Member of the Federal House of Representatives, representing the Takai/Sumaila Federal constituency, in Kano State, Shamsudeen Dambazau, speaks on the Federal Government and Twitter palaver as well as other national issues in this interview with David Lawani and Ben Ogbemudia

The issues in Twitter are still generating reactions. As a member of the house, how do you see the suspension and how does it portray the image of Nigeria?

You see, there are very numerous ways of looking at a particular issue. You can look at it from the moral, ethical, and legal aspects. Twitter as an entity, is a private company and there is no way one can come to your house and decides your rules for you. So, if the federal government is not happy with what Twitter is doing or has been doing, because before they signed up for an account, they have a term of the agreement.

Now, we are talking about the legal aspect here. Under those terms and agreements, there are clauses that indicate that if you breach any of those terms or agreements, there are actions or consequences that will follow. And, that was what Twitter did.
On the part of Twitter, what they did was not wrong. If the federal government is not happy in terms of propagating her message, I think it will be proper for the federal government to completely desist from using it. Since whatever happened was between the office of the president and Twitter, it was better they sorted it out. It was not with the whole of Nigeria they had the issue with. Even though the issue being discussed by the president is a Nigerian issue, but Twitter is not our platform.

Former United States President Donald Trump did the same thing. This is not the first time this kind of thing is happening. Trump was banned by Facebook and Twitter. They did not only delete his tweets but also banned him completely. What did he do? He opened up his own blog and his fans drifted there. If there are people who are truly truthful to our president, I request we create our own platform. I challenge the Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed. We need to stop reacting and start proffering solutions instead. . And I think we should put our attention on more pertinent issues.

Some argue that the ongoing constitution review is a waste of efforts, what’s your take?
As a member of the ninth assembly, I take my job very seriously. And I believe that other members, including the speaker, take their job seriously. I believe there will be something positive that will come out of the exercise. We are making progress because presently, the exercise is being done regionally. We have provided places where people are invited for public hearings of the review to enable them to present their demands or concerns over what they want to be changed in the constitution. For anybody to say nothing is being done or expected, I will say they are just being pessimistic.

Do you see it as a jamboree?
I don’t see it as a jamboree. It is just that I can’t say what is going on yet. I don’t want to judge the matter until it is over. But what I do know is that this time, Nigerians have been given an opportunity to come and let their voices be heard. To come and effect the kind of change that they want in the constitution. It is not something that is hidden. It is something that is very clear. So, if people have come for a public hearing and have made their submissions. How can you manoeuvre these things? If there is foul play from the beginning, they won’t allow it to get to the level it is now.

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And, I think we should remember that despite any shortcoming we may feel about this administration, one thing we can say is that President Muhammadu Buhari has been running the nation according to the constitution. And, therefore, I have a strong belief that the constitution review will follow through.

What is your view on restructuring, devolution powers and a new constitution?
Restructuring, I think is a good idea. I think the system we are using is obviously not working. I think we need to go back to what was working before. We had regions. Not only that, I think it will help states to develop. I am not saying the federal government should not earmark money for states.

But when states become reliant on the federal government, it becomes an issue. It is like we are running socialist states where the governors will sit and wait for the money to come from the federal government all the time. It is a good thing that in sharing revenue allocation, there is equality. But, even though we are going to continue with that there should be benchmarks of performance that should be set. That will encourage governors to look inwards to generate, harness then do the things right for their states.

Whatever you produce in your state, you keep it. Maybe if there are certain clauses saying this should go to the federal government, fine. Like we have Bayelsa State producing oil. If Bayelsa produces 100 million barrels in a month and it is only getting $5 to $10 million a month while other states are getting $2 to $3 million. Now, that is not encouraging at all. Again, Zamfara State has a lot of gold. If for instance, the state is generating $100 million from gold, then it should keep $50 million, while the rest can be shared by federal and other states. So this will encourage other states to look for other resources in their own states so that they can benefit and develop their own economy.

On devolution of powers
If I am not mistaken, the Nigerian president is one of the strongest in the world. If I were the president, certainly I will want to keep the powers intact. So, that I can use the power of my office to set the country on track. And, we can cite examples from people like Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore or Mahathir bin Mohamed of Malaysia. These are men who had the powers but they used them in the right way. They showed strong leadership.

It is not really about the powers. You can devolve the powers and we will be in the same place, especially if we still have the same characters in power doing the same thing. So, we should not look at these nuances rather we should focus on who we are, having a strong leader that has the capacity and passion about Nigeria as a country.

Recently the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, canvassed the need for unicameral legislature. Do you toe that path?
He is a gentleman. One of the soundest that we have in this country. He is passionate about what he does. So as far as scrapping the senate. I will not agree with his position because we are running a bicameral legislature. That is what our constitution made provision for. We are not overlapping each other when it comes to functions. There are things the senate does that we don’t do. Such as screening of appointees and so on. We in the Reps are the direct link to the people at the federal level. As far as the people’s needs are a concern, we are the link.

On the other side, the senate connects with the federal on a general level too. We are like a web. It encompasses what we do as a people and what the people want to be done for them. It is the highest step to protect our interests. So, it is a system of checks and balances. You remember when they try to impeach Donald Trump in the US? What saved him was the senate. It is all about the system of checks and balances, nothing more. So, it will be wrong to scrap the Senate.

Some sections of the country are seeking secession. Do you agree with this?
Nigeria was created. It never existed before. If we go back to history, what we had initially were different protectorates. Then, when Lord Lugard became governor-general, he opted for amalgamation of the protectorates. He ran through the country killing people even though we were not taught this in school. Many lives were lost in the process of creating Nigeria. It is not surprising that lives are being lost in the process of separating them. Like Hausa will say, the way you use in going up is still the way you will use in coming down.

So, if people want to secede from the country, it is not a wrong thing for them to agitate but it cannot be by a section. That is the reason why there is a referendum. You have to take it to the ballot. It is not about shouting in the news. If you want a referendum. Get signatories. The law is clearly written. Follow the process. Why can’t we follow the process? It seems there is an ulterior motive in all of these. If there is a process, why are you using it a different way? You have a toilet you want to ease yourself. The toilet is clean and working. You decided to go to the flower lawn to do it. Why? Is it because you want to kill the flower with your urine when the toilet is working?

I think it is very important that we follow the process which is through a referendum. If you want to secede, they have processes in the United Nations. There are written down laws and agreements. Follow the process and do it. It is not by force that people must stay together. Even marriages dissolve. It happened in South Sudan and they got what they wanted. I believe you can see what is happening. It is chaos upon chaos we are reading and hearing about since then. Personally, I believe that the broom is stronger when it is together.

If I were to the president, I will call these people to the table. Let us talk. What are the issues? Why can’t we have dialogue in this country? Call them and talk to them. Send emissaries to relate with them. And get the issues cleared up. There is no way somebody will tell you, I like you today and the next day he will come and tell you he hates you. Anyone that tells you he likes you today, then tomorrow he will say he hates you. Be careful of such a person. If there is something wrong that is making such a person behave the way he did, you have to talk to him or her. Such an issue can be resolved. Together as a force, we are safer and better.

How do we prevent almajiris from becoming willing tools for Boko Haram and other criminal activities?
For me, I don’t encourage almajiri in whatever guise. I have made my stand very clear. If they will allow it at all, it should be regulated. It does more harm than good. Maybe in those days, it worked but now, in this age and time, it needs to be scrapped. And I am very happy my governor holds the same sentiment about it.

What is your message to soldiers battling insurgency and other forms of crime?
I feel sorry for them. The soldiers are supposed to defend the country from external aggression. They are not trained to defend themselves from internal aggression. They should remain strong and go beyond what they have been taught. They should try to develop, empower, and expose themselves to the art of war. So, that we can conquer the situation together. It was young colonels and majors they used those days to win the war.

But we now carry generals to the war front. What is a general doing on the war front? Carry people who are willing to make names for themselves. Lieutenant colonels, majors and I think my message to the chief of army staff is that all the lieutenant colonels and majors they gather in the barracks should be posted to the war front. I just pray that we are able to solve this insurgency.

We also need to concentrate on intelligence gathering. It is not all about armaments. It is not the large troops that make the strongest army. So, we need to look inward. We need to gather proper intelligence. We need to infiltrate these groups. It is the only way to win the war. If, not we are just wasting our time.

What is your message to youths who consider politics a dirty game?
If you sit back and don’t participate, those who are not worthy will take control and make a mess of the future. So, you need to wake up and get involved in politics. Push out the bad eggs so that we can carry our country into the future for economic development and prosperity.