…Says State Police Will Help Reduce Insecurity
Dr. Victor Oluwasegun Akande, a former lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly, has emphasised the need for collective effort to move Nigeria forward.
While acknowledging that the current state of the nation is far from ideal, Akande noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is taking steps in the right direction.
The lawyer-turned-politician shared his views on national issues, including insecurity and governance reforms, in an interview with OLAYIWOLA MATTHEW.
Excerpts:
How would you describe the mid-term performances of the present federal government?
Let us look at where we are coming from, I mean where are we coming from, prior to the government of President Bola Tinubu, and what was the situation of the country then? Where did we start from, where did we plan to be and where are we? Prior to this time, Nigeria was in economic comatose, we were grounded, we were in an euphoria of external debts. Where are we today, are we better off, yes, we are better off. Today, we can say that our external reserve has increased from $4 billion to about $30 billion. Where you want to have development, you must be ready to go through pains. The idiotic performances of our past leaders led us to where we are today. That is what the present administration is trying to work on to grow our economy. When you look at this, we can say that the present administration has tried. We have moved from zero to hero. The economy that had been battered, destroyed and diminished for over 40 years, they have been to stabilize it and create an artificial stand for the it to stand, then you have to give it to this government. One of the reasons the economy was in comatose was because of fuel subsidy and it was removed by this government. With this, the allocations to states and local governments have increased. But the people are not questioning the states and local governments, what do they use the money for? Do they allow the increase and the robust money they collect to lead to development in their states and local governments? Just because we hate the person at the helms of affairs at the national level, we don’t want to question these people, whereas some people know, some economists and some people that are well read and analysts know, but they are not ready to tell the people the truth. Even some members of the opposition party know, but because of their political aggrandisement, they don’t want to say the truth or tell the people the truth so that they won’t add to the portfolio of the people in power.
After fuel subsidy was removed, the refineries started working and Dangote Refinery too started work, one would have expected the price of fuel products to come down
…..Once you float trade and you float the naira, you don’t have the power to control the prices of goods and services again. Even the government refineries sell at controlled prices and they cannot control private refineries and the Nigerian Nigerian Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is now a private company, so the government cannot control them again. The economy has been battered and the best thing is to get out of the doldrum and we must suffer and sacrifice to do this. All the tantrums being thrown at the present administration are not necessary. Some of the people calling them names have kept quiet apart from those who are naive. The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi cannot take us to where President Bola Tinubu has taken us. Talk is cheap, but doing is hard. So also former president Atiku Abubakar cannot do it unless we want to sell the country. You cannot use business ideas to run the nation, you have to leave it to a technocrat, who surrounds himself with those who can work properly with him. President Bola Tinubu is doing everything to help the economy to grow. Look at the new NNPC Board, you can see that they are seasoned administrators and managers.
Let’s talk about security, recently the Governor of Borno State, Professor Zulum lamented that security is getting worse in the state, there are killings in Plateau, Zamfara States and other places, there are also kidnappings in many states, people feel that the government has not done well here, what is your reaction to this?
Whoever is saying the government has not done well on security does not understand what is going on. Do you want President Bola Tinubu to go to the states to secure the states? The answer is no, we are the architects of our own undoing, we know all these people, they are our people, but if the government wants to be hard on them, it is these same people that would castigate the government. When the Federal Government pronounced a state of emergency on Rivers State, they condemned the government, the same thing happened when the government wanted to deal with some people that are causing trouble in some places, people were shouting. Look at what happened in Edo State, where some suspected kidnappers were killed in
Uromi, people were shouting that why did they kill them. There was a man that kidnappers wanted to kill and he killed the kidnappers, the court said that he should be killed also. He has now been sentenced to death, that is why people are being careful. They know where all these people are, but they would not tell the security agents. It is either they are shielding them because of religious or language sentiments or some of their family members are involved in the atrocities.
Despite that, will you say the government has done well in this area?
The government is doing its best to ensure that the country is secured, but we the citizens, are we securing ourselves, do we inform the government to arrest them. But when they are arrested, we will say they should be released.
Would you want the National Assembly and the Federal Government to approve state police?
Definitely, that is the hallmark, if every governor takes care of the security of his state as the law states that they are the custodians of the security of their states, everybody would sit tight and the local governments chairmen should take care of their own areas too. Then the Community Development Committees (CDC) and the Community Development Associations (CDAs) too should take care of their security, then everybody would sit tight.
The government has been accused of stifling oppositions and not taking criticisms in good faith, they have also been accused of arresting some members of the opposition, how would you react to this?
There is freedom of speech, freedom of expression and association, but commiting felony against the government is not allowed. Felony comes from what we say and you want the federal government to fold their arms. You are inciting the people against the government even when everything is done properly, you have to be careful. When you say there is freedom of speech, association and others, there is always a limitations. You don’t want the government to react, when people cross the border line. When former president Goodluck Jonathan was in power, did anybody try to undermine his government. Even as an elder statesman, you have no right to speak against the government. What did you do when you were there or when your people were there? Why is it that when another person is trying to do good, you want to destroy the government. The government should even go beyond that and bring them to book. But because we are operating democracy, everyone can say whatever he or she likes and get away with it. Even in the United States of America, you cannot just say anything and get away with it
The government has also been accused of tribalism as some people say those holding most public offices are Yorubas, what’s your view on this?
You are being economical with the truth with this. In the administration of President Bola Tinubu, there are 29 people from the South West, from North Central, we have 25 people, from the North East, we have 24, from the North West, there are 36 people, from South South, there are 22 people, and from the South East, we have 16. So how is it a Yoruba government, people only look at some sections, they don’t look at it holistically. They wrote 72 names of some Yoruba people in different positions in the social media. They wrote names of Yorubas that are in different positions, whereas some of them were not appointed by President Bola Tinubu. Moreso, they will go when their tenures expire. Every appointment has expiry date. They just brought out some things to hit the government of the day. When former president Muhammadu Buhari was there, they didn’t do this. The Igbos and Hausas are doing all these as they believe that President Bola Tinubu is the most powerful person from the South West now. Some of the appointments do not favour some people, so they don’t like him for that and they are now bringing out all sort of accusations. It is a political gimmick, he has been fair with all that he did sine he got to office. Also, every government brings those he can work with and succeed with. If we don’t share the same ideology, I won’t bring you on board. During the era of former president Muhammadu Buhari, he brought the people he could work with into his government and majority of them were Hausas. During the time of former president Goodluck Jonathan, he brought in the people he could work with and those given to him by his godfather, former president Olusegun Obasanjo. Now, President Bola Tinubu is a self-made man, so he has to think properly and look at who can work with him. He has worked with some people as the then governor of Lagos State, whether they are Yorubas or not. So you cannot blame him for trusting them, and for bringing them on board because he knows their capabilities.
Nobody is perfect, which areas would you want President Bola Tinubu to improve upon in the remaining two years of his first term in office?
The areas I want him to do more are on the economy and security. As a matter of urgency, let there be state police, let every state governor be responsible for the security of his state. Also, he should continue to grow the economy the way he is going, very soon, things will be better.
