In an interview, the representative of Oshodi – Isolo Federal Constituency of Lagos State, Barr Okey -Joe Onuakalusi, tells our National Assembly Correspondents, ABBANOBI- EKU ONYEKACHI, JONATHAN LOIS and BAYO OBISESAN that all the agitations in Nigeria can be resolved through kinetic and non-kinetic approach, even as he adds that true federalism and state police will curb insecurity in the country. Excerpts.
As the chairman, Nigerian Taiwan – Parliamentary Friendly Group, what do we expect from the committee?
It is a friendship parliamentary committee between Nigeria and Taiwan. To throw lights on it, there was a motion by the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Killings, Manhandling Nigerians in the Diaspora and it raised very topical issues, because Nigerians in the Diaspora are not being treated well by their host countries. Many a times, Nigeria’s green passport is attended with disorders, contrary to conventional practice because every nation owes other nations the responsibility to respect their citizens in their host countries, but we discovered that in Nigeria’s own, that respect in line with Geneva convention on diplomatic relationships is not there.
However, we must understand that while countries have their embassies in other countries, they oversee the affairs of their citizens in those countries. Now one of the major motions we heard today was on the threat to life of Nigerians outside Nigeria and it was resolved that interest or peculiarities of Nigerians in the Diaspora must be respected, so it is equally on the agenda seven of legislative agenda of the 10th Assembly on the issue of promoting and protecting Nigerians in the Diaspora and being that as it may, makes it imperative that the 10th Assembly has what is called legislative agenda, which is a working document of the 10th National Assembly and that legislative agenda in article seven, stipulates on the promotion of Nigeria’s interest in line with section 19 of the 1999 Constitution which says: promotion of Nigeria’s interest globally should be the primary responsibility of the government of Nigeria and the foreign affairs.
Now at the committee level, why committees work in that regard is that each one, like now, I am a member of the Public Petition and I want to tell you in the last six months, we have been able to resolve problems that seem intactible among Nigerians and challenges. How it works is that, when you have a challenge against any governmental organisation, we present a petition through the speaker, who will now refer the petition to Committee on Public Petition and your prayers there, all parties involved will be invited and state their own case.
We resolved petition written by Professor Monday Igwe, a medical director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu. He was terminated of his appointment without following civil service rules. When he was invited by the permanent secretary of Ministry of Health and member demanded why the medical director’s appointment was terminated. He said it was done on gross allegation, which we demanded to know and if it were done in line with the Federal Civil Service Rules (FCSR)
The FCSR, states that, to terminate a public servant’s appointment, you must give him three months and that one that concerns professor Monday Igwe, they gave him only one month and terminated his appointment and we wondered what was his crime, which was that he came into the hospital and discovered that there were loopholes and he blocked them and started bringing internally generated revenue from N1 million and to N25 million, so the forces that are perpetrating curruption didn’t like his face, so they collaborated with the people at the ministry of health and gave him a query for querying a subordinate who is working contrary to the rules of his appointment and the federal ministry of health set up an appointment committee and they exonerated him and they wrote categorically clear that Professor Igwe’s only infraction was giving query to a subordinate without following due process of the FCSR. We then reinstated him.
But the following day, they got his job terminated. So when he came to public petition, the chairman, Mike Eteba and discovered that the permanent secretary who appeared didn’t followed the FCSR; So at the end of the day, the public petition resolved that Professor Monday Igwe should be reinstated as a medical director of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Enugu State and these are various ways that the committees work to resolve conflicts in Nigeria.
Recently, there was a case from Umuagu Obiagu in Enugu State against police intimidation and land – dragging, which was read for third time and your chairman wiped off the case. At the second hearing, the chairman first said it was dismissed, before some people demanded fair hearing and someone was sent to Enugu from the legal department. Don’t you think that the committee is biased and what is your take in the matter?
The 10th Assembly has resolved over 200 cases and with justice and I don’t know the fact of this case. When you present a matter before a judge, the judge can only adjudicate based on the fact before him and I am a consistent member and attend hearing at least once or twice weekly. As a lawyer and a human right activist, I drew attention of the committee on the two pillars of justice for fair hearing and ability to give the other party fair hearing.
The way you present a matter determines its judgement and if he felt that he was unjustly treated, he still has opportunity to come back. At the end of every matter, we write our reports and present to the house, so if you make your enquiry as a journalist, they must have given you the number of cases that we have handled .
There was a blackout in Abo Mbise, when Benin chiefs
came and alleged injustice about the minister representing them; that most of the projects presented in 2024 budget came from the north while the oil producing parts of Benin were not part of it. There were police officers who were unjustly sacked and we reinstated them and their compensations paid.
An Igbo from the Labour Party (LP), representing a constituency in the APC dominated Yoruba land, how has it been going and your plan come 2027?
I won’t go into 2027, but we intend to bring democracy dividends, get jobs in our constituency. We have promoted bills: on establishment of skill acquisition in Oshodi -Isolo; to establish 20 governance parties; to open vocational skills; to present child right act; on drugs; on establishment of orphanage and; on corporate social responsibility; on establishment of e-library in the 774 LGAs. Most of our bills have passed 1st reading, some 2nd, but you know that we are being naturalistic in our approach with the mind that every politics is local, so we are going to do our best to contribute to the welfare my constituents and Lagos in general.
As an Igbo, how have you been relating with the Yorubas?
We have had hand shakes across the Niger and many of us have lived there for almost 80/90 percent of our lives, so we have friends across board, infact, my best friend, Agboola and I have been contesting elections since 2011. So we are moving on, by the mercy of God. I have drawn government attention to ecological challenges in Oshodi – Isolo and done the design and submitted at the ecological data park. So we are going to improve on roads, schools, IC centres, hospitals and sports. I share the same philosophy with Zik, who said: The greatness off any nation is to restore the dignity of man and my motor is to show the light that people may see
How can insecurity and insurgency be curbed in Nigeria?
They are becoming a national issue which can be curbed by true federalism, which is, when whatever a state is producing, the state is able to appropriate and prospect it for the greatness and pay tax to the centre. That is returning back to what we had in the 1960s. Thirdly, most importantly is that, Nigerians should see themselves as neighbours and brothers, with that we will have a better Nigeria. Recently we passed a bill on state police, which has gone through second reading and now at the committee level. With each state having its own police, then it will go back to the security of the state by the state; that’s the restructuring we are talking about. We have Boko Haram, Cattle Rustling; in the east we have agitation for self determination. The answer to all these is true federalism and have a complete structure generating unit, then that will take care of it. What is happening in the south -east is a reflection of what Nigerians want; Nigerians want true federalism.
The problem in the south -east and other core parts of Nigeria, you know we have kinetic and non kinetic approach to security. The problem of all these agitations can be solved through non kinetic approach of a political solution.
