Fire-spitting former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, Zaria, has described Chief Anthony Anenih, as Nigeria's most dangerous politician, who has contributed to most of the ills plaguing the Obasanjo administration. Abdullahi says in a no holds-barred interview with Saturday Sun: ?Anenih has no conscience, and when someone has no conscience, he is not guided by any principle. ?Even during our time at the PDM, we have always been suspicious of him. We expressed our suspicion to Shehu Yar'a dua. And when we wanted to come together in 1998, we left him out, but he found his way back through another group working for Obasanjo's election in 1998/1999. We know who he is." The former special adviser on food security to President Obasanjo also knocked the regime, describing it as the worst government to ever rule the country, amongst other issues. Abdullahi's views are hot as you will find out in the chat below. Please, read on... On the new spate of killings in the new year Well these horrendous murders simply portend danger. The killings are carry forward of tragic events since the last few years. And, of course, the series of tragedies- some of which are man-made, some natural - were virtually overwhelming in 2005. Nigerians were praying at the end of last year that 2006 would bring brighter tidings for the country, hoping it would be a much better year than the years under this administration. But this tragic event in Kano, the murder of Sa?adatu Rimi, the wife of Abubakar Rimi has shaken an entire nation that had expected a better year. However, that doesn?t detract us from continuing with our struggle for better future for our children and our grand children.
Killing, politically motivated Definitely this is a politically motivated killing, which we think is not really initially intended for Sa?adatu, but targeted at her husband, Abubakar Rimi. Those monitoring his movement missed the fact he would not be in Kano on Friday (the night of killing) to come and spend the night in Kaduna to be part of the 40th anniversary of Sardauna?s death which was taking place on Saturday. So they might have gone searching for Rimi in the house and of course in the course of their search, they went to his wife?s bedroom and demanded to know where her husband was. And the fact that she was brought down from bedroom which was upstairs to downstairs, meant that the assailants were using her to search around the house. And perhaps at the point when they realized they could not locate Rimi, they still did not believe her that he was away, thinking she was covering him up. And, may be, out of fury and anger, they felt that her killing would inflict pain on her husband of course and the act itself would please those who had sent them on the errand in the first place. If they had not succeeded in killing Rimi, they have shown evidence that at least they have tried by taking the life of his wife. Does it scare the opposing camp? You see, those who perpetrate this kind of atrocities think that it would scare Rimi, for example, who is now directly affected. But certainly they are making a mistake. Just wait for a few more days; you will see the usual Rimi, just like he ever was before, in terms of his opposition. After all, this tragedy came after other tragedies in the last three, four, five years. Bola Ige was killed, Dikibo was killed, Harry Marshal was killed and quite a number of other people were politically assassinated. But this did not stop people from coming forward to express opposition where there is need to express such opposition against certain activities of this government. So, if anything, like you saw in the days of Abacha, this is going to intensify the opposition and struggle against what is apparently an intention to cower Nigerians into submission. And if Nigerians would accept to be cowered by these dastardly acts that occur from time to time, it would be most unfortunate, because the struggle for freedom does not usually come cheap. Rimi played major role in stopping Abacha And this whole tragic thing started from 1999 to date. Those of us who are close to him know that Rimi was in the fore-front of struggle in the Abacha?s time against Tazarce- elongation. We started our G3 in his house in Kaduna, we expanded to G5 then to G7, we became G18 and later G34 and Rimi was right at the centre of it. And the fact that Rimi was picked up together with others and put in detention did not stop the opposition against the obvious intention of General Abacha to transform from military to civilian president. So, this is going to be the case now. I am telling you that if these various acts of intimidation and killings of people should continue, just because there is an agenda for people to perpetuate themselves in power, then they are making tragic mistakes because there will be more intensification of opposition against them from all nooks and crannies of this country, from people they least expect. Atmosphere is already getting charged. And let me tell you, the intensity of the feelings of people against what is supposed to be the official position vis-?-vis the atmosphere of insecurity which is traceable to government. The intensity is so great that already prayers are conducted in mosques five times a day and in churches for the repose of the soul of the departed persons, then for consoling their families and then for the actual condemnation and curse on those who perpetrate hardship and insecurity of lives in this country. Why am I involved in the struggle My struggle has always been the same struggle. After retirement from public service as Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, I started a farm which is till operating and I never knew I was going to be actively involved in politics until one day Shehu Yar?adua came to my house and said "hey look, Ango, things are not going on well in this country. Look at our history, the direction this country is moving is not a very happy one, we have to do something about it by getting involved in politics to see whether we can make a difference", and this is way back in the late 80s. My initial response was hesitant, but I eventually agreed, we started. So I was the first Chairman of Peoples Front (PF) and the motivation was for public good, and with very little concern about what comes to us in terms of office individually. The struggle is about basic freedom for people and for their happiness to be safe guarded. So from 1998 when our group the PDM joined other groups to form the PDP, our hopes and aspirations were for democracy to take root in Nigeria, where people would be the determinants of who their leaders would be at party levels as well as at the executive levels. And people were quick to grab it and there has never been a party in the history of this country that enjoyed the kind of spread and support at the beginning like the PDP of 1998- 1999. The 1999 elections were clearly good and transparently conducted and PDP won all over the country. So we had this beautiful opportunity to really install democracy in this country. But through the behaviour and acts of those who have been put in charge at both the party level and executive level, today we have sad story about what we fought for in the last six years. We moved gradually but rapidly to where we are today- a point of non-democracy, a point of near anarchy at the political as well as the executive levels. And this is why, today, the basic laws of the country are being violated. Only a few weeks ago, the Chief Judge of the Federation accused the executive branches of this country of violating the law, not respecting the rule of law by obeying court decisions. And you could also see what is happening at the party levels. I, together with others, were responsible for starting the care-taker committees of the PDP in 1998 for the party to have its registration, because the demand then was that you must have a list of officers from local government levels to the national levels, and because there was not time for elections, we set up care-taker committees. PDP has never held party elections since inception So up to the point I am talking to you now, from 1998 to date, there have never been elections organized along party constitutions in this country under PDP. From care-taker committees up till now, it has been a situation where, at the federal level, officers are appointed by the power that be, at the state level, party officers are appointed by authorities that be; even at the local governments it is the same thing. So we moved away from a democratic party to a party controlled by cabals that have intent to achieve certain goals and these goals are becoming apparent to Nigerians today Where does your sympathy lie ? with Atiku or Babangida? I stand right at the centre of our democratic hopes and aspirations. Our main concern today is not individual aspiration of anybody. Our main concern is, first and foremost, to establish democracy in the country by ensuring that the laws and constitution of this country are respected and upheld by those who have been put there to uphold and protect them. So, the issue of who becomes President, to me, is now secondary. Let the rules apply first, and let Nigerians who want to run for presidency obey those rules. I would not stand on any one?s lap. My relationship with Atiku Atiku was my political associate?we share a lot thing together. And along with late Shehu Yar?adua, we formed the PF together, we formed the PDM together and later the PDP with him Break-up of Nigeria is my greatest fear! The greatest fear in the minds of all well-meaning Nigerians especially those who had seen Nigeria before independence (which I did) and after independence, the first question that comes to mind is the possibility of its break-up. Yes, there is that possibility. You can?t rule that out. In fact, it doesn?t give me fear as such, it gives me disappointment. There is a difference between fear and disappointment. Fear is that you are going to necessarily lose something personal to you which, to me, is not the case... Yes, there is a possibility from the way the politicians seem to be behaving rather irresponsibly.There are no political parties in Nigeria There is a difference between the crass politics one sees on the ground today and basic principles about associations, whether these associations are national associations or political parties. If you notice today, there are political parties; they are only parties on paper, not political parties. If there are political parties, you would not be having the kind of crises that we are having today both in the so-called PDP and even other political parties. Just look at it, people are moving from the political party that at one time had bound the country together to some organizations that are either regional or tribal or ethnic, keeping themselves more busy with regional, tribal and ethnic problems and caring less about parties or national cohesion, these are indications that Nigeria can disintegrate. Where should power shift in 2007 As a participant who formed the PDP, I was one of the signatories who signed life into PDP as a party. We knew all the antecedents that brought about power shift. And when it finally rested on Obasanjo, coming out of prison at that time. The power shift arrangement was deliberate. Getting him out of prison was simply an act of mercy by General Abdul-salam who was encouraged by people from across the nation. He was deliberately pardoned so that he would not have to carry the stains of a convict, you know preparing him for the presidency. Going through the June 12 issue and the power sharing committee of the 1994 constitutional conference of which I was a member, we agreed in principles that if we applied strict rule of democracy of one-man-one-vote, the north would always keep power, because it has the voting strength to do so. Apart from that we also agreed that even going by the diversity of Nigeria, why shouldn?t we bring in something that would restore confidence in terms of power sharing and remove fear, pains and suspicions? So we said, why not deliberately shift the power to the South? That is how Obasanjo and Ekweme became candidates on the PDP platform. And even in the ANPP that was northern-based, in sympathy and strategy with the power shift principle, they also decided that its candidate should come not only from the South, but also the same area with Obasanjo, and they conceded it to Olu Falae even though he came from a minority party the AD vis-?-vis ANPP. That was a testimony of a deliberate concession of power shift to the South in 1999. It was also clear in the agreement that, that was the beginning of rotation - whether it was included in the constitution or not. You begin to oscillate power between the North and South allowing them to decide which zone their candidate should come from whenever it comes to their turn. This was the arrangement and that is how PDP so solidly supported the Obasanjo candidature in the north. And that was how he got one million votes in the entire South-West zone against the 18million from other parts of the country. And when it came to 2003, again, the matter came to the fore. There was a debate as to whether it should come back to the North, but the preponderance of support said keep it in the South, but let people interested in the South contest for it. That is why again Ekwueme became the principal contender against Obasanjo from the South. Anenih?s argument was rubbish. So, Tony Anenih was talking rubbish when he said that the fact that Barnabas Gemade and Abubakar Rimi contested against Obasanjo and that action violated the earlier agreement. This can not be anything other than nonsense and rubbish. If not by a unanimous decision of the North, how come Barnabas Gemade got no votes from Benue? Or how is it that Rimi would not get votes from Kano and Jigawa? How is it that Ekwueme got more votes than Rimi from Kano? The answer was obvious. It was simply because the North had agreed that this zoning should be respected without necessarily denying the constitutional rights of people who wished that they would stick out their necks for it, based on purely legalistic and constitutional provisions. So Anenih?s argument is baseless except that they now want to change the rule of the game mid-stream and because this is what their master is telling them to do. Of course it doesn?t matter to many of us, if now Nigerians want to abandon the principles of power sharing through this rotation and go back to the original status quo, so be it. The struggle in PDP today is that the president should take full control of it , so that he can tell everybody what to say or what to do and this is what the Amadu Alis are doing. South?South wranglings and agitation is also nonsensical considering the agreed principle of power shift in 1998. Where were those from the South South when that agreement was sealed. That South South produce 90 per cent of Nigeria?s wealth? That is also nonsense! It ?s nonsense, because they don?t! The fact that foreign exchange earnings constitute 95 percent of Nigeria?s earnings does not mean that is Nigeria?s wealth. You go and check your economics very well! It is nonsensical to make all these kind of claims that are not tidy, and this is what really infuriates people. These people act as if Nigeria owes everything to them, and Nigeria does not owe them anything other than they are stakeholders in Nigeria today like other parts of the country. I cannot accept a situation where Rivers State would go home with more than what it is having now against my state (Kaduna). Rivers State takes about N9billion every month and my state twice the population of Rivers state takes N1.4bilion. and even if you go to other states of the south, Enugu state gets N1.2billion; and what do you tell the Ibos from Enugu state?. Simply because there is some ashen atmosphere we should not loose our calm and sense of reasoning. During the Delegate Conference, everybody got up and said they want the unity of Nigeria and the unity of Nigeria is premised on our readiness to allow for even development in this country. If power doesn?t come to North in 2007, what happens? Your guess is as good as mine. But I think it will. Supposing Obasanjo continues? Using what law? He can amend the law He can never do that! The North would never agree. There will be no change in the constitution. So if North does not get power in 2007, no Nigeria? Who knows? If the other parts feel that we are bad because we are asking legitimately for power to return to the North based on agreement in 1998/1999 and 2002/2003? What if they ask for another negotiation? Negotiate what? Yon don?t rule out negotiation. And negotiation is different from threat. What we are witnessing is a threat! And this is not acceptable. Do you fear military coup? There is nothing to fear. This government is worse than military government. So, what difference does it make. In fact it is more painful to have this kind of government under a democracy than have a military regime. Because this is a people under a party who had gone to your homes, villages and town to ask for your votes, they got your votes and they turned against you, terrorise and kill you. So does the North regret giving power to the South? No, we regret giving power to Obasanjo, not the South. Do you know Obasanjo too well? We?re friends (long laughter). I have known him for 30 years. When he declared for the presidency, his wife Stella was sitting (may her soul rest in peace), he was sitting and I was the next person. That was in Ota farm. We were as close as that. Does he surprise you now? Not only surprise, he shocks me. I thought I knew him, but I now realized I did not. You mean you did not know your friend? Well, there is a possibility, and many people would react like I do. Especially those who happen to know him closely and professionally. I knew him when he was Chief of Staff for an assignment that I did for the Murtala Muhammed?s government. And later, when I was Vice Chancellor, ABU, we had cause to interact. He gave a national assignment we developed this fraternity. And after he retired, he created this African Leadership Forum in which I was an active participant in seminars, some I presented papers. So I thought I knew the man. And, of course nobody can deny the fact that Obasanjo had created this image of democratic nationalist, an African patriot and the like, and he succeeded in fooling so many people including myself. A school of thought believed Obasanjo was for the North? No, that is a wrong notion; what really happened (you have to look at it in proper context. He never knew about General Murtala?s coup. He was not part of it. He didn?t know anything about it. When Murtala became head of state, Obasanjo suddenly found himself a Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters ( like a Vice President). Now after Murtala?s assassination, again he did not know anything about it. It was northern officers who eventually crushed the coup. But of course, Murtala had died. The senior military officers of northern extraction, like Danjuma, Yar?adua and many others were there, and if they had insisted on stepping into Murtala?s shoes, nobody could challenge them. But they decided that following military discipline, the next person in command should be given. He happened to come from the South by coincidence, not that the military also had the power shift arrangement. But I can then tell you, from that point on, he wasn?t the ?sole captain? of the ship. He knows who were the officers in-charge in the running of government. In fact, it is now that we are realizing that the performance of that government could be traced to General Danjuma, Yar?adua and a few others who were at the centre of it. So if you like, he was just figure-head and symbolic head of state. And then he ran away initially? Well, I don?t know about that, but I also heard what you heard that in 1976 when the Dimka struck, he had run away, but this is for the military people to tell us.
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Obasanjo?s leadership assessment? He is absolutely the worst Nigerian leader, worse than whoever you think is bad. First, your leadership style could bail you out as a good leader or bad leader. The leadership style one would like to see in good leaders is to be able to listen well, take good advise, listen and accommodate contrary views even if they run counter to your personal views. On this count alone, I can?t remember from the list of leaders Nigeria has had whether any one was worse than Obasanjo. Abacha, for example, listened to people?s complaints and took decisions to ameliorate the problems. Take the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), When he said he was increasing the price of petroleum, there was an uproar, that it was too hard for people to take. The ordinary person would suffer. He now said but there was the need to increase, what do we do to assure Nigerians that the increase would serve the interest of Nigerians? That was how he was advised to form the PTF. He called an upright character in the person of General Buhari and told him that he would never expect him to fail. Buhari on the other hand gave him a condition that he did not want any interference in running the affairs of this Fund to serve the interest of Nigerians. Abacha could say no, with the sheer ego that he was the Head of state. He could say I am in-charge and I would tell you what to do. Of course, Buhari would have dropped the idea and walked away, but Abacha needed him and so he accepted the conditions and left Buhari to work. Of course Buhari produced results with the Fund. That was a listening president. What happens if you draw the same example with Obasanjo? Within a few years now, we have witnessed four increases in the prices of the petroleum products- unimaginable increases. But then in conjunction with these additional revenues from local taxes, because these are local taxes, coupled with the enormous revenue, that is accruing because of favourable prices of petroleum in the world, tell me which government has ever been lucky in terms of revenue in-flow like this one? The National Assembly cried out to your hearing that budgets are not implemented, rules are not obeyed, roads are not made, and up till now we have not been informed about the whereabouts of that N300billion given to Tony Anenih?s Ministry of Works for road construction at the beginning of this administration. Remember, up till now you can not measure 5000 kilometers of new roads in this country from 1999 to date, but Buhari with N67billion had constructed 13,000 kilometers of paved roads, not to talk about drugs in the hospitals, facilities in schools and so on. If budgets are not implemented you expect there is a carry forward to lump up with the next and the next etc etc. Today I am a pensioner, I don?t receive pension because the University I served (ABU) can not pay me, no funds. Even salaries have not been paid regularly, allowances too, not only in schools and universities but also in the forces. Could that be due to bad advice? We don?t want to listen to that. Obasanjo must take the responsibility. He should learn from history. And if he learns from history, he should know where Anenih came from. Anenih was in our political group. Soon after Shehu Yar?adua was captured by Abacha, he moved to Abacha. This was the person who had moved the motion at the constitutional conference that Abacha?s military should hand over power in 1996 while he was with Yar?adua, but with Yar?adua captured, he now moved another motion that Abacha could stay for as long as he wished. We didn?t know him from Adam. It was Shehu who brought him into our group. We asked what his history and antecedents were. Shehu was at the war front and Anenih was an assistant commissioner of police in the then war zone area of present Edo state. That is how they knew themselves. They became close, but he has always remained suspect to some of us and we told Yar?adua that this your friend now we are not sure about his sincerity. And we were vindicated when he shifted to Abacha camp immediately after capturing Yar?adua. Before his death, Yar?Adua was to hear Anenih moving to various parts of the world image laundering for Abacha. Anenih is super fox. With this attitude of Anenih?s he proved to everybody, not only us, that he can be foxy, but the super fox in him came out when Anenih and others were busy supporting Abacha and Abacha suddenly died. In re-grouping to form PDP, we naturally left Anenih out of it. Obasanjo was in prison, he did not know about our political activities and political formations. But what happened? Anenih came back to us through other formations directly connected to Obasanjo. This is the super fox you can call Anenih, and before you knew it, he was virtually in charge of everything. He was referred to as "leader" leader of who, I don?t know. He is also the most dangerous politician. Nigerians have given all sorts of names- . ?Mr Fixer" or "Mr Fix it" or "the leader", but in Nigeria today and going by the political terrain, one could say he is one of the most dangerous politicians around. There are those you can see, there those you can not see. He is among the dangerous one Nigerians can no longer trust. He is among those who have no conscience, and those who have no conscience have no rules to guide them into whatever actions. One can say that, looking at every other index, was it index of corruption, failure in governance and whatever, one cannot but conclude that among all the Nigerian leaders the present leader got the highest opportunities to make Nigeria a great country within a short span of time, but he wasted it. What is your reaction to Gbenga Obasanjo?s venomous attack on his father?s lieutenants, including Atiku? Well, I look at it as a cultural shock. Gbenga happens to be one of the children of Obasanjo. That to me, is no reason for him, without any official position, to delve into political matters simply because his father is the Head of state. I did not see any of the children of our past leaders that went as far as he did. And from what one saw in the family circles of the present leadership, the involvement is over-extensive. If you accuse the Abacha family of taking advantage of their father being the head of state, then take a look at this one. If you accuse Babangida?s wife of being too visible in terms of being First Lady and so on, how did she compare with Stella? So from the point of view of my culture, there is no way my child would attack elderly people old enough to be his parent, simple because of a position of advantage. In fact, my children could not get admission to ABU when I was a Vice Chancellor there. They applied and the procedure said they were not qualified. You did not influence it? How could I? I refused. My eldest son went to the Federal University of Technology, Minna to study engineering, my second son went to University of Jos, so also my daughter. They all wanted to go to ABU by selecting it as their first choice, but they didn?t qualify according to procedures of their respective departments. My second wife who studied law had wanted to do chemistry, but she could not qualify for chemistry, so she had to start with a diploma in law and she eventually graduated in law. So there is no way I could allow my children or members of my family to take advantage of my being a public officer. And I don?t know what official document Gbenga could have to make this kind of accusation against the Vice President. So it is absolutely irresponsible, and in my culture, this is not acceptable. And I am happy that the Vice President treated it the way he did by not joining issues with him. If he had, it would seem that he is at the same level with him. I believe he would fight his cause with his father with whom he tallies. Between Obasanjo and Atiku who is not fair to who? Again, this scale of fairness and or loyalty is not easy to determine. If you look at the constitution of Nigeria, you will know the powers of the president vis-?-vis the powers of the Vice President, and you will find out that the only statutory body over which the vice president presides is the National Economic Council. It is the only one mentioned in the constitution. All other things are the treasures of the president. My own power recollection of their relationship way back 1999-2003 when I was still Presidential Adviser, is that, in fairness to Obasanjo, he delegated a lot of powers to the Vice President as expected. In fairness to Atiku also, I don?t remember one single moment, especially in the first three years of the administration where there was any indication that Atiku was not voicing his master anywhere. Take some of the controversial issues of sharia, those issues that had to do with Atiku?s home-base, he took sides with Obasanjo and rightly so, from the point of view of being a Vice President - even to the chagrin of his constituency. I don?t know what else he could have done to please Mr. President. He virtually stopped him from attending anything that appears to be of Northern interests. So I think he seemed to have been complying as much as one could see. I don?t know at what point, Atiku started being disloyal. I can only guess that may be it started when there was a crossing of lines of ambition. Here is Atiku?s line as Vice-President, as politician, who wants to contest for president. Yes, naturally if I am a Vice- President, unless something goes wrong, I should aspire to be the president after my boss. And then here is Obasanjo?s lines which is now referred to as "hidden agenda of continuity". How could they reconcile this? Here is this one who says I want to replace you after your constitutional tenure of eight years.And here is another saying, No, I am looking forward to an extension. Obviously, there must be a point of clash. The only point where one can say yes, Atiku might have violated his strict loyalty rules was probably in 2003 when there was a lot of pressure that Obasanjo had failed to perform, that he should be changed by either Ekwueme or whoever, except which, Atiku should be, and that is why there was this dilly-dally as to whether Atiku should run or not. That must have been read clearly by Obasanjo that Atiku was not only disloyal but totally against him, and may be that was what ignited the intensification of this distrust between the two of them. Otherwise, all things being normal, the natural thing one would expect from the president is to encourage those working with him to succeed him. So to me, the main crux is Atiku?s interest and Obasanjo?s wish to continue. Obasanjo/Atiku?s sour relationship? I think it is talking well for democracy. I don?t see the reason why in a good democracy, people should not disagree, even between the first and second citizens, it is a matter of principle. The system of democracy will judge if one of them is wrong and the other is right. In fact it is better they openly disagree and then they must use the constitutional provision to resolve their differences. It only shows, unfortunately, that if you look at the government as a collective entity, they are not talking with one voice, not any longer. They cannot be predicted in terms of policies; they cannot be trusted in terms of what they say and they can not even be trusted in terms of what they do! As it is today, Atiku is no longer seen in public functions representing Mr. President as he used to be speaking for him, for government with one voice on policies. They now engage themselves privately or publicly in disagreements over one thing or the other, it is rather sad! Corruption still thrive in Nigeria So, you see all these cries about corruption in the country are because the leadership is corrupt. And Nigerians are corrupt because their leaders too are corrupt. And if you have a selective justice system, something is wrong. Corruption is not only limited to those who have been picked. If Alamieyeseigha was a thief, there are so many other thieving governors today and we know most of them. I mean, you only need to do an assessment of assets of these governors, and you will arrive at a clear answer that can take them to jail because they stole money. There is no way, on the basis of their salaries and allowances from day one when they graduated from the universities, that they can own from millions to billions in terms of assets. It is impossible, except by
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