Nigeria is sinking, ….Ogbeni Lanre Banjo

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Ogbeni Lanre Banjo is a three-time governorship candidate in Ogun State. He is a certified public (chartered) accountant with wealth of experience in both government and the private sector. He was treasurer for a member of the United States’ House of Representatives, the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and a Council member.

Ogbeni Lanre Banjo

He was the director of policy and Procedures for the District of Columbia Government before his promotion to the director of Accounting at the University of the district of columbia.
Back  home, he cut his political teeth and worked closely with eminent Nigerians like Chief Anthony Enahoro, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, and General Alani Akinrinade during the dark days of the military leader, late General Sani Abacha . He was appointed by former Governor Ibikunle Amosun to serve on the board of Glanvill and DAWN.
He told Tunde Abatan of
Newdawnngr in an online interview that for Nigeria to be stable and reclaim its lost glory, all efforts must be made to stop inequalities in the social and structural set up of the country, right the wrongs, which has tied the nation down.
Excerpts:
 How would you rate our level of development as a nation?
My own definition of development is the process of coming into existence or of creating something new or more advanced.
How many Nigerians have our rulers invested in to make toothpick, not to talk of other products?
Those manufacturing whatever they can produce in Aba are ignored.
Anambra State Government prefers to use foreign vehicles rather than help Innoson, who produces vehicles in her state to grow.  When Anambra State woefully fails to do it, the members of the National Assembly shamelessly use that as an excuse to act traitorously not to buy made in Nigeria vehicle, instead of making laws that would demonstrate patriotism and encourage Innoson and other Nigerians.
The system is repressing those who are struggling to develop and progress on their own. Years ago, Channels TV showed some Nigerians that manufactured vehicles in Lagos, some in Ekiti, and a gentleman by name, Durojaiye Kehinde Obasanjo, showcased a jet car that drives on the road, sea and in air in Abuja, what happened to them?  Did the Southwest governors meet with these brilliant Nigerians and invest in them or cause them to be invested in? Where Nigerian talents are being wasted and rulers and the ruled crave hunger for foreign products, and where the rulers have so destroyed the mentality and the psyche of the people to the extent that most people cry for foreign investors not them being invested in to invest abroad, my brother, it could not be said that there is development, in my own pet view.
How about our participatory democracy? Have we made any impact?
I can write a voluminous book about the Nigerian democrazy. For democracy to be real, citizens must be involved right from the making of the Constitution.  Those who held guns, led by late military dictator, Sani Abacha and Abdulsalami Abubakar, created this military Constitution with the promulgation of Decree 24 to enslave the South, murder rapid and unfettered development you asked of earlier. For instance, Shariah was mentioned 73 times, Grand Khadi 54 times, Islam 28 times, Muslims 10 times in this military Constitution. That does not bother Ishaq Akintola, a surposed scholar sowing religious strife in Ogun State.  As a devout Muslim, when I searched the same Constitution and found out that it does not mention Prophet Muhammed’s senior brother’s mode of worship, meaning, there is no single mention of Christ, Christian, Christianity or Church. Prophet Muhammed SAW preached principle of fairness and equity, which is not being emulated by many Moslems in Nigeria.The same Constitution that mentions all these foreign religions does not even consider the existence of my natural and traditional religion.   That is a gross misconduct, constituting an impeachable offence against the gods of this country. That is why we cannot respect and invest in every talented Nigerians it pleases God to endow Nigeria with, and that is why there is no peace in the land.  They have absolutely no regard for the traditional worshippers to whom all of them run to, when they are in various spiritual potholes; Daniel vs. Alahusa, Ngige vs. Uba in Okirija Shrine, El-Rufai vs. Atiku, just to mention a few examples.  Now, because this Constitution was written by the North, the funding of the Sharia Courts and other Islamic Institutions is enshrined therein. They don’t want beer sold in the North, but they collect Value Added Taxes on beer and liquor sold in the South to finance all these Islamic Institutions. According to my Holy Quran, that is Haram.  Furthermore, this Decree even dictates that resources of the country shall be shared based on the lopsided local governments purposely created to ensure that the North receives the lion share of the resources of the country.  In 1996, Lagos and Kano states had 20 local governments each.  General Sani Abacha carved Jigawa out of Kano, today Kano has 44 local governments, Jigawa has 27 Lagos is still receiving allocation from Abuja based on 20 while the old Kano State receives allocation from Abuja based on 71 local governments. Kano’s land mass is 20,131 square kilometer while Kaduna is 46,053 square kilometer.  Katsina was carved out of Kaduna with both now having 57 local governments.  Kaduna State, with more land mass than Kano, has less numbers of local government. You see how unfair they are to Kaduna.  Gombe created from Bauchi with both now controlling 31 local governments, Zamfara and Kebbi carved out of Sokoto, now having 58 local governments.  I can go on and on.  The total numbers of local governments in the entire North is 419, the entire former South East 175, Southwest 137 with Edo and Delta having 43 local governments.  This is part of restructuring that we are clamoring for.

Lanre Banjo

You can see that the foundation is not solid. Let’s now go to the theater of democracy in Nigeria. Voter’s registration done every four years only by INEC, and that process denies the voting rights of those who attain the voting age to vote in their various local governments elections until the general elections. Go to primary elections, when it suits them or want to deal with a particular candidate, they would tell you they want direct primary. When the interest of someone loved is on the line, they would tell you they want indirect.  The use of delegates is a fraud.  Delegates are purchased and always sell candidacy to the highest bidder. Where they adopt direct primaries, members of other political parties are recruited to vote in a primary of another political party once they collect pittance. Anything we touch, we bastardize.  We turned American type of democracy to demonstration of craziness for selfish reasons.  For fear of impeachment, rich candidates sponsor enough candidates to control members of the house of assembly.  Governors control those at the helm of affairs in local governments.  By so doing, they kill performance and democracy at the local level.  I don’t know a local government chairman who dares to address a press conference on an incident in his or her local government without the permission of the governor. Even award of contracts in local governments must accept the blessing of the governors. No latitude given to the politicians at the local level to fall and rise.  Local government is supposed to be a theatre where each elected or appointed leader is supposed to showcase his or her ability. So these local government officials are mindful that without the governors, they are nobody. Is that participatory democracy?
How do you think the country can be restructured?
The Constitution needs to be thrashed. We the people did not create it. Former President Obasanjo after upholding it for eight years, denounced this Constitution. With the agitation now that the bicameral system is too expensive, we the people need to determine whether we want unicameral or bicameral legislature. Since the Constitution did not emanate from “we the people”, technically those that are in the National Assembly are not the creators of “we the people” and therefore cannot amend what we did not agree to. It is the Peoples’ Constitution that should create the Assembly of representatives of the people, not the Constitution that was born by those holding guns.
Sharing of revenues of the country based on number of local governments surreptitiously created to economically empower a section of the country should be thrown out.  The creation of local governments should be one of the primary responsibilities of the State not Federal, So if Ogun State likes, let her create a million local governments, it is none of the business of the Federal Government.
Furthermore, Religion and State should be distinct and separate. Our Constitution should not make reference to any religion. Those who want to fund Sharia and other Islamic Institutions should reserve the right to do so and make their own laws in their States.
There must be two additional states created in the South, one in the South East and the other in the Southwest, to reduce the oppressive power of the North over the South.
 Resource control is a must. States should control their resources. It is unfair and tyrannical for the North to control the oil in the South and name the controlling institution, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and then the gold and other minerals in the North have not been nationalized. Whereas pipes were laid from Niger Delta to Kaduna, nothing has been established for the South to enjoy from the resources of the North. The power that be, has not established Nigerian National Gold and Diamond Corporation to be managed by Southerners. The Nigerian Port Authority under the Northerner’s control is dangerous.
  The Southwest governments decided to protect their citizens with Amotekun and the governors were summoned by the Attorney General of the federation, when they should have told him to meet with their Attorney Generals.  As we speak, when vigilantes arrest thieves, the Nigerian Police would release the thieves and arrest Vigilantes, so how could Amotekun be effective when you tuck them under purposely made ineffective Nigerian Police. This unitary system needs to be done with.
If restructuring does not work, what is the next option?
Negotiate our way out. I don’t see that happening peacefully because those who are in comfort want to die in comfort, goading everybody else like their slaves and cows. The Israelites were not freed out of the bondage of slavery without bloodshed either in form of killing of sheep for the first sons of Egyptians to be killed or souls lost in the Red Sea. We can’t continue like this my brother. Nigerian politicians have been contagious to Nigerians.  Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Medical Association in Enugu cannot conduct free and fair elections.  Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) cannot hold elections without bloodshed just like the politicians. Nigerians prefer to die abroad than their own country. Today, you are not even free to get on the radio or television to say the truth without the media being fined. So the end result is that, only the government praise singers would be given opportunities to air favourable comments. How can a radio station control what I have to say?  How can TV journalists read my mind and shut me up before I respond to their questions? Media, apart from being disseminators of news, are the most potent medium through which people ventilate their feelings and views on any issue of the day.  Buhari Administration is embarking on silencing Nigerians.  Civil rights lawyers should head on to Court to defend that radio station that was fined because of Dr. Obadiah Mailafia’s interview.
So, you don’t think a round table discussion can resolve our problems?
What are you talking about my brother? Let me remind your readers of an incident in President Goodluck Jonathan’s conference between Christian and Muslim leaders, both of whom are ruling Nigeria.  Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese of Catholic Church, Joseph Bagobiri and Pastor Emmanuel Bosun (Ogun State), raised the issue of not mentioning Jesus Christ in our Constitution. It angered their Muslim counterparts, who opposed their submissions. They had both submitted that the constitution of Nigeria was skewed in favour of Islam and Muslims.  They called on delegates to ensure that the imbalance was corrected. Bagobiri opened the debate on religion. He also argued that the adoption of a particular religion by states must be done away with, adding that in a country like Nigeria, neutrality is needed. He called for the establishment of Ecclesiastical Courts to handle Christian-related disputes, like Sharia courts.  Bagobiri said funding should also be provided for the Christian courts, just like Sharia courts so that Christians could have a sense of belonging in their own country.
Pastor Bosun argued that the conference must address religious imbalance in the countr.
Former Governor of Kebbi State, Adamu Aliero, citing Order 9 rule 7 raised a point of order. He said, “A delegate must confine his contribution to the subject under discussion and will not introduce matters irrelevant thereto. The speaker on the floor is bringing issues that are not related to Mr. President’s speech. I therefore want the Chairman to call him to order. He is bringing diversionary issues that are very sentimental.” The Deputy Chairman of the conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, said Bosun could not be ruled out of order since others had been allowed to speak. He said he would only plead that delegates should mind their contributions so as not to offend the sensibilities of other people.
So I say to all them, when the Northern leaders desire anything, they come out straight, say it and demand it regardless of how the rest of us feels.
 Nigerians have empowered the Hausa/Fulani leaders to arrogate to itself the right to govern the country in perpetuit. Time has arrived for us to confront issues.   The point here is that at the end of the jamboree,your president,a Southerner chikened out,and till today,the ailments discussed in the conference are deepened.
As an advocate of good governance, would you say the attitude of our public officials in spending public funds is proper?
By and large I would say no. Budget means nothing in Nigeria and Auditors have been made to surrender to the principles of survival rather than respecting accounting and auditing standards. There are lawyers who are specialized in hanging cases of those who were charged for stealing public funds. Everything is upside down in Nigeria.

 

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