Year 1 Clip Assignment 2018

AN APPEAL BY NNAA NWODO THE PRESIDENT OHANEZE NDI IGBO TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF NIGERIA

We have come to you at a very difficult time in the history of our country. We are visiting the National Assembly because of its unique position in our Constitution. The democratic system we run in our country rests on three arms of governments of these 3 arms the other two functions in accordance with laws made by this arm. This arm characterizes democracy because in a military government you would have both the judiciary and the executive, but it is only in a democratic government that you have a parliament, the Parliament is a microcosm of the people because every section of the country has by adult suffrage delegated its voice to this parliament.

So we believe that by visiting you today we are coming to speak to the conscience of our country. We ask that this discussion today be as Frank as possible because in situations like this unless the National Assembly rises like one man with a conscience, a commitment and a patriotism to unveil the sassed of partisan politics, partisan advantages and face the real issues of a nation will stand on the edge of a precipice. We  can’t continues sir, at a time when our economic stability is in serious danger today our international debts is extremely high perhaps one of the highest judged by the IMF for countries with our GDP our domestic debt is high and growing by the day, our subsidy indebtedness is something that has defied solution and transparency in disclosure.

Our youth despair is gargantuan the federating units in this country in the unitary system that we call a federal government are surviving with a great difficulty the federal government has made bailouts just to sustain recurrent expenditure of our state governments many of the important units of great growth in our country namely industrial concerns either not producing at all or producing short of installed capacity. Job creation is low despondency stares us in the face, political instabilities have compounded this Mr. president at no time except in the Nigerian Civil War have people been killed in the rate in which they are being killed today in Nigeria in one year we have recorded more than 1000 killings.

What is surprising is that these killings are not matched with equal reaction by the security forces in our country there is a resultant lack of confidence in the institutions of government especially the institutions that are responsible for law and order. our cuts speaks from two sides of the mouth, our chief justice said that corruption in the judiciary is not only  grass nation of judicial officers but deviation from the rules of engagement by judges by making pronouncements that are completely out of pattern in the exercise of dispensation of justice. We have had today in Nigeria our courts make proclamations whether you commit crime or not you may not be arrested or even prosecuted.

It is unprecedented in any democracy Mr. president, distinguished senators we have come as elders, we have come as father's, we have come as heads of the different socio-cultural organizations of this country, who look up to us for leadership to speak in moments of this nature. We have looked at the problem of our country and we think that it is soluble but we think that it is lack of will we have come to ginger you to develop that wheel and to seek a consensus of the leadership of the National Assembly and of the political class who have the necessary legislative empowerment by our constitutional to make decisions that can reinvest our situation and if not in office you constitute the political class of our country at times like this partisanship is criminal Mr. president of a number of us on the other side of 60 and above grew up in a different Nigeria I grew up in  Nigeria where in Enugu where I come from, the mayor of Enugu in my childhood was a man called Alhaji Umoro Altini from Katsina state he was elected mayor of Enugu by adult suffrage campaigning on the platform of the NCNC he defeated an Igbo man to become the mayor of Enugu. Mr. Willowby a Yoruba man was an accountant General of Eastern Nigeria Mr. president of Senate, going beyond my childhood I went to the University for my first degree; University of Ibadan, in University of Ibadan I dared to stand for election as president of Students Union in the Yoruba dominated University more than 65% of the student who were my opponent was Yoruba, Banji Ademola but I won resound not because I was Igbo, but because they were Yoruba’s  who were not prepared to be swerved by ethnic considerations but who were only interested in what the candidates had to offer in other words what were the issues.

Mr. president I served in government, I didn't have the privilege to serve with your father instead but I had the privilege of being confirmed minister in a senate in which  your father was a leader and in which he was a member of a Senate subcommittee for screening, in those days the ministerial nominees were screened in a subcommittee of senate they went into rigorous exercise of your past, your capability, your points of view on policy, where you have contradicted yourself on policy and where your behavior does not stand up to ministerial stature.

I was groomed by your father and yet recommended by your father. I say all this because I see here some of my friends and colleagues who some who even campaigned for me when I dared run for president. I see people who have the capacity to say this will not happen in our time. I see people who will  say this does not admit of anything other than patriotism.  Sir we believe that many of the problems we have in our country emanates from the constitution of our country. We know that the National Assemblies have had debate on devolution of powers and we know Mr. President that you did promise the measure that you will have revisits to this issue. We have come to ask you to bring up the revisits, we consider it urgent and irremediable because we believe that all the problems we have in Nigeria today emanates from the fact that our Constitution is not ripe for a country constituted by people of diverse culture, diverse religion, and diverse political persuasions as our country.

Many other countries with that characteristic have emerged greater; some have taken the siblings of their greatness from our own dear country, but we have been kept down by the kind of Constitution we run. We have watched  the helplessness of the National Assembly were members of the executive even refuse your invitation to come and make explanations before them contrary to the provision of constitution.

We have found the helplessness of the Senate when you can be invariant in spite of the security adornment in this place controlled by the executive and the seats of the Senate President, is almost invaded but for the personal security of the aides of its leadership, is because our system mix the tail wag the dog rather than the dog wag the tail, this cannot be the fountain of legislative authority for executive implementation and yet the toy of the system. We have come to tell you that in our view, it is because we have this over concentration of power in the federal government contrary to the agreement that our forefathers entered into for a union called Nigeria, that government has failed in our country, that the economic development have failed.

Mr. president who want to give you a fearlessness taking Conte first of all look at our economic situation the mainstay of our economy is oil without oil the economy of this country cannot be sustained every month we get together and share our sales of oil and distribute it among the tier of government and concentrated mainly on recurrent expenditure we grow no wealth we do so because of the system in the past the regions had active competition and it promoted groups when we went to university if you wanted to read architecture you went to Amadu Bello University if you wanted to read medicine you went to University of Ibadan if you wanted to read the humanities and engineering you went Nsukka and under the regime of free and immediate post independence in three spectacular years things happened in Nigeria of outstanding proportion

we built the first television station in black Africa we build the first Iron and steel complex in Black Africa import substitution industry was growing in our country in subsequence our universities were offered international reputation that it attracted staff from all over the world as well as student folk we were the pride of Africa. Suddenly it became retrogression

Mr. president oil is a declining commodity in the international market China and the OECD the countries have put a time limit between 2020 and 2024 to stop production of any machines dependent of fossil oil the immediate consequence of this is that there is going to be a fundamental and phenomenal decline in the world demand for oil 2020 is only two years ago what is the sense of urgency around our country about how to cope with this we are only interested in their appurtenance of power the share ego that I hold power and I can do what I like not in what our children will be tomorrow they ought to be a time of national emergency now what must we do to overcome this calamity that is about to come Americans developed shell oil technology within its continual dependence on our crude oil practically impossible other countries are going to do so what are the alternatives? Agriculture takes a country like Netherlands is the 14th largest economy in the world Netherlands exports just vegetable and dairy of 100 billion dollars in a year.

 in the history of this country our oil export has never attained such a level every day we lip service to agriculture but what are the structural instruments of making agriculture real? we used to have groundnut pyramids we used to have palm oil exported in commercial quantity, we used to have cocoa some of those we exported cocoa with are now using it for chocolate they have secondary industries arising from them some who exported palm oil have hydrogenation of fats they have margarine you go to Malaysia they use even the shell of palm nut to make gravel for rural roads they use the middle of the stem to make Ceylon sheets and yet they took their seedlings from Nigeria it is because our structure of government promoted growth Mr. President look at our security when we had the regional police this didn't exists every state had domestic security.

Mr. president we have come to beg you, you know that sometimes history places one in a particular Junction to change the order of things we see you and your colleagues in a particularly unique junction you can prevent further bloodshed in this country ,you can prevent further drift into our ethnic conclave ties I never knew that after I had won election on Yoruba oath I would ever be  a leader of Igbos  but I am the leader of Igbos who want Igbos in a Nigeria with meaning and relevance to national unity.

Mr. President we want you to revisit devolution of powers because if we have this restructuring  and we limit people to minding domestic affairs and we encourage competition between various areas of the country, production will increase standards will increase, security will increase, mutual respect for each other will increased, friendliness will be encouraged. We want a restructured Nigeria the alternative Mr. president will be worse than the situation we have today if it is possible for us to have a situation in which people carry ak-47 freely in Nigeria and murder people every day yesterday it was twenty one day before yesterday it was 17 this is happening as if nobody cares some people tell us they came from Libya when did Gaddafi die how many years ago. Any security in any country as rich as Nigeria if this was the problem we would have predicted it we would have organized for it.

 Even in essence of choosing  seventeen heads of security arms in this country is to ensure that they come from the same area as the president in order to ensure his loyalty what have they done to guarantee our security if they must all come from northern Nigeria please bring those who can do the job we can no longer tolerate this insecurity, we can no longer feel that people some people are strangers in their own country, the escalation of this feeling has only one destination it will live inevitably into a breakdown of law and order already we are all relying on self-defense in the south - east where I come from we have local vigilante groups and it is most trusty frightening how the Inspector General of police can tell us that something that works should be broken in my place before we began local vigilante groups kidnapping was the highest in the south-east people could not even have ordinary traditional engagements in the homes but today the south-east is probably the most peaceful place in Nigeria and we're told that all the guns licensed by the police which were not used for armed robbery or for civil insurrection should be returned to them where is this kind of rhetoric how is this justice viable so Mr. president the kernel of our point is some of my northern friends told me that the reason why the South wants restructuring is that we do not want them to participate in the oil well, I have already told you that the oil is gone and when the oil goes the greatest source of national revenue will come from agriculture the north has a monopoly of animal husbandry wealth, the north has a monopoly of vegetables, the north has a monopoly of dairy, the challenge is that the national attention has not been given to the development of it for export potential the North could virtually finance the whole federation if we give priority to that so we've not come to make an ethnic representation we've come to make a patriot representation if this does not happen it is we have no alternative but to sync the nunc dimitus of our country and God forbid that it should happen.

Mr. president this is their last and desperate attempts to masker our problems and to speak to power what else is power accept Jurua the reason you are not feared is the lack of unity but you are not looking for hundred percent’s Leon Trotsky and three people formed the Red Army that metamorphosed into the Bolshevik Revolution if   Sadan Armed Bello of blessed memory  Dr. Isaac and Chief Awolowo of blessed memory could not agree there would not have been anything called independence they refused to be divided by their tribal villages, there comes a time when unity is inevitable we call on you members of the National Assembly rise up and save our country.