02 Sep 2006 |
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Mrs. Jadesola Akande is a professor of
high repute, and the second female Vice-Chancellor of a tertiary institution in
Nigeria. Born on 15th November 1940 in Lagos, she attended University
College, London where she obtained LL.B (Hon.) 1960-1963, and also had her Ph.D.
1969-1971. She was barrister at law at the Inner temple, London between
1960-1964. She married a Legal luminary, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN),
Chief Debo Akande, who passed on last year. Mrs. Akande attended the Nigerian law
school between September – December 1965 and as a staff candidate, she obtained
her Masters (LL-M) at the University of Lagos
1966-1968. She also attended the Centre for Management Studies CMD, Lagos, where
she got a certificate in computer management, 1988. She enrolled at the Harvard
Institute of Management, (IEM) for a certificate in Management in 1989.
Professor Jadesola Akande took a certificate in Gender Training, 1993 from the
Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI), Arusha. It was
therefore little wonder that she went to court to challenge the federal
government of Nigeria over the non-fair representation of women at the
Confab. She was elected a member of the Senate, University of
Lagos, 1979 to 1981, member of the Academic Planning Committee, and also member
of the students’ Welfare Board. She was also a Research Professor at the
Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Lagos campus,
1984-1994. She was the Head of Academic Department of the
Nigerian Institute of Advanced legal studies 1984-1986, and became dean of the
faculty of law, Lagos State University from 1986 –1988. In 1989, she was
appointed the Vice- Chancellor, Lagos State University, LASU, thus becoming the
second woman in Nigeria to serve in that capacity. She occupied this position
until 1993. Akande was the Executive director and founder of a
Non-Governmental Organisation, Women, Law and Development Centre, WOLDEC from
1994 to date, and the Pro-chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council,
Federal University of Technology Akure, from 2000 – 2004. She was also
consultant to the UNDP, UNICEF AU on gender issues and an initiator of a family
Law Centre. Academically, Akande has been very resourceful; she
has contributed numerous publications, monographs, and research papers in
learned journals. Among her numerous works are her LL-M Dissertation, Women’s
Rights in Property in Nigeria, 1968; Human Rights and the Judicial System
in Nigeria, 2004; The Minorities and Challenges to Federalism, 1988; The Role of Judicial Precedent in Constitutional Adjudication in a
Presidential System of Government, 1981; and Juvenile Law Reform in
Africa, delivered at the conference of the Bar Association, 1991 among other
publications. She was a delegate to the United World Conference on
Women, Beijing, China, 1995, member of delegation to the International
conference of Recent Development in Administrative Law In America, Israeli,
1979, World peace through law conferences, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1982 etc. However,
the Oyo born lawyer has not quit learning. She indulged in self- improvement by
going for the International Education Management course at Harvard University
from July-August 1989, the National Workshop on the Effective Chief Executive,
Abuja, 1990; a Word Training Workshop for African Women In Gender and Research
for Development with Women – ESAMI, ARUSHA, 1993, and a Workshop on Building a
Civil Society at the African American Institute, Washington, U.S.A.
1993. Her efforts towards humanity and her academic
excellence earned her among others, a national honour. She was decorated with
the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) 1998. Akande is a distinguished
Alumnus of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, 1988, as well as an Achiever
of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, 1989. She was made the
Yeyemofin of Itire, Lagos State, 1986, and awarded the Justice of Wisdom Award
by the Nigerian Association of Law students, 1972.
THE INTERVIEW Do you think it is possible to identify a particular period in Nigeria’s history when its deterioration commenced, or should we assume that we ‘missed the boat entirely’?We haven’t missed it; what we have missed is
leadership in Nigeria. I say this, because the leaders we’ve had in this country
have been products of the colonial system. The colonial system did not train our
people for leadership positions; rather, they were trained to be next in command
to someone British in the position of authority who then hands down
instructions. Someone else would take a decision, and then ask his Nigerian
subordinate to implement it. So when the colonial masters left governance to
these people who were used to taking orders, they were still waiting for people
to give them guidelines. There was no one, of course, to give them the
guidelines, because they were the leaders on whose desk the buck stopped. And
before anyone could realise this, the country was facing a coup. Some are of the opinion that Nigeria’s
problem is not necessarily that of leadership, but mainly followership;
people are not politically aware, and so those in power have been able to get
away with bad leadership. The followership was unable to monitor what the
leaders were doing, the majority, unfortunately, not being educated enough. So
the basic strategies needed for leadership were not present. The colonials
created a gap between those supposedly being trained to be heirs apparent to
power and others. And those who were followers did not know what to expect of
their leaders. All these years, it’s been a recycling of the same group of
people, so, we will only have a good leader if we remove all those who have been
in office since independence. This was the exact opinion of a market leader we
worked with in recent times, and she’s right. They are the same people who had
this training that was simply not good enough, and unless we remove that set of
people and bring in fresh candidates with sound initiatives, we will go on
having bad governance. At the National Reform Conference that was held
recently, the average age that attended was 80; the same people who were here
even before independence. Now they are 70, 80 years old, and still refuse to go.
Many of those men and women have not even kept up with the times; they have not
kept up with what is happening in other parts of the world. But there they were,
selected to fashion out a new political order in Nigeria. Many members of my generation are concerned that
there are younger, incompetent and unqualified politicians being sponsored by
the old guard…individuals who are just as corrupt as their
mentors… I agree…but other younger politicians are fighting
the conservativeness of the old ones. The problem is that while they are
fighting, they are not thinking of what they will do if they get into power.
They are too busy trying to wrestle power from the old ones who are not willing
to let go. Nigeria is currently beset with the
political conundrum of “Godfatherism.” Some believe it is a Nigerian political
idiosyncrasy that we must get used to. Others believe that is one of the
greatest threats to Nigeria’s burgeoning Democracy. What is your assertion? It is a travesty! Politics in Nigeria is all about
money and ‘godfatherism’ -- to put the least literate and unqualified people
into positions of authority. The political parties are controlled by the old
guard, so they determine who is going be in them. And if a younger candidate is
not their loyalist, he will never make the list. So, the godfathers are still
there; but they are thankfully no longer relevant as indicated by the Anambra
State and Oyo State incidents, for instance. One or two decent young politicians
seem to be coming up, but the godfathers still have a hold on them. Either they
have to donate money or they have to push, if they want to retain power. The old
guard will only put people they can manipulate into positions of
authority. Nigeria just completed a controversial
National Census. Why has it been historically difficult to produce a credible
count of the people? The divide and rule tactics of the colonial masters
ensured that they manipulated population census taking. They ‘apportioned’ a
larger population count to one part of the country, and so that segment of the
Nigerian society seemingly has twice the population of everybody else. And we
all know that politics is a game of numbers. So, that particular section always
has that edge; when states were being created, this area had far more states
than the rest of the country. Hence when anything is shared in the country, more
is given to it, because it is assumed that there are more states and more
people. The assumption is that these people are greater in number than the rest
of the country. At the Confab, there was a call for the creation of
more states; but I’ve never been in support of this, and I don’t think our
leadership has understood the presidential system of government. It’s obvious
that the presidential system is too expensive for us. I think the military did
not allow for the proper practice of the parliamentary system, and did not allow
it to gain root before they intervened and forced the presidential system on
us. Many thinkers believe that Nigeria
appears to be in a state of political confusion, in part, because we don’t even
understand the democratic system borrowed from America that we are supposed to
be practicing… Is it possible to say there has been a non-evolution of the
political culture? In other words, we copy the presidential system, then the
parliamentary system or whatever system exists. But none of these have evolved
from any part of our own traditions? I accept that analysis… Under the parliamentary
system, there are so many checks and balances; the ministers are chosen and they
are part of the house, part of the parliament. They operate by rules and
regulations; they are not responsible only to the president so
that they have no regard whatsoever for the will of the people they represent.
If we continue with this idea of an ultimate president, it is not going to augur
well for us. That is not how the presidential system of government is practised
anywhere in the world. I also think that it will be better for us to operate as regions, because most of the states are not viable; they have nothing to live on. They just wait for the federal government to give them money, and that’s why they are so pre-occupied with trying to please the president, hence the relationship is that of master/servant. This was unlike when we were operating as regions; it didn’t matter who was at the federal level, because each of the regions was more or less self sufficient. But now, everybody scrambles to be at the centre since that’s where all the power and authority flow from. So, I believe there is the need to weaken the centre;
I’ve said it many years now. You cannot create too strong a centre and expect
development in the smaller units – the states. Look at the situation in Lagos
State, for instance; how can the president withhold its local government funds?
He shouldn’t even be involved in what’s going on at the local government level!
If he must, he should rely on feedback from the state governor, because the
local government seat is different from the presidential. But because the
president has been given so much power, he now wants to control the local
governments as well. In the real sense of it, it’s not the president’s, but the
responsibility of the people to decide whether a local area is doing well or
not. Why would the president, a leader at the centre and supposedly concerned
with higher matters, know what is happening in my small local government in
Eti-Osa? There are 774 local government councils; the local government
administration is the business of that enclave which is the
state! Corruption has long been the bane of
our nation. What are some of the subterranean factors that nurture corruption in
Nigeria? Corruption is such a big problem in Nigeria; it is so deeply rooted that people often say we cannot get rid of it! In spite of the steps that President Olusegun Obasanjo is taking now, corruption will be with us for a long time to come. And the reason is this; corruption is not as a result of poverty, but greed. Many Nigerians are greedy, even when they have material wealth you find them still trying to cut corners. So, its not poverty, its greed. People are poor; I’m not disputing that, and they are not satisfied being poor. Yet those who are rich still want what does not belong to them. This encourages corruption. Take the rural areas as an instance. Once a man from there comes to the urban centre he is not expected to return to the village a poor man. He must become rich, in whatever manner. Then take the Niger Delta. For a very long time, some
members of the community received money from the oil companies on behalf of
their communities; but because of corruption, the monies were siphoned by a
handful of individuals so that the majority of the people did not benefit from
it. The politicians are given all kinds of allowances as soon as they are
elected into office, whereas the civil servants are poorly paid. The minimum
wage ought to be considered when money is being allotted to politicians. So, you
see a lot of people in the civil service trying to amass wealth to make up for
the little they earn, and also to be able to take care of life after retirement.
It is well known that there is so much corruption in the civil service, and it
is all because they want to prepare for the rainy days, as they have no other
means. What steps, in your opinion, can
Nigeria take to stop this trend? There has been a corruption of the systems.
Corruption is not only when the policeman at the checkpoint demands N20 from the
road user; it is endemic, and until we look at the root cause and tackle it from
there, we are not about to solve the problem, and it will continue. We are not
talking about apprehending and prosecuting one person here and there, or
somebody who stole N10 million. I think, most importantly, we need to address
the system; the root causes of corruption in the country. The Nigerian system is
such that it encourages people to want to amass wealth. People keep saying “it
is poverty...” Again, I will say it is greed, because the poor are not
necessarily corrupt as the rich are. Some pundits believe Nigeria should streamline its
many bureaucracies in order to effectively tackle this problem. What is your
assertion? My sentiments exactly! Look, take the sale of
government houses, for example; people are asked to obtain forms free of charge.
Then the man in charge hoards the forms, and for 10,000 houses for which, at
least, 300,000 people will want to apply for, he provides only 400 housing forms
so that people will desperately pay to get them. So, all these little aspects of
our national life that we don’t look into encourage corruption. In different
spheres of our system, there are so many things that we do not consider or look
into. We see situations where people embezzle money or there is outright
stealing of public funds…but corruption is not just about money. When you employ
someone who is not qualified for any particular position, you encourage
corruption -- so, where are we going? The pathology of corruption seems to
have infested, infected, and permeated every cadre of our society…including the
educational sector… Well let us look at our examination system… I will
not say the examination bodies are corrupt; but you can see how corruption in
the society has so badly affected the educational system, leading to rampant
examination malpractices. I will say that we have not taken into consideration
the fact that there is too much emphasis on paper qualification. Examination
questions are set outside of the system, there are syllabuses and it is assumed
that all schools will teach the same things and pupils able to answer the same
sets of questions. But we all know that the school system does not work this
way. Different schools have different teachers whose qualifications also differ
and all these affect standards. Some schools don’t even have teachers for
certain subjects; yet the students are expected to write and pass the same
qualifying examinations! And each school wants to excel, outdo the other in
terms of general performance. What happens, therefore, is that they will look
for a way of covering up their deficiencies in their own way. They buy question
papers, get syndicate students to write examination for candidates or buy
supervisors over to assist their students during examinations. Sometimes, they
go all out to buy marks. There have been situations of outright purchases of
certificates; even highbrow private schools have been accused of some of these
examination malpractices, because they want it to be said that their products
perform excellently in general examinations, and they do this to attract more
students. Some schools do not have the equipment necessary to teach certain
subjects, yet the students, are expected to pass all the same. So, that is the
way Nigeria is. What is your reaction to the spate of
rash political killings in Nigeria in the last few years? I think it’s very sad and very scary.
People will be scared away from taking part in politics, because no one is
prepared to die for anyone or for any cause any longer. And if these killings do
not stop, we shall not have any confidence in the political process. It is not
as if other countries do not experience political killings, but in our own
situation it seems as if the killings occur mainly in one particular party. So
the members of that party should first examine themselves before they begin to
consider what they will contribute to nation building. If they cannot control
their own internal conflicts, how then are they going to administer the entire
country? For that reason, I think more commitment is needed to finding those who
are involved in political killings. Otherwise, every vote cast for that party is
a vote for murderers. But do you think that today,
investigations are being conducted differently, and that we can begin to be
confident that, for once, these recent killings would be
resolved? These investigations have all followed
the same pattern. So none of the political murders has been resolved -- from
Bola Ige, Rewane, the young lawyer and his wife in the east, Dikibo and more
recently Funsho Williams and Daramola... So many now that I cannot remember them
all. So how can we be confident that these latest murders would be resolved? It
is not likely, though I don’t want to say it is not possible. I heard the
Inspector General announce that he is personally taking charge of the Ekiti
assassination. What gives the Ekiti situation special consideration above all
other cases? We will want to know why the IG has a personal interest in just one
case when there were two killings within a short space of time. It is the
business of the Policemen stationed in the areas the murders took place. There is however no sign that they will ever unravel these killings. Funsho Williams’ killing, for instance, they may have a commitment to resolve; but I don’t think they are going about it the right way at all. First of all, the man was killed at between 10 and 11am or thereabout, and the corpse was left there until about 10pm. During those hours, the police did not seal up the scene of the crime; people were going in and coming out. In short, someone told us that he not only went in, but turned over the corpse so that he could see where he was stabbed. Maybe he was lying, I wouldn’t know. So in all that time, a lot of evidence
would have been destroyed, and that is why the Police Investigatory team brought
in from abroad said they could not use fingerprints and footprints, because
there were so many by the time they got there. Also, we don’t have a culture of
finger printing criminals in Nigeria. So how are they going to use fingerprints
as evidence? So, the possibility of their finding the killers is very, very
slim. The implication of this is that as long as these killings continue,
credible people, people of honour and integrity will stay away from the
political process. This is because such people are not desperate to get into
office and those who are, can kill and maim to do so. And we continue to be led
by murderers. What is your opinion of the Bola Ige
assassination and the unfinished work of your eminent late
husband? I will just repeat what my children said:
‘we leave everything in the hands of God, because he is the ultimate judge and
He knows all that happened.’ But let me point this out; somebody was arrested,
indicted and prosecuted. He was elected to the highest body of legislature while
he was in prison. The same fellow is now fighting the governor of his state.
Better watch out before someone else is killed in the same way. This same person
is now involved in violence, and seems to be following the same pattern; the
opponent he is fighting was attacked in the Oni of Ife’s palace, and up till
now, none has said anything. And they seem unable to arrest him. So, is it when
there is another murder that it will be said they are looking for the killers? But the IG has said that a number of
murder cases have been resolved, and he named Bola Ige’s as
one… (Cuts in) The Ige case was not
properly dealt with. The police arrested some people, but the court discharged
them on the grounds that there was not enough police evidence. So if the police
had done their job thoroughly, why would the court say it does not have enough
evidence? It means they did not do their job thoroughly. And I will tell you an
instance where they did not appear to have done their job thoroughly; they
arrested an eye witness who as soon as he was arrested told them, ‘Yes, I can
identify those who did the job. They now took the man into police custody, put
him in the same cell as those who were being prosecuted, and said the man was
under protective custody. Of course, anything could have happened in there, and
when he was interrogated again, the man said he could no longer recognise
anybody. Yet, the Police claim that they did a thorough job; but what is
thorough there? And understand that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom;
if they fear God they will know that they are not saying the
truth. I would like us to turn to the PRONACO
Conference; are you satisfied with how it went? I’m very satisfied. People misunderstand
PRONACO; PRONACO is not a political party, but a pressure group to ensure that
there is constructive change in Nigeria. One of the main things which PRONACO
wanted is to push for a new Constitution. This new Constitution has been
drafted; it’s being discussed now, and God willing, will be adopted today
(August 28, 2006). Once this happens, the work of PRONACO is finished. The next
step would be to find an acceptable political party to take the process forward
by accepting it as the Nigerian Constitution. So PRONACO has not failed at all. What would you say are the highlights
of the Constitution? PRONACO wants a new and united Nigeria.
And it is the most thoroughly debated Constitution in Nigeria as it brought
together all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. All of them were represented
and came to say what it was they wanted for Nigeria. So what Nigerians want for
Nigeria, is a return to the parliamentary system of government. Secondly,
Nigerians want more emphasis on the regions rather than on the federal. In this
way, authority will rest with the regions, and not the federal, as it is now.
Thirdly, they are putting more emphasis on the participation of women; that
women should be able to occupy at least, 30 per cent of all the positions;
elective, appointive or whatever. Fourthly, we are making plans to make
education is free. All this talk that ‘there is no money’ is not true. There is
enough money to make education free and education is the bedrock of any
development. Therefore we are aspiring to make education free up to the
university level. Fifthly, we are upholding the issue of resource control not
because oil is a big market, but from the point of view of developing our
agriculture and other mineral resources and helping to develop it. And in the
end, only a percentage is given to the federal government, not the other way
round. Finally, in the case of criminal laws
that say a person shall be innocent until proven guilty, there are certain
issues where we have said one must also prove ones innocence. Also, anyone who
took over government by force has committed treason; anything through arms. And
even if such illegal administrations spend 20 years, whenever they leave power
they will be tried for treason. This will permanently end military participation
in governance. We expect that if we truly want a change in this country, then we
should adopt this constitution. Do you see the present crop of leaders at home with the contents of the PRONACO constitution? The present crop of leaders is going to
be wiped away; they are not relevant. They are there now, they are going to
contest elections, but we are hoping that whoever wins the next election is
going to say let us take on the revised constitution and begin to implement it.
In the next few years therefore, we will have a different leader, a different
country, a different constitution, and younger people with better ideas coming
on board. When PRONACO first started out, there
were disagreements among some leaders of the group and a lot of people were
disappointed. But that is the beauty of democracy; everyone is allowed to say
what he has to say; it is a right to be heard. In democracy, you do not have to
agree, but you can dialogue to reach a compromise, and that was what happened. But Ma, you were in this country when
the 1999 Constitution was being drafted? Yes, and at the time I was one of those who argued that the constitution will make an autocrat of the president, whether a military or an elected president. And it was written in black and white.
It’s there and I told them this. It was another of Babangida’s handiworks, and
the majority had their way. So that is it. Sometimes, I just get tired thinking of Nigeria’s
problems that seem never to end. Other times, I take solace in the fact that
other countries have their own problems too. But really, one has to be
optimistic because that is the only way you can be happy to be
Nigerian.
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Professor Jadesola Akande
in Conversation with Toluwanimi Olujimi PART ONE 
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