Iheanacho Nwosu,Abuja
Senator John Brambaifa from Bayelsa was a key voice in the fifth and sixth senate. He was chairman of the senate Committee on Niger Delta. In this interview he shared his thoughts on issues dominating discourse in the country.
Although he applauded President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war, he insisted that the APC government was yet to deliver on most of its campaign promises. He also spoke on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter to President Buhari and move to create cattle colonies among others.
What is your thought on political happenings in recent times?
If you are particularly making reference to the recent letter that the former President wrote, I have few observations. First of all, if you go back memory lane, you will find that Obasanjo has made himself kingmaker. I remembered vividly that Obasanjo wrote similar letter in 2013 that Goodluck has woefully failed the electorate and he has no place in running this country. Similarly, we are seeing a playback of what he did. If Obasanjo thinks he is a kingmaker, you don’t make a king just now and within just a short period of time, you identify that person as a failure. That shows clearly that you don’t examine your facts properly. That is not good leadership. You don’t come up to say that something is bad and then only to say that it is good again. I don’t think that is good leadership.
On the flip side, is it not also possible to see it as having the courage to admit one’s mistake, and also looking at what is best for the country? Do you have reservations about issues he raised in the letter?
Obasanjo has not said anything new. There have been debates all over this country saying exactly what he has said. Obasanjo is trying to claim the opinion of Nigerians that he is the person that is saying that. Everybody say it and it is nothing new. But my grouse is that as a leader at that level, you should be conscious of the fact that your word is a bond. If you say that this man is an angel and you encourage Nigerians to vote for that man, you should be a little patient. You don’t carry the mantle of leadership to run down that person. It’s wrong. I agree that he is saying the truth and of course whatever he says, everybody has been saying it but he should have been patient with the president.
Are you by this saying that you are in agreement with President Buhari in his recent call on Nigerians to be patient with his government as regards meeting campaign promises?
The patience one is calling on Obasanjo to exercise is not the same with the one that one will attribute to the man who is on the chair. We want to get solutions to our problems. If you are the leader in this country and you cannot provide instant solution, then you are not a good leader. Buhari says he wants to think over issues. There are some cases that require instant solutions and you now say you want to wait until you think it over. For how long? We don’t want such leaders. We want a leader that can make proper consultations and takes instant decisions. Decisions are not always meant to be correct. A leader that takes a decision and finds that the decision he has taken may not solve the problem; can review the matter and look at it again. But to say that when something is wrong, we should wait for one year, two years before you take actions, doesn’t show good leadership.
When you say the government has failed, is it really that there is nothing the government has done right?
I don’t think that we will generalise to say this government has failed. Anybody saying that is not honest. There are certain aspects that you will see that since the government came into power, there have been some improvements. We may not see a total improvement but there is a slight improvement. Take for instance the corruption situation, if you go to the civil service and you want to bribe somebody, he will look back even if he wants to take. Why will he do that? It is because of the way the present government has handled corruption. That does not say that they have handled it absolutely well because for me, if you want to handle corruption, why will Maina’s case be swept under the carpet? If you want to handle corruption properly, why will you not handle the former SGF’s case until now? Why? There have been so many complaints about people who are in APC that are corrupt, but nothing happens to them. Meanwhile, you see a lot of investigations on the opposition that is one sided. That in my opinion is wrong. But generally, there is a feeling that there is a big eagle eye watching everybody and we have to be careful and that is the result of the present administration’s ability to go on with the corruption war.
With that alone, is it not good enough to give the president another chance?
Well, I don’t know about another chance. For me, Nigeria is a complicated country. Nigeria is complicated because of the diverse nature of the people. So, if Nigerians see you as somebody who is nepotistic, who will now favour your own ethic group; If Nigerians see you that you are fighting corruption and it is only one sided, that in my opinion does not qualify you to manage this country. We want somebody who is totally free, who is totally clear in his mind that ‘I don’t care whether you are my son, if you are wrong,’ we will treat you according to the law. That is the kind of person we want. But Buhari has failed this country in that regard because he has not done so.
Are you concerned about the large number of political parties and the description of PDP and APC as not good enough by former President Obasanjo?
Any action based on constitutional provisions of this country is in order. The constitution does not limit INEC from registering parties. The constitution does not limit INEC on when to stop and when to start registering parties. So, it is in line with the provisions of the constitution. But what I don’t understand is the way they are registering the parties. If you follow the constitution and you are registering the parties, it must be done in line with the constitution. But in some cases, we’ve heard that some organisations are refused registration with no sufficient good reason. That is against the provisions of the constitution.
Bayelsa is one the states being lined up to donate land for the cattle colony that the federal government is planning, how do you feel about it?
I don’t think you are getting it right. I don’t think Bayelsa State has granted land for the cattle colony. As far as I’m concerned, what the governor is saying is that the issue of herdsmen rampaging everywhere with their cattle is not in the best interest of the country and if it is possible that they can be restricted to an area, it will save everybody the problem of cattle destroying the farmers’ crops and farmers fighting the herdsmen. That was what he said.
But the governor has already allocated a place for the herdsmen to stay?
This is a debatable point. If somebody wants to come to your place and says he wants an area to do farming and you think it’s a good thing for him to do the farming, won’t you allow the person to do the farming, not necessarily with the bad intention of killing the people? Won’t you allow him? If he talks to you, he begs you, you see him as a responsible farmer, won’t you allow him? You will. But the underlining thing is that if the intention is to come and do otherwise, then it turns out to be a bad thing. A cattle rarer is a farmer and he is free to do his business anywhere as long as he has no other thing in mind. If he comes to you and says ‘I want to have a place so that I can do my farming,’ if you investigate that it’s genuine and he’s going to pay the taxes that he’s supposed to pay, then what is wrong?
What is your fear for this country now as we approach another election?
My fear is that the present government’s attitude towards the herdsmen and farmers’ issue, if not properly handled, will develop into a very serious crisis situation. It will develop into a situation that people will resort to defending themselves and when that happens, it will be unpleasant. I don’t see myself keeping quiet when a group of people disguise as farmers or cattle breeders, only to come to destroy farms, killing people. Nobody will like that. So, if the federal government does not sit up and nip this thing in the bud, it can escalate. People are running out of patience. How do you now stay and somebody comes and kills hundreds of your people and you keep quiet. There is a limit to patience.