…Says economy of Nigeria is in deadly mess
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Legal luminary and elder statesman, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), has said that he is yet to achieve all his life ambitions, insisting on doing so before joining his ancestors.
In this interview, he also talked about his first time meeting with former President Muhammadu Buhari, as well as his opinion on who succeeds the late President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, among other sundry issues in the country. Excerpts:
What’s your reaction about the present economic situation in the country?
What I’m going to say is not political, but pure social reality. The economy of Nigeria is in a deadly mess. I’m saying this because I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with various people of different levels, there is danger people are hopelessly, economically down. When the economy is beginning to haunt people like us, you can imagine the man on the street. So, without any pretence I want to advise the president and those working with him to be realistic, it takes a man to say I’m sorry, it takes a fool to walk away, all those telling the president that things are okay and could be managed, I hope this country does not explode because the saying that a hungry man is an angry man is older than I am.
Any hope for Nigeria and Nigerians?
Yes, there is still hope because we have God. He will find a solution to this problem for us. I only pray that this administration will not continue to consider bad advic, just imagine IMF praising our economy, are they our friends?
Do you think this solution can come from the military as already seen in some areas in the country people clamouring for the military to return?
People don’t look at the past, when the military was there they were asking the civilian to come and civilian is there and they are saying military should come, I’m not part of it because I do not like a situation where I cannot express my views, where I have to do things; if I don’t do it, I would be punished and where the rule of law is clamped down upon. Let me tell you something about the military, I took a personal decision not to serve in any military administration. I rejected military appointment 1985, 1974 both for the bench and commissionership, I was offered Attorney General and I recommended somebody else, reason was because I know I can’t last in a military regime because I will not accept any situation that will go contrary to the rule of law. My opinion can be a minority opinion, if we come to a stage when people can courageously say they want the military then the country should be very careful because I’ve heard policemen on the road criticising the government and it’s not a very safe situation. So, the DSS should not only be clamping down on the people, but feeling their pulse, giving the government a genuine situation report. People are very sad even those pretending to be supporting the government are unhappy.
As an elder statesman, what do you advise as solution to the problem?
The solution is that government should listen to the people. Secondly, this present administration should stop moving towards a one party state. I was discussing with some people sometime ago, they said we don’t want military regime. I know that one party state is worst than a military regime, but all the same there is a difference; one has gun, the other one does not have. So, they advise themselves against these their plan to create a one-party state in this country. People asked me sometime, why do you follow Buhari? I was once an opponent of Buhari in 1984/85 when he was a military Head of State because of his anti-human rights posture. I was no where near him even when we met in the same party, but one day I asked myself, have you gone to hear this man? So, I sought appointment and met him. I asked him one simple question. I said sir, you have always believed in a one-party state, now you want to run election in a multi-party system, why did you change your mind? And he told me that all the people running in one-party state have collapsed, those running in multi-party have not collapsed anything, he said he cannot wish his nation collapses. So, in him I saw a Saul turned into Paul, so I went for him. That was it, he didn’t know me, I didn’t know him, I was totally convinced because he was honest with me, he told me why he had left that idea and supported a multi-party state .
It’s no longer news that Ndigbo have lost a great Iroko in the person of the late President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo,Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, do you think any Igbo man can wear the shoe he left behind perfectly?
I must say this first, you can’t take it away from Iwuanyanwu that he was a great man and a great success in life. He ran an airline, construction companies, contested elections; he was a great man, you can’t take that away from him. But to step into his shoes, I don’t believe his shoe is too wide for Igbo people to step into because Igbo land will not end with his death. In fact, if you had asked him that, he wouldn’t wish that. So, somebody someday will step into his shoes as President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo .
If Ndigbo urge you to step into this his shoe will you accept?
I will tell them thank you, but no thank you, I have my personal reason for it. When I was approached after Prof George Obiozor died, I declined. I gave them my reasons because I’m not a crowd man. I do what I believe I should do and if the crowd want me to do it and I’m not convinced I will simply stay away. I’m 78 years old now, they should look for somebody younger to step in now and there are certain things which I’ve not accomplished which I want to accomplish in my profession. I must have to face it because for me this Ohanaeze position is a full time job and if you cannot end without being president, it’s not fair to Ndigbo and I want to be fair to Ndigbo. My only means of livelihood is the legal profession and I can’t leave it now.
What are these things you want to accomplish?
I want to give things in writing for people to read. I know I’m not going yet, but I can’t be here forever. I need to put things down, we know about Abraham Lincoln today because of what he was able to put down. My late father, if you look at his books, you will say this is what Ahamba left behind, he wrote Igbo poems in 1980, he got a National award, MON was given to him on merit based on his contributions towards binocular language. I don’t have a national honour now, not that I’m craving for it, I don’t even know their mode of selection. So, I’m not qualified yet by their own standard. So, with the time left for me on earth, I want to put down things people want to read about my life when I might have died whether it has weight or not I don’t care. I wrote a book, “Getting it right.,” I want to tell you 90 per cent of those who collected it have not read it, that’s the problem with us here, they’ve not opened it to know what’s inside. If people were to read it, they will know how my mind is working for the betterment of this country. Death took a very great man who would has been a great president for this country and that’s Mallam Yar’Adua, it was a great loss for Nigeria for the man to have died. If I’m giving a chance in this country, I will set up a reform, my report on it is in that book, but I will not relent, I will keep writing, by the grace of God by next year, I will publish another book. That one would have to be about my election petition experiences, you can’t even write a book on election matters in Nigeria because you have a new Electoral Act at every election and one thing is that every Electoral Act was designed to correct, put those who conducted election in judicial jeopardy; you remove some sub-sections or drop them, it makes it powerless and this has continued, 1983 election was done by 1982 Electoral Act, 1999 electoral decree of 1998, 2003 was of Electoral Act of 2002, 2011 of 2010 is the longest surviving Electoral Act . With these type of situations how can someone write a law on election petitions? The moment you are completing the writing about it on a book, a new law has come in. The best thing is for some of us to sit and wait for them, providing new laws on elections so that when you now write a book on electoral matters it can last for 10 years. The legal profession, we have a lot hanging on our heads and it’s the only profession to salvage Nigeria now.
