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…Urges tribunals to come up with their verdicts quickly
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
When it comes to unionism in Nigeria, Chief Frank Kokori has paid his dues, standing shoulders high as a tireless fighter and defender of the rights of the workers.
But this time around, he seems to be at variance with the way and manner the organized labour is going about its opposition to the fuel subsidy removal. In this interview, the former Secretary General of the NUPENG insisted that the threat of strike will be disruptive to the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and, therefore, called for sincere dialogue.
You must have been following the backlash of the subsidy removal and the activities of the orangised labour. What is your position on this matter?
I will plead with all Nigerians to understand that there is so much fraud in the fuel subsidy and it has to go. I have had reason to criticize the labour union for being docile for almost 20 years. They allowed refineries to close down for 20 years and they did not do anything about it. But now, they want to go on strike to force Tinubu to make the refineries work overnight. I think the organized labour should go back and negotiate with the government. The three presidential candidates in the last general elections agreed that the subsidy has to go. Atiku said it, Peter Obi said it and Tinubu also said it. There has been lot of frauds in the fuel subsidy. Some people have become billionaires overnight from it without sweat. So, obviously something has to be done about it, though there is too much poverty in the country just as it is all over the world. Poverty is the cause of the backlash we are seeing now. When the labour union first issued a threat of strike, I told them they could not do that within a short notice and that they should have a little patience. I think the problem is that the subsidy is so much that people don’t want to let it go. This administration is just two months in office. We need to give the regime some time to implement the new policy direction. The economy was in bad shape before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into power and we need to support him and give him more time. A lot of things have gone wrong and he needs time to put them right. As an elder statesman, my appeal is for the labour to go back to negotiate with the government. A total strike cannot do the nation any good. Tinubu needs time to put things in shape. It is impossible to change the economy overnight for people to start enjoining good life within two months. He needs sufficient time to actualize his agenda.
What about the view that the government should have put some palliatives in place before the removal?
When I hear people talk about palliative, it makes me laugh. What do they mean by palliative? How much is N8,000 they are talking about? Is that what will change their lives under the present situation we are now? I think what we need now is infrastructural development. When you give palliative to 10 per cent of the populace, what happens to the remaining 90 per cent? Part of Nigeria’s problem is energy and security. Nigerians can feed themselves. So, what we should be talking about is the security that will enable people to go to the farm. Look at what is happening in IDP camps in Benue. The US representative said it is one of the worst situations in the world. These are the things we should be talking about. Let’s give this government time to address security concerns so that people can go back to the farm. Delta State people can feed themselves, Sokoto people can feed themselves, Kaduna State, Kano State and many other states in the North have rich fertile soil to farm and feed themselves. All they need is security for them to do farming. Former President Muhammadu Buhari didn’t do much about security. He disappointed everybody. And now that these new people came with a renewed vigour, we need to give them time to address what has gone wrong. If they can reinvigorate the security and energy sectors, things will get better. If we can get those two right, Nigeria will stablise. We can’t be talking of palliative now, the palliative that Buhari used to waste trillions of naira for eight years. They should clear the useless Boko Haram insurgents and bandits that are terrorizing the people so that they can go back to their farms. We want people to go back to their farms.
In the light of what you have said, do you see the declaration of a state of emergency on food insecurity as the right step in the right direction?
That is what labour should be discussing with Tinubu. If you can’t feed yourself, you will be an angry person. You make the people in all the fertile areas in Nigeria to sit back at home and we are complaining of food inflation. We need to make people to go back to their farms everywhere in Nigeria. And they are all ready to go back if not because of the security situation in the country. We need to give this man sometime so that they can clear all these terrorists that are making it impossible for people to do farming. Labour should cooperate with Tinubu, Nigerians as a whole should cooperate with him. All the state governments should organize themselves properly so that our farms can be free of bandits and terrorists. We should give Tinubu sometime to rest and organize. It is a new government and he is ready to address all areas of concerns. It is after one year before we can begin to take a look at the performance of his government. I remember when he was the governor of Lagos State, all the roads became dirty in his first two months in office. But after three months, the magic started. The PSP started working and the whole Lagos became clean. You can see development in Lagos up till today. To rule Nigeria is not a small thing, especially after almost 20 years of bad governance.
What is the way to galvanize support for the government under the present situation where the opposition seems to be working at cross purposes with the new administration?
The opposition is not patriotic. We should preach patriotism to them. Obviously, it is painful to lose an election. But they are taking it too far. Let the tribunals come up with their verdicts quickly. They are delaying it for too long. Let us know who won so that we can go forward from there. The state governments too should be on their toes. Everybody should work for the good of the country. At this time, we need patriotism. The opposition is doing a bad thing by trying to dislocate the government. Everybody should talk to them. Tinubu’s per cent of winning is almost 37 per cent, while the rest 53 per cent are against him. So, it is not easy, but they should give him time. They should understand that he can’t perform magic. They should stop disorganizing things because this government needs support of everybody. I am happy that Tinubu and his wife have told Nigerians that they are not going to touch their money. They are already over-rich, they just want to make name for themselves. God has over blessed them; so, his ambition is to serve the people. He fought for democratic and we have got democracy. But that democracy has been mismanaged for 24 years. I have had the opportunity of meeting him as a President and I told him that all he needs is to help the country. And he promised that he would do that. That is what he is doing. We should give him space and support to deliver on his promises. He has not been hostile to the opposition. He came this time as a patriot, let’s give him time. This is what I am preaching to Nigerians.
A lot of people have expressed reservation about the list of ministerial nominees he presented to the National Assembly, criticizing the presence of some old faces among them. What is your take on this?
Don’t mind them, they are armchair critics. Are they saying that the man should forget Wike who helped him to win Rivers State which APC has never won before? You think he will not think about his election? Are they saying he should not put the people who helped him to win election there? He put a lot of young technocrats there and yet that is not enough for them. The list is a mixture of different groups in Nigeria. There are young people, there are technocrats and there are politicians like Wike and Umahi who are trying to plead to the Easterners. Are they saying that he should not put El-Rufai who led the governors to insist on power shift to the South there? It’s a real blend of different interests. So, I don’t support all these critics. Are they politicians? Did they bring votes for him? Don’t they know how crucial that election was? Tinubu is a politician and you can’t be a president without being a politician. He has put technocrats, those he put there are enough. The list is a perfect blend of all variables. We suffered for democracy together in this country. So, Tinubu cannot betray Nigerians because we know what we went through fighting for democracy. I have had discussions with him and he promised Nigerians to make Nigeria good. And I have been monitoring everything, he is not doing badly.
Having said all that, what are your expectations of the new cabinet?
I expect good performance from them. If they don’t perform, we shall all see it. Most of them say they will perform. It is not a secret cult, we shall all see. Some of them are young, we have not seen anything from them before. Young people have strong appetite for luxury and wealth. The old ones may be tired, but they have less tendency to steal. If they stole money, what are they going to do with it? Let the National Assembly watch them, let progressive media watch them. What pains me in this country is that some people stole too much money. Tinubu should not spare those people.
