HOW POLICIES TO PREVENT COUP CRIPPLED MILITARY, AIDED BOKO
HARAM - HON REYENIEJU
*SAYS PDP STILL BIGGEST PARTY IN AFRICA
Hon
Daniel Reyenieju is a 3rd term member of the House of Representatives
representing Warri Federal Constituency. In this interview, Reyenieju, who was a member of various
committees, including Navy, Airforce and Petroleum (Upstream), in the
6th and 7th assemblies, explained how past administrations' policy to
cripple the Armed Forces in order to discourage coup plots hampered the
Boko Haram fight, why the PDP lost the election and the PIB, among other
issues.
EXCERPTS:
Your Party, the PDP has gone from the ruling party to being the opposition...
Interestingly,
we are in the minority, yet we remain the biggest party in Africa,
irrespective of being the minority party. Yes, being the minority is not
a negative point to democracy; it is part of the evolution of
democracy. Our party was in government for the past 16 years and we have
done creditably well to the best of our ability. It is subject to other
peoples' view about it, but for me, as a PDP member, who has
represented the party for the past eight years, I wouldn't say we have
done too badly. Yes, in some areas we weren't able to meet up the
expectations of Nigerians, but you must not forget that we had some
challenges after the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Beginning with the president who with thought would be there for up to
eight years, but unfortunately we lost him and Goodluck Jonathan took
over from him, who did about six years.
There
were so many challenges: of infrastructure , dwindling oil prices,
governance and most challenging one was the Boko Haram insurgence. It
was something we had never experienced before. We had various domestic
challenges - kidnapping, robbery and others, but international terrorism
was not something we were used to. It was difficult for us to combat it
and I think that was the sour point of our regime. Unfortunately we
couldn't combat it with a credible approach. We tried our best towards
the tail end of the administration and do not forget that the elections
were shifted for about six weeks to enable us tackle Boko Haram. Whether
we like it or not, I think that was a turning point in the history of
the fight against the insurgence because within the six weeks we were
able to deplete the flanks of the insurgents.
That
also goes to show that at some point our military was ill-motivated and
the equipment were not there to fight because within that six weeks a
lot of things happened; funds were taken out of the country, huge cash,
to directly procure arms and ammunition from the international market
for the military. When it started arriving was when we started making
some substantial inroad in the fight and this was something we couldn't
fight in five years.
--(cut
in) A section of the country and the international community wondered
why it took that long for the PDP-led FG to take the fight seriously,
particularly on the eve of the elections?
Firstly,
there was that desperation to get vote for PDP, that was key. Also, the
insurgency was becoming something very unbearable and we needed to do
something to manage them from that point on. Thirdly, I would say that
the inability of our country to manage the Boko Haram as at when it
started and when it began to grow up was the fact that our military was
depleted by successive governments in the past. There was this sense of
getting down the military so that they don't become too powerful to plan
coup and take over government. It became an issue which later costs us
dearly.
The
military was actually down; all we had as military men were just men in
uniforms without arms as Girls Guide and Boys Brigades.
People
might not know this, but we (lawmakers) knew it because we interact
with them. As a member of the House Committee on the Navy and the
Air-force, we interact with them and they used to tell us in closed door
meetings that the military was ill-equipped. At that point it was too
sensitive to bring to the public because it had many negative dimensions
to it. We are a country, a sovereign nation for that matter, if we
start to expose our military as ill-equipped then we are at risk of
being attacked at some points by our neighbors. So we kept quiet and
hope that we would be able to manage it. So, while we had it that bad
was a result of very many factors.
Even
before the death of Gen Abacha, successive military government tried to
cripple the military to make them unable to plan coup and take over
government. That turned out to be a very sour point in our the history
of our military.
But today, I think we are doing well, a lot of arms have been procured and we still need more to be able to combat this menace.
I
think we (PDP) were also desperate as a party and it became an issue
because people were saying if we have a government that cannot provide
security, secure lives and property then of what use is that government.
We knew were having challenges with the electorates so we decided to
come out very frontally and we did our best.
To what extent would you say the embarrassing situation of Boko Haram contributed to your party's electoral defeat?
I
will take it front the political point; don't forget that the North -
Northwest, East and Central formed more than 60percent of the aggregated
vote of the entire country. I can tell you that for sure. I will give
you an example, if you take the votes from Kano State, you have nearly
five million votes, juxtapose it with the votes of the entire
South-south, which is about six million, you will find out that you have
one state taking care of an entire region. It is like that even in the
Southeast, take Katsina that could have 2.4 - 2.6million votes and that
is almost half of the entire votes from the Southeast region. So, that
area (North) was political key in terms of voters' strength in the
country. Now, don't forget that it was that same area that was being
ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency. People (there) were becoming very
tired and it was obvious that it was going to be a problem for us.
People were not happy because their loved ones were being killed and
their towns being devastated, their economies of those areas were
completely down and they (FG under PDP) could not do much and ultimately
it was an issue, an electoral issue, which any right-thinking political
party would see as dangerous to its success..
Okay,
away from your party's electoral loss, do you think the leaders of your
party as it is now is capable of providing strong opposition to the
APC?
It
is subjective, but I think we are doing well, considering that we have
never been in opposition before. Now that we are there, it is nothing
new because we saw people doing it and we knew what they were doing. If
they were doing it negatively, I think what we need to do is be
constructive; constructive criticism of the governing party, because Mr
President said he doesn't want his party to be seen as a ruling party.
We are going to give robust and constructive engagement - we are not
going to be opposing, we are going to be engaging the government on
issues. We are all Nigerians, whether you like it or not, elections have
come and gone. Opposition, ruling or whatever party are all
nomenclatures because what affects an APC man as a Nigerian is what
affects me as a PDP member. So, we should be looking as one Nigeria
people to be able to frontally confront the challenges. Our experiences
are common; if there are no roads, power, good healthcare, it is not
just for PDP members, it is same for APC or apolitical Nigerians. At
some points our fears will also be the fears of the governing party. So,
there is nothing that we should be fighting and killing ourselves for
on daily basis.
We
must at some points continue to prick the consciousness of the ruling
party so that they do not derail because we have been there before and
we know the challenges and that is why they must consult us in taking
some policy actions. We have been there for 16 years and we know the
problems of this country. What we need now is just engagement and
reminder so that they are not carried away by the victory of an election
that has come and gone. I don't like the idea of saying we are
opposition party; no, that is not it.
Having
resolving the internal crisis that rocked the House at the inception of
the 8th Assembly, what are the issues you think the House should now
make its focus?
Unfortunately,
we started very unfairly to Nigerians. As a member of the House, I use
this opportunity to apologize to Nigerians for that unfortunate
incident; it was too early in the day, it shouldn't have happened in a
house of 360 members. Nigerians were expecting so much from this
Assembly, unfortunately we started with crisis and I think it is better
to have had the crisis when we had it so that we can now settle down to
business.
The
House is always very vibrant, but we want to see this better than the
7th. I can assure you that with the crop of people I have seen in the
House and the leadership we have as at today, we are going to hit the
ground running. The crisis in the House was an issue, which ordinarily, I
would have said was uncalled for, but it is natural to have
disagreement at some point. I am not in the APC and I won't want to
blame them for having such disagreements. I have seen them trying to
pick the bits and pieces and get going; they are trying their best. At
some point, I saw it as an issue that would have been easily resolved by
the APC. I stayed off it because it was my party issue and the only
thing I offered, as a ranking member of the House, is to advise those
interested parties within the APC to give them some level of guidance
based on our experience as a ruling party in the past. We, PDP, at some
point also had same challenge.
In
terms of our legislative duties, last week we rounded off debates on
our legislative agenda as put forward by the Honourable Speaker of the
House, whom I must say is a very stable character. I have known him for
the past eight years and I know he is of impeccable character. He is
capable and able of delivering the House at the end of the session. We
debated on the legislative agenda, which is the cardinal points of
activities for the next four years and it was unanimously adopted by the
House and we are set to get running.
What
we need to do as Nigerians, because we have a new government in place,
is to support, as members of the House, the executive to be able to
discharge its responsibilities in terms of making good laws for the
governance of the country, security and protection of lives and
property, food security and power. These are critical areas which we
need to focus on.
In
saying that, I would want to say that there is over-stigmatization of
Nigerians, everyone is being seen as corrupt. People are being pushed
out of government on a daily basis and we just say they are corrupt. I
don't want to say that all Nigerians are corrupt. Not all Nigerians are
corrupt and most of these Nigerians being kicked out of offices are
entitled to jobs.
The
drive, which is one of the key points of this administration is
anti-corruption. The president has no tolerance for corruption and we
would support him with good laws and strengthen those in existence to
support the executive in this drive.
Unfortunately
for us, economically, oil prices are tumbling on daily basis. As at the
last time, it was about $49 and that is exceeding very low. So, it is
good that the President has come out to talk about diversification of
our economy. It has been a mono-economy that depends about 90percent on
oil. That is risky for our nation and when the president said we need to
go back to the land and cultivate it, to see how we can use agriculture
to sustain the economy, I was very happy. We would be ready to give him
all the support he needs to achieve this.
The
oil sector has not done too well a couple of years back and it is
something Nigerians need to review and that is why we are ready to
support Mr President in that regard by passing good laws to enable him
carry on with his reform agenda in the oil and gas sector. I sympathize
with him about the time he is taking over the rein of governance when
our economy is not so rosy, we are facing challenges and the funds are
not there. All we need to do as an arm of government that makes laws
and monitors them in terms of oversight, we will do our very best to see
that he gets the maximum support from us. This is the rebirth of our
nation and taking over from one government.
Nevertheless,
I want him to know that the days are not waiting for us; the minutes
are counting into hours, into days and months. Eventually, the years
will start counting and the four years that we think are enough may not
be enough if we do not start early enough. I am saying this because I
listened to APC National Leader, Asiwaju (Bola) Tinubu, recently and he
said that the president is on honeymoon with Nigerians. I think that
honeymoon needs to be cut short and I need to tell the president that he
needs to sacrifice his honeymoon for the sake of this nation. The
nation is need of action.
What is the state of the Petroleum Industry Bill? Do you think it will ever see the light of day?
I
apologize to Nigerians once more on the PIB, which has been in the
parliament for almost 16 years of the PDP. The PIB had always been in
the front burner. I was opportuned to be a member of the Petroleum
Committee (Upstream) in 2007-2011 and I was a member of the committee
that was set up to look into the bill. We worked very seriously and we
got to a point where we started considering it on clause by clause
basis. Unfortunately, it was aborted because our time ran out. Then in
the next assembly, I was also a member of the Petroleum Committee from
2011 to 2015. We did creditably well; we did anything that needed to be
done. I was the only returning member of the committee to handle the PIB
so I was in the driving seat. We did a lot; all consideration of the
bill and harmonized all considerations and came out with the report and
it was presented to the House. Sadly again, we started and finished the
consideration almost on the day the House was winding down, which was
about the same thing that happened in the 6th Assembly. Although in that
assembly we couldn't conclude the clause by clause consideration, but
in the 7th we actually did complete it, but almost the same day we were
winding down the House. It became like it was jinxed.
The
issue is that the bill needs to concur with the progress in the Senate,
but the Senate couldn't get to the extent which we got to. The PIB was
passed by the House (7th Assembly) now we have to wait for the Senate to
conclude because we definitely have two different versions and we have
to come back again to gavel-to-gavel table where we need to harmonize
the two positions. After harmonization, it doesn't take anything more
again, we merely need to adopt and it goes and become law.
However,
because we have a new government in place, we may have the government
of the day coming up with some input, fresh ideas, which 'may' affect
us. But I think it is one issue we need to take up. I promise I will be
one of those that will bring it up as soon as possible.
How has the non-passage of the PIB affected the oil bearing communities and the oil sector?
I
will take that of the communities first. The bill is for the entire
country; it is to reform and allow our oil companies to run in line with
best practices all over the world. It is not an oil producing
environment bill; this is where we get it wrong and this is where the
wrong perception that the bill is fashioned towards supporting the oil
producing states or region. A law made by the National Assembly is never
sectional. Don't forget that oil could also be found in the north or
any other part of the country today and the bill covers it; if it goes
to the Southwest, Southeast or any other part, it is the same thing. So,
the laws are not for the South-south or the oil producing communities;
it is not for the Warri Federal Constituency because they have oil, it
is a law that is meant to govern in the acceptable best practices all
over the world. I don't want people to see it as a law that is made for
particular section of the country because that is where we sometimes
have challenges with our brothers and members from other parts of the
country.
In
terms of how the bill would have helped the oil producing communities: I
have looked at the bill, apart from the aspect of the environmental
issues and host communities fund, there is nothing fantastically to the
benefit of the oil producing communities and states. Unfortunately for
us too, the host communities fund aspect of it, which was to be a
10percent aftertax profit of the oil producing companies - it is not
coming from the government. That again lost its value in so many ways.
One thing people don't seem to understand to is that the 10percent is
coming from the profit after tax of the multinationals and oil producing
companies. That again lost its value because what was passed was that
all parts of this country are host communities to oil. I find it very
laughable to say that the entire country is host to oil. Yes, in terms
of our federal law, it says all resources etc belongs to the country.
But then do not forget that there is a derivation principle and
definition. If you drill deeply, like they do when drilling for oil,
into the meaning of derivation, you will find out that the entire
country cannot be host communities because there is a point from where
that oil is derived. It is that point and adjoining environment that is
mostly affected by the oil activities. As such, what i suffer as
somebody sitting right now in Warri talking to you in terms of the
adverse effects of oil exploration and exploitation activities, is not
what a northern who is thousands of miles away from Warri would suffer
from the impact of oil exploration. In terms of environmental damages
too, what I suffer here may not be what other somebody in other parts of
the country like South-west or South-east or North would suffer. I
suffer more. What we are going through in Warri as we speak is
something we need to evaluate and take measure to actually put to rest,
if not, this is going to be very dangerous to the generations yet
unborn.
But
that is how it was passed and that is how it is with parliament; we
have a loud minority, but the majority would have their way. The law has
been passed that way and even if it is not right, we said, 'let's not
throwaway the baby and the bathwater.' That is for some of us who are
against the principle of having the entire country as host community. We
cannot say just because of that alone, let us throw away a bill of more
than a thousand clauses. We would come by way of amendments to some
aspects of this bill sometimes in future. That is if it is eventually
passed and if it will ever be passed.
The
PIB, as it seem, is like the controversy generated by the DESOPADEC Law
amendment in your state, especially with regards to the nomenclature
and its definition; whether host communities or host ethnic
nationalities. What do you think about the state's law?
I
am a stakeholder from an ethnic nationality that produces oil and I
will always be ready to speak on any law that has to do with oil in the
state or any other because at the end of my tenure as a federal
lawmaker, I am coming back to Warri and in that sense I am a
stakeholder.
Having
said that, I would say that the fund that is propelling the DESOPADEC
is called the 13percent derivation fund. So, I tell you again, drill
into derivation and you will understand what I am saying. The 13percent
derivation fund is a constitutional issue. It is in the constitution
that 13percent of X amount of money must be made available to the host
communities. Why I say I like people to look into the meaning of
derivation is that the place from where oil is source, the point from
where it is sourced, must be taken care of and it has to be taken care
of by whichever way. I am not saying that the bill is saying No, we
cannot take of it, the bill has been passed, I have not seen the final
copy, so I am not going to be able to make comment. But all I will
continue to say is that the area from which that oil is derived must not
be forgotten. They must be given adequate attention because the area is
being bastardized, the ecosystem is being completed polluted on daily
basis. What I suffer as somebody from Warri is not what somebody from
the upland in some areas suffer. That was why the FG was magnanimous to
say 'You can have 13percent', although we are saying it is not enough,
but if it comes to the state we should be able to be magnanimous enough
to reconsider those areas that produce the oil. The emission that I
suffer, environment damages to health and property as someone living in
Warri, is not what somebody in say Okpella suffers; it is quite
different. So, we should look at those areas; it is not just the money.
What people are looking at is the money, but they are not looking at
the existence and adverse effects suffered by those people closer to
these exploration and exploitation activities and it is so sad.
The
bill, to quote the governor, is to make DESOPADEC become a more robust
and effective in terms of operation than as it used to be. Let us see
how that works out. The NDDC, which it is being modeled after, is
another issue. I would say that at every given point, that we think
about the policies of oil production, we must think about the definition
of derivation and how oil production affects the people closest to its
source.
How
do you think these various intervention agencies (DESOPADEC, NDDC and
others) can have more impact in the lives of the people for which they
are set up?
The
people have to demand for adequate attention by way of agitation. This
does not mean that they have to be violent or a call to take up arms.
Agitations are in various forms: There is the peaceful violence,
intellectual approach to agitation and finally, the violence, which I
will not subscribe to, because I don't want lives lost, I prefer the
other two.
What
you should know is that a northerner is not on the management board of
NDDC; they are all people from the Niger Delta, who know what the issues
are with these areas. They must have lived here and people that lived
here before their appointments as members of the management team. So,
they know. The people should demand their rights from these people.
I
want to take you to an NDDC project, which you facilitated in your
state - the Koko-Ogheye road project. - what is the state of the
project?
The
road construction is ongoing. It might be slow, but work is going on
there. As we speak, we have accomplished about 6km and we are getting
close to the first critical aspect of the job, which is the bridge over
the Ologbo River. There is progress towards sand filling to the river.
By the time we get to the other side, I think we would have completed
close to 15km to the Ologbo Bridge. The bridge is a very massive one,
which is the next most critical stage of the bridge. There is something I
would say and I have suggested it to people; the road should be divided
into sections as it is with the East-West highway for quicker
accomplishment. It should be for two or three construction companies:
one at the beginning, another at the middle and finally one working from
the Ogheye end of the project. That would have gone a long way to
expedite action on the road. But because we have one contractor and
issues of funding is also a major problem; funds are not readily
available to all the mega projects around the Niger Delta. Irrespective
of these challenges, the project is ongoing, although as I said before,
maybe not so satisfied with the pace.
That
road is one of my dreams and I often asked myself if I have to leave
office without the completion of more than 50percent of that project. I
ask myself: Would somebody who is taking over from me have the same
passion for it as I have? That road is very important and I will tell
you why. I have looked at developmental strategies in terms of
infrastructure, housing. roads, lights and others and I chose road as
one of the most important and primary fundamental process to
development. Why do I say this? It may be difficult for an ordinary man
to put a motorable road into the thick of the forest, but once that road
is built, people would start moving in there and they would build their
own houses. That is what you are seeing in the Koko-Ogheye road, for
the first 6km that we have accomplished, go to the entire area it is
been bought up; people are building, tank farms are springing up and
they are growing on a daily basis. That is just within two years and the
place is opened up completely.
I
want to use this is a forum to advise our governors that what you need
to do for the people is to give them infrastructure in some of these
areas. What are these infrastructure? A few of them - road with good
drainages, light etc - and you will see the people moving in with their
funds to build. There are some instances where I don't think the FG
should be engaged in some of these other ventures like building of
houses and others. The people want to build their houses to their tastes
but give them the necessary facilities for the people to move in. You
can take the Ifie road (in Warri) for example, before the construction
of Trans-Warri road, it was a one-street village, but today the whole
area has become an urban city because of that single road that crosses
to the river, it has opened up the entire Ifie. That is the same thing
that the Koko-Ogheye road will do to both the Ijaws and Itsekiris on
that road because in-between, there are Ijaw and Itsekiri communities -
you have Ijaw villages from where you cross into Itsekiri villages and
so on until it ends in an Itsekiri village. So, although it starts from
an Itsekiri town (Koko) and ends in an Itsekiri village (Ogheye) you
have more Ijaw communities in-between with the likes of Ogbudugbudu,
Tsekelewu, Opuama and other major Ijaw communities in Egbema Kingdom in
the Warri North and that is the beauty and importance of that road. It
is a road that will open up the entire area. If you take a drive through
the road, you will find out that from the left down to the 6km even
beyond that has being bought. Even ahead, developers are buying in
anticipation of the road's completion.
The
economy of the area is now shifting focus to Koko because of that road
because there are a lots of potentials in the river ways and people
don't seem to know. For instance, it is easier to get to Escravos from
Koko, so people are moving now and getting ready for the boom. If you go
there and look for a piece of 100x50 land along the first 6km, you
won't get it. That is why I am worried about that road project; would
the person who takes over from me have the same spirit and zeal for it?
You sound like you don't expect the road to be completed before the expiration of your tenure in 2019?
I
doubt it would be completed, but that won't stop me from pushing and
hoping. Whatever it is, I hope whoever takes over has the same passion
and drive to push it through because of how much it means to the people
in this area.
END
Mr John Aruoture, a lawyer and
blogger, opined that corruption is at the root of the dreadful state of roads
in the Warri and environs. According to him, “If not for corruption, many
streets and roads in Warri budgeted for construction would have been completed
by either the state government or NDDC.”
