- Urges Buhari To Belong To Everybody
- Says No Progress Without True Federalism
- Charges Legislators On National Confab Decisions
- Vote Youthfull Firebrands In 2019
Dr. Frederick Fasehun was born on the 21st of September, 1935, in Ondo State. He studied science at Blackburn College and furthered his education at Aberdeen University College of Medicine. He also studied at the Liverpool Postgraduate School after which he had a Fellowship at the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1976, he studied acupuncture in China under a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Development Scholarship Programme. In 1977, he set up an Acupuncture Unit at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). He resigned in 1978 and immediately set up the Besthope Hospital and Acupuncture Centre in Lagos. The Acupuncture Centre once earned a reputation as Africa’s first for the Chinese medical practice. Fasehun first embraced politics when he helped found the defunct Nigeria Labour Party and became its pioneer Chairman in 1989. In 1990, he joined the Social Democratic Party, SDP, where he became a Presidential aspirant. However, due to what he perceived as the unhealthy monetising of the presidential race, Fasehun opted out of the contest. After Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola won the June 12 presidential polls on the platform of the SDP, Fasehun formed the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, in 1994, and combined forces with other pro-democrats to found the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), an umbrella platform for the struggle for the actualization of June 12. Fasehun had founded OPC in answer to the military’s annulling of the presidential election of June 12, 1993, won by Bashorun M.K.O. Abiola, and adjudged Nigeria’s freest and fairest ever, by even the usually skeptical international community. At its zenith, Fasehun’s OPC registered a membership estimated at 6 million-strong, a testimonial to his amazing organisational skills. He severally paid the price for the entrenchment and survival of Nigeria’s democracy. Imprisoned for 19 months (from December 1996 to June 1998) during the military rule of General Sani Abacha, Fasehun passed through the infamous Inter-Centre, a detention facility located in the heart of the Ikoyi Cemetery in Lagos. A smattering of politically-influenced detentions have also seen him kissing the bars of notorious detention facilities and prisons like Alagbon Police Command in Lagos, Kirikiri Prisons in Lagos, Kuje Prisons in Abuja, Abuja Police Headquarters and others. Undaunted by these travails, he remains the Chairman of the Coalition of Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria,CENN and the Grand Patron of the Democratic Alliance for Youths, DAY. In March 2013, Fasehun began to lead the group of patriotic Nigerians dedicated to the resuscitation of the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, not only as an alternative political vehicle, but a time-tested vehicle, capable of driving the development that Nigeria so badly needs. Today, in the legendary footsteps of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the greatest Yoruba leader in contemporary history, Fasehun reigns as the Chairman of UPN. In this interview with theEditor of The New Diplomat, YEMI OGUNSOLA, Dr Fasehun spoke on an array of subjects ranging from the performance of President Muhammadu Buhari, the state of the nation, federalism, self-determination, ways out of the myriad of problems facing the country and what Nigerians must do come 2019. Excerpts.
| What is your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance after two years in power? |
Very, very, poor. All indications show that he’s not only partisan, but also tribalistic. He pursues a northernisation policy. The country belongs to all of us. He promised to be fair to all, we expected that to happen. Unfortunately, he is not doing that. I just came back from South Africa, that country is a million times better than Nigeria in all respects –politically, economically, socially. Life is pleasurable, safe and secure. And the beauty …. Embarrasses Nigeria. We should stop claiming to have midwifed their democracy. In Nigeria People from other parts of the country are afraid.
On the President’s skewed appointments for instance, he said he appointed those he trusted and on merit. How do you react to that?
Yes, he appointed those he trusted. But not on merit. That is why nothing is moving in the country. If he had appointed on merit the county wouldn’t have been in this situation. Are there no trustworthy people in the South? He does not trust anybody outside the North. Did we not all trust him and vote for him? He should return that trust.
Some say it’s that agenda that kept him quiet for over ten months while killer Fulani herdsmen were slaughtering Nigerians. Do you think so too?
He should explain to Nigerians those arming and training Fulani toddlers in the bush to use AK47 rifles. It is his responsibility. If there is breakdown of law and order, the president should come out to explain to Nigerians. That’s why many sections of the country are holding separate meeting on roadmap to self-determination. That shouldn’t be so. We should be holding national meetings. Donald Trump’s campaign was full of “Our country”. No hint of ethnicity. Buhari does not seem to be meeting that expectation. But he still has at least two years to correct that tendency.
But let’s be fair to northerners; they want Nigeria to stay together. All Nigerians dance to all Nigerian music irrespective of tribe. I expect Buhari to dance to all Nigerian music. He should be a president with a county-wide love.
Many cite the 1960 declaration by the then Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, that Nigeria “should be an estate of our great grandfather Uthman dan Fodio. We should ruthlessly prevent a change of power, use northern minorities as willing tools and the South as conquered territory…” as an agenda still being pursued today. They also cite Chief M.K.O’s murder. Are some northerners committed to this agenda?
The ideal Nigerian should not be subordinate to our sad, sordid past. This is the nuclear age. All countries are striving to move forward. The US and Russia are now embracing after years of mutual suspicion. We have no reason to lag behind.
The President’s wife, Aisha, had raised alarm over a cabal negatively influencing the Buhari government. How do we deal with these hawks so that Nigeria can move forward?
Buhari is the leader of Nigeria. His voice predominates. Nigeria’s presidential system is the most powerful in the world. Buhari should remove those giving him terrible advice, those rocking the Nigerian boat because if the Nigerian boat capsizes, Buhari capsizes too. Partisan or ethnic advisers should be shown the red card. If Nigeria succeeds, we congratulate Buhari, not his advisers. And if Nigeria fails, we blame Buhari, not his advisers. He should remove negative thinkers from his government. He must have something good for Nigeria before he came to power; let him practicalise those things.
Killings by herdsmen are still ongoing in Kaduna. Ten vigilante men were recently shot by suspected herdsmen in Benue. How does Buhari stop these?
Not in Kaduna alone. Killings are happening all over the country. In Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Enugu, Borno. I don’t want to talk only on herdsmen. But there’s general insecurity. Government should pay particular attention to the safety of Nigerians and their property. No Nigerian is safe anywhere. Government should spend more on security. I was recently in South Africa and I felt as if there were more Nigerians there than here in Nigeria. In Port Elizabeth alone, there no fewer than 27 Nigerian medical doctors. Such brain drain! And there is no government policy to address it.
How genuine is the brand of federalism we practise in Nigeria today?
I don’t think we are practising federalism.
Why do you say so?
Federalism is a democratic thing. You can’t have one without the other. We don’t have true democracy.
We don’t have true democracy?
No. See the way judges were treated recently. You don’t treat judges that way. I am not saying judges are above the law. If they err, you refer them to their controlling body, the National Judicial Commission, NJC. In a true democracy, the judiciary is a compartment of government at par with the executive. The head of the NJC should have been invited to Aso Rock if the judges were found culpable. I am not saying the judges were right. But follow due process. Don’t usurp the law of the land. The assault on judges is Presidential recklessness.
Some argue that there existed a situation that demanded drastic measures —
That is no justification for impunity. Impunity causes lawlessness. Lawlessness causes corruption. Some had said before Buhari came that he was going to fight corruption with corruption. How successful has the anti-graft war been?
But the judiciary has been a major obstacle to the anti-graft war with many accused persons unjustly let off the hook by crooked lawyers and judges. And the NJC was there all along
A bad system will always produce bad people. Our corruption is a common disease. Our leaders visit countries like South Africa to enjoy its good government. But they fail to replicate the good governance here at home. Rather, they steal our money from here to build estates and mansions over there. Our legislators are most indicted. In S/Africa, even the president subjects himself to the law of the land. It’s unfair to claim we are practicing democracy when we are practising something different.
Back to our federalism. Is it true federalism?
It is not true. It is false. That’s why there is no peace.
If truly Buhari is a man of integrity, why is he upholding this false federalism by refusing to restructure?
I am not persuaded that he is against true federalism. He promised to reform this country. What he has not said is how he is going to do it. Those who broke the country into many states deepened our ethnic consciousness. They did a stupid thing, I am sorry to say. They introduced ethnicity, unfairness, bad governance, corruption, expensive government.
The creation was done by mainly by Northern military rulers?
Not only Northern rulers
Yes. But mostly Northern rulers
Why break people of the South East for instance with the same language, culture, past etc into different states. It was divide-and- rule tactics. They meant ill for Nigeria.
Still on federalism, that is, a weak centre with each region controlling its resources and giving part to the centre. Why are we not practising it? It is one of the greatest corruption in the country today.
We are not giving Buhari pass mark. And he is not achieving pass mark due to many factors, one of which is the bad practice of false federalism. A federalism has a weak centre with strong states. But in Nigeria it is the reverse: weak states, powerful centre.
According to Prof Itse Sagay, some believe that the false federalism is a deliberate ploy by the North to be in perpetual control of all the nation’s resources. They make the centre strong and then ensure they monopolise that centre. How would you react to that?
Buhari is a very powerful person. Nothing stops him from correcting the bad image created by various groups. It would have been a fantastic system to allow regions to exercise their powers in their domain and go to the centre for only things beyond their power. Those who instituted federalism in the beginning had a good reason. All countries with true federalism have been successful. But see Nigeria: corrupt, undeveloped, ununited etc. Others are going to space, North korea, Pakistan…It is our backwardness that is the major cause of our failed federalism. If federalism is successful in other countries, why not in Nigeria?
Even in India, it is successful. Truly federal systems are making progress.
How would you link this to calls for restructuring?
If you don’t get what you want, you try to like what you get. We are attempting to deceive ourselves that we have a democratic federal system
Many lament that the South West would have developed tremendously by now had it not been for this imposed unitary system
Not the South West alone. In the East, they would have been manufacturing cars; in Benue, they would have advanced in Agriculture. In the South West, they would have been developing agric chemicals. But because we have all been lumped together, we have all been stifled.
Why must we continue to stay together in such stifling, retrogressive “unity”?
How would you do that? There is an existing constitution. And if you raise any voice against it, they call it “treason”
But is false federalism not treason?
This is why Nigerians are agitating for conferences. Our present constitution has been bastardised
There was one during Jonathan’s regime, but Buhari has rejected it and is not planning a new one
We have a legislature. Have the legislators raised a voice against the rejection of the conference? No. They have not called Buhari to order.
But the National Assembly is dominated by northerners
If a group kills a bill coming from a major part of the country, that is enough for self-determination. But which of the legislators has raised it? They are a lazy bunch. They sit for three days and vacate for four days yet collect jumbo salaries and allowances. Even the representatives of the Igbos who are the most aggrieved have not raised it. But don’t blame the North excessively. They are human beings. If your neighbour is claiming the lion share, it is you who should express your objections.
Back to legislators. A large chunk of the nation’s resources go into their pockets. And in the thick of recession, last years they bought new vehicles worth billions. Some say Nigeria is a well-fed dog that remains malnourished because of the legion of internal and external parasites –like legislators
They are the most well paid in the whole world. But an agency of government recommends their salary. But Nigerians should tie their salaries to development in their constituencies. A national agency should go round to assess the developments in their constituencies before every election.
What is your advice for the Nigerian electorate come 2019?
If things continue like this, then Nigerians should vote for youthful firebrands to change things for the better. When you go recycling failures, you can’t succeed. Shun old politicians who know nothing but bad governance and corruption.
A Jerry Rawlings?
Yes. If a Rawlings will do it, let him. I don’t mind. Ghanaians today are disciplined people. Rawlings is not in jail today. Two years ago, Nigerians were cheering Buhari; now they are jeering him…
From cheer to jeer. Too bad.
