In this interview, Mr. AbdulHakeem Mustapha,a Senior Advocate of Nigeria speaks on the agitation of IPOB, call for restructuring, the need for state police and also says the judiciary should be provided with the right infrastructure if government wants to fi ght corruption. VIVIAN OKEJEME reports.
Restructuring Th e call for restructuring in the country today has become a recurring decimal. Th ere is no one that is not talking about it today. But I think what we need as an entity is to look at the structure, if it is working for us. Again, if you look at it, the agitation is much more profound now because of the political appointments that appear to be lopsided.
I am of the opinion that the problem with Nigeria is more of leadership at all stages of our national lives. Given the kind of leadership we have, even if we restructure and we still have the kind of leadership we are having at the moment, I don’t think it will impact positively on all of us. What we need in the country is to bridge the leadership defi cit we have and involve more people that will be ready to serve.
If you are in a position to get into a political party, especially the ruling party, get involved in what they are doing, and overnight you will become a millionaire. Th at is not the kind of society we want. In other places, when you see a millionaire, if you trace his background, you will see that he has added value to the society. Most of the overnight millionaires we have are those who got bogus contracts from government, and that is not development and it is not sustainable. Th ere is no doubt we need to encourage those who are focused and are ready to serve but, the reality is that, the present structure does not allow that.
I want to give kudos to the 8th National Assembly for the independent candidate included in the constitutional amendment. I hope those who mean well and are sincere to serve will come out to contest and this will save them from some political parties that are bedevilled with violence, corruption and non adherence to the rule of law. I think the center is too large and it is my opinion that, institutions like the Police should be allowed to be controlled by the states. If you look at it, it is the governor of the states that fund the police in their respective states. Nobody can deny that there are abuses here and there and that they might be used to manipulate election but at the end, it will benefi t the larger part of the society if allowed.
Presidential system of government Presidential system is far too expensive. Even with the way it is done in America, it is taking too much of America’s resources. It is too expensive for a country like Nigeria. Some of the provisions we have in the 1963 Constitution are also in the1999 Constitution. We need to be careful because, at the national level, we have some semblance of checks and balances because the National Assembly at some point called the executive to order. But with due respect, that is not the situation in most of the states in the country.
Most of the lawmakers in state assemblies are like the appendages or rubber-stamp of the executive. We all have reasons to agitate – Mustapha I think the government is not yet serious in its resolve to tackle corruption because you can’t tell me that the CCB have been unable to find one public servant culpable of breach of code of conduct rules. Agitation for Republic of Biafra We need to look at the agitation of Indigenous People of Biafra from the social and legal angle. Th e impression I had was that, IPOB is registered in Nigeria.
Th e terrorism Act specifi es how an organisation can be declared a terrorist organisation. What the Army did was wrong and I think they later came out to say they didn’t say that much. It is for the Attorney – General or the National Security Adviser to approach the court, and that they have done. From the legal perspective, since IPOB is not registered in Nigeria, I don’t think it can sue or be sued.
If it is a registered organization, it’s a diff erent thing entirely. On the social aspect of it, there is a belief that if the activities of Boko Haram had been curtailed, we wouldn’t have had the series of killings we had in this country, particularly, in the North-east. If there was a timely action taken by the Federal Government, Boko Haram would not have spread the way they did and that is why I commend the government on the action taken on IPOB activities. Th e problem with IPOB is that, they lack leadership structure and they get confused on what exactly they are agitating for. What IPOB is looking for is what every other section of the country is looking for.
Th ere is no part of Nigeria that does not have one reason or the other to agitate. Th e minorities in the country who don’t speak the three major languages feel that the three major languages are oppressing them. For someone to say that we are going away and that we have weapon to destroy Nigeria, that is not our value system and that is not what we stand for. We all have problems but as Nigerians, nobody is going anywhere for the other.
Nigeria is too important for Africa, for the black race and to the world, than to just allow misunderstanding to break all of us apart. On how to ensure equal representation We need to look at the successive governments and how these appointment are done because there is a constitutional provision as to representation either ministerial or in government agencies. It is part of the corruption of the system to say that one ministry is juicy and the other is not. We should discard such argument because it is very nauseating.
Out of 180 million Nigerians, we should pick the best minds. We need to get to a stage in Nigeria where competence will take precedence. Th is does not happen only at the Federal level but everywhere. Th e earlier we look into the leadership defi cit of Nigeria, the better for us all. Special court for corruption cases Setting up special court to try corruption cases is a fantastic development. We need to understand that corruption takes resources away from critical sectors like health, roads, etc. If it gets to a stage where an individual, through corruption, is greater than a state, it will be a big challenge. So, anything that will curb corruption or curtail it that is being proposed is a welcome development. At the level of the prosecutor, they need to do more.
Th e idea of arresting and later looking for evidence, does not work anywhere. Th e state is supposed to do their investigation very well before making arrest. We should go beyond archaic ways of doing investigation. Th e ICT should be seriously deployed in the course of investigation and more importantly, the courts need infrastructures. Th e idea of a judge recording proceedings in long hand is not acceptable. If Nigeria wants to fi ght corruption, they should blame less the judiciary and address the infrastructural decadence in the judiciary. If you look at the annual budget of the three arms of the government, the judiciary is always the lowest. It is only when the court is appropriately funded that it can live up to its responsibilities.
