Dr. Rotimi Olulana, a former governorship candidate in Lagos State on the platform of Labour Party (LP), speaks on issues of national interest, in this interview with BOLA BADMUS. Excerpts:
Several persons have shown interest for various political positions in the 2023 general election. What do you make of this amid the fact that the nation is grappling with several issues?
Well, many people are vying for elective positions. But, one issue that is pertinent is the issue of insecurity. Owing to insecurity of the country, there are those who doubt if the election will take place. The killing, kidnapping that is going on is enormous. Also, the preparation of government is not solid enough, while those who are in government want to remain office. Regarding collection of forms, those who are at the helms of affairs that have acquired enough money have enough to throw away. Economically, things are very tough in the country and majority of Nigerians are in serious economic problem. People don’t have money to eat and things are very expensive with the little that is available. So we have a lot of problems that may mar the coming elections.
What kind of leader should Nigerians be expecting in 2023?
I am not concerned about who becomes the next president after Buhari. My mind is on how to solve the problem of insecurity and economy of the country. Every Nigerian has the right to contest any post but I can tell you that we are sitting on keg of gun powder. If we have failed to do the right thing, then anything can happen. That is why people don’t even believe that election would hold in 2023. And I will tell you why?
Why?
The reason is not far-fetched. The politicians are working day and night but the majority of Nigerians believe there is a crisis of ethnicity in the country. Each race, the West, the East, even the Middle-Belt, the South-South, is moving for self-agitation, calling for self- governance.. There is the need for us to come together and find a lasting solution to that by going back to implementing the reports we have had in the past, like the 2014 confab, that is if there is no more time for us for a conference. Are we still going to remain with the current 1999 constitution or are we to sit down and see where we can make amendments in order to agree on the way forward? I don’t think Nigeria will like to go for any other election without a Sovereign Conference that everyone would agree with.
If Nigerians cannot sit down to agree on the reports of 2014 Confab before the 2023 elections, what kind of leader should Nigerians vote for in the election?
The next Nigerian leader must come from the South. The man who is there now is from the North, and the Southerners are expecting to take the seat next. Second, the person must be a nationalistic person, one who has the national interest at heart. What Nigeria needs now is a man of honour, someone who is willing and healthy and must not be among all the present crop of politicians. The present set of politicians has disappointed the entire country and Nigerians are no more interested in whatever they have to offer. A leader that I expect should be a young man who is ready, who is nationalistic in ideas and beliefs and thoughts, someone who has the genuine interest of Nigeria at heart. He must be someone who is ready to make a change, ready to look at the economic aspect of the country and bring in solutions. The focus should now be, how do we bring Nigeria back to path of sanity? Majority of companies that were once running well in this country are now out of the country because there is no power to operate with. Most of these companies left for other West African countries, and they are all operating very well there. So, we need to wake our economy through security and uninterrupted power supply.
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You are talking about a young leader, but there are those who argue that experience comes with age?
I don’t know why some people have that belief. But, I know that is not the opinion of majority of people. It is the opinion of the very few individuals who are leading Nigeria currently, who are 90s but are still calling themselves 50s, 60s, 70s and they are almost 90s. Who told you that a man of 50, 55 cannot rule Nigeria? Who told you they cannot perform effectively and efficiently? Have you tried them? So there must be a trial.
You talk about fear that elections might not hold, and that the economic situation under the present administration is so perilous, how are we sure that the present administration would have the solutions now that its tenure is about ending?
The president is almost finishing his term. What Nigerians are expecting is the emergence of a president that will bring about a change for the better. The first thing for whoever takes over from President Muhammadu Buhari is to address the security problem facing the country. The next is electricity, followed by economic challenges.
If I have the ears of Mr. President, I would tell him to declare a State of Emergency. I am not asking for full scale State of Emergency that could lead to change of power. I am talking of partial state of emergency, most especially on the issue of insecurity. My suggestion to government is that the federal government should ensure that Commissioners of Police in every state is indigene of their respective states. Don’t allow indigene of other state to be state commissioner of police in another state. Then the same thing should go for military appointment. You know we have State Security Council and which comprises all the heads of Army, Police, Navy, Air Force and government security agencies. They are the ones that come together to form the State Security Council. The government should allow only indigenes of each state to produce these members of the Council. The reason is that everyone that is an indigene knows the kind of people, and every nook and cranny of his or her state. So, they can sit and have an agreement with the heads of traditional rulers in their state. They can come together and work for the success of the security system of each state. This state of emergency should be for six months. The governor would be there doing his work, but the security apparatus of the state must be adequately equipped to handle crisis. For example, South-West states now demand for cancellation of all okadas.
Why?
Okadas must be restricted to the rural areas. Okadas should not be allowed in states like Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna. The reason is that okadas is used to transfer arms and ammunitions across the state. The damage that okada is causing to the state, most especially in the states that I have just mentioned, is enormous. Okada riders are the informants; they are the people that carry ammunitions from one place to the other. If you go to every nook and cranny in Lagos, you would see okada in their thousands. Eighty-five percent of okadas that you see in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna, Enugu and in other states are foreign Fulani that have penetrated our system. They have already surrounded the entire nation. We are in danger in Nigeria now. If you allow indigenes to be heads of state security outfits, they would be able to identify all the loopholes and block them in order for Nigeria to have peace. For now, that is what the situation demands. There should be a thorough checking so that these foreign Fulani will not just mobilize themselves and put fire on Nigeria. If I have my way, I will call on our governors in South-West to be very conscious of the way the foreign Fulani are trooping into the South-West. All our forests are full of these Fulani. Not only that, they have penetrated all the nooks and crannies of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Osun states. They have penetrated everywhere. If there is little problem, we are in a mess. So, there is need to equip this newly established Amotekun and others internal security outfits. There is need to give them more powers and support. The government should focus more on them.
What then is your view about Independent candidate?
God bless you, I think it is the right time now for independent candidate to emerge, but my fear is this. If you look at the crop of present politicians, the way they are coming out, paying N100million to obtain forms for party nomination and so on, I think that should be discouraged, when it comes to independent candidacy. And if such is given an opportunity, we should have enough time to campaign. If we can have enough time to campaign, then everybody should be given equal opportunity, underlined, you should ask me why?
Why?
You can see that if you don’t have the resources, how can you campaign from one state to another? If you allow Mr. A to go with helicopter, so also others must have the opportunity because if government does not control the resources deployed to political campaign, the criminals who have stolen our money in this country will never allow any younger generation to come up. So there must be a way for the government to streamline the campaign arrangement, in which there must be equal opportunity for each candidate that has been successful to fly his or her party flag and also for an independent candidate as well.
Then what is your advice for INEC in the coming exercise to make it acceptable than the past ones?
I think the issue of INEC needs serious consideration because once you put a wrong man there, I can tell you there can’t be free and fair election. There should be a thorough screening of each commissioner of INEC, right from the national to the state level, including those who are the heads at the local government level. And I will call on the National Assembly to be thorough about this INEC appointments, that is about those who would be handling the coming elections. They must be people of integrity, they must be people who are tested and trusted, to handle that office. Nigeria needs prayers in this direction and mind you the duty of having free and fair poll exercise should not be left in the hands of the president alone, it should be an issue of concern to the National Assembly, in order to ensure that whoever is being appointed is thoroughly screened in order to get right people elected into office in the country. This is because once you get it wrong from that end, everything cannot go well for the country during and after the elections.
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Now, looking at how Nigerian politics has been monetized with nomination forms of political party selling for as high as N100millon, to what extent are you concerned about this ugly development?
I can tell you that from time immemorial, it has been like that but it may not have gone to this hay wire level that we have now. But I can tell you that the moneybags are the ones ruling the country, they have been dictating the affairs of this nation for some time. My own focus now is on young elements who are vibrant, focused, very distinguished. We want a Nigeria who can bail us out of the present circumstance, but the opportunity to get to that place, to move to that seat is what is required. We Nigerians need now to look inwards, look beyond the present crop of leadership, bring out responsible young Nigerian to take over the leadership of the country, so that Nigeria can move forward.
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