Elder statesman, and political leader Chief Nduese Essien hails from Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom State.
The one -time member of the House of Representatives, and a former Minister of lands, Housing and Urban development, recently, interacted with journalists in his hometown as part of activities marking his 80th birthday anniversary.
Fielding questions from newsmen, he expressed concern over the endemic corruption and bad governance that have plagued Nigeria for too long. He also revealed why he is quitting partisan politics, and advocating Government of National Unity. Excerpts:
As a former member of the House of Representatives, what do you say about the executive, judiciary and the national Assembly?
The National Assembly on its part since 1999 has done well. The lawmakers have passed the necessary laws that should make Nigeria a good country, but those in the executive, the Judiciary, and even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have not played their parts well.
And virtually everything is done in a haphazard manner, without reference to rules and regulations, to the extent that the executive would always want to accumulate more money to out-spend the opposition so as to win the next election. It is excess corruption.
You have seen it demonstrated from one regime to the other. One regime comes in, does the corruption a little, the next one come in, takes it to a higher level, to the point that now corruption is no longer a crime. If you steal too much and you are almost caught, you can repent by joining the other side.
So I do not find any fault in the National Assembly. Members of the National Assembly have passed the Laws that they are supposed to pass, they cannot come and execute the laws. Let those executing also play their part.
When you said you don’t find any fault in the National Assembly, are you trying to exempt the federal Lawmakers from corruption?
I said in terms of lawmaking , they have played their part well. However , that doesn’t preclude them from following up using their oversight function to stop some of these maladies. Unfortunately, they, too , are Nigerians and are also susceptible to some of these wrongdoings.
Otherwise, during the oversight functions, they should have been able to discover some of the atrocities being committed by the executive, the civil servants and even the judiciary, because the oversight functions are supposed to be used as a means of monitoring. In that respect, the lawmakers are also culpable.
During your tenure ,you were Chairman, House Committee on Anti-Corruption, what was done to tackle corruption in Nigeria at that time?
Yes, in 2003, during my second term in the House of Representatives, I was selected as the Chairman of the House Committee on Anti-Corruption. At that time, we had a very vibrant Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Chairman of the ICPC was also made to work harder than he did between 1999 and 2003. So, within that period we were able to reduce corruption considerably.
That really showed that because of the persons leading the anti-corruption crusade, we were able to record achievement. Let me say it here that Nuhu Ribadu was an exceptional leader of the anti-corruption commission. In fact, he was world renowned, he was going to various countries and giving lectures and other countries were inviting him to come and tell them how he was able to move the level of corruption to that level then.
So, it is just a question of who is in charge. When you have someone that’s going to protect self interest, then the Commission cannot function. You saw what happened during the Buhari regime. Then, the ICPC was virtually dormant. People were just stealing government money anyhow. So it is a matter of having the right people to head those Commissions, and we would have significant improvement in the system.
You said after President Tinubu’s first tenure in office, a Government of National Unity should be constituted to chart a new course for Nigeria. Are you in anyway saying Tinubu should not run for a second term?
You have seen that we are in a precarious situation in this country. We have reached a point that corruption cannot be stopped by any government that emerged through the electoral process; it cannot. Tinubu came and we thought that he was going to do better. The level of theft now has almost surpassed what the Buhari’s administration did.
So, you see that certainly there has to be a break. We must call a halt to this situation and that halt requires the constitution of a Government of National Unity. If you have a Government of National Unity , that government should be able to address these situations and restore the country.
Do not expect me to say what you are expecting me to say. If you are expecting me to say that the military should take over , I will not go there, because, the military regime is not even better. Actually what is required is a selfless leader with a determination to address the menace of corruption in the country the way Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore tackled it. True leadership is not about wielding power, it is about serving the people with humility, honesty, and compassion.
So, who will be the people to constitute this Government of National Unity that you are advocating for?
It is always a problem, but what happened in most countries that have had Government of National Unity (GNU) is that the former presidents, the leaders of parties, and other persons of substance came together and nominated those that would get into the government of national unity. It’s like when former President Jonathan selected people for the National conference, we were able to come out with solutions, that if those solutions were implemented , there would have been some level of improvement in this country.
In that way , the Government of National Unity can also emerge. So it is a question of people criticising this government of national unity initially, but they will eventually come to accept that it’s okay, and say let’s go ahead with that.
But don’t you think those nominated or selected could even become the worst leaders?
Government of National Unity presumes that the people who are going to do the nomination- former presidents, former leaders of political parties, spiritual leaders and trade union leaders will ensure the process is above board.
Those leaders are supposed to be more mature, experienced and responsible to nominate people of integrity.
That is what I intend to do because one thing is that I have overstayed my own tenure in politics. I have been Chairman of Eket Senatorial district Forum for ten years, and that is long enough; that is why as the governor said, I had wanted to retire before the last elections but he pleaded with me to stay on.
Recently , the Federal High Court ordered the Federal Government to impose prices on some goods and petroleum products. Do you think that will address high cost of goods in the country today?
I don’t think that is a solution at all. The concept of supply and demand is what determines prices. Court orders don’t determine prices. If the government directs that things should be sold at a particular price and those goods are not available, definitely, the price will go up. So what should be done is to increase production of those goods and services so that there’s no rush for them. Whenever there is a rush for goods, the prices are bound to go up.
How do you see the decision of current South South governors to work together under the BRACED commission?
The BRACED Commission emerged from a meeting of the governors of the South South along with the members of the National Assembly in Calabar which was presided over by then governor, Donald Duke.
It was proposed that the South South states should have a Commission that would plan for the joint development of the states because there are some services and infrastructure in the South South zone that need to be developed jointly by the states.
Then, that proposal was welcomed, but after 2008, the South South governors’ meetings were no longer holding, and the governors were not working together anymore like the governors of 1999 to 2007. So, the idea of the BRACED Commission disappeared. It has just come up , few months ago, at a meeting of this current governors held in Edo State because the governors now are amenable to each other; they are prepared to work together. So if that’s the case, we should encourage that the BRACED Commission should become again functional so that we can address some of our issues.
Like the “Ibom Air” should have been an arrangement between the South South states. If that was done, we would have been having flights running through the South South states and more resources would have been ploughed into the running of Ibom Air. We all know that Airline business is not a cheap one. So that is the essence of having BRACED Commission and we hope that now that they have started it again, they would sustain it and use it to move the South South forward.
As a former National Lawmaker, Minister, and now a leader of thought, I am compelled to reflect on the pivotal role we played during my tenure in the House of Representatives. Serving as the representative of Eket federal constituency, my colleagues and I dedicated ourselves to the service of our nation and the Niger Delta region which has long been the backbone of Nigeria’s economic prosperity. We recognized that while we worked to uphold the unity of our nation, we could not forget the pressing issues facing our constituents back home. It was this recognition that led us to form the South-South Parliamentary caucus – a bastion of advocacy, unity, and progress within the National Assembly.
During those days, the South South Parliamentary Caucus stood as a beacon of hope and progress. We were vocal, visible and united, advocating tirelessly for the development of our region and the betterment of the people. Our influence extended beyond our immediate constituencies. When we spoke, the nation listened and our actions reverberated throughout the country. Together with our counterparts in the Senate, we achieved remarkable feats, including quelling the tide of militancy that once threatened to engulf our region in chaos.
Do you think the South South states, including Akwa Ibom, have done enough to address the issue where mostly non- indigenes of oil producing areas occupy top positions in the oil industries?
The issue of occupying top positions in the oil industry is something that has been troubling the people of the core communities in Akwa Ibom. I remember that as far back as 1970, we started fighting Mobil over our position in the oil industry. There was a stage when there was nobody from Akwa Ibom in the top management of Mobil, what they called, “The leadership Council”; we didn’t have anybody.
But we had Akwa Ibom people in Elf serving in the top management, we had Akwa Ibom people in Chevron serving in the top management; we had Akwa Ibom people in other oil companies but in Mobil we were said not to have anybody qualified to be in the top management. It was when the members of the National Assembly from Akwa Ibom met with the Managing Director of Mobil, ( fortunately at that time Exxon had taken over Mobil), so ExxonMobil then looked into it and was able to grant us two people to be appointed into the Leadership Council of Mobil.
That was when Udom Inoyo and Gloria Essien got appointed. That’s at our own state level. But overall, our people from the oil producing areas are not there because of this arrangement where the oil blocs were handed over to the non indigenes of the the oil producing areas of this country. The non indigenes had to employ their own sons and daughters and relations to run their business for them.
So, from that background, they were able to build up more and more people from outside the oil producing areas. It is completely wrong to take over one’s property and administer it without the involvement of the owner. So that is what I am saying should come to an end. Let the people of the oil producing areas also be involved in the process of exploiting their resources so that they can equally train their people and be able to move to the top hierarchy.
So how do you feel at 80?
At 80, I have joined the group of 15 percent of Nigerians on the other side. And on that side, we are staying atop of other people. So, we have seen things more, experienced things more and are in a better situation to give correct advice. That is the way I feel.
On the state of Health facilities
I must address the alarming state of our secondary health care facilities. During my recent visit to hospitals within my senatorial district (Akwa Ibom South) , I was appalled at the lack of confidence our people have in the public healthcare system. Despite the efforts of past administration, including the refurbishment and equipping of hospitals by former Governor Udom Emmanuel, many facilities are still to meet the needs of our citizens with some of the equipment already missing.
However, the poor health care system is not peculiar to Akwa Ibom, but a matter of national emergency. So, I call on both Federal and State governments to intervene urgently.