Amamgbo: We Need a Constitution that is Truly Federal

A legal practitioner, Chidi Amamgbo, argues that the only amendment the National Assembly should be concerned about is the one that guarantees a true federalism. He spoke with Tobi Soniyi. Excerpts

Do you agree with the idea of zoning the presidency to geographical zones?

The fact that we are talking about zoning of the presidency to geo-political zones, highlights the failure of Nigeria. If we are a country where we are truly a nation of one, we’re truly a nation of brothers and sisters, where merit as opposed to ethnocentric politics rises to the top, then you wouldn’t be clamouring for zoning of the presidency. Rather, you will be clamouring for the best person to win. Why? Because you know, that person is a patriot and he has the best interest of the nation at heart. Unfortunately, our politics is very regional. It started in the 60s and it’s still so and because politics has become regionalised, a lot of people have been marginalised.

There is the belief that if you zone the presidency to a region, then the benefits of governance will come to that region, the people of the region will feel empowered, they feel the president from their place can bring that development to the region. They feel empowered because now their man is at the top. This is the irony of Nigerian politics. Having said this, we live in Nigeria today. We cannot have one region have a monopoly of power. It has to be devolved. This is the reality of Nigeria until we get to that point in our national development, where it doesn’t matter where you come from. The reality today is that, if you leave it the way it is, power will remain in one region.

And that’s not fair to the rest of the regions. Ultimately, what you want is somebody who is a Nigerian, not somebody who is a novice, not somebody who is a South-East president or not somebody who is a South-West president. If you look at the history of all the other countries in the world, presidents are known for what they have done for their country and or what they’re doing for their region. But again, like I said, the reality today is that these are the cards we have on the table, so the south should produce the next president. If we truly believe in this so-called zoning, then the south should take over the presidency next.

What is your view of the constitution we operate presently?

I think our Constitution is completely flawed. To draft a constitution, you take it to the people and they decide what works for the country, what the terms of the relationship will be. It (constitution) is a contract that should be agreed to, what we have right now was imposed. For better or for worse, a lot of people believe that it was deliberately skewed to favour a particular region of the country. True or false, this is what many believe. With a flawed constitution in order to have more Nigerians buy into the geographical expression called Nigeria, you have to encourage them with such things as zoning the presidency to their region, so they feel like they belong, as opposed to people who are either conquered or marginalised.

You referred to the Nigerian constitution as flawed. The National Assembly has begun the process of amending it. Which provisions do you think should be amended?

If we start going through it all, it will take all day. First of all, you say there is a constitutional amendment going on, how many people know about it? Very few! This is the document that governs it every aspect of our lives. The key part of the constitution is the mode of governance. Are we practising federalism? Or what we have is something like a mixture of unitary government and federalism? If we truly believe that what we have is a federal government, then the key thing we must do is empower the constituting states to become not just independent, but fully independent economically and financially. You cannot have a situation where everything flows to the center, and then you hand out money to states monthly. If anything has to change then it is this sharing of money at the centre. Let resources be controlled by the state and let everybody pay to the centre for defence and other issues that are handled by the federal government in a federal state. Every state in Nigeria must be a mini nation able to thrive on its own.

The federal government should depend on the monies contributed to the centre to survive. There are states in this country that have no business being called a state, but they were created for political reasons. Why would you go to River State, collect all the oil, sell it and bring the money to the centre to distribute? After this, you turn around to give them 3 percent as derivation. In the US which practises federalism, you tax a state like Texas for its oil. It is from the taxing states that the federal government funds defence and other ministries. You don’t just monopolise everything as a federal government and then decide who to get what favours from you. Secondly, our judiciary needs to be strengthened.

We must make them an independent arm of government. You must make the judiciary a co -equal arm of government to the executive and the legislature. This is because until the judiciary can call the shots as the referee when there is a dispute, he who pays the piper will dictate the tune.

What kind of governor do you want to see take over in Anambra come November 6?

Anybody but Obiano, he is a failed governor. That’s my opinion. We are one bad governor away from becoming like some states. Anambra was seen as an example: good road networks, good educational institutions, industrious people and great capacity to generate IGR. Today, if you go to Anambra, all those roads are now a network of potholed roads. People might underestimate the value of roads. But if a road passes in front of my village, the price on land goes up. People will build houses, hotels will come and business will come.

The first thing America did after the Second World War was a marshal plan to build a network of roads everywhere in America. Connect people and businesses, it was called interstate commerce. Without good roads, goods and services will not fly. If I produce something in Ihiala, I have to transport it to Ogidi, Zamfara or anywhere. Everywhere you go in Anambra, you see signboards: ‘Willie is working’. Each time I see them I feel like stopping my car, getting a paintbrush and changing it to write Willie is not working. And right now he is not working. But speaking strictly about the kind of what kind of person I expect. First of all, I’m expecting somebody who’s not a thief, somebody who is not there to steal money.

If you decided you wanted to be the governor, or you’re willing to pony up N1 billion or N2 billion to run. We don’t owe you anything. That’s your charitable contribution to Anmabra because you decided to use that money to contest to win. But it doesn’t mean after you win, the first thing you do is to collect your N2 billion. That’s why I say we don’t want a thief as governor.

We need somebody who is really about the people, not somebody who is really about the politicians who supported him financially or otherwise.

Integrity is important because if you have no integrity you are just going to be a thief. The second thing is: what is your vision? Vision is a word people throw around. Speaking of vision, you have to ask yourself where do you see Anambra in four years? What are the key things? You know, if every governor came into power and said, I will be known for one thing, and that’s the only thing I’m going to focus on, when you leave power, we will remember that one thing.

Let’s say you decide to be the education governor, for goodness sake, build schools, get the best teachers, pay them the best salary. And four years later, those kids are going on to a better future. If you want to be the roads governor, build roads! So that’s your primary focus. Of course, as a governor, you have all the secondary focus. So you’re deciding your budget based on your primary and secondary focus. We need somebody who is a team player. Most times, our governors, like I said, are maximum rulers.

You make somebody commissioner for Works, really, he’s a house boy, he is your SA. He comes in for meetings, and he sits down and he can’t even tell you that your policies are not working. You need to have a robust, vibrant cabinet. It only takes somebody who is confident, who is not threatened by his peers, to build a team because one person cannot single-handedly govern a state. You are the team leader.