Chief Paul Enebeli, President-General, Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU)
Chief Paul Enebeli is the President of Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU) and presently one of the delegates representing the South South minorities in the on-going Constitutional Conference in Abuja. A Pharmacist by training and a member of the National Agency for Food, and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Board, past member of the Council of University of Benin, past Chairman of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Fellow of Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, is also a Rotarian. He bares his mind on what should be expected from the ongoing national conference, the need for resource generation, the marginalization of Ndokwa, power shift, among other issues as you will find from the excerpt of the interview below.
Q: What is the legitimacy of the Constitutional Conference bearing in mind that we have the national assembly?
A: The issue of legitimacy has been in the news for some time now. We have a set of people who are in the National Assembly who believe naturally that they are the legitimate people to discuss the nation and make laws. We also know that sovereignty belongs to the people and to those who are in the House are holding sovereignty on our behalf. I reasons the conference was put together which was succinctly explained by Mr. President in his inaugural lecture, there has been a clamour for sovereign conference. Some call it sovereign, some call it conference and went on to say and clearly so that the young ones were asking about the future of Nigeria, and there was a voice of dissent saying we need to look at ourselves again and so it appeared the people had spoken. Again, the President was reluctant to call the conference but again, he sees more than most of us, he is the President of this country whether you like it or not, he is probably, the most experienced President we have had, having been the Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and President. So, I think that from the point of view that sovereignty belongs to the people, he has every right to invoke the power that was given to him by the Constitution to bring the people together to discuss the future of the country. Like I always say, it is better to jaw jaw than to war war.
Q: There was a lot of misgiving about this delegate conference. Thank God it saw the light of the day and it is ongoing. As a delegate, what do you expect the Federal Government to do with its outcome?
A: The President in his inaugural speech alluded to the fact that there may be referendum as part of the process to put the constitution right. I think that is the way to go. Nobody is saying the National Assembly is not there, but the National Assembly cannot be said to know everything. You also realize that when you look at our electoral process – all is well. Yes! They are legitimate but, we also know that a lot of water have passed through the bridge in the process of their emergence. We also know that a lot of people who have the capacity to be in the National Assembly with what is going on with our electoral process have been shortchanged. If you look at the caliber of people in the conference, one will say that we will be able to come out with something that will assuage the feelings of Nigerians – the feelings of injustice and inequality because, we believe whether we like it or not, we should look at what we have done wrong and the best way to get it right.
Q: Some of the issues you are discussing in the conference like issues of fiscal federalism, devolution of powers and all that are issues before the Senate Committee on constitution amendment. What result do you intend to get that the Senate will not achieve?
A: I think the cornerstone for which to build anything is the structure. I am saying that right now, we should stop talking about resource control and concentrate on resource generation, because the fear of most people when you talk about resource control is that they will say, ah! The little thing they are getting from oil will be taken away. What do I mean by resource generation? I am saying that we will like to see the cotton industry re-emerging and the textile industry will be revived to be a great employer of labour; the cocoa becoming major source of foreign exchange. Coming back to Delta State where I come from, the Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan is looking at Delta Beyond Oil. A project whereby the people are looking at other sources of revenue generation other than oil. Delta has a lot of agricultural products – rubber, palm oil, cocoa, we have a lot of minerals too in the state. In some place, we have iron ore. These things are not tapped. So, I am looking at resource generation, let there be take-off grants from revenue from oil and allow states to be committed in accessing the resources in their states.
Q: President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has spent a lot of money on security. What do you think the security chiefs are not doing right because, security is still a major challenge in the country?
A: Let me use this opportunity to condole the families of those that lost their lives as a result of the security challenge. Death in whatever form is not what one can wish his enemy. Having said that, a lot of things are going wrong in the country. Our security forces including the Police have to re-strategize. All over the world, insurgency, including guerrilla warfare and what have you is difficult to handle. Intelligence and information gathering are the key to arresting the situation. We have to up the ante as far as intelligence is concerned. We also have to stop politicizing everything. You cannot be politicizing people’s lives. The President also alluded to the fact that Boko Haram has infiltrated the system and one is worried because if such has happened, then, I sympathize with the President. The President is a civilian, he is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, but, he cannot do everything. This is why this conference is vital at this point in time.
Q: But the conference is not to discuss security issues?
A: We can discuss security issues. A number of committees have been set up and security is one of the committees. We may not be able to implement, but we can recommend the way forward. If we are not secured in the first place, we cannot even discuss. So, security is on the agenda. Maybe Nigeria has to look on how to invest in our neighbouring countries like Niger, Chad and Cameroon. America is today world’s Police, not because they want to do it but because, they believe that unless they Police the whole world, their security will be threatened. So, as a nation, what can we do to help our neighbouring countries to improve on maybe, their education, their software and or hardware? I see Nigeria as a country where when you have a poor next door neighbor, you are in trouble. So, Nigeria should start to look at how to collaborate with Chad, Niger and Cameroon because I think most of these insurgents may not come from Nigeria.
Q: Some people have asked the Federal Government to seek foreign assistance. Do you subscribe to that?
A: I do. Security has become an international issue. I think we should use the United Nations and other international bodies to assist us. We should also vote money for external assistance to these neighbouring countries because if they have problem, their problem will affect us.
Q: Will you subscribe to the agitation for state Police?
A: I used to be among those who believed that Nigeria is not ripe for state Police but, I am beginning to have a rethink. I think we need a local Police, state Police and Federal Police. Nobody will know about your area without being from your locality. The advantages of having local Police outweigh issues of Governors using the Police for political reasons and all that. In most civilized countries where law and order have been entrenched, they have local Police. I will go for local Police.
Q: Some Senators kicked against the section of Petroleum Industry Bill which states that some percentage of revenue from oil should be given directly to the communities where such revenues are got from. Do you think that oil producing communities should benefit directly from their resources?
A: I am from an oil producing community. I know what we are going through, our farmlands are being destroyed, our youths have no work to do. We have a phenomenon of child grandfathers. You find a boy of thirty something years becoming a grandfather.
Q: But, the Federal Government has committed a lot of resources through the Ministry of Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among others to the region and you are still talking about devastation?
A: If you remove these things from the Federal Government and we have to deal with our representatives, you can call that a fair deal but, what is happening is that everything goes to the Federal Government and the people do not get the desired benefits. There are some communities you cannot get to throughout the year, because they do not have access roads. It is as bad as that. Places like Onuaboh, Abala, Inyi, Utchi are places you cannot get to with any vehicle. They still use what is called Pontoon to cross small creeks. Places such as Okpai where you have the Independent Power Plant (IPP) have more pathetic story to tell as they are in darkness. Electricity was taken from their area and stepped down at Obosi in Anambra State from where it was supplying the national grid.
Q: But, there is the NDDC?
A: I am not a fan of all these interventionist agencies because any time you create them, you create another problem. Right now, where I am from, we produce so much oil but, we don’t know the quantity we are producing. So, I think with fiscal federalism, we can hold our leaders accountable, we can know how much we are generating and all that. The interventionist agencies have not met with the expectations of our people.
Q: Are you saying Ndokwa people have not benefitted enough for having oil?
A: Thank you very much for that question. Despite all what the Ndokwa gives to the Federal Government, we do not have Federal presence in our area. In the three Ndokwa local government areas – Ndokwa West, Ndokwa East and Ukwuani, the only thing that we have are federal government presence is a dilapidated prison yard which is in Kwale and a few Police station located in the area. That is apart from the fact that we give about 20 per cent of the energy use of the country, we don’t have electricity in our area. We have so many marginal fields. Even in the area of appointment, since I was born, I have never seen an Ndokwa-born Minister, or an Ambassador. I have never seen a Judge of whether the Supreme Court or whatever Court and so on and so forth. That is why when we talk about conference, the minorities like us wants to use the opportunity to tell Nigeria that it is unfair to us. As a matter of fact, we should ask for restitution because government has taken so much from that place and put back little or nothing. In those days, when we had provinces, the present Ndokwaland used to be the Aboh Division. Now, those Divisions like Aboh Division have six local government areas with two federal constituencies, but, today, the Aboh Division have three local government areas with one federal constituency. The implication is that in terms of our political economy, in terms of our money, in terms of inputs and what have you, we are losing because, if you have one constituency, you have one person representing you in the House of Representatives. If you have two federal constituencies, you will have two persons representing you. And at the state level, six members of the House of Assembly instead of three and so on and so forth.
Q: How have you fared under the Delta State government?
A: Under the Governor Uduaghan’s administration, I can say there is hope. He is establishing a Polytechnic at Aboh which is the first institution of higher learning in Ndokwa land and we are grateful for that. We need health institutions. The Governor has also put a double carrier way that passes from Asaba through Ndokwaland to Ughelli and we need much more than that not only from the state government also, from the federal government. We think some of the problems we are having today is because, we are not at the centre. If you go to the Presidency for instance, there is no Ndokwa man who is a Special Adviser or Senior Special Adviser. And at the state level today, if you count the first ten to twenty officers, none is from Ndokwa. The Governor is not from Ndokwa, Deputy Governor is not from Ndokwa, the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, the Secretary to the State Government including the Chief Judge of Delta State are not from Ndokwa. What we only have are the statutory positions and that is why we are working hard to ensure that an Ndokwa man or woman emerges as the next Governor of Delta State.
Q: There is a lot of re-alignment going on. What steps are the Ndokwa people taking to benefit from the power shift?
A: I don’t want to hear the word, power shift. I think every right thinking Deltan believes it is the time for the next Governor of Delta State to come from Delta North Senatorial district, whether it was written or not written, it is a matter of equity and justice, it is a matter of give and take. I tell people that what is lacking is opportunity, it is not that we don’t have qualified people to do those things – there is no part of the country that does not have graduates, Masters and Ph.D. holders and what have you. What is lacking is opportunity and opportunity goes with empowerment. We are pleading to Deltans that they should understand our plight.
Q: People are saying that the people of Delta North are not united. Won’t this have effect on their governorship aspiration?
A: When you are marginalized, people say a lot of things to make you feel bad but, someone must show character, he must show tenacity of purpose. Chief James Ibori became the Governor of Delta State and I don’t think all the Urhobos supported him. The present Governor, Dr Uduaghan is from Itsekiri, again, I don’t think all Itsekiri people supported him. It is just that there was understanding and the people accepted him. On the issue of unity, there are so many bodies flying the flag of Anioma people. There is the Anioma Congress and the Izu Anioma trying to foster unity among the people. It is also not only your people that can make you to win in an election. If it is your people, Chief Obasanjo could not have been the President of this country. He lost all elections in Yoruba land. It is a question of understanding. Today, President Jonathan is the President of this country, if all the Ijaws have voted for him without other Nigerians, he would not be President. So, it is all about give and take, be your brother’s keeper.
Q: Do you see the feasibility of having Anioma State bearing in mind that it is almost impossible to create a state in a civilian administration?
A: Let me put the record straight and inform you that Mid-West was created under a civilian administration. So, I believe it is still possible to create a state. I believe that the desire to create Anioma State is the oldest request before the National Assembly and we have virtually scaled through every hurdle required to create that state. I believe that if there is any state that should be created, it should be Anioma State. It is viable, the people have all that it takes in terms of economy or whatever to run their affair. I also believe that with what we are doing at the conference, the South East is the only zone that has five states, there are some areas that have seven states and I believe there should be fairness, equity, and the South East should have at least seven states to meet up with what we have in North West.
Q: In what ways do you think Anioma State can be viable?
A: Ndokwa is part of Anioma State. Ndokwa produces good amount of Nigeria’s oil. As at today, Ndokwa has the greatest reserve of gas in the West African region. Ndokwa produces 480 megawatts of electricity from the Okpai IPP, Ndokwa produces agricultural produce for the nation and I also know that not only Ndokwa but some parts of Aniocha/Oshimili has a good deposit of untapped coal. Today, there is a viable airport in Asaba. So, in the next few years, Asaba will be an economic hub. We also have a lot of human resources who can drive the economy. There is a lot of tantalite in Edo and Anioma and tantalite is used for the making of telephones. So, I think Anioma if created will be viable. Linquistically, the language is very close, we also inter-marry. With what we are talking about fiscal federalism, we can have good synergy.
Q: What is NAFDAC doing to ride this country of fake drugs?
A: I am a member of NAFDAC Board and the organization is doing a lot to ride the country of fake drugs or what is called the regulated products. But there are challenges. Part of the challenge is the attitude of Nigerians. This country is also very large. NAFDAC is carrying out a lot of enlightenment campaign, advocacy is very important. We want the people to be well enlightened. Right now, NAFDAC is not at the Ports and a lot of things can come through the Ports. Nigerians should also help themselves by checking the packaging and expiring dates of the products. They should also, check for NAFDAC approval numbers. Distribution networks are also being streamlined. NAFDAC have also introduced the mobile identification number, especially for those drugs that are used daily – anti-malaria drugs and antibiotics. NAFDAC is doing a lot and if you travel out of the country, you will see what they are going through. Some countries are coming to Nigeria to learn from NAFDAC.
