Gen. Abdulsalami: Only Way to Stop Separatist Agitations is Through Justice and Good Governance

Twenty-two years ago, Nigeria’s ex-military Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, set Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, on the path to a return to democracy in the shadows of coups, aborted republic, death of the winner (MKO Abiola) of the 1993 presidential election, and demise of a sitting head of state (Gen. Sani Abacha). Against all odds, Gen. Abdulsalami expressed enduring hope and trust in democracy and handed power back to a civilian government after decades of the country being under the jackboot. He talks to journalists about nationhood, transfer of power as Nigeria marks its 61st independence anniversary. Laleye Dipo presents the excerpts:

With what is playing out in the country, do you think there is anything to cheer about Nigeria 61 years after independence?
Yes. We have come a long way. Nation-building is not so easy, especially where you have more than 250 ethnic groups, with each group yearning for a place in governance. When you look back 60 years ago, my generation grew up under colonial masters, and we have seen how our colonial masters siphoned our treasury and other things out of the country.

Even the rail and road systems they constructed were to cart away whatsoever they could into the seaport and export them, but now, Nigerians are now in charge. There is unity in diversity. Until the incoming of the incessant banditry and kidnappings, Nigerians were living in peace with each other, and there had been a lot of interactions, intermarriages between Nigerians, so I think it is a thing worth celebrating.

It is true that within a couple of years, the peace within the country has been destabilised, first with the advent of Boko Haram and later on with all these miscreants who are staging atrocities in the country by kidnapping, demanding ransom, destroying government properties, and invading and destroying farmers farms. Certainly, these are issues of concern but gladly, despite these shortcomings, the overstretching of the security forces as much as possible, they are doing the best they can under the circumstances.

However, we could do more by strengthening our security forces by way of recruitment and equipping them adequately so that they could face the challenges by securing the life and properties of the country. Also, the citizens should as much as possible work hand in hand with the security agencies by giving them intelligence on where and how these miscreants are operating because they live among us, we know where they are, and so let us expose and give information adequately to the security forces so that they can go after these bandits and other terrorists bedevilling the country.

Nigeria at 61; what is your assessment?
This is a milestone that deserves celebration. I want to use this opportunity to extend my felicitation to Nigeria and Nigerians. I wish us well. May the good Lord look after Nigeria. May all these problems, challenges we are facing today be surmounted so that together we can build a formidable nation that Nigerians are yearning for.

Where did we get it wrong as a nation, and did the military actually destroy the country?
As a retired military officer, I will say the military has not in any way destroyed the country but rather fought to keep the country together, and you could see that during the military rule, there were many infrastructures that the military had put in place. As much as possible, they tried to give a direction of Nationalism so that we all look at Nigeria as our country.

Where did we then get it wrong as a nation?
Before the discovery of oil, agriculture was the main revenue earner for this country, but fortunately or unfortunately, we discovered oil, and we forgot farming. I think that was the first turning point for this country. After the military handed over to the civilians, instead of talking for Nigeria, every Nigerian will speak either for his village, local government, or about his state. Hardly will somebody wake up and start talking of Nigeria, and I think that is where we made another wrong turning. As Nigerians, we should be talking about the unity of the country and, of course, to be able to do that. There must be equity and justice so that everybody is carried along.

When the military handed over to a civilian administration, is this what you expected?
No. We expected a more united country where the concern of our leaders would be the welfare of their people and the progress of the nation. We expected that there should be no bitterness in politics, but unfortunately, we find out that now, for one reason or the other, there are a lot of agitations from the states for one thing or the other. If really peoples’ agitation is that many are being left out of the scheme is anything to go by, then the government should look into this issue and ensure that equity and justice are applied. However, my appeal to all Nigerians is that we should all give peace a chance because, without peace, nothing works, you don’t have a country, no work, and everything will be at a standstill.
To the government, both at the federal and state levels, they should ensure peace, equity, and justice where every citizen of the country will be given equal right to be part and parcel of the union.

There are many agitations from different states, regions, groups of people and even individuals across the country more than before. What do you think are the causes of these agitations especially calls for secession?
I think the perception of being excluded from the sphere of things has brought an idea that the best thing to do is to stay away from where you are not wanted. Now, the brains behind these calls for secession have the feelings one way or the other that they are being excluded from the scheme of things. Rightly or wrongly, this is what they feel, and they think the best thing to do is to opt out. The only way to stop this secession bid is to ensure that there must be equity and justice, and there must be an effort to carry everybody along in the governance, development, provision of infrastructures and again in the appointment of people to fill existing vacancies meaning that there must be equal representation. I think if this is done, we will kill these agitations.

The total debt of Nigeria today is said to be in the region of N57 trillion, both local and foreign. Do you think the country can repay the huge debts?
The man who is wearing the shoes knows where it is pinching him most. Certainly, the rising debts are cause for concern but let us pray that whatever loans acquired are channelled towards the real purpose they are meant for.

Nigerians, especially the government, have not been celebrating our founding fathers, at least to spur younger Nigerians towards contributing to the country’s development. Don’t you think this is contributing to the lack of patriotism by Nigerians?
I will blame you, the media — both print and electronic — for the lack of celebration of our past leaders because all you read or hear from the Media are stories of war. You castigate everybody; you put everybody in the same basket and accuse them of so many things, yet some of these allegations are unfounded, and so, in order to celebrate our heroes, there must be fair reporting on the past and present heroes. Any leader in any country is a human being, and they are not perfect. There is no leader who will purposely come out to be wicked or destroy the people he is leading. We should see the media eulogising the past leaders.

I am not saying you should not criticise because it is part of your job, but you should also provide solutions to the problems. The media is always talking about our past leaders like Awolowo, Sardauna, Akintola, Azikiwe and others. Are we saying that after these leaders, Nigeria does not have other leaders worth celebrating? I believe we have. Unless you educate people on what they have done, certainly there will be nobody to celebrate.

It is not easy for a military ruler to hand over power to a civilian government, but you did it in record time. Were you pressurised to hand over to a democratically-elected government? Are you satisfied with taking that step?
Yes. I am satisfied because we did the right thing by handing over to a democratically elected government. When I took over, the country was at a crossroads because politicians were against the military and yearning for democracy. The military was a victim of itself when professionalism in the army was being eroded and where discipline was also eroded. The military, as of that time, instead of talking for Nigeria, started talking about their villages or states, and this was a serious and sensitive issue because politics started rearing its head in the military. These were part of the factors we looked into and made our transition to be as short as possible so that we could restore the unity of the country and also bring professionalism back into the military. Based on these factors, I will not say I was pressurised to hand over power to the civilians.

On the contrary, people, especially the politicians, were asking me to prolong my stay in office because at first, when I said we were going to hand over, nobody believed the military was going judging from the past experiences. When they now saw the genuineness in us, they now came back and pleaded for me to extend our tenure to enable them (politicians) to prepare fully and key into the democracy programme. But I resisted all these temptations and worked towards my handing over.

Honestly, I am fulfilled that we handed over because, as it is, democracy is growing in the country. Though some people will say, this is not the democracy we were yearning for. But again, nation-building is a continuous process. I want to believe that as we go on, our politics will change because, from all indications, our electorate are now better informed. I also pray and hope that in the next election, they will not sell their voter cards and thereby selling their dignity and losing the future. On the whole, I think democracy in Nigeria is on course despite the problems confronting the nation.

What is your reaction to the dilapidation of roads in the country and the blockade carried out by articulated vehicle drivers in Niger?
Due to the landmass of Niger State, the state has the longest federal road network in the country. The old road from south to the north or north to the south is from Kaduna, coming to Pandogari, Birnin Gwari to Mokwa. Unfortunately, the link between Tegina to Birnin Gwari and Kaduna has been abandoned by the road users because of insecurity and dilapidation. We now find that in Niger State, from Bida, people now divert to come to Minna Road so that they can avoid Lambata Road. Because of the heavy tonnage of the vehicles, I am told that Niger State made a study on the road between Minna and Bida, they said in 24 hours, there are 2000 vehicles plying that road and 90 per cent of these vehicles are trailers and tankers and most of these roads are not built for such heavy vehicles. Niger state government has spent a lot of money repairing that road, but as they repair these roads, vehicles keep going on them to damage them.

Therefore the federal government needs to come in. There must be control of tonnage or what tonnage do we allow on our roads. There must be weighbridges.
Unfortunately, because our railway system is yet to be optimised, you find a lot of tankers and heavy-duty vehicles plying our roads. If the railways were working, this would reduce the number of Turnage plying our roads.