The current Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government is a year old in office, how would you assess or appraise it so far?
The appraisal is there for all Nigerians to see. The country has been reeling from the effects of the liberalisation policies of the government that have impacted negatively on the people. We have seen a situation where the foreign exchange regime has made the value of naira to rise from 400 naira to about more than N1,500 to the US dollar.
Also the removal of payment of subsidy for fuel consumed by Nigerians is also affecting the people because the price of petrol rose from N290 to N800 but later came slightly down. These issues have caused some form of hardship to the people. When you look at the prices of goods and commodities, some of them have risen beyond the purchasing reach of the common man in the country. People are unable to buy food and when that happens, it means that such a nation is veering towards extinction. Many Nigerians are dying needlessly because of this hardship. Many Nigerians cannot access treatment in the various hospitals across the country because of the cost of treatment. Drugs are now very expensive and beyond the reach of the common man. Men- tion any commodity that the people should have, you cannot buy it. Even as we speak, the rich also cry. It will be difficult to say that we have been improving under the current govern- ment. Rather, the nation’s economy is fast deteriorating. Inflation rate has gone up to above 33 per cent. Unemployment is becoming the order of the day. Even businesses that were functioning are shutting down daily. As I am speaking with you, many big multi-national entities operating in the country have folded up and left. As it is now many companies have left the country. I am talking of large corporations employing thousands of Nigerians directly or indirectly. The same scenario is playing out in the small scale businesses too.
What is the implication of this to the country?
This means that many people are becoming unemployed. You will discover that people are becoming more desperate for survival. They are becoming more and more desperate about life. I can say that this is one of the major reasons for the prevailing security issues plaguing the country as we speak today. This is why kidnapping, banditry and other vices are thriving across the country. In the larger society, the people are no longer safe to live in the country, they can’t travel by road. There are a lot of problems in the country and we have to say the truth to ourselves.
But the current government has acknowledged the hardshipbeing faced by Nigerians and has continued to state that it is temporary and that in the long run, all its reform agenda will soon be bearing fruits…
(Cuts in) The issue is that one might want to say that the hardship is temporary but one is bound to see some form of improvements in the economy after the government has been in power for a year. Unfortunately, there has not been any kind of improvement after one year. Things keep deteriorating and Nigerians are suffering. The question we should ask those in government will be, ‘for how long will the situation persist?’ At the end of the day, if the situation gets worse, we might have a serious so- cial crisis on our hands. For instance in Akwa Ibom where I live, a small cup of garri is now sold for N500. A bag of the same garri which was sold last year before the coming of this government for N36,000 is now sold for N126,000. The same goes for rice which was sold for N38,000 is now being sold for N85,000, so how would the common man feed himself in this circumstance. It is a big problem for the government to address urgently.
But the government has been giving palliatives to Nigerians to cushion the effects; it has also voted trillions for that too…
I don’t believe in handing out palliatives to the people. I like the idea of people giving food to people. I believe in creating opportunities for people to gainfully engage and be employed to be able to cater for themselves. I mean the people must work and earn a living. The question is, ‘for how long will the people be living like that? So, for us in PANDEF, this is a big problem that we believe the government should tackle frontally and seriously before things get out of hand. I don’t like the response of the government to this at all. I don’t like the decision of the government to always hand out palliatives to the people, rather I believe that the government should do things that would generate employment for the people to be able to earn decent wages that would ensure decent living. For how long can a family or even an individ- ual continue to live on mere handouts? Government should do more than that.
Recently, some people have come out to sponsor a bill to restructure the country, being a group that has championed this for a long time, what’s your reaction to this?
It is a welcome development but let me state that we are not just calling for restructuring in line with the regions but to say that we are calling for restructuring in line with the arrangement that every nation deserves to be administered in manner where every component. We in PANDEF are calling for a return to the 1963 Federal Constitution, where every region or component unit will be able to develop at its own pace. They must be semi-autonomous and must be able to contribute something substantial to the government at the centre. The Federal Government on its part should be small. This will make contestation for power at the centre less attractive and acrimonious. I know for sure that every state or region has one resource or the oth- er to be able to cater for itself. We at PANDEF are completely out for the restructuring of the country. We also believe that the local governments should be made autonomous, so that they can operate because that is the closest government to the grassroots. Many people don’t know the way to Abuja or their state capitals but they know the way to their local govern- ment secretariats. We are also advo- cating for the creation of the state policing system and structure. The states should be allowed in the Constitution to create their policing sys- tem. These are the things that must be done for the country to progress and grow.
Why do you think that this is the best way to go?
The way we are going, if we continue like this, only God Himself knows where we are headed as a people.
Is PANDEF in touch with the promoters of this Constitutional reform?
Yes, like recently there was a public hearing on one of the items being slated for reform at the National Assembly. PANDEF sent representation to the public hearing with a view to presenting our position on the issue.
What item was that sir?
I think the public hearing was in line with these local government reforms.
It is a known fact that President Bola Tinubu had been a proponent of restructuring; do you think he would go the whole hog to make it happen unlike his predecessors in office?
Yes! He (President Tinubu) had been at the forefront of the clamour for restructuring. He has been canvassing for it since the NADECO days. I pray that now that he has the opportunity to make it happen, he should go ahead to implement it. If he (the president) who has been fight- ing and advocating for restructuring fails to make it happen, then it will take longer for another president to make it happen. I believe that with his experience and with his exposure, we pray that God will empower him to make this restructuring happen.
One aspect of the restructuring that has become so contentious is the call to return the country to the Westminster parliamentary system, how do you react to the belief in some quarters that it could lead to chaos considering the fragile political nature of the country? I personally support the current presidential model that we have in the country. Now what we have to do is to ensure the proper checks and balance in the way it is being operated. The only problem we have now is that we don’t currently have very strong National and state’s Assemblies to serve as the necessary checks on the executive. I mean the assem- blies must do their oversight functions without compromising.
Why do you think that the National and states assemblies have been largely ineffectual?
Except for the 1999/2003 National Assembly that was largely independent. Sadly, most of the people in the National Assembly now are products of the machinations of the President or the governors. Most of them were not elected independently. If any of the assembly members become vocal and display some form of independence, he would not be given a return ticket by the powers that be. This is why we have the kind of legislative chambers we have now at both the states and at the Federal level. It doesn’t work like this in advanced democracies where people are elected into parliament independently. When they get into office, they work for the progress and development of their countries. They work to please and serve the majority of people in the country and not just a few individuals.
How would you appraise the performances of the governors in the South South in terms of how they are delivering on democratic dividends?
First and foremost, in my state (Akwa Ibom), we have been so lucky to have governors that have helped in no small way to develop the state. They have done so well that if you come into Akwa Ibom today and you compare it with what it was some 25 years ago, you will lose your sense of geography. This is because a lot of developments have taken place since then. In Rivers, a lot of development and progress have also been made too but the recent impasse between the governor and the former governor has virtually stalled development there. In Bayelsa, the governors have also been doing well because I have had cause to visit there often too. The same applies to Edo, Delta, Cross River states. Averagely, they have all done well within the limits of the resources at their disposal.
Is there any area that you would like them to improve?
Yes! I want them to improve in the area of collaboration with one anoth- er. They must collectively work to make the BRACE Commission work. They must collaborate to ensure regional integration.