Dickson wants Nigeria Overhauled, Calls for State Appeal, Supreme Court

Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State on Friday reiterated his call for a return to a truly federal state where all the current distortions in the way the country was organised would be addressed.

He also advocated that State should have their Appeal and Supreme courts, pointing out that the judiciary was a part of the federal structure that should be tinkered with to suit and address the needs of the federating units.

The governor who spoke during an interview, noted that restructuring would minimise the several agitations currently threatening to tear Nigeria apart.

He added that because of the anxiety generated by the word “restructuring”, a Committee by whatever name could be set up to distil the several reports that had been generated in the past.

“That is the very essence of the call for some kind of meeting of minds of Nigerians to reorganise, because a lot of people have issues with the word restructuring. We have to cool the heat because nobody will benefit from war or crisis or violence,” he said.

Drawing examples from the rest of the world, the governor said countries that did not allow for debates and arguments in the past ultimately disintegrated.

“Look back at what happened (to Nigeria) in the sixties. Look at Sudan and see where they are. Yugoslavia is now almost seven countries. Every nation is an artificial creation.

“So, very often I hear people say Awolowo (Obafemi) referred to Nigeria as a mere geographical location. He was right. Every nation is. What gives essence to nations is shared values, shared views as to what citizens think of themselves and of the country,” he insisted.

He added that Nigerian politicians had generally failed to understand what democracy entailed, stressing that arguments, debates and disagreements should be encouraged in that kind of political system.

“The political class has failed and I am talking generally. And that even manifests in the internal disputes. Political leaders now don't understand the concept of dialogue and argument.

“What they understand is violence, money politics, propaganda and blackmail, selfish agenda, promotion of ethnic and religious divisions.

“It is playing out in the PDP where a common dispute is in the Supreme Court. We are still waiting for the judgement. There is crisis in APC too. Leaders don't talk. It is worse in APC. I hear since they took over power they have not been holding NEC meetings and all that. It’s a shame,” he added.

He said that since Nigeria had become crisis-ridden the federal government should set up a technical committee to ease the current pressure.

“We have gone from crisis to crisis and we are almost at the precipice. That's why I made the suggestion that the FG should set up a committee. You don't need to call it a constitutional conference, just a committee that will harness all the former reports, bring out the salient issues and then give the National Assembly leaders,” he said.

According to the governor, part of the restructuring should happen in the judiciary where there were a lot of contradictions in relation to true federalism.

“We need to design a system that suits us. The judiciary for example. Why do we come to the Supreme Court every time. It is an inherent component of a federal system that states should have their own appeal and supreme courts,” he said.

While calling for a re-examination of the status quo, Dickson noted that the federal government had no business owning and controlling oil blocs and other minerals in people’s backyards.

“What they call oil blocks are people’s farms, people’s lands and villages. You call it an oil bloc , but you have dispossessed the poor people of that area,” he said.

He insisted that the national assembly had not been able to carry out fundamental reforms in the polity. “Most of them have been cosmetic. They are not true to the core of the issues”, he concluded.