June 12 has been set aside an annual Democracy Day celebration in Nigeria and also observed as a public holiday. WatchmanPost talks with rights and advocacy activist Matthew Koffi Okono of Open Forum on the essence of the day in this interview conducted by Editor Eno Udo and Online Editor Joseph Atainyang.
June 12 is Democracy Day, should Nigerians celebrate?
It’s a very pertinent question, but the reality is whether we are actually practicing democracy. The man that recognised June 12 as Democracy Day, as bad as the situation was during his time, maybe he never imagined that it will get this bad. We cannot stop to observe the day because it is not meant for people who are converting democracy to monarchy. Observing the day, you never can tell, may strike the right cord in the consciousness of the people. There are those who demand that democracy be practised the right way. We belong in that class.
So which aspects of democracy are we practising at the moment?
I’m saying that what we have currently isn’t democracy but monarchy. This is true because power does not belong to the people. Politically exposed persons, as at the advent of the Fourth Republic, had a level of respect and integrity to campaign and ask people for votes and beg to the last minutes. They made promises that they also tried to keep. But now with the nascent democracy, our present leaders have consolidated on their level of corruption. It has infiltrated virtually all segments of the society, including the judiciary, the military, and the media.
Of course, the current nature of our government is monarchical because those who have the privilege to find themselves in the corridors of power have made sure that governance rotates around their families. In Nigeria now, you must belong to a particular party, gang or a private army before you prosper. Above that, our leaders have weaponised poverty. All the political parties have raised their nomination forms far beyond what an entire generation of persons or community can afford. This is part of the monarchical arrangement of the current Nigerian politics.
From what you are saying, can democracy survive in Nigeria?
Democracy isn’t even surviving. I am saying so because I have been a practitioner until I withdrew to do advocacy. You don’t have to be a partisan politician before you’re seen as one. You can make your contributions to the leadership recruitment process or discuss issues. Like I said earlier today, the worst part of the country’s politics is that we are empowering unproductive persons, mediocre, hooligans and blackmailers. That is the worst opium in our society. Those are the set of persons that are being empowered, funded and promoted to attain political prominence. This is what is thriving. And if you’re conscious of these anomalies, you get to understand that there must be what I call intellectual revolution, to tell truth to power so we can overturn the situation. A few days ago, we saw how Senator Adams Oshomhole spoke against the actions of the ruling party.
I am one of those who believe that the ruling party is playing a dual role as both the ruling and opposition party. Even the best fiction writer would never have imagined that the President of the Senate can preside over a session where the Senate amended the Electoral Act such that forgery cases which are not arrested before the elections can’t be treated after the person has been elected. But if you look at the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you will discover that anything having to do with qualifications of candidates of political parties is to be treated as both pre-election and post-election matter. That is what the current National Assembly has done without amending the Constitution. You can see that there is a collision between the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Secondly, you can recall that the Senate also amended its house rules to exclude any person who is not a member of the 10th Senate from emerging as leader in the 11th Senate. They also stated that one must be in the Senate for eight consecutive years before standing election to the office of the President of the Senate. With all due respect, our brother, Godswill Obot Akpabio has successfully presided over an amendment that has excluded him from contesting that office next year. This is exactly what happened during the time of Senate President Ahmed Lawan. The National Assembly amended the Electoral Act which debarred them from participating as statutory delegates during their party’s primaries.
Looking at the fact that all the three organs of government are still in operation in Nigeria, don’t you think it’s still a democratic governance, no matter how bad?
When politically exposed persons present themselves for elections, that doesn’t amount to democracy. You may be aware that the last presidential elections results were announced before collation was concluded. As we speak, we’re not even sure that they have uploaded all the results of the 2023 elections. Democracy presupposes that power belongs to the people who determine who becomes what. You saw one of the wonders of our time, where during the recent primaries, the Option A4 was abused. Nigerians saw a situation in which those who were counting votes couldn’t count well, such that nursery school pupils were embarrassed and told their parents that an adult doesn’t know how to count. They were intentionally jumping from 10 to 1000. I’m sure you’re also aware that at a point, the APC was said to have registered up to 40 million or 41 million members. But when the INEC-supervised primaries took place, we now saw that those who were registered as members of the ruling APC are just a little above 12 million people. You must have been surprised that in Nigeria where voter apathy is about 50 percent, more than 90 percent of the APC members were said to have voted to give the president a little above 10 million votes. This is also questionable. The big issue is that even the APC members, some of whom are contenders, are the ones raising alarm. For instance, in Oyo State, the membership of the party is said to be a little over 100 thousand. But the man who was declared the winner was allocated over 500 thousand votes. The question then is, where did other voters come from?
For the president, we have heard that the APC has just a little above six million registered members in their actual register. Do you know the consequences? the APC party nomination is automatically voided. The case is obvious. Democracy abhors this kind of falsehood. So at the end of the day, it still boils down to the question. Is this democracy?
We’re already in a state of anarchy. Truth is that Nigerians are possibly among the most resilient people on the planet. Coupled with our religious nature. We like handing over things to God. But it has gone beyond that now. Most people have given up on this country. Voter apathy has increased. Falsification of votes is now gaining ground with evidence here and there. In such a situation, the only way to redeem the situation is social education and enlightenment. A former political office holder, he is late now, told me that if citizens know the amount of money people were stealing in government that they will lynch them alive. The former governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda said on national TV, that his friend in the oil sector asked him to go and tell Mr President to stop them from stealing from oil deals. Corruption has destroyed the human conscience and this is leading to greater apathy. So, it is for us to do the kind of things that I am personally doing. I’m a victim of that system. I almost committed suicide. In fact, in my second attempt, God told me, “You said you’re brilliant, you want to take your life because of who?” He mentioned some people in this state. So I withdraw from the suicide attempt and I promised God that I will be on the street, serving humanity. That was how I got healed of my spinal cord problem and my nerves. I never had sleep for one year. It is a mystery. We have saved some people here in Open Forum. Others have died because of lack of attention. But I have given certain persons hope in that when they look at me and reflect on my story, they become strong, knowing that this person has gone through a lot but he’s still here so why can’t they too? So we have to sensitise the people not to be silent. That is where the media is fully needed.
Do you think that this situation can also lead to a revolution?
We can’t rule out revolution. The reason is simple. Nigeria fought a civil war for many years. I was born during the war. I saw the war and I still remember the images in my head. As a small boy then, my mother went to the market and brought a boy who was having kwashiorkor. The next market day, my mother took him to the market and possibly got him reunited with his parents. There was a reason for those years of civil war. Okay, let’s drop that and talk about a more recent situation. There was EndSARS in Nigeria. Young people said enough is enough. With no guns, no stones, only flags in their hands. You saw what happened. An ECOWAS Court has given judgement over that matter. I’m not sure that judgment has been implemented against the people that committed the havoc on camera. That was a revolution without any ammunition. I’m a non-state actor, non-violent. I only wage intellectual violence. This is because I’ve got to a point that nobody can silence me. The fact that there are still people like myself in Nigeria, engaging and advocating for the right things to be done, shows that there is hope for Nigeria. And when we come together and build a critical mass, and hold up the mirror for them to behold themselves, the number of people afflicting this country, taking over billions of Nigeria’s resources, will drastically reduce. We need to help our young ones to reject early gratification. I am 61 now. I have worked with people at the highest level but here am I. I’m not ready to compromise my standards. So we should be able to build a critical mass of citizens who will reject even N1 million on election day. Except you want to collect it and still vote your conscience.
As I speak with you, Rwanda, is a model of development in Africa and their budget is only about 30 to 40 percent higher than the Akwa Ibom State budget. And I bet you, we in Akwa Ibom State have more resources than Rwanda. We have more resources than so many countries put together. But are we able to utilise the ones that have been given to us? Are we able to exploit the ones that some of us have thrown to government? Are you aware that Mbo Mangrove Island is said to be one of the richest places on the whole planet, holding almost 10 percent of global oil wealth with over 2550 oil and gas wealth? Cameroon took it along with Bakassi. But when we had a consultant that showed us everything, we wrote to the state government, but they have not responded. Luckily, that matter was taken up with the Senator representing Akwa Ibom Northeast Senatorial District, Distinguished Senator Aniekan Bassey who took it to the National Assembly. You may not be aware, the Senate set up about an 11-man committee to look at the matter so that they can retrieve Mbo Mangrove Island from the Cameroons. The Akwa Ibom State Government is not interested. What won’t we do with derivation? We are unable to even tap from what God has given to us. Akwa Ibom is the centre of Nigeria. But what is the management like?
They say democracy is a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Don’t you think it’s because of democracy that Nigeria is expanding and developing this way?
If we say Nigeria is developed now more than it was in the past, what is the parameter? I was born in the 1960s. I was privileged to go to Lagos after the war. So I saw how Lagos was. It wasn’t developed in terms of that tune. But now, Lagos is very developed because the economy of Lagos is presently bigger than the economy of five African countries, and even those outside Africa. This is so because Lagos is a centre of production. The people there are highly productive, having a population of about 20 million people. You can see the waters. Even the Bible acknowledges the wealth of the sea. Lagos maximised the federal capital status when the wealth of the nation was used to develop it. Private industries are driving the place. But I can assure you that Akwa Ibom State is richer than Lagos. Our oil and gas wealth alone is very massive. I have someone in the oil sector who told me that we are not a serious people. There are many abandoned oil wells, corked, and abandoned. If Akwa Ibom goes into the gas sector as we have recommended, we can sell gas for as low as N50, N100 or at most N300 per kilo. Nigeria does not have a model of development. Nigeria is so lazy that it is not ashamed to be called a federal republic when we are running a unitary system. Nigeria had a TV Station before France. That was under Obafemi Owolowo. These are some of the histories that people may not know.
But generally speaking, do we have what it takes to see real developments? Were there developments during the military era? I want to tell you that we had a surpassing development during that military era. There were industries. What road was even there when Clement Isong went to build biscuit factory, Sunshine Battery, Quality Ceramics. Untill now, there is no road to Quality Ceramics. The Steel Mills, the refineries were built by the military. All of these have been grounded by who? By people who say they are practising democracy. We are talking about productivity. If one is not productive and then you have people who are not patriotic in positions of authority, whatever you call development is just a little fraction of what you will see in a truly productive economy….
I gave us an illustration of what you have in the oil and gas sector. Akwa Ibom is said to be the highest contributor of crude, over 500,000 barrels daily. But are you aware that we do not earn as high as we contribute? I have asked this question many times. You can see the Cross River State Government trying to seek the retrieval of the 76 oil wells. When I raised a question to the Akwa Ibom State Government, they said our present allocations do not align with the Supreme Court judgement. They said the money is kept in an escrow account. This is not development. We are going backwards. But for the ordinary eye, it appears they are constructing roads. Some of those things they call achievements, but people like us earn a living by thinking, I tell you that if we had 20 per cent of the resources they have, whatever corner we are will become a model. Nigeria does not have a model for development. Lagos State has a little. Lagos economy runs without anyone being able to point out who a civil servant is. This is because of the private sector.
Democracy Day should be a moment of sober reflection. If you’re talking to our leaders, what do you think should be the solution to our democracy deficit situation?
There can be no solution to any question if the question is not understood. So the first thing is for leaders and citizens to understand what democracy is. The National question is our configuration. We would never have had independence if Nigeria was to be run as a unitary state. We were to be run as a federation. The first military coup turned Nigeria into a unitary state. Nigeria is more of a unitary state now than when under the military. So, if one can’t answer the question, he has failed, except for Obong Victor Attah who talked of fiscal federalism, but was attacked for it. The next person is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. At a point he said he doesn’t believe in Nigeria because Nigeria is not a unitary state. A state should be a federating unit, since we don’t want the regional government again. A leader who said Nigeria can never succeed until it returns to true federalism, is making Nigeria more unitary. Check out the taxation law. It has brought every state into it. Governors are behaving as if they can’t survive without the federal government. Sadly, it is the states that are contributing to the federal government.
And why do we have corruption? There is too much money at the centre. Practising federalism with states as federating units is the only answer. The state police they are talking about now is an indictment on the National Assembly because they should know that it is not the federal government that should come and plan the state police for the federating units. That is for the federal level.
For the state question, we pride ourselves as having had leaders that have been able to advance developments. Well, that could be understood from a layman’s view. But if you are a thinker or an analyst, you will possibly line up where I queue. And I say to myself, without a person like Obong Attah, having laid the most solid foundation for Akwa Ibom State, I can tell you that we would have been one of the most miserable states. Without Obong Attah who did what we are doing, speaking out, we would never have had the derivation principle where subsequent governors were so fortunate like some children who were born to see their father’s wealth. Obong Attah never saw up to N800 billion in eight years, but you can see the solid foundation he laid, the solid projects he advanced for the development of the state. You can say that money had value then. But I can tell you that it was because of his clear vision. At the current rate of inflation, it will be very difficult for any state to meet up with Akwa Ibom State,in terms of the foundation that we have been fortunate to meet on ground.
Are you talking about the Ibom Power Plant? Mismanagement almost ruined it. We know why, and we have the facts. Talking about the Science Park, the Five Star Hotel, the Ibom International Airport. Attah brought an investor here on a project. When the man landed, he travelled to Port Harcourt to make a phone call to his wife that he arrived safely. Plus or minus, he spent seven hours just to reach his home. Attah asked himself, why am I here? He went into V-Mobile, only second to Lagos. The proceeds went into the building of the airport. You see our politicians showing you some of the structures they have built, not because they are going to yield return on investment but because it would assist them to do retirement of funds. People say that Akwa Ibom State is the cleanest state. Yes, I can tell you that this is not because the Waste Management Agency is able to work, but because a man of vision laid a foundation.
Secondly, we are naturally clean people. We don’t throw things on the street, we go to the refuse dump and put it. But those entrusted can’t evacuate. Yes, we sweep the streets. But listen, a stste with almost N3trillion in three years cannot bring investors to bring an incinerator to process refuse and convert it into wealth. Should we clap for ourselves? Let us try as much as we can to help our leaders so they can know what to do and how to run the government. Somebody said, if you are a man of ideas and you have the courage to speak truth to power and you are eventually able to get to the seat of power, please speak while eating. Don’t stop. It will help digestion.
2027 is at the corner, do you think it will come with a true test of democracy?
I will like to agree with you by affirming that 2027 is a make-or-mar election year. We know the actors are more desperate than any crop of political office holders. What is the way forward? Citizens have been able to tell the truth to power. We cannot allow what is going on to be sustained. I am an exception because I was created for this purpose.
