Date: 2012-03-01

A member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ahmad Ali has defended the stand of Federal lawmakers in opposing the calls for a National Conference, saying a break up of the nation would give an impetus to the Boko Haram group to further destabilise the north. 

Ali, who is Chairman of the House Committee on Justice, pointed out that the federal lawmakers have been very careful in deciding on the issue because most of the proponents of the conference have not given time deep thought to post-break up scenario that would be thrown up across the country. He said the conference would be a ‘lazy man's approach' to handing the challenges facing Nigeria at present.

He also hinted that his committee had concluded arrangements to sponsor a bill that will remove the control of prisons from the exclusive list in the constitution and grant state governments a say. This he said will go a long way in decongesting the prisons as such provision will discourage unnecessary remanding of awaiting trial suspects in prisons.

Ali, who spoke with newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara state, also expressed concern that the anti-corruption efforts of government seems limited to tackling the menace among political office holders while leaving  the federal civil service, where he alleged the worst corruption currently takes place, alone and untouched.

His words: "You may be trying to match criminality with dialogue when you talk about dialogue with Boko Haram and the call for national conference. Dialogue with Boko Haram, even if you do it, doesn't mean that somebody who has been arrested shouldn't be punished; it is just a way of finding political solution to the crisis which we as a nation have failed to do in the past and now want to make up.

"But the national conference thing is a digression really because talking about national conference now doesn't solve the problem. If we go that way it will even give the Boko Haram impetus to do more because they may now overpower the northern governments once the federal might is no longer there.

"Those who are calling for national conference just want a situation where they can overrun everybody. True, the nation is not working, nothing in Nigeria is working, nobody loves Nigeria and that is why people are agitated. Because what you see is the EFCC fighting corruption at the state and local government level while the biggest culprits are there in the federal civil service. The biggest corruption in Nigeria is in the civil service and everyone knows.

"More than half of the good houses in Abuja are owned by civil servants; everyone knows. One Director in a big parastatal will be controlling billions when a state governor cannot control that amount. For instance, the Kwara state governor is representing 2.5 million people but cannot control N3 billion while a Director or Deputy Director is there in Abuja controlling billions and there is no EFCC and ICPC  to talk about that. Rather you see them arresting a council chairman or someone else over some millions of naira.

"That is why people are talking about the national conference. But it is a lazy man's answer to say because we have these challenges then the best thing is to break up. It doesn't work that way. What happens after the separation?  I think the most difficult task now is to honour our founding fathers and decide to do the difficult task which is to stay together.

"Every Nigerian will be the saddest if we break up. That is why the National Assembly is saying that if we have a problem with ourselves, bring it to the assembly, as representatives of the people and we shall debate. We may even shout and abuse ourselves but we know it is because we want to get the right solution."