Hon. Dr. John Kome, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, is the party’s 2023 candidate for Ikeja Constituency 1 seat in the Lagos House of Assembly. He spoke to EJIKEME OMENAZU on the 25 years of uninterrupted democracy, among other crucial issues. Excerpt:
Nigeria is in 25 years of uninterrupted democracy. How has the period been? What are the challenges you have observed so far?
What we have is 25 years of civil rule. I choose the term civil rule because of the way we practice democracy in Nigeria. In earnest, there are less of democratic tenets in what we are practicing. Democracy is a system of government that we copied from the west. I will always give respect to our former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Baba has always said that we should formulate our own pattern of democracy because the western pattern we have been copying is hurting us. I will join the call for a systematic transformation of Nigerian democracy. If it works for us, other countries may copy us. The civil rule we are copying is not working. Our own democracy has led to disunity. There is no fairness. There is oppression. Democracy is a government of the people by the people for the people. But our own democracy is by some people and for some people and not for all. Nonetheless, to some people, it is better than the military rule, just because of one reason, which is there is no oppression through the gun. Beside the oppression through the gun, the democracy we have practised for 25 years is not better than military rule.
How do you see calls by some lawmakers for a return to regionalism and a six-year single term for Presidents and state governors?
It is my view that the call for six years should be discarded. It will engender grandiose corruption. If you give first term to presidents or governors, they will work hard so that they can go for a second term. This is the case with the legislators too. They all will work hard to make a second term. However, all of them will come for a second term to loot. It then means that the citizens will enjoy the second term of the president and governors because they know that the citizens can deny them a second term if they fail to work hard. Thus, they will work hard to earn their second term. If you give a president or governor six-year single term, they will work 30 percent for the people and 70 percent for themselves by looting. How many countries give their presidents and lawmakers a single term? That shows it is not a good idea. Coming to regionalism, the call is welcome and overdue. The reasons are obvious. It is what applied in Nigeria during the time of Zik, Awo, Okpara, etc. their legacies are still in existence. Their legacies exist in several places. They include the Cocoa House and free education. Although groundnut pyramids are no longer in the north, it can still return. Regionalism will give room for the regions to examine the resources they have. If they look inwards, it will pay them more than the type of federal system we are practising now. Let the federal lose some of its powers a bit and give more powers to the regions. Let us give it a trial. Although, some questions exist, especially in the East, like where people in Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Delta will fall into. Some people in the South South are Igbo speaking. We are wiser now. Let us go regional. There is no harm in trial. The issue where Kwara should be, whether to the West or North, should not be a problem or create fear.
Regionalism will give room for referendums for people to decide where they want to be. Referendums have happened in several countries. Ghana practices regionalism and it is paying off. There is more development in Ghana today than Nigeria. We still have a federal structure in Nigeria. So, let us try regionalism again.
What is your take on the protracted Rivers State crisis? Do you think that the solution can come from the courts as against the political solution many were advocating?
The problem was caused by a man. It is man-made and can be solved by man. As I said earlier, our democracy is faulty. That is the cause of the problem. In the west we copied our democracy from, there is no godfatherism. If this is not nipped in the bud, democracy will be a government of one person by one person for all the people. Let people stop playing god before God shows them that only He is God. If you ask for a political solution in the Rivers crisis, it will not work. Legal solution will be the best. The constitution should be a reference point. Our democracy is destroying the judiciary system. Money rules the system while in other countries, ideas rule. In Nigeria, money controls the executive, the legislature and even the judiciary. The legal solution becomes a mirage. Look at the Kano Emirate crisis, different courts give conflicting judgments, even up to the Appeal level because our democratic governance is fraught with corruption, ethnicity and nepotism. These are the impediments to our democratic experience. Legal solution will bring everything to an end. Political solutions cannot resolve the Rivers crisis. Some political parties want the president to declare an Emergency Rule in Rivers to end democracy there. A former American president said that Blacks cannot rule themselves because they are like animals. This is just like Nnamdi Kanu saying that Nigeria is a zoo. We are not animals and Nigeria is not a zoo. I call on people to be intelligent. Where the constitution is clear, justice should be done. People who make decisions should seek legal advice. When the lawmakers were defecting, did they not seek legal advice? But they know what the constitution says. So, a legal solution is best in Rivers. If the president declares an Emergency, there will be injustice. We will become a laughing stock. When parents dance naked in a market square, it is the children and the family members that bear the shame.
What do you think about the inability of the relevant stakeholders to come out with a new and acceptable national minimum wage so far?
On the issue of minimum wage, four stakeholders are involved, the federal government, the states, the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Labour. The Federal Government has more money because it controls the knife and the yam. It can cut it, share it as it decides. Labour is asking for a particular amount for workers. Labour should remember that they are not asking from the Federal Government only, but from the states and the Organised Private Sector, where I, Dr Kome belong to. I don’t have allocations. I don’t take contracts. But, I have over 80 people I pay. If the Federal Government fixes minimum wage at N100,000, if the federal and states can pay, can the Organised Private Sector (OPS) pay? These are the indices we should look at and come up with a realistic and ideal amount. For instance, can Dr Kome, who has about 100 people, generate enough money to pay the workers and still pay taxes? How much can my firm generate to pay the workers and still pay workers? As I am talking, a government agency impounded my vehicle though I have paid all my requirements. This country is misled. Our laws are upside down. We need to sit down and think and should not act on impulses. I understand the kind of things the executive and legislators are enjoying and the looting is so much. When you fix a particular amount, you fund the private sector beyond their limit. They should pay according to their economic capability. The confusion in the Federal Government is so much because the workers are always agitating for higher wages. While Labour agitates for higher wages, the Executive and Legislature receive Maximum wages. It is irritating and provoking.
The Edo and Ondo governorship elections will be held soon. What is your advice to the stakeholders on how to make it free and fair?
Our major problem is the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the umpire. If INEC is truly independent, it means they have capacity to conduct free and fair elections. It falls back on the type of democratic where those in power regulate the work of INEC, thereby making it not independent. If INEC invokes its independence, the Ondo and Edo elections will be free and fair. I contested the election in Lagos in 2023. The people in power regulated the works of INEC. They wrote the results for INEC. They used the state machinery to warn me. So, Independence of INEC is what people will ask for in Edo and Ondo. The security operatives also derive their power from the people in power. It is said that He that plays the piper dictates its tune. The will of the electorate is always hijacked by those in power in the states.
Elder statesman Edwin Clark and several others have been calling for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the Leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) to no avail. Why do you think the government has not been able to adopt a political solution to the issue?
Yes, several elder statesmen have been appealing for the release of Nnamdi Kanu and these calls have been falling on deaf ears for reasons best known to those holding him. At a time, the court said he was entitled to bail and it was granted. But, his captors do not obey court orders. That is the type of democracy we practice. Members of the House of Representatives have joined in the calls. Individuals and institutions, both local and foreign, have been making the same calls. But, his captors defy all forms of political or social reasoning to Nnamdi Kanu’s release. To me, it could be that the government has palpable fear because of the upheaval in the South East, the Unknown gunmen, and the agitators for Biafra could be posing fear and signaling danger to the government. There is fear that the release of Kanu can exacerbate the tension and is capable of generating tension in the South East. When injustice is taken to a higher level, the fear of retribution will make the captors afraid of releasing their captors. The government that holds him knows that a lot of people have been calling for his release.