Nigeria is sick —Ubani
Chairman, Committee
on Media and Public Affairs in the House of Representatives, Eziuche Ubani,
expresses that there is totally a system collapse in Nigeria, while the present
administration is losing momentum to revitalize the system. Ubani, in this
interview with Ogbu Ngene says that the situation makes him sick too
WHAT is your reaction to the opinion that the present administration
wasted its first year in office?
Well, I don't want to react to whatever the former President said. That's
his view. But I feel that there is a government in place with a President
that says he is ready to work. And we are just watching. That's all I can
say to that.
But Nigerians worry that if he said that he is ready to work, as half
of the year is gone and the budget impasse lingers. Do you think that there
is a possibility of closing the gap?
We have passed the budget from this Chamber. The other job we have about the
budget is to monitor compliance. I think that this question should be directed
at people in the executive. This is because I don't know what plans they have
for the actualization of the budget. Whatever plans they have is up to them.
But we have done the first level of the job, which is to pass the budget.
The second part is to monitor compliance through oversight.
But monitoring compliance implies ensuring its implementation?
Yes, we will do oversight only when they start working. Already part of it
is going on, watching releases and all that. That is just the little that
we have to do.
But whether they have any plans to make sure that they catch up, that question
should be directed to them. I am not going to speak for them, because I am
not a member of the executive. But I am sure that they realize that there
is no time.
So, it is only when we do the oversight that we would be able to see the speed
and manner of compliance, as well as whether there are other extra-ordinary
measures that they have devised to ensure that they deliver.
Do you mean there are no measures of enforcing compliance by the legislature?
We have measures of enforcing compliance. For instance, we invited the Minister
of Finance because we were not comfortable with the pattern of implementation
and he appeared before the Committee on Finance. That's at one level. And
we are still watching. As soon as we spot any other thing that is contrary
to the spirit and letter of the budget, we will also call attention to that,
and ask for explanation. That's what we are doing.
Then, when it comes to projects, I don't think that they have started any
big project. If and when they start the projects, then at a point in time,
we would get in and monitor and oversee what they are doing. That's exactly
what I am saying.
Does it not bother you that at this period of the year, we have not gone far
with implementing the budget?
Well, let me tell you, I am going to speak as an individual. Everything is
bothering me right now. Everything about governance in this country is bothering
me right now. This is because the truth is that we appear to be losing momentum.
But again, this is not my view as Chairman of Committee on Media and Public
Affairs in the House. I am speaking as Eziuche Ubani, somebody who is a citizen
of this country. Everybody is worried. I am worried that the speed of governance
does not meet my expectations.
So, it is not even just the budget, but every other thing. For instance, in
part of the country where I come from, the South-East, kidnapping has become
an industry, not to talk of armed robbery. Bullion vans are waylaid on the
streets, roads and highways; and people bring equipment, destroy the bullion
vans, and take the money away. And nothing happens. Nobody has been apprehended.
So, the state of security, the state of infrastructure, the state of roads,
the state of schools, the state of power, what am I going to count? I mean,
it is impacting on everything. And that's not right. It is not comforting.
I am not going to lie to you, to say that everything is okay. I am not going
to be one of those people who would say that everything is okay, even when
they know inwards that they are not saying the truth. I will speak on what
I have on ground.
Do majority or minority of your colleagues share this view?
I don't know. There has not been any census on that. That's why I said that
I speak for myself. Maybe, you have to ask them too, to also speak for themselves.
My own method is, if the government is not doing things according to speed
and other parameters, I have a duty to speak now, not after the government
has left office. A lot of people who are talking about Obasanjo now never
said anything when he was in power. They were all praising him. But people
like us were saying “things are not going right”. And at this
point in time, it is not pillorying the man, because I made my point known
when he was in power. That was when he had the avenue to correct things.
So, those who also feel uncomfortable now should not become hypocrites. They
should say what is not right now. Every criticism is not destructive. Perhaps,
they can help the government to be able to redress. And it is in our interest
to make this government succeed.
Are there efforts by lawmakers at forging a common front with a view
to impressing on the executive to see things in this light?
No, but in several motions, we point to that. In fairness to my colleagues,
they have been calling attention to it through motions. Many motions on the
floor of the House concerned calling on one department or the other to be
able to buckle up and do one thing, or the other.
Many people now feel that as the probe report of the Power Committee seems
to be watered down, the others would go the same way; and that external influence
is responsible for this. What is your view?
In this country cynicism has become an industry. It has become a trade. And
those cynics would not wait for actions before exhibiting their trade. They
rush in to insinuate and draw conclusions on issues. How are we going to develop?
What are we supposed to do? If we didn't do that, they would say “ah,
they are just quiet”. And we are doing it; they say “it won't
get anywhere”. That's a very destructive mind-set. Why don't they wait
for us to bring out the report before they now conclude that it has been watered
down? They haven't seen the report, and they are already saying that it is
going to be watered down.
We are going to do our job. And the job we are set to do is to call attention
to whatever we feel didn't happen the right way, and investigate. And that's
a power the Constitution gives to us. When we finish, it would be up to them
to look at the quality of report that we have brought. And let them not forget
that the report written by that Committee is not a Bible. Once it comes on
the floor of the House, it is subject to debate. And if we feel that it does
not meet our expectations, we throw it back to them, and ask them to go and
improve on it before we now pass it.
So, what I will advise is that we wait and see the report. Nobody asked us
to do this. We are doing this in the interest of Nigeria. If we didn't initiate
these investigations, we would still answer honourable members. But we decided
to do that on our own because we have the duty to do that.
So, what we need is encouragement to be able to do it. And not people to say
that, “oh, those people, they are just jokers. They are wasting their
time. This thing is not going to come to anything.” Whose interest is
served by that kind of mind-set? It doesn't make sense.
The Finance thing, what are we doing; we are trying to find out the revenue.
So many Agencies get revenues that are supposed to go into the Federation
Account, but they keep them, and spend them. That's not what the Constitution
says. And that's not right. That's what we are trying to investigate. Is anybody
going to say that any money should be brought to us?
Look, if as Lawmakers we had decided to say that anything the executive does
is right, it is not going to affect our allowances and salaries. But that's
not the kind of House we have right now. We feel that the salaries that we
are paid are to make us serve the interest of Nigeria, which means that we
are going to watch-over the executive on behalf of Nigerians. So, is it right
for a government ministry or parastatal to collect money that they are supposed
to pay into the Federation Account and keep it? Then when we ask questions
about it, somebody is saying that nothing is going to come out of it. Nigerians
appear sometimes that they don't want to be saved.
How do you see the views of your colleagues on the FOI bill?
Well, we have admitted that the marketing of the bill was not the best. And
when I say “marketing,” I mean the way it was pushed. The new
strategy is about certain meetings that we need to hold to be able to get
things to go on. We are hoping for a better outcome next time.
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