The present administration has said the economy hasn’t done badly under its watch. Would you agree with that?
When things change for the better, the ordinary person will enjoy it. The ordinary person will feel the impact and it will show both in the body language and the utterances of the citizens. However, so far, there is hunger more than ever before. Unemployment has also risen. So far, I do not really know the economic policy we are working with in the country and I am also feeling the pain and the present situation has clearly made the popular adage of ‘the rich also cry’ come to manifest, because many people are affected.
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So, economically, I do not know how to score the administration other than to say from a point of view of sincerity and objectivity that it is closer to minus one than zero. Like I told you, if a system is working, everyone knows and feels it; everyone experiences it and everyone celebrates it. If it is not, we will know because now, we are back to the dustbin and this is what has led to the rise in social vices. Rather than move forward, we have taken steps backward from what it used to be in the previous years.
The administration has also focused on the fight against corruption? Are you satisfied with how that has gone?
There seems to be a fight against corruption but the fight is selective, because if you were a sinner and you belonged to another party and you defected to the main party, your sins are forgiven and you become an angel. Based on this and other factors, I will score the administration very low on the fight against corruption, because it had been selective.
I wonder why nobody has been brought to book or alleged to have committed similar fraud as labelled against the opposition from the inner circle. We all know that most of the people in the ruling party are the same people that were in the other political party. I do not know how to score the government on corruption, because even when they say looted funds had been retrieved, a number of people don’t know where the money is being channelled. So, I’ll score the administration very low on this too.
How about security?
The country is faced with insecurity every day. Think about the situation where you have about 400,000 policemen to more than 180 million people and of these 400,000 policemen, many of them are guarding privileged Nigerians. So, where is the protection for ordinary Nigerians?
We talk of herdsmen’s attacks, aside the Boko Haram terrorism. We also have rising cases of kidnapping. An average Nigerian can no longer sleep with his two eyes closed, yet the primary responsibility of a government is to ensure the safety of the citizens. You can see how people are slaughtered and we have not heard anything whatsoever or cogent steps taken by government to address this madness of the time. Let me also ask, is it real that the head of every security organisation in the country comes from the same environment? If the people that orchestrated bombings here and there, after being arrested are freed and nothing is done to them, what are we talking about?
We are talking of change, and the party congresses that took place recently were marked by all kinds of internal disagreement, and even violence to the point that some lives were lost and properties razed. That is the state of the nation when we talk of security. When you also look at the porous nature of our borders, where is the security? The truth is that I do not see any improvement in security, apart from the divine intervention on behalf of all of us.
So, what is your advice to government?
Honestly, my own understanding is that on these three key areas that the government promised on which we voted them to power, I am not impressed and it is very possible the president has been hijacked by a cabal running the system and signing on his behalf. A lot of what we are seeing is Esau’s hand, but the voice of Jacob and to play on our collective intelligence is insulting.
So, my advice to the government is that it should wake up from its slumber and keep to their promise, especially on the economy and the fight against corruption.
Government should engage those who are economic experts. On the question of corruption, this should be backed up with what will work and not window-dressing. Let them work on what will put food on the table of the average Nigerian.
Let jobs be provided for youths as these will go a long way in addressing social vices. Nigerians are people of great tolerance. If they are able to fulfill their campaign promises, Nigerians will have a rethink.
I wonder why the government is running away from restructuring. I do not know why some privileged people still lord themselves over the other people. Nigeria belongs to all of us. Anyone who prioritises tribe over national concerns should not lead at the national level. Nigeria consists of different ethnic\nationality and change goes beyond being just a political slogan.
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