The decision taken by President Muhammadu Buhari acknowledging the June 12, 1993 presidential election has been hailed across the country as a good one. However, some people are saying that it is a vote-catching gimmick ahead the 2019 elections. What is your view about this?
I am glad that you have said that the decision is being hailed across the country. If a decision is being hailed, it means it is good and there is no bad time to do a good thing. It means that it was a good thing that the government has done and if some people want to read other meanings into it, they are at liberty to do so. But what matters is that the government, through the president, has done a good thing and there is no bad time to do a good thing. We should always do good things at all times. The time came for that decision to be taken; you know it was taken just a few days before June 12 and that makes it a right time to take the decision because it was another anniversary that was approaching.
But don’t you think the people are saying that because the president has been in power for three years and the decision was not taken in June 2015, 2016 and 2017 and it was not even mentioned on May 29, the Democracy Day?
Some governments had been in power for 24 years. This is the 25th year after June 12. So, for 24 years, many governments did not do it. According to Femi Falana, seven governments had come after June 12, but none of them did it. If a government has now done it, does it matter that it was done at any certain time? What matters is that it has been done.
Are you saying there was no political motivation behind the decision by President Buhari to recognise June 12?
The government is there for the good of the greatest number and that is exactly what has happened. The government has done what it believed was good for the country and, as you said earlier, that decision is being hailed across the country. That means the government has do0ne what it should do: the good of the greatest number.
Some other people are suggesting that the president can go a step further by declaring the winner of the election, the late Chief MKO Abiola, as president…
That is exactly what has been done. You don’t give GCFR to a non-president. So, if Abiola has been given GCFR, it means he was a president of this country. That is what it means. In the annals of Nigeria now, Abiola was a president.
But the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo was given the same title and he was never the president of this country…
Yes. It was a decision of the government then.
Governor Abdul Aziz Yari of Zamfara State was recently reported to have complained that security chiefs are disobeying the order of the president to tackle the security challenges in their various stations…
I didn’t read that one in the specific report that I read. Maybe the report you are talking about is different from the one that I read. But the report that I read was that the Zamfara State governor was saying that he is no longer the chief security officer of his state because things are getting out of hand. So, I didn’t read any report that the service chiefs are not obeying the president. All I know is that there are security challenges in the country; Zamfara is one of the states facing the most severe security challenges and we all know what has been done: the military has gone in. not only the military, even members of the Airforce were sent in and they are tackling the challenges. They keep recurring despite the presence of the military, but I believe that eventually, solution would be found to the problem.
The claim by the present administration that the problems of Boko Haram and herdsmen have been nipped in the bud notwithstanding, we are still having persistent killings across the country…
There is no country without challenges, particularly security. The entire world is beset with security challenges today. You know that one of the greatest successes of this administration is security and it is not unlikely some hidden hostile hands are working to ensure that the government does not lay claim to security as a success and so they are fomenting all sorts of crisis in different parts of the country, but what we know is that, sooner or later, those behind those security crises and challenges would be found out and dealt with and peace would return to all parts of the country.
Recently, Mr President took the Water Resources Bill to the National Assembly and this has further worsened the relationship between the executive and legislative arms of government. What informed the bill?
The bill is in the works; they are working on it and I should not be talking on it because it is something that is in process and this is a government that has absolute respect for the Separation of Powers. As long as it is before the National Assembly and they are still deliberating on it, whatever I say now would be seen to be the opinion of the president…
Still on the executive/legislature face-off, the Senate President is at the moment embattled and some people are pointing fingers at the Presidency. What is the president doing to wade in and calm things in the National Assembly?
You don’t wade in when it is outside your purview. In a true democracy, particularly the variant that we practice, there is Separation of Powers in which the executive has its responsibilities, the judiciary has its responsibilities and the legislature has its responsibilities. And the president, right from day one, has respected that. Even when the leadership of the legislature was going to be elected, way back in June 2015, he didn’t interfere because he believes that there must be separation of Powers. So, when some people now say he should wade in, wade in to do what? They want him to go outside his purview? No, the president is not a man like that. He respects Separation of Powers and he will only do what the executive arm of government has the responsibilities to do.
Things are falling apart in the party that elected the president, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and it appears he is staying aloof…
There is no political party that does not have its challenges. When the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party, we all know the challenges it faced. There was even as time when there were five different Senate President under one government, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. So, there is no party that does not have its challenges. And the party has a structure. Mr President is just a member of the party. Though a leader of the party, but he is also a member. He is subject to the laws of the party and its structures. And the structure is clearly evident: there is the national chairman, the National Working Committee (NWC), the National Executive Council (NEC) and all that. So, Mr President has to work along with the structures of the party.
The mistake people make is to think that a president is like one big angel that would suddenly drop from the sky and solve all the problems, including political problems in his own party. But it is not like that: Structures must be allowed to function and perform their responsibilities.
But in our own clime, we see the president as the national leader of his political party and he must have some sort of influence, coming in when some issues are threatening his party. But in this case, President Buhari is seen as just been there doing nothing…
You are not quite correct. Remember when there was an issue about the lifespan of the party executive and some people wanted tenure extension for the NWC, it was the president himself that came out to say that there were possible landmines ahead, that they could face legal issues later and he recommended the way the party should go about the issue. So, that is an example of wading into potential crisis. He did not even lord it over anybody. You know he said as the party would an elective convention, the incumbent members of the NWC should be allowed to run, if they wanted. So, the president does not dictate; he can only pass across his opinion and if it is taken, all well and go.
The main opposition party in the country, PDP, appeared to be in the cooler, but recently the party has been upping its activities, taking up the president on virtually all issues. What do you think could have informed the renewed vigour of the party?
An opposition party, like PDP which has lost its bearing, all wants to have some nuisance values. So, I just imagine that all what PDP is up to is just to emphasise its nuisance value. Nigerians know the party that led into a sorry pass. They know the party that vandalized the economy. They know the party that led them into the slave market. And I suspect that PDP has a long time to stay out there in the cold.
Talking about PDP vandalizing the common patrimony, the argument out there now is that the problem is not about the party itself but about some individuals in the party and some of these individuals have found their way into APC, having spent so many years in PDP…
It is not true. The percentage of the members that held sway in PDP and were responsible for the rot and who are now in APC is negligible. The larger percentage remains in PDP and they are still eyeing the patrimony of the country, to finish what has been amassed by the current party and Nigerians would not give them that opportunity.
Even at that, some people are saying the recovered loots are being re-looted in the present administration. How would you react to this?
It is an allegation. Anybody can sit down and say anything. They can say anything, however ridiculous, however outrageous and however fallacious. It cost nothing to say anything as talk is cheap, but you need to back up whatever you have said with evidence. We have not seen any evidence to that effect. Rather, we know that this is a government that is thrift, that is accountable and that is responsible. You can see it in the foreign reserves, you can see it in capital expenditure, you can see in many different phases of the national life. If the government was not as thrift as it is, things would not be looking up as they are looking now.
Don’t you think that it should be a source of worry to the president and APC that the opposition is getting stronger as the 2019 elections are around the corner?
I don’t know the evidence you have that the opposition is getting stronger. Rather, what I feel is that the opposition is in disarray. I don’t agree with you that the opposition is getting stronger. By stronger do you mean they issue all sorts of statements on necessary and unnecessary issues and they even contradict themselves at times? They just want to kick against anything that is done. Does that mean that they are stronger? No! I don’t think they are stronger. Rather, I think it is an evidence of confusion.
But if things are working well within the party, don’t you think that some of the people threatening to leave would not have even mooted the idea?
In politics, you will always lose some and you will gain some. What you must however ensure is that the number you gain is larger than what you lose. But it is inevitable that you will lose some in politics. Just ensure that you maintain equilibrium; don’t lose more than you gain. APC is gaining a lot and so if some people go out, they may not mean much to the party.
And do you see the President winning a second term and by what margin?
I do. This is because he has done all that is necessary to win a second term and I believe that the margin of the victory is going to be wider than what he had in 2015. Nigerians know what is good for them and they know that President Buhari is good for the country.
You are a veteran media practitioner with long years of experience in media management. If you were to find yourself in the opposition, how will you handle the current political situation across the country?
That question may not be relevant because I am not a politician; rather I am a professional in politics. So, if it was the opposition, I may not be there. I am serving in government now because President Buhari is someone I had always admired and when he won the election and I was invited to serve him, I am serving him gladly. So, if it was the opposition, why should I be in government in the first instance? I will not be there. I will be in the media. When he is done or when my time is up, I will be back in the media by the grace of God.
You are a pastor, will you say, with all sense of sincerity and in tandem with your conscience that you are doing your job satisfactorily as the spokesman of the president?
It is not for me to say that. It is for the president who is my principal and who appointed me to assess me. He is the one who can know whether or not I have done the job satisfactorily because he appointed me.
Put differently, we know that politics goes with propaganda. How do you relate your job with being a pastor, knowing that exaggeration can come in?
Propaganda in itself is not a negative thing, except you turn it into negative propaganda. Propaganda in itself can be positive. It just means playing up whatever your side is doing. Yeah, exaggeration can come in but why do you need to exaggerate? I have never done that and I will not do it. I will always stand by the truth. The president I work for and work with does not want you to spin anything; he just wants you to say what the truth is. And if you make the mistake of spinning things, he is the one that would come out to say that is not the truth and by so doing, you will lose face. So, when you work with somebody like President Buhari, it is in your own interest to just say things they way they are and that is just what we are doing.
In the light of what you just said, how do you explain it when the president makes controversial statements, like when he said Nigerian youths are lazy?
But president Buhari didn’t say that. What was reported was an interpretation of what he said. What he said was that some youths are there; they have a sense of entitlements. They think Nigeria has oil and so they should not do anything but they can get everything. In other words, president Buhari is saying that there is an idle population in the country. Every country in the world has its idle population, but it differs from country to country; but in every country, you have a certain percentage of an idle population.
But don’t you think you are interpreting what the man said too?
No. I work with the man and I know his mindset and I know what he said. Some people spun what he said negatively but it is my own duty to explain and I explained it then.
Between this your current job and your profession as a journalist, which one would you have preferred?
The two are linked. As a journalist, the position I held before I left to serve in government, I ran a newspaper house and so, I combined administration along with editorial functions. Now in government, I still run the entire media department and what I do is also a lot of editorial functions. When the president does anything, we have the responsibility of informing the country that this is what he has done. And if we need to amplify what he has done, we do that. If we need to explain it further, we do that. If we need to defend him, we do that. So, I just see what I do now as an extension of media practice. In media practice, you are also bound by fairness, objective, truth and all that. All these still bind us, even as we serve in government today.
Is there any point in time that you feel the heat due to the action or inaction of the government?
There will always be heat, either from outside or from inside, but if you know what you are doing, you don’t let that affect you. Yoruba will say when you go to the market, you don’t listen to the noise of the market. You will rather face the person you are transacting business with. That is what I do in government; I just face what I have come to do.
Which of the two is more rewarding, as a former Managing Director of national newspaper or as the spokesman of a president?
The two are quite different. As a former MD of a newspaper, if you talk of finance, I earned far more than what government can pay me. But in terms of influence and the weight of your words, of course, you know that being the spokesman of the president is a heavy responsibility. If I say something today, the way people will magnify it or report or even twist and want to give it a negative meaning shows that there is a lot to whatever I say now. So, both are rewarding in their own different ways.
And do you feel the burdens of the responsibility?
Well, I just want to do my job responsibly at any given time. That was also my guiding principle as an active journalist. Anything I do, I do it within the bounds of decency and within the bounds of the ethics that guide the profession. Even as spokesman to the president now, I believe that anything I say or do must be within the bounds of decency.
How did you get the job?
The background is that I had always admired and loved the president from when he was the military Head of State. When he was the Head of State, I simply believed in the Buhari /Idiagbon regime. I believed that it was taking Nigeria to a destination we would be proud of. I believed that Nigeria would become a country that Nigerians would be proud of. When he was overthrown in August 1985, I still believe that that was my worst day ever in life. I felt so bad because I knew that Nigeria has made a mistake. That regime should not have been overthrown. Nigeria would not have been the same if it was a regime that lasted eight years like that of former military President Ibrahim Babangida.
When president Buhari was overthrown, I was already a final year student at the university. So when he came into politics in 2002, I was glad and then, I was already a journalist and I was running a weekly column. So, when he went into partisan politics, I was just writing to support him because I had always believed in him. 2003, 2007, 2011, I supported him, up to 2015 when he won. Sometimes along the line, we then began to speak. I will write on a Friday and it is either that same day in the night or the next day, he will call me to discuss the things I have written. So, we began to talk.
Then, in 2013, my mother passed away. We were to do the funeral service and I sent out the invitations. I sent one to the correspondent of the Sun newspaper in Kaduna to send it to his house and I forgot about it. Lo and behold, on the day of the ceremony, I was at the gate welcoming people as they came. I was at the gate when an SUV drove in. I was there to welcome whoever that was coming out. When I saw him, I shouted General!!! He was laughing and I was laughing. It was a surprise. It was a Christian programme and the man stayed throughout. That was I do laugh when people say he is a religious bigot and all that. So, once in a while, we will talk.
Then when the 2015 elections were approaching, you know president Buhari had said in 2011 that he would not run again. I remember I took a position that he could run if he wanted to and I even wrote a piece that Nigeria needs Buhari more than he needs Nigeria. Eventually, president Buhari agreed to run and I was glad. That election held on March 28. We kept monitoring as the results were being announced and on March 31, that was the day the Godsday Orubebe drama took place. Already, people could see where the results were heading. I left the office and I got to the house around 10:30-10:00 pm. My family was in the living room, also watching the results on the television as they were coming. So, I joined them. And when Borno State results came, it was about midnight and that was when it became more apparent that Buhari had won.
So, were rejoicing and talking in the living when my phone rang and the person said, “Mr Adesina, can you please hold on for the President-elect?” It was exactly 20 minutes past midnight and the President-elect said, “Adesina, I want to say thank you for believing in me. Over these years, you have always supported me, even without me giving you 10 kobo. There are people who could have paid millions of naira for your support, but you didn’t go with them. You gave me support over these years. I just want to say thank you.” And I said “Congratulations, Mr President”.
So that puts a lie to the falsehood being spread around that somebody must have recommended you for the appointment…
Nobody recommended me. It is not impossible that some people put in a word. Yes, I had the information when positions were being given out that some people will mention some people, but in terms of making a move by myself, I didn’t. The inauguration was May 29. On May 30 which was a Sunday, about 5pm, I just got a call and the person at the end just said, “We are going to announce you as the Special Adviser Media to the President tonight. Should we go ahead?” and I said they should go ahead. And lo and behold, by 9pm, it was announced.
If the job ends today, will you go back to journalism?
I am on Leave of Absence and that means any time the assignment is concluded I will return to the newsroom. I don’t call it a job but an assignment because by the time it came, I didn’t want a job; I had a job that I enjoyed doing. So, I just see this as a national assignment and when that assignment is done I then return to what I was doing before.
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