Who is an indigene and who is a settler within the borders of Nigeria? This controversial question applies to residents of each of the 36 states of the federation and has caused severe crisis on many occasions.

In this interview Rep. Bitrus Kaze (PDP, Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency) says the impending constitution review has to answer the question. He also speaks on sundry political issues. Excerpts:

The National Assembly is bent on reviewing the 1999 constitution but the review committee is yet to be inaugurated. Do you think that you will be able carry out the exercise before 2011?

We believe we will not consume as much time as our predecessors because we have learnt from their mistakes. We have learnt from their strong points too and so we will only emphasise the areas that need to be treated with urgency. Some of us are going to make case for only issues that really bother on the Nigerian nation first, and then we could delve into regional issues later.

I think our major problem is that we try to do it wholesale and as you know there were many contending issues among the regions, peoples, tribes and religions that constitute what we call the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If we try to solve all of them at once, we are going to have a hectic time. I think we are going to be more specific on the most urgent issues this time so that we can save some time.

What are some of the issues that you feel strong about?

It is widely believed that the 1999 constitution was foisted on us by the military. We have a parliament now and the government of the day is a representative government having emerged through an electoral process.

There are lots of issues which include state creation, the immunity issue, the Niger Delta and so on but one issue that affects my constituency in particular is the indigene question. I am talking about the indigene-settler dichotomy that has been a very serious problem in my area. I really, will love to see a situation that addresses that issue squarely, making it possible for anybody to settle anywhere within the country and enjoy his life as a Nigerian. I would want to see people coming from Kano, Lagos, Calabar, and Benue to settle in Plateau and feel okay. But again, if a Plateau man goes to Kano, Lagos or Calabar, he should be welcomed and accepted just as his brothers would treat others in Plateau. That makes a lot of sense but why is it not so at the moment? We need to really look at this issue once and for all.

We are also interested in seeing how the constitution can commit government to reclaim land that has been so devastated as a result of mining activities in the past across the country. We are really suffering from acute land degradation resulting in lost of farmland and so on. In fact the deep ponds scattered all over have caused the death of many people and livestock. So that's an issue for us to pursue during the exercise.

The house has been unable to reconstitute its standing committees. What is the problem and is it as severe as for people to expect some crisis in the house?

I believe leaders should act without fear or favour because no matter what time it takes, somebody is going to be hurt and somebody will celebrate in the end. That is a fact. Time is not a factor here; time is not something that will change that basic truth. In my opinion the reconstitution of the committees is long overdue.

Once there is a change of leadership like it happened between Bankole and Etteh, people usually expect committee changes. But the speaker graciously avoided it. Now since he has made up his mind and had even gone ahead to dissolve the committees, I think it is taking too long to reconstitute them. But again the speaker may be taking his time to ensure that he puts the square pegs in square holes and the round pegs in the round holes.

I do not really understand why it has taken such a long time. Pressure will always be there whether you do it swiftly or you delay it. But I think, at most, they will be reconstituted in the next two weeks.

Somehow the 2008 budget is still at the National Assembly, why has it been so difficult to okay it, dragging it to the end of the year?

That is how parliament works, parliament has to agree, disagree before it finally agrees. The budget is the most important financial instrument that the federal government works on. It may seem that we are delaying, but this is not the main budget, this is an amended budget. We are trying to amend the one that was passed. We need to take adequate time to ensure that it is not passed with any form of lapses. That is just why it is taking time.

The same budget has been going and coming since the end of last year. Don't you think that snail speed is detrimental to government's desire to provide the dividends of democracy in good time?

This budget came in last month or so, this is just an amendment budget ......

(cuts in) but it is because of the problem that you had with the the main budget that this amendment issue came?

Well we saw that it was taking too much time and we agreed that we would pass it the way it came, but that subsequently, Mr. President would submit amendments to make corrections as we envisaged. But Mr. President's submission did not come in good time as we expected. And you would naturally expect arguments for and against certain issues, both within the National Assembly and outside, so that is just what I believe is delaying the budget a little bit. However we in the House of Representatives have the report of the joint committee that is handling it and very soon we will pass it into law.

Are you concern that the president who is the leader of your party has been going through some crisis from talks about his failing health, his purported death and more recently, his alleged resignation?

I do not really feel that is a crisis. It is common in Nigeria for people to make a storm out of tea cup. If Mr. President is sick, who says no other person is sick. Anybody can be sick so what is the big issue about Yar'adua's sickness? Was Obasanjo not a sick person? Was Abdulsalami not a sick person? What did Abacha die of, was it not sickness? So what is peculiar about Yar'adua that people are making business out of his case? I do not think that the storm generated over his health is fair at all. That was just one way of overheating the polity. I believe that is the work of the opposition because they enjoy heating up the polity. That is one bad thing about Nigerian politicians, unfortunately, I am one. Once you lose an election, you do not see anything good about your opponent and so you must look for something to paint him in bad light.

INEC went round recently to delimitate constituencies and your federal constituency is one of the highly populated. Did you make any request for more states or federal constituencies?

Certainly we did ask for more state and federal constituencies. We did so because the most important single criterion for the creation or delimitation of a constituency is population. Now the population of Jos South alone according to the 2006 census is in excess of 300,000. Then it has a voter population of about 170, 000. Going by this therefore, Jos South is more than qualified to be a federal constituency when you consider it along side other federal constituencies. Also the guidelines say that you cannot have the same federal constituency to be a state constituency, so if you propose a federal constituency for Jos South, you have to propose two, three or more state constituencies that would now constitute the newly proposed federal constituency. That is what we have done.

For Jos East, it has a small boundary with Jos South and in terms of cultural affiliation, Jos East has its affiliates more in Jos North. But looking at the situation in Plateau North Senatorial District, you could clearly say that Jos East stands out as the smallest in terms of population. But there is a proposal to merge Jos East with a part of Jos North that has cultural affinity with us. That would blow up the population to the average required of a federal constituency. That is it, and it will interest you to know that these issues are being discussed among the stakeholders in the whole of Plateau North senatorial district. We feel it is time for us to drop the bickering, the disagreements, the sentiments, and the differences. We feel that we can work together as a team and achieve our desires.

But to create federal constituencies, you need to amend the constitution. Does that make you feel this whole exercise would be a waste if the constitution is not amended?

You see, what is happening is constituency delimitation. The constitution requires and clearly states that there shall be 360 federal constituencies. So if you are going to create a new federal constituency, you will have to amend the constitution. But what INEC is saying is that there are discrepancies, there are imbalances, a federal constituency has 60,000 people while another federal constituency has 150,000 people, that is unfair. So what INEC is saying is that if that kind of imbalance is found within a state, you can collapse the entirety federal constituencies and re-delimitate to the extent that the population is fairly distributed among the federal constituencies. That way you are not tempering with the 360 that is clearly stated in the constitution because you are not creating any new one.

What have you done to impact on the lives of people of your constituency?

There were three faces of my plans when I came into office. First, I thought it was important for me to leave physical projects on the ground so that in future people can say it was during the tenure of so and so that we got these. Also it was my desire to touch the lives of people in terms or income generation. If there are people who could earn only N20 in a day, I'll be very happy that by the time I left office, a given number of them can earn up to N50 or more. I am talking about economic empowerment. I also thought I could impact on my constituency positively in the area of educational pursuit and in terms of physical structures. In this regard, I have constructed a box culvert in a place called Tere in Jos East local government area. I have also bought a transformer for a community called Bandam in Jos South local government area. At least 55 youths have taken delivery of one brand new motorcycle each in my constituency. Similarly, at least a hundred youths have taken delivery of one water pumping machine each.

I have sank at least 12 hand pump boreholes that are supplying water to 12 wards in the constituency and my hope is to be able to leave each ward with at least a borehole before I leave office. I have issued bursary assistance to at least 190 students in my constituency. This is an attempt to assist the poor among them to continue their higher education and achieve their dreams.

What are you pushing for you constituents in the house to ensure you attract federal presence?

You will recall that the Nigerian Electricity Supply Company (NESCO) is in my federal constituency. I really feel that I can pay a visit to NESCO and find out how, as a federal legislator, I can intervene in the necessary laws to make the ground smooth for them to operate as a private sector investor to supply electricity, not only to Plateau but the adjourning states. I understand that NESCO has the capacity to do just that. Also my federal constituency is renowned for problems of the ecology as a result of tin mining. That has gone over the years; certainly my predecessors have attempted to sponsor a bill in that regard. I work with one of them and I have taken note of their efforts and I will improve on it. I will also throw my weight behind any bill that will affect the lives not only of the people of my constituency but the entire people of Plateau State and Nigeria.