Senator Victor Umeh, who represents Anambra Central Senatorial District at the National Assembly, is the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Identity and Population. In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on approval of an additional state for the South-East by the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, among other issues. ANAYO EZUGWU reports
How big a deal is this approval of a new state for the South-East?
It is a great development that comes with a sense of justice, equity and fairness.
This agitation for an additional state in the South-East is not a new thing. As far back as 2014, when we were at the National Conference, the 492 delegates that attended that conference unanimously agreed that the South-East deserves an additional state in the first instance before requests or demands for states by other parts of Nigeria will be considered. So, in other words, this one met everyone’s support, and that was what we decided in 2014.
What the Senate and the House of Representatives members did at their retreat was another confirmation of the justice of the matter. The joint committee agreed unanimously that there will be an additional state in the South-East. So, it is on the same pedestal with the national confab resolution.
It shows that the shortchanging of the South-East geopolitical zone over these years has received the attention of all and sundry, and it’s a very significant development. What we received as requests for additional states across the country were 55 states. And out of these 55, the joint committee agreed that the South-East should be given an additional state before considering the merits for the other 54 applications.
If those other applications are considered and considered; that goes back to square one. Doesn’t it?
It is really the norm. Once anything is on the table, everybody will go for it. At the national conference, we had as much as 50-something states that were demanded. There is no new state that is being demanded today.
Many of them were in the 2014 National Conference as well. But the point is that before you go into the motley of all the requests, you first of all look for where it is hurting very badly. This one has not come and the other 54 states that are still pending for consideration; the SouthEast is not eliminated. When the South-East gets this additional state then it’s a level playing field.
If the SouthEast gets one additional state in the first instance, states can be now created across the geopolitical zones on the basis of equality
The North-West, of course, is standing at seven but if you now say you want to create one additional state per zone, the South-East will be entitled to another state. At that time, they will be getting two.
Because the national confab, like in the present case, said that if the South-East gets one additional state in the first instance, states can be now created across the geopolitical zones on the basis of equality. It means that South-East has moved on with an additional state, which is very good enough.
Just like they’re trying to correct the imbalance, there are other places in Nigeria that also possibly merit to get another state based on justice and equity…
Of course! What we are very careful about is that we don’t want to tilt the balance again. Now that we have done well enough to bring the South-East nearly at par with the other four geopolitical zones, except the North-West that has seven states, you will not proceed again in a manner that there will be another agitation for balance.
So, the additional states will now be created across the zones on the basis of equality. If you say two more states, every other zone will get two more states. Then the South-East will also get one state in addition to whatever you want to create across the geopolitical zones.
Is there an argument to be made for a limit on the number of states that should be created?
No, it’s not what you ask for that you get. People will continue to ask for more. It’s natural within a human endeavor but the point is that in this present circumstance, it is not easy for the whole country to come and accept and admit that South-East deserves one state.
It will be an uphill task for other agitators to get that type of consensus. But if you look at what has happened, the South-East has gotten national consensus twice, first at the national conference and now at this constitution review exercise.
So, if you want to have a state from any part of Nigeria, you will be prepared to do a lot to get people convinced that you deserve that state to the exclusion of the request being made by others. It’s a constitutional necessity because even to create one local government; you have to go through a lot of hurdles to achieve it.
This constitution, the way we have it, if you want to create an additional state or additional local government in Nigeria, you have a lot to put in. Assuming it scales through at the National Assembly, you have to go back to the state assemblies to be able to get two-third of the number of state houses of assembly in Nigeria.
That’s 24 and you must get it before you can alter the structure of government in Nigeria. So, the one for the South-East appears very unique in the sense that when we come back to National Assembly, because this is a retreat and is a proposal still in the works. But if I will come back to the actual voting, the National Assembly will be bound by its unanimous resolution on the creation of one additional state in the South-East.
It’s not one you come back and people will vote yes or no. It’s has been agreed to heal the wounds of the past. So for you to now create any one more, you have to convince the National Assembly to agree that there will be another state. You have to get two-third of the votes of the entire National Assembly to pass the new state before you go to the state assemblies. So, it’s a long journey.
Even the one for the South-East that we have gotten now, though it looks very good because there is no opposition to it by the National Assembly, but we have to go back again to the SouthEast to see where that additional state will be created. We have to go through other constitutional processes to get the people to agree that this is the state that they will have before the final action will be taken.
Do you look at this approval by the Joint Constitution Review Committee a sign of change and better things to come for the South-East?
I believe very much so. The South-East people have canvassed for it and it’s very glaring when you look at it. Apart from five states that the South-East has, the zone has the least number of local governments following the balkanization of Nigeria by the military at a time.
They zone has 95 local governments. So, it is a case of putting the SouthEast behind because the number of states and local governments we have will determine what we get out of national resources.
If you also consider that in the political process, when you want to have a national convention of a political party, you draw delegates from local governments and states. So, the South-East has always been contributing the least number of delegates in major political decision-making processes. But an additional state for the zone will bridge that gap and increase the zone’s voting power.
And in resource allocation and sharing in Nigeria, the zone will get more. And when you want to recruit people into the federal civil service or agencies of the federal government, you get nominations from states and local governments. So I believe that we are on the march towards correcting this unfair political structure.
Has this brought the South-East out of that dark period of wondering why they have five states and everyone else has six or seven?
This move is a soothing move. It’s beautiful in the sense that when you continue to cry out about marginalisation of your people and people don’t listen to you, it will be very frustratingly annoying. And it shows that there’s nothing time cannot do.
Time heals wounds. It took us a long time. 2014 to now is 11 years. So after 11 years, it reverberated again that the SouthEast deserves an additional state and every Nigerian agreed with it. It makes a bold beginning for complaints to be addressed.
The President has really demonstrated that he wants a credible census to be conducted. He hasn’t given the date but he has set up a presidential committee on the issue
Those things that people were not giving attention to with time, they will be addressed. So, this is a very great beginning, I believe so and I’m sure that everybody is happy with it. So, I want to encourage Nigeria to proceed this way, because when people are aggrieved, you don’t continue to move on as if those people are not Nigerians.
There are pockets of injustices across Nigeria. It’s the time for us to begin national process of healing, bringing everybody together, having a common vision and purpose for the country, instead of moving on, while some people are dragging you down emotionally.
What’s the way forward from here with this?
We’re excited with it and it’s a process we are looking forward to. We have set up another committee to look at these issues and it was given three weeks to come back with its recommendations to the National Assembly.
After that, we will move on. If the National Assembly goes on to vote and pass resolutions on all these issues and we have two-third majority because we are going to take them clause-by-clause again, the next thing is to go to the states.
Are you looking about for the whole process, three months, six months, or longer?
I doubt it will be longer because some of these issues will be dragged but the important thing is that the ball has rolled on. And I know that if you don’t achieve some of these things now, you keep postponing the break point where people will no longer accept certain things.
The President has really demonstrated that he wants a credible census to be conducted. He hasn’t given the date but he has set up a presidential committee on the issue
It’s good for the government to always look at the justice of everything and know when to apply a break and chart a new course, so that there will be that unity of purpose in the country. People will not continue to cry over neglect or marginalisation. You have to build a truly united country where everybody will have faith, both in leadership of the country and the way we do our things.
You are the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Identity and Population. When is Nigeria going to have a credible census?
Well, the last census we had in Nigeria was in 2006. From 2006 to now is 19 years. We are expected to do a national census at least every 10 years. That we have not done it for 19 years means that we are far behind and the population is growing by the day. If you don’t know the number of people that live in your country, you’ll be planning endlessly. You will know the distribution of the population. The demographic data will be based on estimates all the time.
But you need to know the number of people within every age bracket because every age group has its own special needs from government. And government should be able to know the accurate, even if it’s not accurate, government should be able to have a credible population figure, so that government can now estimate on how to allocate its resources.
You know the number of people who are within the school age, secondary school age and primary school age. You know the needs of these children and deploy resources accordingly. You know the number of people who are homeless, so that if you are saying, we’re going to give you Renew Hope Housing programme, how many people are you going to house?
How many houses are you looking for? So you need to have an accurate figure and census. And that’s the way it’s seen. So, a credible census figure is used for policymaking and planning and government will not be guessing. If government wants to make an intervention with any programme, the government will be able to know with near certainty the group that will hit.
Is not your job as chairman of the Senate Committee on Population to provide the necessary institutional framework to ensure that Nigeria’s population data is accurate, timely, and inclusive?
Census has always been controversial in Nigeria. The 1963 census was the most contested because of the way we do things and it would so until we begin to build that national patriotism, where you say, let’s have a headcount, everybody presents himself or his household for headcounts, truthfully.
But because they know that your population will aid you to get certain advantages, people go to rig census, like they rig elections to get power, and I believe it will not continue being like that, because the census that is being planned will be technologically driven. Both NIMC and the National Population Commission will work together, so that we use technology to do capturing.
The President has said nobody can be counted without proper capturing unlike before when you are counting human beings, people will be counting cows. So, we need to know that we are counting real human beings. The technology we have now will aid the process. So, I believe it’s going to be done. It depends on the disposition of the President of the country. And the President has really demonstrated that he wants a credible census to be conducted.
He hasn’t given the date but he has set up a presidential committee on the issue. And just three weeks ago, he sent nominees for confirmation. One for chairman because the tenure of the current chairman just elapsed. We quickly screened the nominee and he has been confirmed. We’re not delaying at all.
The President has what he needs to be able to prepare for census. It’s not a small thing. It’s heavily demanding costwise but there’s no substitute to knowing how many people live in Nigeria. So, the census is something that is a sine qua non to having a government that is properly focused and with the data to be able to do it. Look at, the President tried to do palliatives when he came in.
The government couldn’t drive it because of lack of data. So, it is now that, through NIMC these things are being generated at government. If government wants to give out N5 billion or whatever amount, you’ll be able to know where the money is going. Your data will have your NIN and if you bring an account where their money will be put for you, you have a BVN, so all these data-based collections driven by technology will make it speedily for government to reach the people very fast.
