A former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger State, AlhajiDattijoAliyu, speaks with ADELOWO OLADIPO, on sundry national issues and his relationship with former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Babangida, among others.
You have been away from the country for sometimes now and not involved in the recent politicking in your state, what have you been doing since your time-out from politics?
Well, I have been into livestock business and insemination. And, so far, God has been very kind to me. But each time I look at the way politics is being played in the country nowadays, I do feel bad, because this is not been the way I think it should be played. For instance, if you look at our time, when the state governor made us commissioners, our primary objective then was to serve the people, because we felt that the appointment was given to us by God and that at the end of our sojourn on earth, we will give account of our stewardship to the Supreme Being [God]. So, what was uppermost in our hearts then was to serve and we ensured that whatever we did was for the interest of the people. During that time, we never thought that the state governor gave us the appointment so that we could benefit ourselves and enjoy alone. But we saw the opportunity as a way to join the governor in running the state well.
Can you still recall one of the challenges that you faced between 1999 and 2007, while serving as commissioner during the tenure of the late Governor Abdulkadri Kure?
Well, our greatest challenge then was finance, because the monthly allocation from FAAC then was about 10 per cent lower than what the state was receiving on monthly basis from FAAC then. I remembered that there was a time that what we collected from the federation account as our allocation for that month was about N120 million, while the security vote was about N18 million or there about . The governor was even saying that we should return the money to them, but I said no, because when you were talking about security, sometimes, it might be some emergency situations that would occur which you as a governor never thought could happen and you would start planning how you can tackle it. I think all of us who found ourselves in government of the late former governor AbdullahiAbdulkadri Kure in Niger State at that time just wanted to make name for ourselves.
We were so opened to the people and we appreciated those who helped the party, because the party was considered before anything. Take for instance, if there was an appointment made by the governor, he doesn’t care who you are, but he would tell you this appointment was coming from the party. If the person does not know what to do, he would advise the appointee to go and share certain responsibilities in order for the person and his or her team to succeed and bring results Similarly, in the areas of other appointments, which were spread across the state, the State Executive Council would sit down with the governor and share the appointments or responsibilities by the numbers of the senatorial districts in the state such as Niger East, Niger North and Niger South Senatorial districts. Such things would be taken to the party secretariats in the respective local governments in the senatorial districts for those who had suffered for the party, especially if it had to do with palliatives to the people. But the situation is not the same again in the present day politics. For example in the present dispensation, someone who has never worked for the party or a very strong financial supporter of the party can come forward during electioneering period and ask to be given tickets for him or her to run for an elective position in his or her area in the state, even at the expense of those, who are committed party members and who have suffered for the party in one way or the other in order for the party to win elections in the state or at the federal level. The politics in Nigeria today is no longer about service to the people, but for a very few political elite.
Being a first cousin to former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, how has been your relationship with him?
Well, I can say I am grateful to God for His blessings to me and I am also grateful to God for making me to be part of General Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida’s family, because, sincerely speaking, he has always been a motivating factor and a source of inspiration to me, especially when I was elected as Executive Chairman, Chanchaga Local Government Area of Niger State. He called me and told me that I have to remember God first while carrying out my duties as a leader and that I should think of all those people that God used to bring me into power. He said though it may not be possible for me to please everyone, I should try my best to at least please myself and those who suffered for me. And since then, his candid advice has always been at the back of my mind. The advice helped me to make very good decisions throughout my stewardship as council chairman and thereafter in my private business.
So how was growing up like, especially with the like of General Babangida around you in those days?
You see, he had leadership qualities. In fact, whenever he travelled and returned from a trip with his friends, he would settle them before leaving his hotel. Sometimes when General Babangida wanted to go out with some of his friends like the former Head of State, General AbdulsalamiAbubakar and others, my father would query him, because my father brought him up. His father and my own father were brothers from the same parents. So, anytime he wanted to give money to my father, he would always give it to General Abdulsalami to give him, because at the end of the day if he gave my father the money directly, he would go and give people. So right from the onset, General Babangida was kind. When he was very young, there was a prophecy that he would become a very popular leader in the country. General Babangida’s pet name at home then during his childhood days was Maigari and I think he got that from the late Emir of Wushishi since the time he was born. The Emir of Wushishi then was Ibrahim Wushishi and Ibrahim is our grandfather’s name. So, they named him Ibrahim and they called him Maigari, the son of the owner of the town. We started calling him Babangida lately just because he bears the Emir’s name. Most of us, family members, don’t call him Ibrahim; instead we call him Maigari, in fact all of us. One thing about General Babangida is that he is patient and has a forgiving heart.
Looking at the Nigerian politics, there is clamour for power to rotate to the South while come want it in the North. What is your take on this?
Well, my own candid opinion is that I don’t think that as a people, we should be looking for a Southern or Northern president. Instead, what we should be looking for is a true Nigerian president.
How do you see the 30 aspirants on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and 10 from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) jostling for governorship seat in the 2023 elections?
You see, they all have to talk to themselves on this thing, because it is only one person that will be governor and it will come from God. I believe that all of the aspirants have the interest of the state at heart and so I think they should be talking to themselves, because they have the opportunity and it is the turn of the senatorial district they all come from to produce a governor for the state next year. They should realise that the first time the Niger South senatorial district or Zone A of the state produced the governor in the person of the late A.A. Kure, he did his best. So they should think about it and I have always said that people who are aspiring to govern the state should first of all know the state very much in order to govern it very well. We also need prayers. The contestants should know or understand that leadership comes from God and whoever gets it should be supported to succeed. The person should first of all also bend backward to accommodate the losers and carry everybody along, including those who voted for him and those who did not vote for him in the election. He should carry them along, because he will be a governor of the state, not of the party.
What is the immediate or remote solution to the lingering security challenges bedevilling the state?
Well, I think the immediate solution to the insecurity confronting the state is for the people at the helm of affairs to reach out to the people, because the issues of security is in the communities. First of all, they should get the traditional rulers, because they are more effective even than the military and other security agencies. Let the government get all these organisations together and tell them what is supposed to be done, so that they will understand the problems. The traditional rulers are going to use their district, village heads and their ward heads. For instance in 2006 and 2007, Niger got the best state award for security in Nigeria and we won that award twice before we left the office. But today, the situation is different. Leadership is key; you have to reach out to people and most importantly, our traditional institutions, religious leaders, youth and women organisations, because the informants are within us. So, when we do that, then with a lot of prayers, they would listen to the leaders. Above all, we should continue to pray hard for the peaceful coexistence of this country, because Nigeria needs to be secured first before anything. The first law of nature is self-preservation. We have to preserve ourselves first. Then human rights comes before civil rights. We have to organise ourselves first before we can think of what anyone would give us.
So many aspirants have indicated interest to succeed President MuhammaduBuhari, especially in the APC. What is your take on this?
Well, APC is in power now, both in some states and at the federal level. If God says they will retain power in the next dispensation, no one can change that. But among the several presidential aspirants of the party, there are some people that are supposed to be considered first before others. People like Bola Ahmed Tinubu has leadership qualities and there are certain people that you don’t undermine.
But today, you will see people who are not even democrats now heading some sensitive positions in public life and many of them were pro-third term politicians. In fact, they were first 11 in the third term agenda. But today, they have come to the APC as presidential aspirants. With those types of people in our body politic, how can our democracy grow? And I think they are not being fair to Tinubu if we want to be sincere to ourselves. This man has paid his dues.
It is, however, General Babangida’s opinion when he said he would support younger Nigerians to be the next president of this country considering our recent experience as a people. I still consider that statement attributed to GeneralBabangida as his own personal opinion. If Nigerians want the young ones [as president], it is well and good, but General Babangida has spoken his mind as a former leader and an elder statesman.
What do you think about consensus candidacy and the clamour that the 2023 presidency be zoned to the South-East?
Well, on the issue of the presidency being zoned to the southeastern part of the country, we don’t want an Igbo president, but a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. So the Igbos themselves should reach out to the people; they should not sit down in their region and say that the presidency should be given to them on a [silver]platter, because nobody will give you power, except you lobby for it. Therefore, I think by that, if Nigerians think that a president of Igbo extraction should emerge from the South-East part of the country in the 2023 general election, then why not? But the people themselves should know how they will go about it. They have to get themselves organised and stop undermining themselves. There should be unity among them and they should respect themselves as well as making efforts to reach out to other Nigerians outside the Igboland.