ELDER Statesman and First Republic Minister
of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi is the
last man standing in Southern Nigeria among
the generation of nationalists who fought for
the nation’s independence. He is also the only
surviving minister from the South that served
in the first post-independence cabinet. The
surviving quartet in that cabinet is Shehu
Shagari, Shettima Ali Mungono, Inuwa Wada
and Maitama Sule, who are all from the North.
Looking at Nigeria at 53, he lamented that
things had degenerated and offers the way
forward.
His take on Nigeria at 53 and 100 years of
amalgamation
Nigeria started by one man by convenience of
administration amalgamating the Northern
and Southern protectorates in 1914. It will be
100 years of that amalgamation next year. It
is for us to look at ourselves after 100 years of
being together and ask: has this thing worked?
If it has not worked, where did we go wrong
and what can we do to correct it?
In these 100 years of being brought together
and forcibly put together as one country, we
operated up to 1960 under British rule; no
constitution. The constitution that brought
independence in 1960 was not written by
Nigerians, it was an Order in Council made in
of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi is the
last man standing in Southern Nigeria among
the generation of nationalists who fought for
the nation’s independence. He is also the only
surviving minister from the South that served
in the first post-independence cabinet. The
surviving quartet in that cabinet is Shehu
Shagari, Shettima Ali Mungono, Inuwa Wada
and Maitama Sule, who are all from the North.
Looking at Nigeria at 53, he lamented that
things had degenerated and offers the way
forward.
His take on Nigeria at 53 and 100 years of
amalgamation
Nigeria started by one man by convenience of
administration amalgamating the Northern
and Southern protectorates in 1914. It will be
100 years of that amalgamation next year. It
is for us to look at ourselves after 100 years of
being together and ask: has this thing worked?
If it has not worked, where did we go wrong
and what can we do to correct it?
In these 100 years of being brought together
and forcibly put together as one country, we
operated up to 1960 under British rule; no
constitution. The constitution that brought
independence in 1960 was not written by
Nigerians, it was an Order in Council made in
London that created Nigeria as a sovereign
nation. It was not a Nigerian constitution.
In 1963, Nigerians made a request and
Nigerians met at a conference and agreed on
a constitution. They sent it to the National
Assembly for the Senate and the House of
Representatives to vote. I was a member of
the House of Representatives, the two arms
voted unanimously for the constitution.
Military decree
But in the 1966, the military unreasonably
took over. I always like to use that word
‘unreasonably’ because it was a criminal act.
They canceled the constitution written by the
people of Nigeria. They ruled the country
without constitution, till 1979. Then the 1979
constitution, even though a committee was
appointed to draft it, it was through a military
decree; it wasn’t the constitution of the
people. Then, in 1983, the army took over and
stayed on till 1999.
The 1999 constitution even though, a
conference recommended it, was yet an army
decree, not Nigerian constitution. So there’s
need for Nigerians to meet and discuss the
basis of coming together; examine the gains
and losses of the 100 years; the pleasant and
bitter experiences they have had and what the
shortcomings and weaknesses are. So, there
should be a national conference, where all
interests, not basically ethnic groups, but the
organized business, trade unions, organized
labour, the youths, women, the tribes, political
parties, and all other interests put together
can sit on a roundtable and discuss. What we
want now is to renegotiate the whole basis of
our staying together. We can only do this by a
national conference.
As a youth you fought for Nigeria’s
independence, several years after, how do you
see the Nigeria you fought for?
What I have to say is that this is not the
Nigeria we fought for, it’s not the Nigeria that
many of us died for, it’s not the Nigeria many
of our youths want to be with, it’s not the
Nigeria that our founding fathers like Azikwe,
Awolowo, Okotie-Eboh and others dreamt of.
No, the military damaged everything. They
stayed for too long. For 38 years the military
ruled this country.
They disrupted everything. Even the people
who are leaders in this so-called democratic
dispensation are working in the footsteps of
the military. However, there are some of them
who are genuine politicians, who want to do
the right thing but many of them are not
genuine.
What really motivated you as a young man
then to join the dangerous struggle?
The need for freedom of my country motivated
me. I hated oppression in every way. I joined
the Zikist movement at the age of 18. That
was my final year in secondary school. My
first imprisonment was at the age of 22.
My second imprisonment was at 23. So then,
we were happy and proud that we contributed
to the freedom of the country. We sacrificed;
we vowed not to marry until Nigeria became
independent. We didn’t want to marry and
produce children in the struggle and through
our incarcerations and imprisonments render
our wives widows. That was the kind of
nationalism spirit at that time. Then, people
joined politics because of what they could give
or offer. But today, people join politics for
what they could extract.
53 years after, we are still in the crusade for a
better Nigeria, are you not tired?
Of all the nationalists and ministers from
Southern Nigeria, East or West, I’m the last
person left. I’m the only one alive. So, when
occasions like this come and God has given
me the strength, I still come and share my
experience- that this is how we did it
yesterday and also to suggest how we are
going to do it today for the good of the
country.
What’s the way forward for Nigeria?
The way forward for Nigeria is for a new
beginning. Nigeria is richly blessed by God
with abundant natural resources, particularly
oil and gas that could make a country great.
In fact, our problem is that there’s too much
legal and illegal stealing going on in the
country.
When you make laws to take what is not due
to you, it becomes legalized stealing. So, we
must get back to redeem our image where
people would work and then the government
should do something to industrialize this
country, to create employment. It’s because
people are unemployed that’s why criminality
is very high.
conference recommended it, was yet an army
decree, not Nigerian constitution. So there’s
need for Nigerians to meet and discuss the
basis of coming together; examine the gains
and losses of the 100 years; the pleasant and
bitter experiences they have had and what the
shortcomings and weaknesses are. So, there
should be a national conference, where all
interests, not basically ethnic groups, but the
organized business, trade unions, organized
labour, the youths, women, the tribes, political
parties, and all other interests put together
can sit on a roundtable and discuss. What we
want now is to renegotiate the whole basis of
our staying together. We can only do this by a
national conference.
As a youth you fought for Nigeria’s
independence, several years after, how do you
see the Nigeria you fought for?
What I have to say is that this is not the
Nigeria we fought for, it’s not the Nigeria that
many of us died for, it’s not the Nigeria many
of our youths want to be with, it’s not the
Nigeria that our founding fathers like Azikwe,
Awolowo, Okotie-Eboh and others dreamt of.
No, the military damaged everything. They
stayed for too long. For 38 years the military
ruled this country.
They disrupted everything. Even the people
who are leaders in this so-called democratic
dispensation are working in the footsteps of
the military. However, there are some of them
who are genuine politicians, who want to do
the right thing but many of them are not
genuine.
What really motivated you as a young man
then to join the dangerous struggle?
The need for freedom of my country motivated
me. I hated oppression in every way. I joined
the Zikist movement at the age of 18. That
was my final year in secondary school. My
first imprisonment was at the age of 22.
My second imprisonment was at 23. So then,
we were happy and proud that we contributed
to the freedom of the country. We sacrificed;
we vowed not to marry until Nigeria became
independent. We didn’t want to marry and
produce children in the struggle and through
our incarcerations and imprisonments render
our wives widows. That was the kind of
nationalism spirit at that time. Then, people
joined politics because of what they could give
or offer. But today, people join politics for
what they could extract.
53 years after, we are still in the crusade for a
better Nigeria, are you not tired?
Of all the nationalists and ministers from
Southern Nigeria, East or West, I’m the last
person left. I’m the only one alive. So, when
occasions like this come and God has given
me the strength, I still come and share my
experience- that this is how we did it
yesterday and also to suggest how we are
going to do it today for the good of the
country.
What’s the way forward for Nigeria?
The way forward for Nigeria is for a new
beginning. Nigeria is richly blessed by God
with abundant natural resources, particularly
oil and gas that could make a country great.
In fact, our problem is that there’s too much
legal and illegal stealing going on in the
country.
When you make laws to take what is not due
to you, it becomes legalized stealing. So, we
must get back to redeem our image where
people would work and then the government
should do something to industrialize this
country, to create employment. It’s because
people are unemployed that’s why criminality
is very high.
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