The prominent voice of the North,
the Arewa Consultative Forum, recently proposed death penalty for
corrupt public officials. The National Publicity Secretary of the forum, Mr. Anthony Sani, speaks more on the issue among other topics
Continue after the cut...
The ACF
recently said the current constitution review by the House of
Representatives would not solve the nation’s problems, as they are not
constitutional. What are Nigeria’s real problems?
Nigerians’ real problems have to do with
the total collapse of our national ideals and moral values, which have
affected our sense of social contract among individuals and also our
sense of what is right and what is evil. This country needs a cultural
renaissance and a drastic change in the way we do things.
Many Nigerians have accused
Northern leaders of not coming out in one voice to condemn the
activities of Boko Haram. Does it mean some of the demands of the sect
are justifiable?
When people accuse Northern leaders of
not speaking out against Boko Haram, I start to wonder who are those
Northern leaders that are expected to speak out but have not done so.
For example, Generals Yakubu Gowon, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami
Abubakar, Jeremiah Useni, Theophilus Danjuma and Muhammadu Buhari have
all spoken out against Boko Haram. I also know that Vice-President
Namadi Sambo; Senate President David Mark and the Speaker, House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, have condemned the activities of the
sect. Former VP, Atiku Abubakar, has also spoken several times, just as
the former Sultan, Ibrahim Dasuki and the current Sultan, Muhammadu
Sa’ad Abubakar, have spoken out.
Many clerics like Cardinal John
Onaiyekan, Bishop Hassan Kukah and Bishop Ignacious Kaigama, as well as
other Muslim leaders, have been speaking against the senseless killings
of innocent people in the name of God. As the spokesman of the umbrella
body for the North, I cannot count the number of times I have condemned
the activities of the sect. We have even advised the government to go
as far as bringing leaders of the sect to the negotiation table. What
else are northern leaders expected to say or do?
What is the position of the
forum on the recent conditions for cease fire and nomination of some
Nigerians of Northern extraction as mediators in Boko Haram’s proposed
negotiation with the Federal Government?
While the ACF welcomes the idea of
dialogue as a viable option for cutting the Gordian knot, considering
that force has never checked terrorism anywhere, we must be wary of the
source of offer for dialogue, because most Nigerians do not know Abu
Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz who made the offer. Moreover, the same Boko
Haram, which aborted previous efforts at dialogue on account of alleged
early leakage by the Federal Government, cannot be expected to be the
first to go public with such an offer. So, the government should be more
cautious. I remember any time Osama Bin Laden was said to have issued a
statement, the intelligence community of the West had to investigate in
order to ascertain whether the voice was truly from Bin Laden. That is
how it should be. But in the case of Nigeria, anybody can claim to be
Boko Haram and is believed. So, our intelligence community should
establish whether the source of the offer is genuine or not. The media
should also help in this direction.
What is your advice for the parties involved?
The Federal Government should keep the
option of dialogue open. If the sect has decided to yield to public
appeal and embrace dialogue, then, the proper thing for them to do is to
approach their chosen Saudi authorities and request them to play some
roles in the matter. If the Saudi authorities agree to play some roles
in the dialogue, then, it is Saudi Arabia that should link up with the
Federal Government for effect. The idea of nominating some Northern
leaders as mediators is neither there nor here.
The youth arm of the forum
recently accused some former Heads of State of being responsible for the
region’s woes, as they allegedly failed to develop the North. Do you
share this view?
There is no part of this country that
has developed to the satisfactory level. Youths feel their empowerment,
opportunities and their future have been stolen. And that is why the
country also has security challenges like kidnapping and armed
robberies, as well as piracy in the South. So, the problems of Nigeria
have been caused by collective failure of leadership across the country.
It is not the exclusive preserve of the North.
Nigerians have witnessed
several high profile financial scandals recently, with those indicted
not prosecuted. Do you think the government is still on course in its
anti-corruption campaign?
The fight against corruption is anything
but on course. And this is because those indicted are walking on the
streets; some even win elections to make laws for us. More distressing
is the fact that the nation’s judiciary is a spider web, which catches
small flies and lets go the big ones. You know what I mean.
While some analysts have
described the zoning formula as strictly a Peoples Democratic Party
affair, others have argued that it is to ensure equality among the
geopolitical zones. Should public officials be elected based on this
formula or on merit?
Zoning was not a PDP affair but a
national affair espoused by the South led by Dr. Alex Ekwueme during the
1994-1995 constitutional conference. It was what led to the fielding of
both Chiefs Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae from the South-West to
contest in 1999. But since Nigerians voted President Goodluck Jonathan
in 2011, it means a rejection of politics of zoning. As democrats, we
should accept the reality that Nigerians do not like politics of zoning.
So be it.
The ACF has recommended
death penalty for indicted corrupt public officials. Do you think the
Federal Government has the political will to make this a law?
If the Federal Government does not have
the political will to make capital punishment for corruption a law, we
shall continue to apply pressure until corruption is made history in the
polity. When ACF made the proposal in favour of capital punishment for
corrupt practices, the forum did not envisage total support from
Nigerians. It expected that a deliberative institution like the National
Assembly would use robust debates to determine whether the proposal
will sail through or not. ACF believes the proposal will bring the
untoward effects of corruption to the table. Also, not all governors
must accept the proposal for it to prevail. And even if they reject it,
it does not mean they also reject the import of the proposal. The
argument that capital punishment did not rein in activities of armed
robberies in the polity does not mean it would not work in controlling
corruption. This is because, while armed robbery is undertaken by the
lower rung of the society, corrupt practices are by the elite who are
most likely to fear death more than those in the lower rung. In any
case, capital punishment has worked in China and other Asian countries.
And so it is difficult to reason that it would not work in Nigeria.
What prompted the ACF to
recommend capital punishment when there are other crimes such as
terrorism, kidnapping, etc in the country today?
ACF made the proposal after due
consideration of the havoc corruption has brought to Nigeria. Consider
the number of deaths caused by lack of health services and security
challenges posed by unemployment. Also consider how corruption has
collapsed our national ideals and moral values. You would hardly avoid
the conclusion that corruption has conquered and vanquished our sense of
core values of humanity to the extent that some people are beginning to
talk about revolution which may consume both the good and the corrupt
in the society. Today, corruption has stolen our empowerment, our
opportunities and our future to the extent that some people have lost
the will to live because they believe they have nothing to lose if they
take it out on the society through armed robbery, kidnapping and
terrorism.
But the forum failed to
clearly define what actually constitutes corruption. Will the punishment
apply to all forms of corruption?
I have noticed that is one area that is
agitating the minds of some people. Some are not opposed to the capital
punishment per se, provided what constitutes corruption is properly and
clearly defined. For example, exam malpractices and fake certificates
are also corrupt practices. But such details are for the National
Assembly to deliberate and work out the approach for effect. From my own
understanding of the controversy generated by the proposal by ACF, it
seems the opposition is not to the importance or motive for the proposal
but more on the misinformed and misguided belief that such punishment
cannot work in Nigeria. But Nigerians are not inferior physically,
intellectually and spiritually to other people from other nations. This
country is passing through difficult times and extenuating circumstance
demands drastic solution.
-Punch
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