Charles Idahosa, popularly known as ‘Charly Temple’, a seasoned politician, was a Political Adviser to ex-Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, as well as a commissioner and local government chairman at different times. He spoke to select journalists, including FRANCIS ONOIRIBHOLO as part of the activities to mark his 64th birthday. Excerpt.

How do you feel at 64?

I feel great. I thank God for all His mercies. For one to get to 64 in a third world country like ours is a big achievement when you consider the average life span. So, we thank God. He has been very nice. There has been a long political journey and I am grateful to God to have been able to reach 64 and I am looking forward to 65 and God willing, 70.

How was your growing up?

It was okay. I had a very privileged life. I thanked God for that. I grew up with my uncle, the first Benin Anglican Bishop, Rt. Rev. J. W Idahosa. He is late now, may his soul rest in peace. That was the immediate senior brother to my dad. When I was five, he took me from my father. My father was a politician, Chief Robison Idahosa, the one that they called Akakasiaka. But, I grew up with my uncle and I lived all my life in a Vicarage.  Living in a Vicarage then was like we were ministers’ children. That time, we were very privileged. I grew up in Vicarage at St. Andrew’s at Ekpoma. My uncle was the priest in that area. I grew up with a priest and that is why I am very straightforward. That is also why people do not like me. People do not like those who say the truth. But that was how I was brought up.

What is your take on agitations for the actualisation of Biafra and other such calls that have been heating up the polity, threatening the nation’s existence?

he truth is that Nigeria is a country of the absurd. It beats me hollow the kind of things that happen in this country, especially with the media blowing them up and making them very important and creating sensationalism out of them. There is nothing happening in this country that the ordinary eyes cannot see. I earlier stated that very soon, corruption will start fighting back. That is what you are seeing now.

These agitations are being sponsored and stage-managed to distract the All Progressives Congress (APC) led Federal Government of President Muhammadu Buhari from getting to where he wants to get Nigeria to. The party’s campaign programme and President Buhari was to clear the mess of this country. Of course, the money stolen during the People Democratic Party (PDP) administration was so much. The money in people’s hands is so much. You do not expect them to fold their hands at the rate President Buhari is going. Looking at his antecedents and his records, he wants to set up special court to be trying corruption cases. That is why the Senate has been battling Ibrahim Magu, the EFCC Chairman.

Corruption is fighting back through all kinds of devices. The agitations are part of it. You mentioned the IPOB’s secession moves. Where were they before this time that Buhari is on saddle? So, what you see is corruption fighting back, no more, no less. We are a country of very many unserious people. This issue could have been tackled in a way that nobody would even know that such a thing happened.

We made Nnamdi Kanu important, a 36-year-old boy who never saw the civil war? I saw war. I know what war is. In a war, mother will deny her child; father will run to different direction, while the children will run to different direction. Kanu and his cohorts started to talk rubbish because people are pumping money to them.

What would you say are the challenges of the anti-corruption war?

Let me tell you. I was reading the hues and the noise that surrounded Aisha Alhassan, the Minister of Women Affairs, who is also called Madam Taraba. Why should that attract any attention? Is it news that the woman said Atiku is her man and that he would not support Buhari? Is Vice President Osinbajo Buhari’s man? Is he not from Atiku? Is there any minister in the federal cabinet, apart from one or two, that Buhari picked by himself? How many state governors can pick their commissioners? Leaders would bring their representation and the loyalty still goes to that godfather.

So, when the woman said what she said, everybody said she should be sacked. A country where you say the truth and you become an enemy is not a country. Tell me, who is in that cabinet? What could be different from what Madam Taraba said and Buhari’s wife, who said in the next election, she would not campaign for her husband because he does not know up to 40 percent of the ministers and the people in the presidency today. She was quoted as having said: “My husband started taking people who were sitting in their sitting rooms and making them ministers where people who worked are left out.” Did you people not read it? That was the wife of the president. In a country where people concentrate on the irrelevant, we have a long way to go. I do not see the country in crisis. Buhari missed it immediately he won when the world was applauding him and he visited London.

While in London, Buhari said: “When I get back to Nigeria, I am going to release the list of those who looted Nigeria and the amount they stole. Can you remember? The cabal in Aso Rock; there are thieves among them. There are looters inside the government who are in APC, who might have been in other parties at other times. Lai Mohammad is my friend and colleague. We were in the National Publicity Committee of the ACN that is today APC, under Daniel Elu, who was our interim chairman. Nobody has been able to ask why he did not do that.  Immediately he came, he said ‘No, we will do it later; if we announce now, it will affect the process’ that was the end of it all.

He (Buhari) gave them room. If he had stated at that time that “Mr. A ate N10 billion from such place and we have the evidence,” this problem would not have been here. If we expect that the big shots in previous administration that stole will fold their hands and allow themselves to be taken to prison, you must be wasting your time. In this country, not until you have a private jet and you are a billionaire, when you talk, nobody listens. Corruption will fight really back.

What is your stand on the call for the restructuring of the federation?

What is restructuring? What is devolution of power and what is confederation? What led to the civil war? What is ‘On Aburi we stand’? Is that not what we are still fighting for today? When Nigeria was on top of the crisis and was going to scatter, they went to Aburi, Ghana.

General Joseph Arthur Ankrah presided. They did not want any civilian; Gowon, Ojukwu and few others. I think the only civilian that went there was then Prince Akenzua, later the Oba of Benin, the father of the present Oba, then a federal Permanent Secretary.

They did not allow the civil servants in. All that Gowon understood, many of you have not asked after that disastrous civil war. Why did Gowon return to school? It was because he did not understand the meaning of ‘Confederation’ in English language. All he knew was that Nigeria would not divide.

Ojukwu said we want ‘Confederation’, a weak centre and a powerful region. By the time the meeting ended, Gowon signed. That was the Aburi Accord, that Nigeria would now go back to ‘Confederation’. This was because Aguiyi Ironsi at the inception of the military centralised all the powers in the centre. The Northerners who were far behind in the areas of development kicked against it. All the formations that the Igbos are shouting for now, Head of Army, Head of Central Bank, President and Senate, were occupied by the Igbos. After, the Aburi meeting, Ironsi was toppled.

Before that, there was regionalism. Each state was moving at its own pace. If you remember that the first Nigerian television station was in Ibadan in the Western regional government of Obafemi Awolowo.  Look at South Africa,  Tunisia, Morocco where they are now. Remember that Malaysia and Indonesia, the biggest producer of palm oil today, came to NIFOR in Benin to pick the seedlings and had training. Now we are asking them to help us with our palm oil. We do not remember where we are going because we do take cognisance of our past. If you do not understand your past, you cannot predict your future.

What is restructuring? Politics is a game of number. Politics is the sharing of dividends of democracy. The constitution has taken care of restructuring. Every state has a minister. Each local government must have a commissioner. So, there is proper representation at all levels. How do you expect APC to give equal appointments in Boards and others to the South East that voted 90 percent PDP? Those who voted for Buhari were APC. He will not compensate them and you expected him to compensate those who did not vote for him. Is that one done anywhere in democracy?

My late friend Gaddafi (Samson Ekhabafe) who was then the Attorney General in the state explained to us in 2003. I remembered, we were in exco meeting and Lucky Igbinedion was presiding. The security man came to say there was heavy protest at the gate. Igbinedion asked the deputy governor, Ogiadomhe, to find out what was happening. When he came back, he said a group of people from Akoko-Edo were protesting that their king had been deposed and detained for the past one month.

Igbinedion did not even know. So, we turned to Gaddafi (AG) to know what happened? He said, ‘I did it’. Igbinedion asked him why he dethroned a traditional ruler without telling. He said: ‘I did not know that I have to tell you’. Igbinedion  said he could not do that and wanted to know his offence. He said: ‘When we got to his domain, he was completely against us.’ So, what does that mean? He said: ‘In a democracy, there will be laughing, eating and jubilation in the house of the winner and there will be gnashing of teeth in the home of the loser.’ I will never forget that statement from Gaddafi (the AG). But, at the end, the traditional ruler was re-enthroned.

In a nutshell, people are not following what the constitution says. There is no state today… the South-East, they have five ministers, each one representing each state, whether they voted APC or not. You do not expect us to have an equal share. Maybe, that is what they are calling restructuring. What we should be talking about is the devolution of power. Let the states have more powers and let us have a weak centre. Let the centre handle economy, external affairs and defence. Electricity, water, transportation should be left to the states. The state should explore the minerals in its area and pay taxes to the centre.

That was what existed when we had the cocoa and rubber boom. That was how the West was able to build the first high rise building, Olympic stadium in Africa, first regional television, started free education before the East and the North followed. Let the states be more powerful. That is why I said that we are just deceiving ourselves in this country.

You talked about federal police, if we create state police, the governors will use it. What other examples do you need to know about the effectiveness of a state police? When Lawrence Anini (dare devil armed robber) took over the whole of Edo and Delta, then Bendel, nobody told the federal government that it needed state police. What they did at that time was done by the state police command.

They deplored all the Edo people back to the state; DIG Parry Osayande, CP Erabor and Oyakhire. They brought them back to Benin to arrest Anini. If you had brought a man from Katsina, how would he know the terrain in Ehor? So, we need local police.

In America and Europe, you have village police. Police are under local government chairman, called Mayor. When you put one Inspector General of Police in Abuja, is the federal government not using the Police? You heard Governor Nyesom Wike saying that the police are the ones committing all the armed robberies in Rivers State in order to create the state of uncertainty in his area.

That was what Wike said. I listened to him. So, in this country, we need to look at the realities on ground. As far as I am concerned, what we see now are being sponsored by politicians who are scared of going to prison, who cannot be ridiculed because they know that Buhari is very determined.

Buhari will pursue this anti-corruption crusade because that is what he said he was coming to do. So, they are distracting him so that people will not notice the good work the APC government is doing. If you allow them to succeed, then this country is finished. We have less than 16 months to go for the next presidential election.