Babangida Aliyu Recently, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State was at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, as a guest lecturer. He later spoke with some selected journalists on issues that affect his state and the nation in general. Yekini Jimoh was there. Excerpts:

What do you think about tra ditional rulers with regard to involvement in governance?
In the contemporary Nigerian situation, the traditional rulers still seem to have the kind of respect they wielded in the colonial era. In the modern time, even if an elected officer, say governor or National Assembly member, says anything, people still sometimes get clarifications from the traditional rulers before carrying out orders. More often than not, we use the traditional rulers to get the people directly.

Surprisingly, some countries, like Britain, have spent up to 100 or 200 years, and are still retaining their traditional institutions. The Queen of England is like the ceremonial president of other countries and the kind of respect she still enjoys in Britain cannot be compared to what some traditional rulers enjoy in their local communities.

So, when we know that they wield enormous influence on the common people, why don’t we give them specific assignments? Apart from the tourism value they have, they can advise government properly. We may not make their congregation look like a formal assembly, but we can create something that would be recognised by the constitution. If they are recognised in the constitution as a real advisory group to the government on certain issues like culture, tourism and, to some extent, agriculture, among others, it will be better. By recognising them properly in the constitution, you can demand also for other services from them.

When we were younger, we knew what the positions of traditional rulers were. There were times when they were the chairmen of their local government areas. They enjoyed executive powers and, to some extent, they did well.

But we are not thinking they should come back with the powers of local government chairmen, but the power to advise people. They can bring their moral authority to bear on the communities they lead. There used to be channel of communication from the ward heads, the village and the district heads where every little thing that happened in the local community, the Emir had got to know and so also was downward instructions and everybody seemed to know what was happening. By that, those who went out, got rich the wrong way and come back to the community would be easily identifiable.

When people begin to know that if they illegally acquire wealth, they are going to be tagged as pariah, believe me, the level of corruption in the country would be reduced, because that will make corruption unattractive. So, that is what we are saying; traditional rulers should be given some power. As an example, there is no way either the Etsu Nupe or my Emir would say he wants to talk to me or he wants to see me that I can turn down the request. Afterall, I am aware that I have a tenure; their own tenure is until they die, except there is something wrong. So, at the end of it all, I will still go back home to them. It follows, therefore, that the only power they have should be utilised properly for the good of the society. That is all I have been saying.

What is your take on the controversial rail transportation project of the Federal Government?
What I can make of the suspension of the project is that certain things were not properly explained; maybe certain things were found out. I am aware that there was supposed to be a dual carriage way and standard gauge. And even then, before the decision to really go for that contract, there was the arrangement that since in some parts of the world, they still use narrow gauge and that there was nothing wrong in utilising it here, the standard gauge could be done in different other places. There were those advocating that.

The administration that gave out the contract did not have enough time to implement it; apart from the study that was conducted and the ceremony that we had in Ogun State, there was nothing more it did.

I think what might have happened was that those who were advocating for the repair of the narrow gauge might have now gained ascendancy. The funding is about $8 billion and it was supposed to have come as a concessionary loan from the Chinese. I don’t think we really understood the word ‘concessionary’, because the Chinese were saying that certain amount might be the concessions, while another amount wouldbe normal interest. The concessionary loan we are talking of is between one and two per cent, but the Chinese were saying the first $3 billion could be concessionary, while the remaining would attract certain percentage of the total amount as interest.

I have not asked anybody about what really transpired, but as a new government has come in, other information might surface. Since it is suspension and not cancellation, if we have any argument to make, I think we should go for the standard gauge for the sake of distance and speed. After all, we have standard gauge from Ajaokuta to Itakpe in Kogi State. If I am asked, my advice will be that we adopt the standard gauge. But whether or not I am asked, since rail transportation borders on the economy and if rail transportation is functional, the economy will pick up. Virtually all federal roads are in bad shape. Now, I think we should expend our resources to make things happen, otherwise we will only be talking about issues without really working.

Why did you make the Emir’s palace in Ilorin your first port of call on this visit?
I’m son of Sarkin Yaki Minna, I’m Talban Minna and I relate very well with the Emir of Ilorin, even before he became the Emir. So, it is logical for me; there is no way I could come into town without visiting the palace. Believe me, it is out of respect for the traditional rulers. I have always believed that they are still relevant in the politics and leadership of this country. So, all I’m saying is that everybody should play his role properly; whatever position of leadership you find yourself in, serve the people well.

What are you going to do with the about 17,000 unqualified primary school teachers discovered in Niger State?
I’m not sending the unqualified teachers away; they will be there to make sure that the pupils are in their classes. But we have arranged with the Niger State College of Education to be training them during the long vacation. I also encouraged some of them to go to other schools for training. We also have the College of Education, Kotangora and Niger Teachers’ Institute arrangements.

However, I would prefer people to take leave of absence to go and finish their courses properly, because those who attended regular schools have nothing to show, not to talk of the ones who did part-time programmes. To a large extent, if they are well supervised and instructed on what to do, they may be better. But we can’t have them teach in the higher classes; the arrangement is that they will gradually move up.

At one time, I wanted to give them a deadline to get qualified or be kicked out, but I discovered that such a decision could be counterproductive. What I did recently, with the declaration of no graduate unemployment in Niger State, was to send them on a six-month course. They are finishing this month and out of this group, those that have not got jobs will be absorbed into the state public service. Also, every year, we will do the same.

In what ways do you thing the pervading poverty in the North can be addressed?
When you accept something as a problem and you are discussing it, already it is half solved. There was a time in this country when it was difficult for anybody to talk about corruption, but now, people are talking about it and redefining and understanding that corruption is not simply stealing money, but everything that you do wrongly, whether for a purpose or not.

To eradicate poverty in the North, we need to get everybody engaged properly; this idea of saying that everybody is involved in agriculture, I guess, should really be redefined. I have seen a family of 19 with only one hectare of land which is not enough for subsistence farming. The normadic Fulani only get milk and other things as food from the cows they are rearing as most of the cows do not belong to them.

In Niger State, what we are doing is to put people on cooperative societies; with all this, we need to get people specialised in what they are supposed to be doing. Agriculture will form the bulk of the poverty alleviation move, but skill acquisition, I believe, will also help a lot. Each State must sit down to work out solution to its own problem properly and that is what we are doing at the moment in Niger State. If we get it right, we may be able to export it to other states. There are many causes of poverty.

In some cultures, we have made poverty a means of seeking sympathy; people deliberately refuse to work because the culture has identified them as people that can benefit without working. Fighting poverty in the North will, therefore, require a multi-pronged approach. There are certain segments we have to identify and treat separately from the others.

(http://www.tribune.com.ng)

Tags: Nigeria

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