Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
A former member of the 7th National Assembly, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, has narrated how he made efforts to curb insecurity in the country while he was in the House of Representatives.
Daramola also opened up on his crusade for a united Africa and war against xenophobic attacks amongst Africans entitled: “End to Black on Black Violence.” Excerpts:
While in the House, you moved a motion as a result of the state of insecurity in the country. Taking a look at the country years after, are you satisfied with the current situation?
I think we could have done a lot better. If we had worked by the precepts of the motion that I moved at that time, which was conceptual, we would have been able to abate the rising trend as at that time. We probably wouldn’t have gone down with this level of casualty, that is number one. Number two, we would have been able to save a whole lot of money from spending on prosecuting the issue of insurrection, the insecurity and all of that. So, am I happy? Maybe not, granted the fact that a sizable chunk of our budget that should go into capital development, has gone into prosecuting a quasi-war against insurgents and insecurity and all of that. Not only that, the cost of prosecuting that in terms human beings, the soldiers, the police, the Civil Defence and all of that. So, it costs us a whole lot. But if we had work by those precepts of that motion at that time, most likely, we would have done better. We would have saved cost in terms of human resources and all of that. And most likely, the country would have been more united because politicians have also taken advantage of the insecurity to also divide us a little bit more to the extent that today, Nigeria is being labelled as one of the most insecure nations on the planet. But I reckon also that President Buhari and his administration, even his predecessor, practically did what they could at that point in time, but I feel that we would have been able to do a little bit more.
But what happened to the motion?
That was the first motion in the 7th Assembly. That was the very first motion. So, coming from somebody who just came into the parliament…it was the very first motion, the very first day that Speaker Tambuwal, now Governor Tambuwal sat to preside over the parliament. That was the very first motion that was moved and it was coming from a rookie parliamentarian and yeah, I have not been in the parliament before, so everybody was looking, waoh, this guy is belling the cat.
So, would you say the motion was killed out of jealousy?
No, no, no. What really happened was that people felt it was such a touchy issue at that time. When I moved it, Speaker Tambuwal just said no, no, we can’t take this in open session; we should go into executive session. So, we went into executive session and they tried to prevail on me that Bimbo, please (Hon. Daramola at that time). Please, withdraw this motion, please withdraw this motion, it is very sensitive and all of that. And I said well, I will not withdraw this motion, but I can stand it down.
And you were in the opposition…?
Yeah, I was in the opposition. But it didn’t matter. The country had to be fixed at all costs because insecurity does not recognise tribe.
And you still maintain that the motion would have gone a long way to curb the spate of insecurity at that time?
Oh yes! Because as a result of 9/11, Americans decided to investigate and interrogate the security architecture of the United States and that one led to the Department of Homeland Security. If you travel through the United States today, you will discover that the way you are checked today is a lot different from the way you were checked 20 years ago.
And thereafter, Tambuwal moved to your party…
Oh yes! Tambuwal moved to the party.
Why didn’t you move the motion again?
No, no, no. The attempt to get me to withdraw that motion was not partisan. It was just because Speaker Tambuwal and a lot of people were not comfortable with the fact that I was bringing such a sensitive motion at that time. In fact, one of the members rose up and said: How do we know that there are no Boko Haram right inside the chamber? So, for the fear of the unknown that we may be harbouring people who are also sold to the philosophy of Boko Haramism, they wanted to play safe and said ah, no, no, no; let us not talk about it. So, when we reverted back to plenary, Speaker Tambuwal reported what we talked about at the executive session and said well, at the executive session, we discussed about the matter of insecurity and all of that and Hon. Daramola is now invited to speak. So, I stood up and I said well, the chroniclers of history are here. I will stand this motion down, but I want history to record me that I moved this motion and I said these words: “If the branches of the Iroko tree are not pruned and cut to size in good time, when that Iroko tree acquires its fullest stature, it will demand obeisance and libation from you.” And we are paying for that libation and obeisance till today.
You were also reported at that time to have said that the government was treating the situation with kid gloves. How did you arrive at that?
Well, again maybe I believe we would have been able to do a little bit more because, again, insecurity is a rage and that was one of the reasons that has led me to anti-black on black violence, xenophobia thing today. Listen, it is a seed. Once it is planted, the guys who are watering it, the situational analysis may allow that to fester. Once it grows, you can never halt the trend or the trajectory any more. So, mine was just a call to duty to say guys, let’s keep our eyes on this; let’s be conscious of the dimensions and the extent that this can go and if we don’t do it, I am too sure the consequences will be so much that all of us will be grappling with it. And one thing about evil is that once evil has a head start, you will chase it and chase it and chase it and you may never be able to catch up with it.
While in the House, you also moved a motion on the need to forensically review every aspect of Nigeria’s relationship with South Africa, particularly the economic interest. Looking at recent xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, do you think the Federal Government should sustain diplomatic ties with South Africa?
Well, this again falls within the ambits of what I said before. My first reaction would have been ‘I don’t care’ because there are estimated 200 million people in this country. So, I could as well be one of them to say I don’t care; what is my business with all of this? The truth of the matter is that if we are not careful, we have a situation that will blow out of control. And once it gets out of control, it will be very difficult to nip in the bud. That is number one. Number two, we also have a situation that we must also reflect on our historical experiences as Africans. All of a sudden, everybody is talking about economy, everybody is talking about enterprise, and everybody is talking about development opportunities. Can any of those be realised in an atmosphere where there is hostility?
Are you leading a crusade in that regard?
That is what I am doing and this crusade is to be a continental agenda. It is difficult, it is tough, but I want to give all glory and adoration to God for my resilience and vision.