Chief Martin Onovo, a petroleum industry expert, an engineer and activist, is the 2015 presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) and currently, the Head, Policy Positions, Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC). In this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, Onovo speaks on the need to restructure the federation, the war against corruption, nature of policing, among others. Excerpt:
With increase in kidnapping and other crimes, the Afenifere has just suggested a multi-level policing in the country. To what extent do you agree with the Afenifere? Do you see this method of policing yielding meaningful results considering the existing Police structure?
Afenifere has maintained a very patriotic profile in national issues. They have our respect. State Police most definitely is an option in our consideration of the best way to control crime and insecurity in Nigeria. However, we do not consider State Police as the best option for Nigeria, now. State Police can very easily worsen the security situation in Nigeria now, if mismanaged. It is clear that governors will abuse State Police and use them against their political opponents. We are aware that some governors are not paying up to the national minimum wage in their states. We know that some governors owe many months of salary arrears. These conditions in some state governments are very risky if they occur in any State Police. Currently, we have State Police commands of the Nigeria Police Force. These State Commands can respond adequately, if we have the right political leadership. The root cause of this insecurity is not the absence of State Police, but the failure of the political leadership. When Gen. Abacha was in power, he used this same security structure to maintain a very high level of security throughout Nigeria. We have used this same structure since the colonial Police Act 1943 and the subsequent National Police Act of 1979 and subsequent updates till the Police Act 2020. It has worked well in the past. We must do a ‘Root Cause Analysis’. The root causes of the failure of the Nigerian Police Force may include failure of the political leadership, politicisation of the Police force and endemic corruption in Nigeria. If these are not corrected, then, even the proposed State Police will also fail like the Nigeria Police Force and further complicate the security situation.
Eminent Nigerians, including the former APC National Chairman, Bisi Akande; former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida and Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the Ohanaeze President General, have renewed call for restructuring. To what extent do you agree with them?
Restructuring is absolutely necessary presently. The current structure is skewed and imbalanced. The imbalance is a source of friction and crises that distracts Nigeria from its developmental objectives. If we restructure Nigeria to have six, eight, 10 or 12 component units, we can achieve so many desirable features, including; some economies of scale; efficient custom-made development agenda for every region; healthy competition; more concerted focus in each region to develop their particular competitive economic advantages; improved security and reduced poverty. This was the experience Nigeria had in the First Republic when the North developed its groundnut pyramids and other products, the East developed its palm oil and other products and the West developed its cocoa and other products. During that period, the three regional economies grew at very high rates. This experience can be repeated with restructuring.
Do you think that the nation could be restructured now considering the body language and political will of the current administration?
The ad hoc Tinubu regime is imposed, tyrannical, unpopular and unstable. It must restructure Nigeria or it will collapse. The people are the sovereign. Nigeria is collapsing and the people want the country restructured. The country must be restructured. We cannot continue like this.
Going by the revelations concerning the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in the last and current administration, will you agree that that ministry and its top officials are being used as conduits for the looting of the nation’s wealth?
There is endemic corruption in Nigeria. It is widespread in both our public and private institutions. It will be naïve and ineffective to limit corruption in Nigeria to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs. Here in Nigeria, even law enforcement agencies and the judiciary are drowning in corruption. “The work to eradicate corruption must begin from the top” – Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister.
With the suspension of Better Edu, will you say the Tinubu administration is serious about the fight against corruption?
The ad hoc Tinubu regime lacks both moral and democratic authority. It cannot fight its own corruption. Consequently, it is unable and unwilling to fight corruption. So, it cannot fight corruption. It is a product of the worst form of grand corruption which undermined the sovereignty of the Nigerian people and severely damaged the judiciary.
With the increase in terrorist activities around the FCT and parts of the North and South, what are the ways the military and security agencies could control this upsurge?
The military must follow the directions of the Commander-in-Chief. If the Commander-in-Chief is incapacitated, unwilling or both, then, the military is constrained. We know beyond any reasonable doubt, that the ruling party is the direct sponsor of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria. Remember the following: The confession of Alhaji Kawu Baraje, one of the founding fathers of the ruling party, that the ruling party imported the terrorists; the direct connection of the notorious terrorist Kabiru Sokoto to Alhaji Kashim Shettima of the ruling party; the payments made to terrorists operating in Kaduna State by Alhaji El-rufai of the ruling party; the clear and consistent statements made by General Buhari of the ruling party in support of the terrorists agenda; the convictions of Nigerian terrorist financers in a Dubai court and their confirmed connection to very high government officials in the ruling party. Also, remember the government’s concealment of the names of the 400 terrorism sponsors it identified and the failure to prosecute them till date; the physical evidence of terrorists operating with arms from Nigerian security forces under the control of the ruling party in Cross River and Plateau states; the disclosures by Sheik Gumi of collaborating with security officials under the control of the ruling party, in his interactions with terrorists, and the public disclosures by Nigerian military generals that were involved in counter-terrorism operations of the lack of political will to crush the terrorists. How then do we expect the same ruling party to crush its own terrorists?
Would you say that with the recent visit of the US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, to Aso Rock, President Tinubu’s globetrotting and quest for foreign investments are paying off?
It will be naïve to say so. The US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, did not come as an investor. He visited many other African countries in that same tour. He came to advance US Strategic National Interests against the rising influence of China and also Russia in Africa. US foreign policy is driven very strictly by their ‘Strategic National Interests’.
How could the current Naira slide be stopped to improve the economy and reduce cost of living among Nigerians?
Very simple! Increased domestic productivity and import substitution will reduce FOREX demand and boost the value of the Naira. The current slide is propelled by many factors, including our very high dependence on imports, lack of public confidence in the economy, political instability, insecurity, incompetence and ubiquitous grand corruption. Import substitution cannot be achieved without increased domestic productivity. In turn, increased domestic productivity can only be achieved with the right political leadership that will institute the necessary ethical ambience that prohibits corruption, with justice, with security, with merit and excellence. According to Prof. Chinua Achebe, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership”. We agree with Prof. Achebe.
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