By Daniel Kanu
Respected scholar, Prof Lai Olurode was the former dean, Faculty of Social Science, University of Lagos, and former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The eminent academic in this exclusive chat with Sunday Sun spoke on 2023 and the challenges ahead, the president Nigeria needs, oil theft, and the Nigerian condition, among other national issues. Excerpt:
What is your candid assessment of the ongoing election campaign?
Well, it has been a mixed bag of a kind. To be honest, some issues are emanating across the three major political parties, which focus on the way forward for Nigeria. The issue that has come out very strongly from all the parties is that of security issues which have been very strong. All the parties agree that the security architecture needs to be overhauled. Another issue is that of the economy of the country. It has become an issue in the current campaign. There is also the issue of power supply which has been erratic which is tied to the economy. It is also part of the second point, the issue of poverty in the country. But I must say that there seems to be a disconnect between governance on the one hand and what has been happening to the people at the grassroots. The infrastructure in the country has broken down. You can’t connect to the rural areas where production is taking place. There are issues with the extractive industries. Nobody knows the quantity of the oil being mined and the quantity being stolen. With regards to the economy, I have heard Tinubu, Obi, and Atiku to a large extent all saying it is an issue that they will give priority attention to if elected. I have not seen much of personality attacks aside from some coming from some of the errand boys of the major actors. The next thing is how are we Nigerians going to be led, how are we going to respond? You know in Nigeria the issue of governance is a pertinent issue to development and nobody can deny that. The street boys, the street girls, the ordinary person, even at the newspaper stand; these are issues that are discussed on a day to day basis: issues of governance of corruption. Every Nigerian is conscious of the challenge of development in this country. What is outstanding is the how and when. How are you going to do it? It should not be promises alone, but on how you are going to solve the issues. This takes you to the realm of policy formulation. What I have observed also is that you can’t discern the phenomenal differences between the parties and so we cannot kill ourselves. It is the same thing; they belong to the same group at the end of the day. All of them belong to the same ownership group, the bourgeoisie class. The poor people, the wretched of the earth they remain the same. You can have policies to address their issues, but they are not likely to be part of government unless you connect them to governance through public administration. PDP has been in power from 1999 until 2015, what has been happening to the naira in my pocket? What has been happening to my salary? My salary, my take-home pay have been devalued. Between 2015 and now what has been happening? What is the exchange rate? So for you and I, for the ordinary Nigerians, what is in it for us? They should dwell more on how they will tackle the problem, rather than telling us the problem because Nigerians already know the problems. I just hope this election will give us the best and not the best not winning. Let the best candidate win in this election. It is the challenge before the Nigerian voter that they must vote wisely.
Most Nigerians are worried that some of the key presidential candidates are not engaging Nigerians enough…?
(Cuts in) I am sure that as we enter into the New Year, as we get closer to December, it’s most likely that campaign will become better activated and we will be seeing more of their engagements with Nigerians. As it is now I think it’s still okay. All we want at this point in time is a statement of their intention as contained in their manifestoes. And this may not mean much in this country. But they are likely to be judged by their antecedents. All of them, good enough have had opportunities of being in governance positions before, but what were they able to do with the instruments of government? Even if we are not going to hear much from them, we know their antecedents and that can serve as a gauge through which we can judge them. That can serve as a mode of communication through which they have communicated with us and all we need is just for us to make up our minds and ensure we vote.
There is this fear that BVAS may not be used for the 2023 elections despite assurances by the INEC…?
(Cuts in) I think any attempt to reverse the gains of the Prof Jega era and the gains of the current chairman of INEC (Prof Yakubu) will be catastrophic for Nigeria. That will be taking us to the evil days when elections were determined by money when moneybags determine the outcome of the electoral contest and that will belittle us before the international community. Elections have become a global concern driven by technology; any attempt you want to remove BVAS will be catastrophic and will not be good for the reputation of Nigeria, the credibility of the election itself not to talk of attempt to remove the INEC chairman. If you appoint anybody now as the INEC chairman, how long will it take the person to settle down when the elections are just about three months away? So, I think this should end in the realm of speculation, I don’t want to believe that anybody will be tinkering with such evil idea. If you remove the INEC chairman there will be doubt about the integrity of the election. But I still want to think that nobody will think along such mischief. Even if the election is going to be free and fair, it’s going to create doubt in the mind of any discerning observers, both local and international.
There was this terror alert from the US, UK including Australia and Canada that the country is not safe, but the Federal Government said there is nothing to panic about. How do you see the development?
Unfortunately, there is nowhere for you and I to go so we have to remain here. I think the mode of communicating the security situation, honestly, with due respect to Britain and America etc, they have not been fair to Nigeria. They are in our country, if they have issues about our security situation, they have investments here, they have their people here and in any case, security today is not a concern for just one country. It is a global concern and information relating to security should be shared across board, especially with the country or countries that are concerned. If we have a security challenge in Nigeria and all you have to do is to go to the pages of the newspapers to say that there are threat to security, that so, so, places may be burnt…you never shared that information with our own security agents and that is not fair. I think the mentality is still that of colonial mentality. You cannot predict where your own citizen can be at anytime of a bomb blast or wherever security is undermined. I believe the procedure used is wrong. So, if they are concerned about security in the country there are better ways they should share with their Nigerian counterpart. But I think the Nigerian government has taken the security alert very seriously and the states too, that is why they are coordinating well in Abuja and putting those bandits on their hills. What is left is just to sustain that tempo of alert for our security men and women, as well as citizens to be more vigilant.
How do you feel about the humongous theft recorded in the oil sector?
Of course, everybody should be worried because that is the life of Nigeria. For every N100 that you spend, I am sure nothing less than N60 to N70 is from the oil sector and if anything happens to that sector then we are doomed. Any threat to our oil resources is a threat to everybody’s pocket, so I am bordered and I am sure the government also is bordered. But it raises concern about how secure our investments are. Look, the attack is from everywhere, people cannot go to their farms, and all mining, including oil has come under attack, so everybody should be worried. Definitely, development will be compromised. All our budgets are based on oil at a particular quantity, at a particular rate and the price is coming down, the quantity also is diminishing, so how can there be development? The sad thing is that the culprits are in very powerful positions in the country. They are part of the architecture of governance from what we get to hear. There can’t be compromise of security without the compromise of the elite. It’s not possible for oil theft to take place without those in powerful positions knowing what is going on. Whoever emerges as the president of the country, honestly, I don’t pity the person because there is work to do, the challenges are intimidating. Let’s forget about the issue of religion or ethnicity and let’s give the job to somebody who we know can do the job better. That is the only way to salvation in this country.
What type of president does Nigeria really need come 2023?
A president that is witty, full of philosophy of development, that will not indulge, or engage in religious bigotry that will rise above religion and ethnoreligious issues. A president that will be for all. One that has Igbo in him, Hausa, Yoruba, etc in him, one that symbolizes diversity, one comfortable working for all because no group in this country can do it alone. What we have seen in the past seven years or so is the monopoly by a tiny ethnic group lording it over Nigeria. A president that can pull this country from the precipice and pull us back on the road to development and I think it’s doable, it’s possible. A president that must demonstrate a diverse group in his governance architecture, where the language spoken will be the language of development.