Chief Christian Onoh, the second civilian Governor of old Anambra State, is one of the Nigerian politicians that might need no introduction in the politics of Nigeria. Apart from being a senior player on the national scene, Onoh is seen by many as the father of modern Enugu State. A member of the House of Representatives in the First Republic, he was a member of the Constitutional Review Committee of 1977/78 and the 1995 Constitutional Review Committee convoked by then Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha. Onoh, a distinguished legal practitioner, Onoh was the first African Chairman of the Nigerian Coal Corporation. The octogenarian spoke to REPORTER, EMMANUEL NZOMIWU in Enugu, on the way he sees Nigeria at 48, particularly the reason for its current sorry state.

Excerpts:

Your Excellency, Nigeria is celebrating 48 years of her Independence. As an elder statesman, how do you see the journey so far?

Well, our founding fathers had a vision of one Nigeria. They had this vision even as they fought for independence from the British colonial masters. Eventually this independence came in 1960.

Zik had the slogan: 'Show the light and others will follow.' Three political parties emerged. The Action Group (AG) led by Obafemi Awolowo, had the slogan: 'More abundance.' The Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), led by Ahmadu Bello, Sarduana of Sokoto, had: 'One North, One People, One Destiny' as slogan. And Zik,''One Nigeria', for his NCNC (National Council for Nigeria and Cameroons and later National Council for Nigerian Citizens).

You can see from this that Sarduana (Ahmadu Bello) never believed in one Nigeria. Look at his slogan,''One North, One People, One Destiny.' He (Sarduana) never wanted One Nigeria. The British were forced unwillingly to grant us independence. And Zik, as usual, said that we got our Independence on a platter of gold. No sooner than we got our independence, in 1960, in 1962, trouble started in the West: 'operation wetie'- (power tussle) between Awolowo and Akintola - that prompted the re-alignment of parties.

But you must remember that Sarduana said that if by any reason the British goes, the North will continue its uninterrupted conquest to the sea. The British prepared the way for them: they rigged the election. When you talk about rigging election today, it is the African man perfecting what the British taught him. They rigged the election to ensure that the North produced the Prime Minister. They rigged the election because they were not sure of Zik and Awolowo. Then, the North produced the Prime Minister. Incidentally, I was a member of the House of Representatives then (when Tafawa Balewa, from the North was appointed Prime Minister). In fact, I resigned in 1959 to become the first (indigenous) Chairman of Nigerian Coal Corporation.

Now, it was as a result of the problem in the West that got two political incompatibles to unite. Then the NCNC united with AG, the Akintola's own. With this, the British were hoping to come back and this resulted in the coup of 1966. They will say that it is an Igbo Coup. They are even saying it till today.

Unfortunately, the only thing that you can say is that Nzeogwu is an Igbo man. And if you read the history of the coup, you will discover that it was not an Igbo coup, but a coup of the Majors and the lot. Some of the boys that staged the coup are still alive. Now, at the heat of the crisis, Gowon said, that the basis of (Nigerian) unity does not exist. It was like carry your bag and baggage for the North when the British promised assistance.

Now sir, 48 years after, the Igbo have been at the receiving end,

We have been the weeping boys of the Nigerian Federation, if you wish to call it so. (Gen) Aguiyi-Ironsi was there for six months. They murdered him. And since then onwards, no Igbo man has been there. Everytime you hear about constitutional conference. As is usual in this country, we must appreciate that there is no country like Nigeria. It is 56 nations brought together, forcefully, and amalgamated in 1914, by Lord Lugard. That was how Nigeria came into existence. The North and South protectorates. And every President and Military Commander-in-Chief thinks first about his village before thinking about Nigeria. To that end, all the military administrators, or governors, thought about their village.

To come back to recent events: Obasanjo was the last President. See what he has done to us.

Military administrators always devised a method of creating local governments. We, in 1959, refused to pass 33 and one third per cent derivation. Waziri said 'land mass,' and then increased it to 50 per cent derivation - all against one section of the community, the Igbo. Having done so, the North thrived in groundnut, tin; the West in cocoa and the East, palm produce.

But each of the military administrators created local governments. By now, the local governments in (old) Kano is five times more than the whole local governments in Igbo land. The local governments in Sokoto is two times more than the whole local governments in Igbo land. Everything is there for you see. Having agreed on 50 per cent derivation; through the back door creating local governments and Federal Allocation, they took 50 per cent. Is that not outrageous?

In 1958, oil was discovered in Oloibiri. Then, eventually, Shell/(BP) and the North came together; and they discovered that the stone that was rejected is now indeed the pillar of the country. What did they do? They reduced it to 33 per cent derivation and by the time that Abacha died, it was 1.5 per cent derivation. They will say Constitution, but I can assure you that the people of Nigeria never gave unto themselves the Constitution they said they are operating. What did they do? I was a member of the 1977/78 Constitution Review Committee. We finished, but the military was at the back door preparing their own. I was a member of the Abacha Constitution Review Committee, and that my friend is the worst that I have seen. On Friday, a luxury bus came and carted away all of us to Aso Rock. The President will like to see your draft, we were told. We came and we gave it to him. We gave him the draft. And having finished reading and going through and all the lot, he said,''thank you gentlemen, I will send word to you.' We moved back to resume our sitting and under 15 minutes, they came back from Aso Rock and said, 'gentlemen go, if you stay for another day, you pay.' They disbanded us and then gave you people the Constitution they prepared. And that is what they are operating today. And now, what we of the old tolerated, our children cannot tolerate.

And then the trouble of'Egbesu, the Niger Delta crisis and trouble of Ralph Uwazuruike and MASSOB. These are the revolts of the youths and if we now don't try to remedy those things, then there will be no Nigeria. I repeat, unless these issues are corrected, then we bid Nigeria farewell. Firstly, this house belongs to us. You said that by population and territorial mass space, you take the majority of it. And on the other side, we produce oil, and you come and take the same amount of oil and add your thing. It is unacceptable.

What do you think is the way forward?

Now, at 82 years of age, I have been thinking about the future of this country. My own view is, now they have created six geo-political zones. In that six zones, there should be equality of zones. No matter what, you have devolution of power, one President and Commander-in-Chief. In every zone, you have one Vice President and after the Vice President, then the Governor of the state and then the local governments. Can you see the four stages?What then becomes their modus operandi, in other words, how do they function?

The President and Commander-in- Chief will be in charge of the Navy and Air Force. The Vice President of each zone will be vested with powers to dissolve the government of that zone if they see they are corrupt and then, the governors are directly responsible to them (VPs). And after that, the local government will be directly responsible to the governors. And now, the Vice President has powers to dissolve the zone that he is presiding over. Now, as regards revenue allocation, take it that we have N7 Each zone should have N1 and the Federal N1. Each zone can now have the powers of creating 30 local governments within its jurisdiction and use the money from the Federal Allocation to finance the local governments. That brings the equality we need that remedies the number of local governments in the North and the local governments in the South. If you think that the revolt will start in the South, you are wrong. The Northern youths are revolting. Benue now has oil along the Niger vessel. There is offshore oil in Ondo. They have that in the West. Here, we have the largest concentration of gas at Ugwuoba.

Mind you, oil was discovered at Oloibiri in 1958. But these people were so wicked that the oil which was discovered in (current) Abia State was attributed to Rivers. It is only now that Orji Uzor Kalu, shouted and the situation was (being ) remedied. My friend, let us pray God that nemesis does not befall us.

They are talking about constitutional review now in the National Assembly. I think N1 billion had been set aside for that. What advice do you have for the legislators who would be embarking on this rigorous exercise?

Constitutional review! They are talking jazz. What happens to the masses? Let us have plebiscites. The people who are there doing constitutional review, are they not the legislators of the Peoples Poverty Party. Were they really elected? Everything was done on Friday, on Saturday, we merely went for parade. On Saturday, they announced what they had written before. They are not competent to do the job. So, it is another way of prolonging their stay and another way of hoodwinking us, the people.

But if you read ****'Cry the Beloved Country'*** by Alan, he said, 'the Titilayo is crying, heralding the dawn of a new nation. As it has come to them of the old, so shall it come to us.' But I am afraid when that day will come for our emancipation from the bondage of fear and fear of bondage. That is the question - the bondage of fear and the fear of bondage. They think that they can hold the masses on bondage. The masses know, they themselves know that they will

be the bondage of masses; 'that we but teach bloody instructions, which being taught, return to clock, break the inventor' Macbeth, thank you.

You talked extensively on the problem in the Niger Delta. Don't you think that the creation of a Niger Delta Ministry, solves the problem?

Niger Delta Ministry: will that solve the problem? No. It is a palliative. But that is not what they want. The boys out there fighting know what they want. Their rulers know what they want. And you cannot by creating Niger Delta Ministry solve the problem. Let us know the functions of the ministry, let us know what they are going to do. This is not politics. We don't play politics with such a sensitive matter, a matter that is capable of threatening the stability of the country. Like I said before, what we of the old tolerated. Our children, will not tolerate. The trouble in Niger Delta and MASSOB are the revolts of the youths. The Government should try and do something to remedy the situation. If nothing is done, I am afraid, more turbulent times lie ahead. So, for Niger Delta Ministry, I can tell you, nobody can take me for a ride again.

How would you assess the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, so far?

Yar'Adua is not in charge. The North is just keeping him there, buying time. The North wants to remain in power. You think that it's just to wake up one morning and say, 'the five service chiefs must go'. They (service chiefs) have so many servants who are inside the barracks. One morning, they will rise up and that will be another 'Fellow countrymen and so on,' signifying the beginning of the end of the journey. God save us.

What do you think is the way forward?

Now, at 82 years of age, I have been thinking about the future of this country. My own view is, now they have created six geo-political zones. In that six zones, there should be equality of zones. No matter what, you have devolution of power, one President and Commander-in-Chief. In every zone, you have one Vice President and after the Vice President, then the Governor of the state and then the local governments. Can you see the four stages?What then becomes their modus operandi, in other words, how do they function?

blow these stiches!! when i say those political monkies are member hiding in here u think is a joke, again the above as u already know is my suggestion

nigerian breakers abi na lie now

it is disgraceful that these people still continue to blame the white man for the woes of the country.

Obalende:

it is disgraceful that these people still continue to blame the white man for the woes of the country.

Don't mind them, always looking for someone to blame for our problems,

48yrs after independence, we cant continue to blame the british

The biggest pity is that the British had not stayed. If they had remained, maybe Nigeria would not be the shithole it currently is 

The British built Nigeria, the Nigerians have since destroyed it 

Obalende:

it is disgraceful that these people still continue to blame the white man for the woes of the country.

Excellent observation!

We have been blaming them for the past 48 years,we have ourselves to blame NOW.

  Re: Nigeria's Failure Traceable To British Insincerity - Cheif C. C Onoh.
« #6 on: Today at 08:45:51 PM » 

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Quote from: Obalende on Today at 07:21:18 PM
it is disgraceful that these people still continue to blame the white man for the woes of the country.




Excellent observation!

there aint nothing new there, we all heard that over and over again,there is nothiing excellent about the observation, the excellent stuff is em i think "what are u chief observer gona do about it" unlike your granny oyibo i bet u they will stand up maybe vehemently and aggressively  

Dont get too  comfortable where u are!!!!

.

Always finger pointing and looking for some excuse whatsoever. Are we the only ones ever colonized by the British? Arrant nonsense.

roflmao!!!

These yeye baba arugbos! I guess finger-pointing is the action needed to solve Nigeria's problems.

I agree with many of the comments in here. We as Nigerians cannot blame the British for something that happened decades ago, for why Nigeria is in the state it is in now. Mismanagement and corruption in our political system is where the real blame needs to go, and the people who help elect these morons are just as responsible.

It gets tiring to see all this finger pointing going towards our old colonial master, who we have been independent from for almost 50 years now. If we were to say Nigeria is in the situation now because of colonialism, then what's the excuse for Singapore, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc. . ? Those countries have been independent for nearly the same amount of time we were, and they're all on the road to being considered "prosperous", with Singapore already having achieved that.

I'm sorry, but these type of stories don't help the development of a country, it just creates an un-needed "victim mentality" in our people. Time to move on folks, and catch up with the times.

It's only fools like all of you above that will reason as you all did above. The tittle clearly said "traceable" yet none of you can decipher it's meaning in this context. Sons and daughters of quota system foundation who's only wish is for the status quo to continue without any interference. The content of the article stated clearly what should be done to get out from the mess your fathers plunged nigeria into, yet none of you commented on what Chief C. C Onoh pointed at, but only took turns to spit rubbish and nonsense like "we are still blaming the white man after 48 years"

Question should be, is the mess of today not "traceable to the British" as Chief said? and what shall be done to set the record straight again. It's only the blind that doesn't know where he is coming from and will never know where he is going unless being led by someone else. It's only fools that will claim not to know that even today, the British are still meddling indirectly in the affairs of nigeria for their own selfish benefit. Prince Charles visited nigeria last year, and which part of nigeria did his visit end at? the same northern nigeria. You should ask yourself why and if you don't know why, try and use your brain to decipher and make out something from Prince Charles visit to nigeria that ended only in northern nigeria. He was there to tell those illiterate northerners to continue their business, that they the British are fully 1000% behind them and will supply them arms if necessary to quell any uprising. Kill the people they so much love to stay in one country with.

Enter the Niger Delta problem, the British were quick to offer their mugu, the illiterate northern nigerian led government arms to kill their own so called ONE nigeria people instead of advising both parties to come to table to seek for diplomatic solution to the problem. All in the name of keeping the oil flowing without any disruption to their own benefit. If you so much like to absolve the British of this mess, why aren't you blaming your illiterate awusa government that were so quick to rush to their masters to seek for military support to kill the Niger Deltans? The illiterate awusa/fulani with their conspirators in crime, the Yorubas are ever ready to do the British bidding, yet their sons and daughters are the one mouthing off here as to why after 48 years things are worse off in their country.

Who doesn't know that nigeria is indirectly being held in bondage by the British through their military support to the awusa/fulani led governments since independence? Who doesn't know that the decisions being made by awusa led government are from London? Go and tell your fathers to stop working for the British against nigeria and accept to discuss the future of nigeria with other groups trapped inside. How many constitutional reviews have your fathers rejected? Why are you fathers afraid of reviewing the constitution and accept changes which will better nigeria?

If you so much need a better nigeria, why can't you see reasons with the above article to know that the Cheif's proposal if taking serious will be to the interest of every group which will lead to a prosperous ONE nigeria? You all awusa/Yoruba should blame your fathers for conspiring with the British to mess up and keep nigeria the way it is today. Your fathers connived with the British and you are continuing where your fathers stopped to keep on arresting the development of other people locked inside the luggard's cage called nigeria. The British people knew right from independenc that they can't risk dealing with the Igbos as nigeria's leaders or else they will surely lose in the long run because we ain't letting them get anything for free as they are doing today, hence they chose the mugu that will oblige them, the awusas.

I laugh when i hear you awusas and Yorubas saying that nigeria's problem is by the elite. Lies, lies and lies. In fact, full of lies. The problem facing nigeria today can be traced to you the sons and daughters of those imbeciles that ruiend nigeria. Just reading through your comments here will tell anyone who cares to speak on the side of truth that you all wish to continue from where your fathers left. If not how and why should 99% or awusa and Yorubas fail to see the injustices in the Nigeria Delta and voicing their support for a military solution the Niger Delta problem? Why should all of you in this forum after reading the article above only utter "they are still blaming the British" ? Fact is that you all sons and daughters of awusa and Yoruba have learnt from your fathers and are wishing foe the status quo to continue, that's why you can't see any positive thing in the article above.

Oh cry me a river "Quote Syste". Get over your tribal obsessions and conspiracy theories, and face the truth. This article may not be entirely false, but you yourself are spewing out nonsense. I for one know corruption is widespread throughout our government, but I don't let it manifest into complete nonsense, and try to say the British are somehow controlling Nigeria from London.

What kind on crap is that? Do you have any proof besides conspiracy theories to support that claim of yours, or is your obsession making you spew out nonsense information from nowhere?

Please explain.

Why isn't anyone blaming Obasanjo and co? why does it have to be the Brits??

when all else fails, blame the white man. it has worked well for mugabe and co.

ikeyman00:



there aint nothing new there, we all heard that over and over again,there is nothiing excellent about the observation, the excellent stuff is em i think "what are u chief observer gona do about it" unlike your granny oyibo i bet u they will stand up maybe vehemently and aggressively

don't get too comfortable where u are!!!!

Questions for you: What LAW says I can not get comfortable where I am? When you ask "what are u chief observer gona do about it", I hope you mean what is the progress on what you have been doing about it? The topic is on blaming the british yet again for the goof offs we have experienced over the past 48 years, what has making an observation to do with people being comfortable or not?

Quotasyste, you are a brainless slowpoke. With the current state of affairs in Nigeria, what justice is served, and what progress is brought forth by "tracing" your problems back to Queen&King Elizabeth? Do you somehow hope to discover that some magic-juju hidden under the queen's sheets is the cause of Nigeria's turmoil today?

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