Hon. Timothy Golu is the Chief Whip of the Plateau House of Assembly. In this interview with Shuaib Shuaib, he insists that governors are only chief security officers in name and the real power resides with the federal government. He also blames Nigeria’s three major tribes for causing the country’s political problems.
You are relatively new to politics. How has the experience been for you so far?
It seems or looks so, but actually I am not new to politics. This is because I read political science (the systematic study of politics) at both my first and second degrees and also at the level of PhD, which I am currently pursuing. That has made me very sensitive and conscious of every political activity around me. I have not contested any election before now, but I took my time to study and understand the immediate polity I found myself so as to calculatedly strategise my entry into the partisan game.
The experience has been quite exciting, interesting but frankly very stressful. You have to be courageous and strong-minded to go into it. Politics is not for the feeble minded. It is ground for testing the patience, maturity, comportment, sagacity and capacity of leadership of men and women. It is a playing field where you hardly have a deep understanding of other players and yet you develop faith and confidence to play together. Some players may conceal passing the ball to you but you don’t wait for it to come. You go after it. In a developing country like our own, the level of intricacies and complexities are quite enormous. The quality of the economy also plays a significant role in shaping what happens in the game.
Within the shortest period of my partisan entry, I have come to understand situations more than ever before and develop new skills of handling them and also how to relate with people better.
Plateau state is one of several states that have local governments under emergency rule. It has been about five months since it was first declared. Do you think there has been any improvement in the security situation in these areas?
Its true Plateau State, like four others, have been under partial state of emergency since December 2011 ending and we hope that it is lifted soon. The purpose of the action, according to president Goodluck Jonathan is to arrest the escalating violent conflicts in the affected states and improve on security. Even though we thank Mr. President for always having us in mind and taking good measures to help our situation,t he current state of emergency in Plateau for instance is not any different from the situation before it. This is because there has been no any new measure taken by government. The same STF is in charge under the office of the chief of defence staff, with the same soldiers, policemen, etc in place. Nothing has actually changed except that the affected LGAs have suffered seriously because the federal government withheld their five months subventions without any reason; instead of pumping them with additional funds as it did during the Chief Joshua Dariye’s six month emergency rule. The federal government stopped the meager allocations to Jos North/Jos South,Barkin Ladi and Riyom, and that almost affected the security situation because they have no money to pay salaries for the thousands of their workers and could not help the security personnel posted to their areas. The situation also affected the performance of the security to some extend as the LGAs could not compliment what the state government has been doing.
The state is still divided along ethnic and religious lines and a number have of people have blamed politics. Is there any likelihood these divisions will disappear within our lifetime?
Point of correction; there is no ethnic division in Plateau, neither is there any indigenous division along religious lines. What we have is a situation where outsiders are creating problems for us. Why should people from other states be interested in the politics of Plateau and giving funny analysis more that those of us home people. As it is now, no matter what, except if I want to be mischievous, why must so-called analysts keep talking about Plateau knowing little or nothing about the state? Is it not ridiculous that someone who is a clergyman from another state feels he knows what is happening in Jos more than a local clergy who is in-house? Why must a politician from Kaduna claim to know more than a home-based actor on the Plateau. Why must colleagues and journalists, most of whom have never been to Jos be more interested in writing distorted stories about Plateau and yet not a single piece of work on their own states? Are they more intelligent than us or more grounded like us?
The governor is the chief security officer of the state. Would it be fair to blame him for the failure to bridge this divide?
Blame the governor for what? Because others, especially his enemies are saying so? We must fear God in our undertakings. I told you there is no such divide on the Plateau. Concerning the issue of chief security, the practical truth is that no governor is the chief security officer of his state in this country. This is simply because they don’t have control over any security agency and their personnel. The CP for instance takes orders from the IGP so are other agencies posted to the states. As long as that remains, the state governors will continue to have limited control over security situations. It is made worst if an IGP for instance has a security interest in a matter in a state. He will pursue his own interest at the expense of the state. But if a state police is in place, no IGP will have that luxury of discretion; the state governors can properly be in charge and be effective CSOs. A case in point on the Plateau was the primitive interference of the former IGP, Mr Ringim in a local government affair in the state. He illegally sent policemen to reinstate an ousted council chairman under the guise of security.
In recent times, you have called on the federal government to release the monthly allocation of some LGs which it has withheld. But the truth is that all the other LGs do not get their funds and are instead being spent by the state government. Why have you not made a similar call to the state government?
Yes, not only myself but all the good people of Plateau. The Honourable House of Assembly was the first to call for the release of the withheld funds. Thank God, the funds have been released now and work has returned to normal.
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Most state executives are known to embark of reckless spending of public funds in disregard of the budgets passed by the houses of assembly. In Plateau, is there a fiscal responsibility law and if there is, how effective is it? Is the State Governor adhering to it?
Here on the Plateau, even though we are yet to domesticate the fiscal responsibility law, we comply with the basic laws governing financial administration. Governor Jonah David Jang is one of the few governors that spends money wisely and does not embark on reckless engagements. When it comes to money, he is strict and firm. That makes those who work with him to imbibe the same spirit.
The economy of the state has suffered a great deal in recent years. What can be done about this?
The economy of Plateau has suffered in recent times due to the crisis. We should have gone very far in terms of development and infrastructure. Just come to Plateau and check, only few states can compare with us, only few governors can match our shoulders, and only few governments can challenge us. What we have been able to achieve would have been double if not for the crisis. Half of our money goes to security since the federal government has refused to assist us with a dime. We spent money meant for hospitals, schools, roads and water on security and yet we are working hard. In the face of this, we have never borrowed to pay salaries.
The federal government can go the extra mile by helping us. Once this crisis is over, our economy will return to its peak. Once Nigerians who live on the Plateau irrespective of tribe or religion take it upon themselves to defend and protect the state and their investments, everything will fall in good place. If you live on the Plateau and don’t defend it, whether you are a Christian or Muslim, Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa, then you are part of the problem and you are not patriotic. You must get involved in being a solution at whatever level.
At the national level, suggestions are being made that the north should put a minority as its presidential candidate for 2015. Is this realistic?
I agree with you in total my brother. We need a minority again. You see, it’s the majority tribes that are causing political problems for Nigeria, I mean the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. They feel the country belongs to only them because of their large numbers and that makes them to talk anyhow. They arrogate to themselves the monopoly of knowledge, leadership and wisdom just because they are many. Population can be an asset as well as a liability. They are not helping this country enough. Leadership is based on ability and not on strength. They are always greedy and selfish. They don’t consider the interests of their juniors and are always asking for themselves. You hardly hear a minority accusing government of under appointments, but that has been the lot of our majority seniors. Why can’t the three so-called ‘big three’ line up behind any of the many smaller tribes and give their honest support? The three major tribes have failed to unite us and lead by example, so they should give chance for the minority to lead and prove their worth.
If you check very well, leaders from the minority tribes have performed far better than those from the majority tribes. Look at our father, General Yakubu Gowon, our uncles, Generals Ibrahim Babangida? Abdulsalami Abubakar and? Murtala Mogammed, look at our senior brother, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and you can see honest and transparent performance. These people from the minority blood have taken Nigeria to the highest levels and we are enjoying many of their legacies. But tell me in all honesty, can you compare them with Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Olusegun Obasanjo, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory and Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ernest Shonekan, etc? We only celebrate some of these people because they were the pioneer leaders that help to bring us out of Egypt (colonialism), and their love for the unity of this great nation, but the minority leaders, to me, have performed better and driven the country away from regionalism to federalism which we are trying to perfect. The minority leaders are more conscious of uniting our people than the major tribes who only take care of themselves.
Before joining politics, you were a journalist and observed the politics of the presidency at close range. What do you think is going through the president’s mind now? Will he seek a second term come 2015?
The President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will likely go for a second term considering the fact of what is on ground right now. This is not for the pleasure of it, but as a politician and a leader of this caliber, it will not be wise to throw in the towel at a time the nation needs total concentration to address the lingering socio-economic and security challenges which a new comer will need not less than two terms to achieve. The psychology of leadership is quite different from what people think or say on the streets,from the daily analysis which are mostly political in character.?
But may I ask, what do you think is against his desire to seek a second term? If the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua were alive, we would have supported him for a second term. It’s precedence in this country that our leaders at all executive positions go for a second term. Why is GEJ different? Jonathan himself would have supported Yar’Adua with full force. We should not tribalise the issue or sentimentalise it. Some good analysts (idealists) only make beautiful noise outside, that are not tangibly related to realities on ground. If Jonathan is not qualify to contest, who is?
Since he took over, he has addressed many issues and therefore, those who want this nation to move forward should not be opposed to it if he decides to contest in 2015. He may choose not to, but as a close watcher of the politics of the presidency for some reasonable number of years, I can see that the waters have been tested, politically and legally. The party, our great party, the PDP, is satisfied with his performance so far and many other governors too. As a politician, it will be an act of cowardice for the president not to go for a second term just because the opposition parties and politicians whom we have repeatedly defeat.
The needless debate about whether he should or should not is the idle talk of those who are not development conscious. He is in his first term and he has just spent one year in office. In the last few years, he completed the tenure of the late president Yar’Adua who equally could have taken the country to this great height. Not because I’m a PDP man, but I can conveniently tell you that Jonathan has so much to offer this country and if he desires to seek a second term, he should be supported.
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