16 Aug 2006 |
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Lamidi Adedibu Is A Thug…Dr Abayomi Ferreira
Dr Abayomi Ferreira, a soldier, surgeon, author, politician and the Democratic Alternative (DA) presidential candidate in the 2003 elections in Nigeria shares some thoughts on Nigerian politics in this interview with Uche Nworah and Wale Akin. Intro: Hello Nigerians, you are welcome to another edition of the Village Square Radio, our guest on the programme today is Dr Abayomi Ferreira, a soldier, surgeon, politician and renowned administrator. Dr. Ferreira you are welcome to the programme Dr Ferreira: Thank you for having me on the programme Question: To start, we want to find out what you are doing in London presently as the very last time we heard of you was during the 2003 presidential elections, when you vied as the presidential candidate of the Democratic Alternative (DA). Dr Ferreira: As you can see, I am a retired person; I am a surgeon, that’s my primary profession, I used to run a private practise in Lagos but because of the economic situation in Nigeria, people were not paying for services rendered and I had to close down the practise. The non-payment for services rendered also included corporate organisations, although with this, there is a high degree of corruption. After that, I was invited to teach Surgery at the Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho for one year, later a friend of mine asked me to come and help out at his hospital, but eventually I had to leave because they could not pay my salary. My family thus advised me to come over to the UK to take a long rest and that’s why I am presently in London. Question: But some part of you is still at home Dr Ferreira: A lot of me is still at home, infact just before you came in now, I had just gone to check the news on the internet to see if I can pick anything of interest to write on, I write a lot and it’s very relaxing. Question: You recently authored a book with the title, Savagery in Politics: The Hindrance to National Dr Ferreira: From my undergraduate days, I have been politically on the left meaning that I am a Marxist; I strongly believe that we need that kind of ideological orientation in Africa most especially in a place like Nigeria. The basic thing is that Nigeria is at the tail spin of international capitalism, we are consumers of the products and services of the developed nations and you cannot use liberal concepts to get Nigeria out of the trap. If you take Europe and North America for example, the economic activity is such that the large majority of the population is directly involved and in many of these countries, they also have a special scheme that takes care of the citizens a la social security schemes, practically everyone has the opportunity to make a living in America but it is not like that in Africa. In African countries, what we have is that an oligarchy is being built; a few families hold on to power and enrich themselves. Marxism is a body of ideas, as long as there are areas of the world where there is exploitation, that body of ideas will be relevant and thus it is very relevant in present day Nigeria. Question: From your personal experience, was the 2003 general elections free and fair? Dr Ferreira: Certainly not!! Most of the things that motivated me to write that book were my personal experiences in the 2003 elections, over the years I think it was the first time that what I describe as alternatives views were allowed, from parties like the Democratic Alternative (DA), National Conscience Party (NCP) led by Gani Fawehinmi, Movement for Democracy and Justice (MDJ) led by M D Yusuf etc. The 2003 elections were the first time organisations as these had the opportunity to contest. What we experienced all through the election period showed us all that it couldn’t have been free and fair. The regulatory body INEC is not fair at all. The DA was formed in June 1994 at the height of Abacha’s dictatorship to give Nigerians the voice needed. We had a meeting in Benin City on the 3rd and 4th of June 2004 and thus the DA was formed. We applied for party registration in 1999 but we were not registered and we could not take part in thec1999 elections. We then decided to hold national education workshops around the country to sensitive the masses on our existence. In 2003, Gani Fawehinmi went to court to obtain Supreme Court judgment on the position of INEC on party registrations, that opened the gates for us to be registered and we contested the election. We had obstacles on our way and I saw that a lot of Nigerians actually do not have the correct insight into our kind of politics as Nigeria’s politics are not based on ideology. Nigerians don’t know that political parties have to be run based on progammes and ideology, these two tenets are presently lacking. Question: So has your 2003 experience scared you so much that you don’t want to contest anymore? Dr Ferreira: It hasn’t scared me, I expressed so publicly when I had a presidential debate with Kalu Idika Kalu, I told them that it is not for any individual to say I want to become the president, it is the political party that will decide, its not about personality but the ideology of the party on whose platform that particular individual is contesting. Question: What’s your take on this festering sore called Political Godfatherism shown in the cases of Adedibu/Ladoja and Chris Uba/Dr Ngige? Dr Ferreira: This is one of the very big problems of what I can call malignant legions that are eroding the credibility of Nigerian politics, because a political godfather is defined as somebody who has made a lot of money from unexecuted contracts from the government and as such is very rich, he does not want to contest any elections but will use such money to support any candidate to get into political office on the understanding that he will be able to corner back his money and also the have final say in the affairs of the candidate. The political godfather even appoints commissioners for the candidate, the case of Chris Uba in Anambra state is a typical example where he sponsored the Governor, Senators and House of Representative members and thus wanted to have the final say in the state’s affairs. Same goes to Lamidi Adedibu in Oyo State, this man is a political thug, he was one of the thugs of late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Adedibu does not have any political ideas but his word is law in Oyo State. Now Political godfatherism is not confined to the state level, Chris Uba has the backing of Aso Rock, President Obasanjo kept quiet when Chris Uba was misbehaving in Anambra State and that simply tells us that he has the Federal Government backing. Question: The 3rd term agenda has come and gone but we are still basking in the attendant spill-overs, in your views was it a healthy idea on the part of the president to have thought of contesting for a 3rd term? Dr Ferreira: It couldn’t have been a healthy idea and it wasn’t, the problem we have in Nigeria is that people in government always want to hold on to power longer than expected and this is the genesis of rigging. We have cases of presidents like Mobutu Sese Seko ; we call them sit - tight presidents. Nigeria experienced this act in the first republic and that was one of the main reasons we were given that resulted in the military coup. When Obasanjo was asked to contest for presidential elections in 1999, he never wanted to contest initially and up till today he hasn’t told us why he changed his mind, he allegedly won the 1999 and 2003 elections and it is this tenacious adherence to power that was pushing him to want to go for the 3rd term. Question: What is it about power that makes politicians want to stay put once they are in there? Dr Ferreira: Power in Nigeria is a means of getting rich quickly, it is greed for money, they have direct access to the funds and they commit all sorts of crimes including arson and murder. My analysis of the situation is that in spite of the many years of military rule that was supposed to be corrective, nothing been achieved. The political parties that we have in power today like the PDP, AD, ANPP, and APGA are direct descendants of the old political parties of the first and second republics. My solution to the problem is to form new political parties that have no ideological and historical linkages to the parties of the first and second republics, and with a definite programme on how we are going to develop Nigeria. Politics have to be played and controlled by the political parties. We need a new political culture that will have an ideology and good manifestoes and to be able to control their candidates. In a nutshell, I am asking for political reformation. Question: We have so many politicians today wishing to contest for the presidency and a few of them are new entrants like Prof Pat Utomi, what would your advice for them be? Dr Ferreira: Pat Utomi is a brilliant person, I respect his intellect but I think what he wants to do now is certainly a historical error; I can assure you that he will contest on the platform of the PDP. The organisations we have on ground have been cornered by a select few and its either you do their bidding or you are kicked out. Pat Utomi is qualified to be president of Nigeria as he is knowledgeable and very honest but without going into the right platform to contest for the presidency, he is wasting his time. Question: Governor Fayose was recently accused of siphoning public funds, whats your take on this, as it has become a norm amongst politicians to siphon public funds. Dr Ferreira: Most Nigerians were happy when Governor Alamiesiegha was arrested here in London. The organisations we have in Nigeria today are there as cliques to enrich themselves and that is why electioneering in Nigeria is very expensive. During the 2003 elections, a gubernatorial candidate in the person of Mr Lanre Rasaq openly said he had spent over 250 Million Naira on his election campaign, now if he had won the elections, his salary over a period of four years would have been about 17 Million Naira and look at the difference between the two figures, now if he became Governor, certainly he would have siphoned public funds. Question: So who do we blame for this anomaly, the electorates or the politicians? Dr Ferreira: It’s not a question of blame; we need to create a credible political system, we need to have a total break from the present situations, we have to form new organisations where members will have equal rights to contest for positions and where money is not going to be the determining factor Question: Do you have any idea as to why Dr Mrs Ngozi-Iweala was removed as the finance minister and why she subsequently resigned as the minister of external Affairs? Dr Ferreira: I really don’t know as there are so many speculations. This is a very brilliant lady. I was so surprised that she was removed as Finance Minister and moved to foreign affairs and of course her expertise is in the field of finance and suddenly we learnt that she had resigned. Now when you work with this kind of politicians, they will go to any length to smear you, she has really done very well and I wish her the very best in life. Outro: Many thanks for your time and best wishes A joint Wale Akin and Uche Nworah project for NVS©. 2006. All rights reserved. Contacts - wale@waleakin.com & info@uchenworah.com
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