By Olakunle Olafioye
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and frontline security expert, Jackson Lekan-Ojo, has expressed concern over the lopsided appointments against the Southeast geo-political zone under the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
The Port Harcourt, Rivers State-based politician expressed fear that the decision to give the zone fewer ministerial slots compared to other zones despite having earlier been denied the opportunity of occupying top leadership positions in the 10th National Assembly, might worsen the problem in the zone notwithstanding the ongoing efforts to restore peace and tranquility in the region.
Assessing security situation in the country in this interview, Lekan-Ojo lauded the president’s choice of Security Chiefs.
He was, however, quick to identify possible encumbrances that could undermine the performance of the new Service Chiefs.
He also spoke on other major national issues. Excerpts:
In few weeks, the current administration will be celebrating its first 100 days in office. Would you say this administration has shown glimpses of living up to its mantra of renewed hope?
Personally, I cannot identify any remarkable thing this government has been able to achieve. What we have seen across the country is hardship. This is not what Nigerians bargained for. By now we should have been seeing glimpses of what they promised if truly they meant what they promised before the election. Nigerians are really groaning; there has been no identifiable improvement in any area of our national life – economically, security-wise; rather insecurity is growing daily. Dollar has reached an unprecedented level. There is a rumour of another increase in the price of fuel. As a matter of fact, Nigerians will be willing to call Buhari back, if he has not gone far.
Why do you think politicians find it easy to make promises during electioneering but find it hard to live up to their campaign promises? Is it that they do not understand the enormity of the task ahead or they get confused as soon as they get to power?
The expectation of everybody is to see a new administration outperforming the previous administration. But in Nigeria the reverse is always the case. In 2015 Nigerians voted the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, out of power and elected the All Progressives Congress, APC. But today, we are begging PDP to come back. Tinubu cajoled Nigerians with renewed hope and people quickly aligned with him because the mantra seemed to have correlation with the aborted MKO Abiola’s Hope 1993 slogan. Nigerian politicians are pathological liars and our people are also docile. Our docility is being taken for gullibility. But I am sure Nigerians will be wiser very soon.
A lot of people have called for the reversal of some of these policies that are considered obnoxious. Do you see this happening?
I don’t think these policies will be reversed ordinarily except the people insist that they have to be reversed. Nigerians should not rely on the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to fight this battle. NLC is threatening to go on strike now, but by the time they visit the president and return the steam of their threat will go down. There could be reversals of some of these policies, but it won’t be done ordinarily. I am really afraid that the people may be forced to revolt, which is not good for us as a nation anyway. People are dying of hunger on a daily basis. A lot of parents withdrew their children from school last term because of this hardship and a lot of them will not be resuming in September because of the hardship. A Yoruba adage says when the goat is frustrated to the point where it can no longer escape from its tormentor, it will turn back to fight.
With the conclusion of the screening of the ministerial nominees and allocation of portfolios, are you nursing any hope for an improvement when the ministers finally assume office?
Out of 45 of the 48 ministers that were cleared by the Senate, I cannot identify more than three or four that are worthy to be ministers. Why we didn’t expect Mr. President to appoint former governors as ministers, we have about eight of them who ran their states aground. To me, the team of ministers that are coming onboard, I doubt if we would see any improvement. Nigerians called the Ninth Assembly a rubber stamp, from what we saw during the screening exercise and other things they have done, I can tell you that the 10th Assembly will fare no better than the last one. How did the Senate President emerge in the first place? His emergence was the making of the executive. He who pays the piper will definitely dictate the tune. In a situation where the entire leadership of the National Assembly was anointed by the executive what do you expect? What we have now is a legislative arm of the government that has been pocketed by the executive. The principle of checks and balances that ought to be at play during the screening was never seen. The lawmakers only rubber stamped what the executive pushed to them. Nigerians should not be deceived by the three nominees that were not screened. What happened the day the Senate was proceeding on leave if it were in a saner clime the Senate President would have been removed. Imagine the Senate President declaring in a national broadcast that the clerk of the National Assembly had paid money into the lawmakers’ bank accounts for their holiday enjoyment at a time Nigerians are groaning over the hardship in the land.
With the emergence of new Service Chiefs, many Nigerians had expressed the hope that the insecurity in the country would subside, but from all indications, the reverse seems to be the case. What is it that Nigeria is not getting right in its fight against insecurity?
The emergence of the new Security Chiefs will not magically change the situation. The problem on the ground is so enormous. From all indications, the Service Chiefs are really working to ensure insecurity is addressed, but the damage on ground is quite enormous. So, we should not expect the Service Chiefs to perform magic within the period they have been in office more than we have seen now. I believe that with the support of all Nigerians, they will perform to our expectations.
But then we must not forget that the more the economic hardship in the country, the more the possibility of seeing more people going into crime. If the hardship persists and it is only the poor that are being forced to sacrifice while the rich continue to live in affluence, definitely there will be little or nothing the Service Chiefs will be able to do.
What is your take on Nigeria’s stance in the restoration of democratic rule in Niger Republic?
Nigeria shares boundaries with the Niger Republic in seven states. The steps we have taken against the Niger Republic which include cutting off electricity and closing of the border against Niger Republic are not well-thought out because these steps are already affecting Nigerians in these seven states. Joining other African countries to fight Niger is not in our interest. The coup in Niger was influenced by poor governance. The best of democratic practice was not made available in Niger that was why the military came into power. You could see the jubilation that greeted the military takeover in that country. They say when the best is not made available people will embrace the available as the best. If we insist on playing the role of the big brother in Africa, we are going to pay more to fight a war that is not ours. Meanwhile, we are yet to win our own internal war against insurgency, kidnapping and criminality. If your house is on fire you don’t abandon it in order to help your neighbour quench the fire that razes his house. I think the only thing the National Assembly has been able to achieve so far is to stop the president from spearheading the war against the military in Niger Republic.
What is your take on the problem of oil theft in the country in view of the recent revelations and arrests made by private security outfits?
No country in the world will ever see us as a serious nation. We have the Navy that is supposed to be in charge of the security of our water, NIMASA is also there; the amphibious wing of the army is there, we have the marine police yet we decided to contract the security of safeguarding our waters against oil thieves to private security outfits. It is not done anywhere in the world. You can see the allegation Asari (Dokubo) made against the military. He made the allegation in Aso Rock and everyone expected the military to sue Asari to come out and prove his point. But then they kept quiet, which gave fillip to the feeling that they are probably afraid. This has emboldened Asari as you can see in the way he displayed his ammunition and soldiers, the DSS and NIA are not saying anything. I expected the president too to summon him and let him prove his allegation. But nothing of such has happened that is an indication that there could be some element of truth in what he said.
The Federal Government is fighting to rein in those behind the insecurity in the Southeast, but some analysts are of the opinion that the government is not doing enough to address the root cause of the problem in the region. How best do you think the problem ought to be addressed?
I will answer that question by going back to Asari Dokubo. Upon his return from the Aso Rock, Dokubo made a statement where he asked the president to allow him to deal with the people of the Southeast. He also said that Nnamdi Kanu should not be released. Asari Dokubo must have been speaking the mind of some people. These are the people who have been agitating that they want to go because they are being treated like second class citizens in their own country. But what has been the response of the government? Rather than accede to their demands, the government is piling more miseries on the zone. The president is from the Southwest just like the Chief of Army Staff, Controller General of the Customs, Chief Justice of the Federation, the Governor of the Central Bank, still the Southwest has nine ministers. The Northwest has the Deputy Senate President, Chief of Defense Staff and others and still has nine ministers. The Southeast that agitated to have the Senate President or the Speaker, but was denied both was given only five ministers. This goes to show that they are adding more fuel to the fire that is burning in the Southeast. The people of the Southeast have now been marginalized totally. I see all this injustice as a way of aggravating the anger of the people of the Southeast. But I can tell you that things will not continue like this forever.