Nigeria needs Sovereign Conference to survive –Kanu Rear Admiral Ndubusi Kanu (Rtd), a former Military Governor of Lagos and Imo states, is the Chairman of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). In this interview, he speaks on his involvement in June 12 struggles, the state of the nation and the urgent need to convoke a Sovereign National Conference (SNC). AYODELE OJO reports. What motivated you to join NADECO? I don’t mind telling anybody who cares that I am a well trained Naval Officer. I don’t mind taking on any Admiral anywhere in the world, any day, any time. While I was in the service, where I was trained in India; there was an inscription on the dome there. It was, Safety, Honour and Welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The Safety, Honour and Welfare of the men you command come next. Your own safety and welfare come last. And there was no training that talks about being a governor. My first military appointment was when I was in the Supreme Military Council (SMC). I was put under General Muritala Muhammed. Nothing was done singlehandedly by the Head of State. Everything was from the SMC. Olusegun Obasanjo was a member likewise myself and other officers. Obasanjo was not superior to any member of the Council. So, anytime Obasanjo says he did this or that after the assassination of Muritala, there was nothing he did independently, all actions were by the SMC. I also took part in Babangida’s Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) after Ebitu Ukiwe’s exit. I was also a member of Political Bureau set up by the Babangida’s administration. There was a fixed programme for return to civil government, but they changed the whole thing. In fact, after the annulment of June 12 election in 1993, someone like Clement Akpamgbo said anyone that talked about June 12 was inciting people and risks treason. Uche Chukwumerije too along with Akamgbo talked against June 12, but deep inside their hearts they could see clearly that ordinary Nigerians who voted during the election were angry about the turn of events. Anybody in uniform or out of uniform, I mean anybody who is in his right senses for any reason, that supports annulment of June 12, 1993 presidential election, is personal to him. The annulment is against the country and the people anyhow you look at it. So, there is no need saying that anybody, including IBB himself, David Mark who is there today and Obasanjo who was at the helm of affairs of this nation between 1999 to 2007, anybody at all, whoever that gave support to annulment of June 12, 1993 election did not give their support to serve the interest of this nation except their personal interest. What are your experiences like during the struggle against the military government after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election? Many things have been written before about that. Many things have been spoken and narrated before about my experiences of the period. Anyway at the beginning, I was picked at home one morning by a group of policemen led by someone who later became Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in this country; before he died in a crash we later became friends. I was led to the Force Headquarters by the team. While there, I was told I’m carrying arms and ammunition and then, they brought a paper for me to write a statement. They also brought a paper allegedly prepared by me as NADECO’s Chairman of Action Committee where I have recommended massive arms and ammunition importation. I made it clear that if I prepared the paper brought to me, they won’t see it in the first place. They also made remarks about Dr. Beko Kuti and some other members of NADECO until the wee hours of the following day. Later, I learnt they were looking for cars and I asked what for? They said we were travelling to my home town. It was around 4a.m. that early morning. I said no, I am not travelling anywhere and that whatever they wanted to do to me, they should do it there. I said I was not going. I even told them that I wish they take me back to my house because I won’t stay at the Force Headquarters. In the morning, they were all around. We all took off to the airport. Four plain clothes policemen were with me. We flew to Port Harcourt, from there we drove to my hometown, Ovim, Abia State and to my house. While there, they said I should come inside and join them in searching but I declined. One of them threatened me that what happens if they planted something that is capable of putting me in serious trouble, I said that will be between them and their conscience. I remained at my balcony when they conducted the search of the whole house. I overheard one of them saying this man has nothing to hide and that is where it ended and I was flown back to Lagos. There were so many harassments meted out to me thereafter purposely to break me down. I don’t want to go into all that. But at a time, I decided to send message to Abacha. Admiral Mike Akhigbe was by then the Naval Chief. The message I sent then was that I shouldn’t be subjected to unnecessary harassment after serving my country well, defending her territorial integrity. NADECO fought for democracy. Are you satisfied with the political situation in the country? It is good to look back and look around too. Yes, we can see few infrastructural development put in place; infrastructure like communication advancement and other levels of development. However, the body politic of Nigeria is facing greater danger and sliding further backwards over years. In the result of how we come about this sorry state, we have been saying and we will continue to say the only peaceful way can lead Nigeria back to the right path. We have been operating civil rule for 14 years. Ask yourself what has happened? To put it briefly, we are not yet there in the democracy we fought for. This is not a matter of trying to blame anybody. Issues have gone beyond blaming anybody. The cost and effects is what really matter. What does it cost Nigeria to be going through what we shouldn’t go through? What are the collective factors? When we are talking about Soverign National Conference (SNC), we are not talking of just to go and sit down and talk. We are talking about going back to the sovereign people who are suffering in the midst of plenty. We are talking about people that wanted to live together very much as a country and surrender their sovereignty administrative control to a central governance on their own free will, sense of belonging and maintain their own sovereignty. There are no two ways about it. If we don’t go back to the feelings where all of us, different people with different backgrounds accept to live together as one, then the crisis will continue to stare us in the face. If we have got a fundamental problem in the land, this matter will keep on increasing. That is the factor why NADECO decided to intervene. We are saying let’s quickly find peaceful and a lasting solution to all these problems. We have been saying it for long; we would keep saying that the country is heading towards where it shouldn’t go. Do you think the Sovereign National Conference (SNC) will address some of the thorny issues affecting Nigeria? People really need to understand what Sovereign National Conference (SNC) that we clamoured for is all about. People have explained it to make mischief out of knowledge. With reference to quite some people in governance, they don’t really understand an SNC. When you take a young man who was just 15 years in 1993, how old would he be today? Where are they today? They are in governance, quite a few of them and they had only seen the twilight of Babangida’s administration. They go further to later years, from Babangida to Abacha, to annulment, to seeing how much money or contract you can get at corridors of power; then come to assassinations, stealing, organised armed robbery, and now kidnapping. So, persons like that cannot understand what an SNC is all about without applying the mind. If the pressure of living and pressure of enjoying overwhelm the mind, you cannot understand what an SNC stands for. If you look back, the problem in Nigeria did not really start from the military. It was when the Federal Government stepped into sovereign matter of the region that the problem started. Military now came in. Even under the first military rule, we have federalism. We have been saying these all this while that under the military that was an aberration, I never asked to become governor of old Imo State and later governor of Lagos State. Let me repeat that even under the military that time, there was no unitarism like we have now established by the military so-called constitution. Then as a military governor of Imo State, I derived my powers from the constitution of Eastern Nigeria. As governor of Lagos then, I am subjected to the constitution of Western Nigeria and Lagos Colony. There was no question by then of suspending a governor by the Federal Government. For instance, in spite the fact that I was the governor of Lagos State and Muhammad Buhari was Federal Commissioner for Petroleum, he came with his ministry officials and applied for pipeline right of way for the Federal Government. The issue is that, if you take the unitary system of governance we have now, you cannot blame those who are operating it. But if you look at the issues that are dragging the nation back critically like security and power, you will understand that it will take the synergy of all the units (regions) in the country, in that diversity to move forward. But, in a situation where those in power are concerned more about accumulation of material wealth, that is where corruption will continue to thrive. We are running a unitary system of government in Nigeria. There are so many connotations that we can go on talking about. The truth is, many unbelievable things are happening in the country now and if we don’t act, we may be heading to a tough time.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 04:05:28 +0000
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