Regionalism is the best way to go for Nigeria to get it Right-Dr. Ogande

Professor Anthony Ogande, is the Head, Department of Public Relations at Nasarawa State University, Keffi. In this interview held with our *Editor-in-chief, Emmanuel Iriogbe* ,Ogande who is an Associate Professor of Public Relations and Behavioural Change Communication, believes that the country will do better under Regionalism while also postulating that the 2014 National Conference Report can be revisited.He also bared his mind on topical national issues. EXCERPTS:

Ques; SIR, what does it entails to be a teacher on behavioral change.

Ans: as a teacher on behavioral change, we mold the characters of youth and impact on them the need to be responsible in life. We have produced graduates who have demonstrated good behavioral attitudes to societies where they find themselves. Also, as a lecturer and a mentor, I have also provided the required leadership platform through teaching and community service where students built on to become role models in their career path. Some of them are already providing leadership roles after graduation from the University. On several fora my focus have always been on shaping good moral conduct of students through responsible use of message framing and communication. The difference between youth who received this level of mentoring and those who did not are always clear. I will say , so far, so good. Ques: Away from the classroom.How would you rate the President Bola Tinubu’s administration thus far? Some basic yardsticks come into play when trying to answer your question on the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. Let me begin with insecurity, I must admit that the situation still required improvement. My position is hinged on the fact that from 2009 till date there has been an escalation. Killings, kidnapping, and other forms of insecurity in the country are on the increase. The vices have migrated from the North East and are now gaining a foothold in the South West of the country. So in terms of spread, it appears as though there is no end to it. But in terms of intensity, there is noticeable improvement. At least, a few days may pass, without the usual panic in some areas considered as the theater of insurgency. But by and large, Nigerians are expecting more from the government to deal with insecurity. For the first time in the history of this country, there was direct foreign intervention in the form of American troops coming to assist the Nigerian government to deal with the situation. This does not in any way mean that the Nigerian government is clueless because whether we like it or not certain gains have been made in the fight against banditry and kidnapping. If you take the recent case of Oriire in Oyo State and part of Borno State where kidnapped schools children were rescued. There is also the angle of the judiciary. Within 3 weeks of the Oyo kidnapping saga, and the arrest of some suspects, they were already prosecuted and judgement delivered. In this regard, the judiciary is beginning to live up to expectations. On the ECONOMY, one of the indices for measuring the economic growth remains the value of a country’s currency. It is concerning that the current exchange rate of the naira to a dollar is N1,450. Nobody should be happy with this. So the government needs to sit up. food items have skyrocketed. Fuel prices is also biting hard and makes life more difficult. I find it difficult to say that the economy is doing well, the government needs to up the ante in this direction.

Ques; Two Executive Bills were presented by the present administration to the National Assembly and one of them, precisely the TAXATION REFORM has been treated and dusted, remaining the one on REGIONALISM. How do you view this two Bills?.

Ans; On the issue of taxation, I may not be too specific because I have not taken time to go through the document on the new taxation regime. On the issue of REGIONALISM, my humble take on it is that, it is the best way to go. The problem we have had over time as a country is that everybody wants to have access to the national resources. Everybody wants to tap into the resources. The center, which is the federal government, has been made, needlessly, super wealthy at the expense of the states where these resources are coming from. This is the fundamental reason why everybody wants to be at the helm of affairs as president regardless of the capacity to manage the affairs of the country or not. REGIONALISM will make every region look inward and utilize its resources for its benefits. Depending on the agreed formula, a fraction can be deducted as a contribution to the center. Nigeria is highly blessed, the South South and some part of South East have oil, the North Central is blessed with solid minerals and other resources yet to be tapped. No region in Nigeria that lacks resources. REGIONALISM will provide opportunities to develop and properly manage these resources for the betterment of its people. So REGIONALISM will be the beginning of getting it right in Nigeria, that is if the government is serious about it.

Ques; Why can’t we practice true federalism in the country?.

Ans: The problem is how to manage it given the current way of doing it. The United States of America operate a federal system of government. They have 50 states with each state having its own police Force and control it’s resources while contributing 30% of it’s resources to the federal government. They use the 70% to impact on their people. The President of the United States uses the 30% from the states to run such agencies that are under the Exclusive list, like immigration, the CIA, FBI army, navy air force etc. The states are in charge of state civil service, infrastructures and housing. They don’t wait for the federal allocation to deal with insecurity. We can fashion our federalism along this format, like the way it is practiced in the United States. Ques; if we are to practice fiscal federalism, would you subscribe to the idea of having six(6) vice Presidents representing each of the geo-political zones? Ans: What are the powers of the vice president apart from assisting the president in managing the country and to carry out other responsibilities as may be assigned by the president. So from independence, the Nigerian constitution has not assigned any role to the Vice President. Therefore, if Nigeria is to run true federalism where every federating state is to control its resources, whether it will be done in a cluster of states or individual state, proper definition should be done on assigning roles and responsibilities. Ques; Sir instead of going through the rigour of a debate of whether we should go back to Regionalism, why don’t we dust up the report of the 2014 National Conferences and implement it to the letter? Ans: Remember, that report has not been released. Also , some interest in the North staged a walk out during the 2014 Confab. Were those issues resolved? So those few grey areas should be tackled. I agree that the Confab Report can be used for a lasting solution to the Nigerian problem. That confab was very comprehensive. Dusting it up will eliminate another spending spree on a needless confab especially now that the country is under so much pressure from loans collected by the government. If it is necessary, the 2014 Confab Report can be submitted to the National Assembly for fine tuning and be implemented as a working document.