Buhari has performed below average —Shekarau

MALLAM Ibrahim Shekarau, a former Kano State governor and former Minister of Education during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, speaks on the performance of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government in the last three years, his renewed ambition to run for the office of the president, among others. KOLA OYELERE brings the excerpts:

RECENTLY, you were quoted to have said that the APC would lose in subsequent elections in Kano. Why do you think so?

Definitely yes, they will lose from what we see on ground and if we compare with what we did because we will be reminding the people that we, who did eight years, they should give us the opportunity. We will do a lot better. Judging from the little we have done, we can hear and see their reactions, as far as the performance of the various state governments are concerned. I believe that with the crisis in the APC, coupled with the level of awareness, the people have come to realise what exactly they expect from a democratic process. Both the state and the federal governments are not helping matters. The late Mallam Aminu Kano’s assessment is that any democracy, any economic planning, any economic policy that does not lead the citizens of that country to have easy access to food, there is no progress at all. It is not exactly about the physical infrastructure, spending billions of naira on physical infrastructure, even when you are not able to meet up the basic needs. Salaries, in some states, are not being paid; pensioners have not been paid; the scholarship of students has not been paid; contractors have not been paid and yet, you are initiating billion naira worth of projects. People are watching. And there is no looking down the ladder, it’s so frustrating. And I am sure, with that, people know who to vote for next time and we believe people will vote PDP en masse beyond what they are now seeing in the APC.

The Buhari-led administration has been in saddle for about three years, with the issue of insecurity top on its agenda. How would you assess the government in that regard?   

I rate the government below average in every respect because, as I said recently, we commend the determination and efforts of the government to address the Boko Haram challenge. However, some villages in Gwoza were taken over by Boko Haram insurgents. So, instead of dancing to the gallery, you remember the Chief of Army Staff celebrated in the Presidential Villa and brought Boko Haram flag to the president. He claimed that they had defeated Boko Haram and were celebrating, beating the drum and celebrating. But, we are back to square one! Even the military, unfortunately and other security agencies seem to be also dancing to the gallery of political propaganda. It is not worth celebrating. You need to keep on fighting; yes, you are doing your best and you have the support of the president, but that does not mean that you should tell the nation stories that are not true, especially on a crisis like Boko Haram insurgency that is an open wound; it is not a secret. When it happens, people know and it is still very much on ground. However, I commend the determination, at least, it had been reduced to a manageable level. But, a new angle has opened up. There is the herdsmen crisis; the killings and criminalities ongoing in Zamfara. So, on the whole, as far as I am concerned, Buhari’s performance is below average.

Kano is APC stronghold. Don’t you think that this places you in a disadvantage to attract the number of votes to win the presidency, if given the PDP ticket?

I have said this without number that only Allah gives power to whoever He wishes at any point in time. Therefore, I have destroyed that fear, not only for me but for history and all those that will be coming after me. In 2003, when I was contesting, people thought I was crazy and mocked me for contesting on the platform of an inconsequential party, which was not well-known, the All Nigeria peoples Party (ANPP) then. It had only nine states, when the PDP formed the Federal Government, with 20 states, and so on. I believe that from even what we have today on ground, PDP has a very large followership in Kano. The people are wise, as they now have the opportunity to compare. A scholar used to say that until you see the black, you would not appreciate the whiteness of the white. The PDP had its own time; some people have come and they are comparing. I governed for eight years and other people have come to govern and people are now assessing. When you are in office, you would not be able to appreciate even the little you are doing. But, when you leave and others come, as we experienced in Kano, people were able to assess and from the assessment, although, I wouldn’t be the one to say this, people are appreciating the little we were able to do, far more than what is happening or happened since we left.

So, I believe, with what I have given to the people, as far as Kano votes are concerned, I stand a good chance. The year 2015 was a different ball game. So many factors were responsible for what happened then. And we have overcome all of that. There were a lot of sentiments; a lot of bad propaganda; a lot of misunderstanding, misinformation, ranging from religious to ethnic tendencies were introduced. For example, for anybody to tell me that Boko Haram was the creation of Jonathan or Jonathan’s government was killing people; No! outrageous as it was the ordinary people on the street were almost believing it. But now, the truth has come to the open. Jonathan has left; killing, unfortunately, we are not praying for such, is still happening. It’s just like now, any crazy man will say, the killings in Zamfara State were done by the Buhari government; that the Birnin Gwari killings in Kaduna State or the kidnapping, were being done by the Buhari government; that would that be unfair in the name of opposition. If I now say that it is the Buhari government that is masterminding the onslaught; that is wrong. I will never be so myopic and mean to say that it is the Buhari-led government.

But, I remember there was a time during the Boko Haram tough crisis (killing), when Buhari held a press conference and said the Federal Government was the biggest Boko Haram. It was headlines all over. He has come, Boko Haram is still very much around; there are new dimensions now, ranging from killings to all kinds of criminalities. I would be naive if I say it is the Buhari’s government. No, every government has its own challenge but, what is important is that when a challenge comes, you must take it up and face the challenge towards finding a solution. Instead of saying it is X; it is Y, and God has caught up with them now. So, I think 2015 was a different ball game and Allah, in his wisdom, brought that circumstance to teach us a lesson. We have seen it now, and the people are now better informed and better educated on whom to elect and which party to rely upon.

A sore point in the present political dispensation is the cat-and-mouse relationship between the executive arm of government and the legislature, culminating in polarisation in the National Assembly. What is your view on the trend? 

My view is that 99 per cent of the blame should go to the president. He has the majority members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. If they know how to tackle their differences, I think we should not be witnessing all that is happening in term of the unfavourable relations between the two arms of government. For my eight years as the governor of Kano State, I never had any disagreement with the state House of Assembly, and I thank God for that. It is not that I’m perfect, but I resolved to carry the lawmakers along in all the actions I took. We interacted after the chamber; there was nothing I sent to the Assembly without discussing with either the leadership or all the 40 members. So, I don’t see anything wrong with Mr President discussing with the leadership of the National Assembly and attain a level of understanding. The more the discussion, the more the understanding. The principle of separation of powers in the constitution does not mean you should not work together nor mean that one is interfering with the job of the other, even in the areas that have to do with the Exclusive List to the Executive or the Legislature; they are all working towards the same goal. The destination is the same, which is good governance, and the two must work together, I don’t see any reason the president cannot talk with the leadership of the National Assembly and make effort to work together. It is a shame that they have the majority in the two chambers. It is a shame on the APC government; it is a shame in running in this obvious crisis,

During the tenure of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari, the defunct National Party Nigeria (NPN) did not have a simple majority in the National Assembly to the point that they had to sacrifice the leadership of the House of Representatives to the defunct All Nigeria People Party (ANPP) to accommodate them and they worked together harmoniously. There was no time he wanted to scale through in the National Assembly that it would not succeed. So, it is an embarrassment to all of us in the country that Mr President is not working in harmony with the National Assembly. It is most unfortunate and Nigerians are paying dearly for it because of that unfavourable situation. So many appointments could not been cleared or approved; so many commissions have not put in place; there are lots of commissions that are still waiting to be constituted. There are many functions that nobody can execute without the constituting the boards of the commissions. This is a very serious setback for all of us. I think and I hope the presidency and party leaders could now realise the need to work truly together. I am sure no matter how much hardliner the National Assembly are, if the president sees and treats them like co-workers, they can still work together.

At the state level, I will rather like the masses to pass judgment after I left office in 2011. I do not have the details of what they have done and their policies. I rated the Federal Government because I’m very close to their affairs at the centre and we are all within the federation. We know what is going on. However in Kano, I distanced myself, and would like people to assess my time and other people’s time; when the time comes for elections, they (people) can assess our candidate with what the state government has done to cast their votes for whoever they like.

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You contested in 2015 presidential election and lost. Why do you want to be president in the first place?

I thank Allah for all I have achieved in life. Just like you observed, this is not the first time I have attempted to be the president of Nigeria. My first attempt was in 2011, that is, about eight years ago and this time around, I am making myself available because I believe, without sounding immodest, that I have something to offer. I have acquired so much experience, not by my own design but by God’s own design. From January 1980, when I was barely 25 years, I became the principal of a school, and up till this moment, I go through management levels, managing human beings and materials.

I feel that I would be failing in my responsibilities, even before God, if I confine all these experiences just to myself and to history books. I must attempt to share these experiences and I need the experiences to better the lives of the people. These are some of the reasons why I believe that I must come on board. It’s a job I know that I can do. So, I want to come and improve upon the wellbeing of all the citizens of Nigeria. This has been my wish. The way it is done is a 1,001 ways: improving their education, improving their services, their basic needs; providing abundant and affordable healthcare and environmental energy, which are all meant to serve the state. If I can have the opportunity, I will contribute to uplifting where the others left. That is my prayer and pleasure; that is why I want to be the president of Nigeria.

A number of prominent persons in your party are keen on securing the ticket of the PDP for the 2019 elections. In case you do not get it, isn’t there the possibility you dump the party?

I happy that I am fully satisfied that we are covering the ground and I am fully aware of the vast nature of Nigeria because even before I became an aspirant and subsequently a candidate in 2011, I think if you check on my biography, I was a national leader in an association that has a nationwide spread. I was the national president of my dear Confederation of the Principals of Secondary Schools for four years (1998-1992). And even before then, as a state president from (1984-1985) and as the national vice-president, I was also in the Executive Council of the Principals’ Conference for 10 years continuously, right from the days of my being secretary to the national president. I was representing the Conference as an observer from the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT). We held meetings virtually every quarter, and it was taking me from one state to the other. I have a very rough idea, as I won’t claim to know all of Nigeria, but I very much understand the country. I feel satisfied and prepared now that I am coming on board. When I became the Minister of Education, I tried to know more of different parts of Nigeria through what I introduced as a monthly inspection tour. I went out on the inspection of tertiary institutions, both government-owned and non-governmental. I discussed virtually with different categories of people in the country. So, I can claim to have more than a fair knowledge of what Nigeria is all about and what the ordinary citizen of Nigeria is expecting from the leadership, as well as what their basic aspirations are. I am fully prepared for what I am aspiring to be, as the Nigerian president.

No doubt, the battle for the PDP ticket is a titanic one, given the calibre of other contenders like former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo, of Gombe State. How do you see your chances?

I think the Almighty Allah, who made me to win the 2003 election in Kano State; where God made me to break a political jinx that no governor could rule the state for two consecutive terms, even when many people referred to me as an underdog and rated me below average, is still the same God today. Therefore, I think I do not have any fear. It is not about incumbency in government because you remember I dislodged an incumbent in Kano, a powerful party man. So, that is not a threat. Number two, yes Atiku is a former vice-president; he is a very senior person. I welcome him into the PDP, as he is an additional value to us. The more of his type in any given party, the better it is for it. His presence is no threat at all. You see, it’s about people; it’s not how old or how many high offices you have occupied. It’s not about the amount of money one shares. It is not about moneybags; or political heavyweights. It’s all about what you have to offer to Nigerians. Fortunately for me, I have done it at the state level; the records are there. There is nothing hidden. For eight years, Kano people and all Nigerians are aware of what we have done and Kano has taken the benefit of our services. As I always say, I want to get to the national level and duplicate the little that we did in Kano, so that everybody will benefit.

Your party is said to be romancing notable names in other parties, including Governor Aminu Tambuwal and the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki. What would be your next line of action, in case PDP stakeholders concede the party’s presidential ticket to any of them? Are you likely to defect to the ruling APC?

But, I don’t think the PDP would be that naive to be undemocratic. It is not a question of ‘A, come back, let me give you a ticket; B, come back, I will give you the ticket.’ All this is rubbish. In fact, it will never bother me because I know it cannot happen. A non-PDP member, as of now, cannot come and be elected to become anything. By the way it is being painted, nobody will do that in the PDP. The party does not belong to one single individual. As of today, even if our national chairman comes out and says, ‘Ah, come, we will give you ticket,’ we will just laugh at him, because we know he is being stupid, crazy and naive. So, we welcome all these big names. In fact, I have been praying, now that they have discovered their mistake. They have now realised that they have done wrong; they had rushed into something without analysing it. You are carried away by the wind, the same propaganda of mischief, and so on. They have got what they wanted; they used propaganda, got elected and they discovered that was the highest this government could do; no plan, nothing! So, they are welcome, the Bukolas, the Tambuwals, the Dogaras, the Kwankwasos, all those that left, we welcome them back. They built their house, left the family and they now discovered that the other family they went are not as fair as the house they left. So, there is nothing wrong, if they can bury the hatchet and take the courage to come back. We will embrace them and move forward. Who becomes what is in nobody’s hand. We are searching for the best material.

What is your take on calls for restructuring and power devolution in the country?

There is nothing bad if a family sits down to talk or dialogue on the way forward. Therefore, I support restructuring. I always say that restructuring is beyond the simplistic answer of yes, I support; no, I don’t support. I have always argued that there are as many interpretations of restructuring as the number of people propagating it. To some people, restructuring means devolution of power; to some, it means resource control; to yet others, it means going back to a parliamentary system of government. To yet others, it means having only one parliament at the national level, instead of the dual thing: the Senate and the House of Representatives.

To some, restructuring means scrapping of local governments; some are even saying restructuring means scrapping of states, let’s go to geo-political zones of government. So, there are as many divergent views about restructuring as the number of people propagating it. My idea is that one, I support restructuring if it mean continuous dialogue between different ethnic groups; between different political groups; different religious groups. Let’s keep talking. Nigeria is a product of negotiation. I don’t subscribe to those ideas that Nigeria is not negotiable. No! Nigeria is a product of negotiation; our independence is a product of our negotiation, even the military, when they had to create states, to form local government did contact political and religious leaders. I don’t think we have ever had any military leader that did not have its ears to some opinion and political leaders in the country, who were mostly the ministers or federal commissioners. So, it was the result of dialogue. Even our constitutions are results of dialogue, whether you call it constitutional conference, national conference or whatever. It is still simmering down to Nigerians getting together to discuss. So, I support discussion; since we are still growing, we should continue talking, and government has the total responsibility to facilitate such dialogue, as was done in the past. No matter how private people would make noise about it, since change in policy, in government are purely government business. It has to be the form of government. So, I support restructuring to the point that if it means, ‘let’s get together; let’s discuss; let’s identify our areas of disagreement, mend them up and agree on how to continue governing Nigeria. We are still learning and I believe the agitation is very welcome.