|
FG
must respect States as partners in a relationship
–Full text of Gov Aregbesola’s speech at the
presentation of Chido Onuma’s book ,
'Time to Reclaim Nigeria'
posted Thur Dec 15,2011
This is the document referred to in
..I
must thank my brother and friend, Chido Onumah, for the
invitation to be Special Guest of Honour at the public
presentation of his book, Time to Reclaim Nigeria, a compilation
of essays he penned in the last decade.
Chido is a widely travelled journalist, scholar, author,
anti-corruption fighter, a patriot, and an international
citizen. I am therefore delighted this morning that he is being
celebrated and I am part of it. We must note that our brother
was born into and cut his academic and journalistic teeth in the
military era and so it was not surprising that he is combative,
but rigorous and analytical in his views. His works in the last
decade however had been under a civilian rubric but still with
strong military and dictatorial flavour. Invariably, democracy
is still an unfinished business and Chido’s book is evidence he
is still at the barricades and his irrepressible mission now is
to reclaim Nigeria.
This mission to reclaim Nigeria however is a little bit
problematic. To attempt to reclaim something suggests that it
was in your possession ab initio. Beginning from the forceful
amalgamation in 1914, the despotism of colonial rule leading to
independence in 1960, the hegemonic conspiracy of post
independence, military dictatorship, civilian interregnum of
1979 to 1983, the return of the military and the new era of
civil rule in 1999, Nigeria has hardly ever belonged to Nigeria.
To attempt to reclaim what you never had therefore is a
misnomer.
However, this is not to suggest that there have not been
strenuous efforts to Nigerianise Nigeria. You will recall the
fiery nationalism of the founding fathers, beginning from
Herbert Macaulay and extending to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello and other nationalists. You
must also remember the titanic struggles of the labour movement,
Nigerian students, the media and the intelligentsia from the
colonial era till this moment. How can we forget the great
activism of men like Dr Tai Solarin, Prof. Wole Soyinka, Alhaji
Aminu Kano, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Prof. Chike Obi and other
irrepressible icons? Of course, the epochal June 12, 1993
election, NADECO, the heroic stand of Chief
Moshood Abiola and the entire June 12 movement with its army of
civil society organisations are still fresh in our memory. Could
we have suffered debilitating amnesia on the valiant efforts of
patriots in the present struggle to institutionalise genuine
democracy and constitutional rule in our country?
The long and short of it is that as long as there has been
untamed power, there has also been fierce opposition to it. This
dialectics will remain until the untamed power caves in and
reformed power gains ascendancy.
Let us look at what we have critically. The constitution begins
with a preamble “We the people...” This can only be by
ascription. There has never been any time Nigerian people or
their genuine representatives made such proclamation. A true
rebirth therefore must begin with the birthing of the people’s
constitution.
This must be preceded by the assembly of the people where the
basis of continued existence must be well defined and agreed
upon.
This does not in any way suggests that Nigeria will break up. On
the contrary, a relationship mutually agreed upon stands a
better chance of being strong and mutually beneficial. What will
continue to imperil national unity is domination and imperial
rule by a group or cabal, however defined. This cabal may not
necessarily be regional. As we have seen, it could be economic,
ideological, religious, military or a combination of all. What
is certain however is their desire to appropriate Nigeria from
Nigerians and their relentless pursuit of this agenda.
In this rebirth, we must insist on genuine federal practice. We
have had an inglorious past of military rule and it is falsely
assumed that the dictatorial centralism of the military had been
left behind in 1999. There are, however, deeply entrenched
vestiges of an imperial central government under which the
states still groan. In a genuine federalism, the units create
and sustain the centre. But in our bizarre federalism, the
centre creates and sustains the units.
This portends dire consequences for the states. With the
exception of a few, states in the federation depend on the
monthly federal allocation for survival. Most states cannot even
pay salaries without the monthly allocation while the entire
allocation cannot pay salaries in some states. The essence of
federalism is that states should be able to survive on their own
and should only depend on the centre in some special needs like
diplomatic representation, defence and such other exclusive
areas.
The proper practice is that the states should be able to
generate enough resources to run their own government and tie
the monthly federal allocation to special projects and
investment. It will be unseemly to receive an inheritance from
one’s late father estate and use the proceeds to pay workers
salaries in one’s company but that is what states are doing in
Nigeria.
For us in Osun, we are resolute in deviating from that
devastating path. When we came in last year, we met a debt of
N18.3 billion but we have been able to restructure the finances
of the state and instead of debt, we have a savings of N33
billion. We have also been able to double the internally
generated revenue of the state from N300 million to N600
million. We are not resting on our oars. Our target is to
generate N2 billion monthly with which we will be able to pay
salaries and fund recurrent expenditure. We must break away from
the sickening culture of going to the Federal Government every
time, cap in hand, for survival if we are to sustain a true
federal system.
Regrettably, the Federal Government has been emboldened to lord
it over the state and relate with them in the condescending way
a teacher relates with his or her pupils. You will recall the
arrogant attempt by the Federal Government to dictate to the
state and suborn the constitution on the matter of sovereign
wealth fund. The idea behind the scheme no doubt is noble but
this cannot be obtained by a fiat, in flagrant violation of the
constitution. A consensus must be obtained and failing which the
whole enterprise falls apart. A more tactful way would have been
to obtain the consent of the states before making the matter
public, instead of putting the policy in place and then seek to
blackmail the states into submission.
The Federal Government must respect the states as
partners in a relationship in which it is only primus inter
pares.
In the quest to reclaim Nigeria, political empowerment in which
the people truly elect their leaders in a free and fair election
is a sine qua non. Any government that emerges from a fraudulent
election cannot last and at the worst, it will lead to disaster.
You are all aware of my political odyssey and the three and a
half years of being in electoral wilderness before courageous
and God-fearing judges brought succour my way.
Many of our compatriots are not that fortunate. Their rights
have been trampled upon and their electoral mandates forcibly
taken away. The usurpers have since been
plundering their states and wasting scarce resources on
fighting opposition and mitigating the consequences of their
illegitimacy. This ruinous path will always lead to repeat of
1967, 1983 and the prolonged national crisis aftermath of the
June 12, 1993 annulled election. We can and should prevent this
from happening.
I thank you most sincerely once again for the privilege of this
platform. I greatly commend Chido’s effort and recommend his
book to all.
I thank you for your
kind attention.
Being the Speech by the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni
Rauf Aregbesola, as Special Guest of Honour at the public
presentation of the book, Time to Reclaim Nigeria, by Chido
Onumah, at the New Chelsea Hotel, Abuja, on Thursday, December
15, 2011
tatement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
|
