunday Oguntola on why restructuring has become too important for the nation to ignore. Excerpts:
What’s your reading of the state of the nation?
It’s pathetic and we are retrogressing. We are losing grip; everything is in abeyance. The uncertainty is not what we desired and voted for. The government of the day seems to have lost grip of what governance is all about and the citizens are suffering.
The economy is down; naira is in a free fall and nothing is moving. The whole states are in redundancy mode; states cannot pay salaries; business men are crying; naira value is dead and its falling. Nobody knows where it would stop and of course when you have problem with the currency of a nation, it affects everybody.
So you support restructuring?
I support it seriously.
What type of restructuring do you support because restructuring means different thing to different people?
The restructuring we are talking about is that Nigeria with over 250 ethnic nationalities forge together in a marriage of convenience cannot continue like there. There are cries from different zones with different tribes calling for self-actualisation.
If we are going to have federalism, let it be true federalism and I think the national conference of 2014 will help us. It is amazing to me that the president is saying he has not even touched it and the document will gather dust on the shelves.
That is unfortunate because it is so clear that this nation cannot continue this way. So the restructuring I have in mind is the national conference’s blue print. We may not be able to accept all the recommendations there but there are good recommendations we cannot overlook.
We can’t accept recommendations like 18 additional states when the existing states can’t even survive but there are good ones. Community policing, state police and each state generating their resources, weaker central and more powers to the federating units are necessary to embrace. We can’t continue like this. The last administration ended up using 80 percent of the resources to pay salaries. How do you survive with that?
But people say we have the National Assembly there to determine these issues. Why do we need a special conference to decide on these?
The truth is democracy especially, the presidential system, if I want to be very frank with you, is not meant for us. We can’t run it. It’s meant for the mature minds; itsmeant for people who are humane; its meant for people who value integrity and their names.
It’s not for these corrupt thieving leaders we have. Everybody wants what he can steal. Look at the huge money stolen from the system. It’s surprising that Nigeria could be sustained till today. You remember was it not President Ibrahim Babangida that said he was surprised our economy hasn’t collapsed?
He’s an insider. He saw the looting that was going on. How could you could be stealing from the store and you are not replacing the goods? It will soon finish. I had expected that we would come to this point if corruption is not checked; corruption cannot be checked with the kind of system we are playing so to my mind, presidential system of government is not for us.
So what is for us?
We have to go to parliamentary and regional. That’s the truth. Let’s reduce the size of the government so we can have money to develop infrastructure and give people decent lives. President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration ended up borrowing to pay salaries. They bought out money and shared it. How canany system survive that?
When I was Oyo Deputy Speaker, I moved the motion that we should return to regional government and people laughed. You see the truth is our political leaders are feeding us with tribal sentiments. One of the issues I had with former Senate President David Mark was that deception of creating more states when those we have are not even viable.
He played on people’s emotions because we are over 250 tribes and we are suspicious of each other. We just want state for state’s sake so that it could be our own son, our own daughter there. We are not thinking of the resources to sustain the states and he was encouraging it big time.
You remember there was this unending visit to all tribes and he was saying ‘we would give you states; we would give you states’ when he knew he was deceiving the people. I mean leaders don’t do that. Leaders don’t play on people’s intelligence, play on their ignorance, play on their sentiments to just sustain their seats and keep sucking the money. Where would it end?
So this democracy presidential system of governance is not sustainable. There is the Nigeria factor. There is this tribal, religious card we play once we get into public office.
But when would we ever get over the sentiment?
We would never get over it
Why can’t we get over it?
We are not wired that way. Remember what is called Nigeria is a contraption. It is a lie. We are never the same people. This nation is never one. It was Lord Lugard’s creation. The British people saw we were never one but forcefully merged us. Remember the north was having indirect rule.
They studied us and they knew we are not of the same people and how do you merge people that don’t see thing the same way with different values, orientations and mindsets? There’s no way it has never worked.
It’s not working and it would not work because we are never the same people. We don’t have the same values. We are not seeing things the same way.
So we cannot eliminate that system?
If we are not careful and if we didn’t restructure the way we have explained it, we are heading for Dooms Day because we are not of the same people. So, let people who have the same history,background and orientation be together. I mean let us have a United State of Nigeria like we have in USA.
But the fear is that we go for a referendum, people will choose to go their different ways
It’s not possible because the military will still be federal. We would have stronger federating units with weaker centre. That is the only way we can handle these agitations for self- determination.
Niger Delta Avengers and IPOB for instance can have their resources to themselves and use it for their regional development. They then send a percentage to the centre. Let’s have aweaker centre and stronger constituents.
The southwest can generate agriculture. We are good in education and you sell what you have. What does Great Britain produce? For instance, Sweden has nothing to produce but they are living. They are catering for their people. Intellectual product is there. Agriculture is there.
The present system has made everyone lazy. How can a country have a mono product? A product whose price you can’t control?look at the oil price, the oil price is fallen and that is what we all depend on. It’s unfortunate.
So, Nigeria must restructure?
We have to. If we don’t do it peacefully, we would do it by force. The government has lost grip. Do you see the government in control of anything? It’s all fire-fighting approach. We can’t stop kidnapping. We can’t stop pipe bursting every day. The oil is down. We can’t fix electricity; we can’t fix road. Do you think we can continue like this for the next 10 years?
Can you imagine it? Except something definite is done, except something is done to reverse this negative trend, where do you think we would be in the next 10 years? Would there be anything call Nigeria again?
That is why the earlier the government of the day swallows their pride, the earlier they face reality and say we can’t continue like this. Let us agree on certain issues and go for referendum because that is the most peaceful way.
So, we must get out of the logjam?
We must get out of it because we are heading for the rock.
Are you optimistic that we would get out of this?
I am optimistic if the government of the day would listen. They should return to the 2014 National Conference documents to move forward. I believe that conference was divine though Jonathan might have had hidden agenda too. But look at the huge money we spent.
Whether Jonathan had a hidden agenda or not, we were fairly represented; what we have in the National Assembly is not a representation of the people. An average member of the National Assembly is a stooge. An average member of the National Assembly bought his way there. So, they cannot make laws that will benefit us but there paymasters.
