The Acting President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Charles Ambaiowei, in this interview lamented the perceived injustice being faced by his people in the Nigerian state. Excerpts:
How would you react to the sudden death of the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief DSP Alamieseigha?
The Ijaw nation is deeply shocked by the untimely death of Chief DSP Alamieseigha. Unfortunately, one could see a connection between his tragic exit and the attempt by the government to extradite him to the UK to face trial on an issue which to the best of my knowledge had been laid to rest in Nigeria. From what is going on, it appears that there is a deliberate and calculated attempt to demonize Ijaw sons and daughters who served in the last administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by raising various allegations of corrupt charges against them. We wish to state unequivocally that our sons and daughters served this country diligently with good intension. We, therefore, deplore the witch hunt that is going on now under the Buhari administration.
What is your assessment of the state of the nation at 55th?
The Ijaw National Congress (INC), which I represent, does not believe that our attempt at nation building is on a positive direction. And that is the reason for the current malice which has found expression in separatist agitations, corruption, shoring unemployment, insecurity, Boko Haram insurgency as well as declining economic trend. All these are just a direct consequence of the fact that our path of nation building is not in a positive direction.
If at all we had a time when nation building was positive and the trend was right, it was between 1960 and early 70s. For us, the Ijaw, how revenue is being shared is actually the fundamental basis of corruption in this country. When the Midwestern region was created in 1963, all the regions had their own constitutions in addition to the federal constitution. Every region had one particular resource or the other which was exploited to the maximum benefits of the people.
You talk of groundnut pyramid in the North, Cocoa in the West, palm oil in the Eastern region and when Midwestern region was created, they had palm wine. Then, there was a healthy competition. But by the unification brought about by military decree, the ownership of resources, principally oil and gas, was transferred to the centre. Consequently, the derivation principle which was 50 percent up till 1963 Republican constitution now came to zero percent. So, they just appropriated resources of a people for the development of an area where nothing is being produced. To us, the Ijaw, this is an institutional corruption.
You also recall that when the immediate past Comptroller General of Nigeria Custom Service, Abdullah Ndi Dikko retired, President Muhammadu Buhari had to go as far as bringing retired Colonel Ahmeed Ali to head the Custom instead of a Niger Delta man, John Ateh, who is the next in rank to Dikko. Colonel Ali is a former Chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum. He had been the Secretary-General of the forum.
If I may ask you: What is ACF all about? Is it not to pursue the Northern interest in the same way Ijaw National Congress is agitating and protecting interest of our people? Clearly yes! President Muhammadu Buhari stated John Ateh, who is eminently qualified to succeed Dikko, is not qualified to head the custom. He has seriously breached the principle of federal character and that itself is corruption. What is even more worrisome to the Ijaw National Congress is the preponderance of the North in same grip of positions in the National Assembly and judiciary. We must sound this loud and clear, President Muhammadu Buhari must drive restructuring of Nigeria.
Look at the Petroleum Act, which promulgated during the Gowon era and became act of parliament. Since after the war, they have maintained that Petroleum Act without a single amendment. Even when the issue of PIB came up, the National Assembly could not pass it into law up till today. Strangely, the solid mineral act passed by the same parliament empowers the host communities, whereas, the formulators of PIB virtually made the people of oil producing areas tets on their own land to those who are going to exploit oil and gas resources. When Ijaw National Congress made our own recommendations to the National Assembly with respect to the PIB, we printed out sections of solid mineral act and we urged the lawmakers to carry everything wholly without any alteration and put it into the PIB because mineral is mineral whether sold or otherwise. Are we living in a country where there are two classes of citizens? Until we address the institutional injustice and corruption entrenched in the system, this country is going nowhere.
There were lots of hues and cry from your people when the Federal Government announced removal of former Director-General of NIMASA, Dr Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi. Will Nigeria ever get out of this ethnic quagmire?
When a government comes on board, it is expected that it will tell spell out its operational code. If you do so openly and transparently, when you are using the code, nobody will raise an eyebrow. But the problem here is that the present government has not boldly come up with a fair, credible and transparent operational code.
And that explains why Buhari who promised us change now anchors his anti-corruption crusade on mere perception. In NIMASA, for example, the young man who was removed, Akpobolokemi, is from the Niger Delta. On the assumption that he was corrupt, he was summarily removed from office. But the same President Muhammadu Buhari forgot that Mr. Jauro was the Director of Finance under Akpobolokemi. Having summarily removed Akpobolokemi and made his second in command who is an Igbo man from the Southeast, Calistus Obi, as Acting DG, less than two weeks, he booted him out and told him to handover to Haruna Jauro who is from the North.
By what stretch of imagination do you want to believe that if Akpobolokemi was corrupt and mismanaged NIMASA, the Director of Finance of that same organization would not be a part of it. It is very clear that somebody just doesn’t like the face of some people because of their closeness to the former President and wants to get rid of them. No procedure was followed in Akpobolokemi’s removal. Do you know how many people on ground of fictitious petitions are now in the EFCC gulag?
Another curious thing is the President narrowing the time frame of his fight against corruption to 2007. To the INC, the time frame is just a direct target of former President Goodluck Jonathan. By his pronouncement, Buhari has shielded some people. The point we are making is that government is a continuum. Corruption cannot be status-barred.
What is the basis of an alleged ethnic cleansing in NIMASA under the new leadership?
That is clearly evident from the appointments Mr. President has made. And now Jauro has even moved to the next step. They are now saying that all appointments made by Akpobolokemi did not follow due process. So, they want to sack all of them.
As I speak with you, the Nigeria Maritime University, Okerenkoko, is already closed down. They have stated that they are not going to fund it.
You mean there is already an official announcement to the closure?
Six of such specialized institutions have been asked to go back to the status quo. In the case of the Maritime University, the reversal order means zero because it was created independent of other institutions. All the other five have fallback positions, Maritime University does not. How can you call that a fair practice?
What is your position on environmental issue in the Niger Delta as at today?
It is interesting you have brought up this question. If there is any indices by which to judge how unfairly Nigeria has treated the Niger Delta, it is the level our environment has been degraded. However, we thank President Muhammadu Buhari for the step he has taken concerning the cleaning of Ogoni land. It is good as a first step. But it should not end there. We are all aware that oil was first discovered in Oloibiri area of Bayelsa State in 1957. It was about ten years after that oil was found in Ogoni area. Are we saying areas like Bayelsa have not been environmentally polluted and degraded like the Ogoni land? INC wants an audit to be carried out on our environment. Environmental pollution and degradation are the worst form of injustices the Nigerian state has done to the people of Niger Delta and, indeed, the Ijaw people.