A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Niger State, Mallam Umar Shuaibu, is a professional Town Planner and former chairman, Congress for Progressives Change (CPC), in the state as well as the national chairman of the Buhari Support Organisation prior to the 2015 general election. In this interview with ADELOWO OLADIPO, Shuaibu, who is a Board member of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), speaks on topical issues including the possibility of President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid in 2019.
AS the national coordinator of the President Muhammadu Buhari Support Group, what are you and the members of your organisation doing in order to sell the candidature of the president in 2019 in case he wants to recontest, having observed that a majority of Nigerians are angry that the ruling party has not been able to fulfill its campaign promises after two years in government?
We are not campaigning, because if we say he should re-contest now, people may start attacking us that we are trying to cause tension in the polity. But to say the obvious, whatever damage that has been done to our nation, either in the area of the economy, insecurity and other things; it would take a very long time to rebuild, because it takes a very small effort to destroy, but building takes a longer time. And this country was destroyed; is it not a miracle that just after two years, we have seen remarkable achievements in the area of security? Is it not a great achievement that we have seen a diversification in the mono-economy, which we have had in this country? Now, it is no longer crude oil that is a source of revenue for the country. Solid mineral resources are there; agriculture is there and so many people are now engaging in agriculture, the people at the grassroots are now engaging in agriculture more, as they are smiling to the banks because of the opportunities that have been given to them by this government. The ordinary people on the streets are now enjoying the benefits of this government, while the farmers are happy within just two years of this government. So, all we are after is let this man be given the opportunity to continue so as to consolidate on what he has started within two years. If he is given eight years, Nigeria is going to be a very happy place to live in and Nigerians will be happy people. So, we want to advocate that when the time for election comes, President Buhari should re-contest. But we don’t want to overheat the system now; all we are trying to do now is just to inform Nigerians about the benefits and achievements of President Buhari’s administration; so that they should know that whatever is being said by the opposition, it is all politics. I know that they [opposition] will not be happy, because when corruption is being fought, it is the same people that destroyed the country that are now dancing to the music. So, they would not be happy. They would go out all out to fight back. But God willing, the masses are going to triumph.
But apart from the opposition party, many Nigerians are saying that they have never had it so bad as the cost of living has gone so high in the last two years?
Anybody that says there is no gain in the government of President Buhari is only playing politics. The people know that there are lots of gains, especially on the part of the economy. Now, we are not importing rice the way we did before. If there are no gains, we would be fed from outside the way we were doing before. The price of local rice may be very expensive, but Nigerians should realise that it will take a longer time for everything to be stabilised. At least, we now produce rice and the gains are not going anywhere except within ourselves. When you empower the local farmers with farm inputs, because he is the one who cultivates, the money realised is going back to the local farmers. Those who are complaining of economic hardship should recall that at the time, Nigeria was selling a barrel of crude oil at $100; we were still borrowing money to pay salaries then. Now, we are earning about $40 per barrel, at a times, it was about $38 per barrel, yet we are not borrowing to pay workers’ salaries. People must suffer before they are able to gain. The destruction of the nation’s economy was so bad that we must be prepared to suffer before we can expect to get it right and right now, we are getting it right. Rice importation is now reduced; our economy is being diversified. Security is no longer a major problem, because it has reduced tremendously. If it was the previous government that was in power today, how do you think the country would be?
While praising the present ruling party, what is your reaction to the view that some of those in APC today were part of those that allegedly destroyed the country in 16 years?
Whoever participated in destroying the economy would be brought to book. And if those who are laying the claims have evidence, let them bring it and we would bring those people to book. At least, we have seen high ranking government officials being penalised because of corruption. It is true that there were people who were in the PDP government, but are now in this government. However, if anybody has anything against them, let him bring it out. These people are Nigerians and there are also some of them who were not part of the bad things that were done in the previous administrations. That is why Mr. President said he could work with people like that. President Buhari is not an APC president; he is Nigerian president. All of us must make sure we join hands to ensure the success of our nation.
As the coordinator of President Buhari’s support group, do you foresee an easy task of convincing Nigerians to re-elect him for a second term the way it was in the pre-2015 general election days?
Yes, it will be very easy. In the first instance, who voted Buhari into power? It was the Nigerian masses. Are the farmers complaining about this government? They are in the majority in all our low income earners are farmers. Security-wise, go and tell the people around where you have these insurgency problems that Buhari has not performed and you will see their reactions against you. You should never dare to tell them that. It is the elite who were raking in billions of Naira before that are saying we are not performing and they are not in the majority. They can say whatever they want to say, what we are after is to improve the lives of the common man and we are busy doing that. And it is the common man that is going to vote, not the elite class that always likes to sit on the fence.
The calls for restructuring have been loud of recent. Are you in support of restructuring of the country, as it is being advocated?
The issue of restructuring as it is being said in the country, is all politics. Where we are supposed to concern ourselves or concentrate on as Nigerians, we are not doing that. Otherwise, what is restructuring? Is restructuring not going on presently? The Single Treasury Account (TSA) is an economic restructuring. In the past, people were agitating for more states and more states were created, that is why we are having 36 states now in Nigeria. But, the same people who were at the forefront of the agitation for the creation of additional states, are now saying let us restructure and collapse these states. Is it not confusing?
You are the coordinator of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, what do you do at the council?
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has been charged to develop the new Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and at the end of that development, the facilities being developed need to be managed. That was what called for the setting up of the structure known as the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council; with the responsibility to manage the infrastructure and development of the city. So, we are the ones that are in charge of maintenance of these installations in the city to make sure that everything works.
In specific terms, what is your council doing to change the face of the FCT in the interest of every resident, and indeed every Nigerians?
What we want to do is to ensure that all our facilities are working up to the optimum level and among these facilities, we have the streets lights, we have the street furniture, we have the drainage channel or drainage system, including the environmental protection of the city, which is aimed at ensuring that we adequately evacuate the solid wastes and the liquid wastes, as well as trying to sanitise the city.
You are also a member of the Board of the Nigeria Ports Authorities (NPA), what have you been able to do in conjunction with the other members of the board as one of the highest revenue earners for the country?
You know that the activities of NPA have been passed to concessionaires, who are private operators. So, we are a sort of overseeing the activities of these concessionaires and with that we have to make sure that they operate in line with the mandate given to them in the allocations to them. We have to ensure that they comply to the letters. So, the concessionaires are managing it, while we are supervising whatever they are managing. The NPA is definitely a place that generates a lot of revenue for the Federal Government and then, for the sake of sanity, the government has created what TSA in order to collect whatever that is needed to be collected into one account. Prior to that, we had so many accounts but all these accounts have been closed. And now, we have a single TSA and all the private operators are supposed to maintain that account for the sake of bringing sanity to the system.
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