By Chidiebere Onyemaizu
Friday Nwankwo Ndubuisi is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Lagos; he was also at a time the Vice Chancellor of a private University, Christopher University, Lagos. An erudite scholar, Professor Ndubuisi who is the president of a socio- cultural Igbo group in the university of Lagos, Otu Nnoko which comprised of academic and non- academic staff of Igbo descent in the University, is also a lawyer. He holds B.L and L.LM in law. In this interview, Professor Ndubuisi speaks on the Nigeria’s political process- political marginalisation of the southeast geopolitical zone, the need to do away with the current presidential system of government the nation is practicing among other topical national issues. He also explains the role of Otu nnoko in forging camaraderie among Igbo academic and non academic staff of UNILAG
Some Nigerians, including federal law makers have stridently been clamouring for a return to the Parliamentary system of government, some other Nigerians however, argue that we should fashion out a home-grown political system suitable for the complex nature of our country. What is your view on this?
The thing is that, it is not really easy to say home grown. How do you start? What do we say is our own traditional system of governance? Essentially, it is trial and error, trial and elimination of errors. We practised Parliamentary system of government in the First republic and we are now practising presidential system and you will find out that the Presidential system of government is a difficult system; difficult in the sense that it has tendencies to create some kind of totalitarianism; it can create despotism because the President has enormous powers, he has a lot of powers that could make him become a tyrant. The parliamentary system makes room for arguments, makes room for opposition and for opposition to be tolerated but in a presidential system, the president determines everything, he is a generalissimo sort of, so his word is final. Everything is basically under him- the military, the police etc. He also has the potential, the capacity to buy over the judiciary and the legislature; he can also think of destroying opposition parties. So, Parliamentary system may be a better option for us, especially in an evolving democratic system like ours. It is not a bad idea, we can also try it to see whether it can work for us.
Looking at Nigeria’s political firmament today, it is glaring that the Igbo, nay the Southeast suffer exclusion and marginalisation and we are talking about a region, a race that was once a force to reckon with in national politics. How do you think the southeast can bounce back to the commanding heights of Nigerian politics?
You know that politics is a very complex thing; complex in the sense that our own is an emerging democratic environment; we don’t play politics the way it is supposed to be played otherwise, the attitude of winner takes all wouldn’t have been the practice but all the same, we have platforms where we try to advise ourselves, where we advance an ideology that will protect our people and make us not to be marginalised the way we are marginalised. So, it is important that in this kind of association, people come together, share opinions and find a way to have our people liberated from political subjugation. Nigeria is a peculiar environment, peculiar in the sense that the level of hatred, the level of acrimony are so deep. All the same, we are academics but being academics does not mean that we shouldn’t be alert to what is happening around us; politics affects all whether you like it or not. We try to, through our platform, make our opinions known. We try to let the world know that Nigeria is a diverse country and no section of the country should be marginalised. And more importantly when you are dealing with people that are resourceful, that are creative, and from our environment a lot of resources are exploited, so there is no reason we shouldn’t be given our own fair share. We are very vocal about that, we are not keeping quiet.
So, you agree that the Southeast is marginalised?
It is obvious, everybody knows that. Southeast is marginalised, marginalised in all areas -in political appointments, economic development and so on and so forth. The worst part of it is this issue of insecurity in the Southeast, we are not used to that kind of life- destruction of lives and property but unfortunately that has crept in and we believe that there are people that are responsible for that, not necessarily the Igbo. IPOB may have its own problem but fundamentally, some of the things that are happening in the Southeast now are not the creation of the Igbo.
You lead a socio- cultural group in the University of Lagos called Otu Nnoko, what is the group all about?
It is an association of Igbo academic and non academic staff in the University of Lagos, including those who are retired. It is an association of all Igbo speaking staff of Unilag; of Igbo descent.
How has Otu Nnoko been able to articulate and pursue Igbo interest in the University of Lagos?
The point is that we are a socio-cultural organisation. Our main agenda is to promote the Igbo identity, the Igbo language and Igbo culture in the University of Lagos. We also strive to help our students, guide them and lead them to the right path so that they don’t run foul of the University rules and regulations. We help them not to deviate from their mission in the University of Lagos; we equally help them to focus on their studies. We also assist our members in various ways, including assisting them pursue what brought them to the University of Lagos. We try as much as possible to bring our people together in the University of Lagos in order to be effective in the university community because the University community is a big place where a lot of things take place, one can easily be distracted. The association help advise members, and ensure that they obey the University rules and avoid getting into trouble.
Beyond the university of Lagos, does Otu Nnoko influence policies and political decisions in various Igbo states?
I told you earlier that we are a socio-cultural association but at the same time, before you operate in any environment, politics determine a lot of things. We try to influence politics in Igboland and even beyond that, through some of our members, through this type of platform where we invite people from different areas; we tell them our needs at home, we tell them what we want to be done at home, we tell them the need to have security in the Southeast and also the need to have enough investments in the region because even the students that we are training here, at the end of the day, they want jobs, they want to be employed. So, it is difficult for you to talk about culture, talk about socio-cultural organisation without bringing in politics; politics determine a lot of things. In essence, we can also say that we impact on our people through the political statements we make, through the political influence we try to impart.
What is your advice to the political class, Nigeria’s political leaders?
They should see politics as a platform for service to the people, they should see politics as a platform to make a mark that people will always remember in future and appreciate. Seeing politics as a do-or-die affair or a platform to amass wealth is wrong. And that is the impression most people have; to enter politics and make money. Politics is all about thinking what you can do for your people so that in future they will always remember you but unfortunately, people place more premium on amazing wealth but they don’t know what you are able to do, the name you are able to create make more impact than money. How people talk about you in future means a lot.
