•It’s unfortunate Tinubu says he’ll continue Buhari’s policies
Professor Ango Abdullahi is former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum. A renowned educationalist and former Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Belo University (ABU), Zaria, Prof Abdullahi is noted for never shying away from speaking his mind on any issue.
In this concluding interview started in Saturday Sun of December 30, 2023, he described as unfortunate statements credited to President Bola Tinubu that he would continue with the policies of the Buhari administration. While arguing that President Tinubu met a broke economy, he said Nigeria should return to the drawing board and start afresh. He also expressed strong disagreements with those canvassing the rotation of the presidency among the six regions. In his view, such rotations would make a mockery of the term ‘democracy.’
He spoke with PAUL ORUDE
Would you advise President Tinubu to borrow money to fix the country?
Well, he came at a time when the county was broke. We know why the country was broke during Buhari’s administration. Stealing. Outright stealing. Buhari was borrowing heavily and if you look at it and analyse the level of borrowing, vis-a-vis interest rates, all the revenue accruals of Nigeria, 10 per cent should go for debt services. So is it five per cent that will develop this country? It is the same now, and unfortunately for Tinubu, he said he is going to carry on with the Buhari administration’s policy whatever and so on. Of course that announcement itself is a disaster because Buhari’s administration to me was a disaster in this country. So for Tinubu to carry on along that line, definitely he is carry on a disaster and this is already what we are experiencing.
What is your take on the proposed student loan?
If the country’s resources are being harnessed properly and directed in the areas of needs, then we shouldn’t have problems in the key areas of education and health that will necessitate students’ loan and so on. We shouldn’t have it if the resources of this country are addressed in the true priority areas of needs. It won’t go far. How many students do you have? If you give them loan on how to pay their fees, how much difference will it make? I was a Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. I should know what impact all these idea of loan will make to students trying to get through the university system. Many Nigerian students are studying outside the country as near to us as Ghana and their fees are quite heavy. But these are being paid by Nigerian parents and so on. I think that something is just wrong and what is wrong is policy that is wrongly framed and poorly implemented. And as long as we are not going to retract it and begin to plan national development and implement development meticulously like our parents did, I don’t think we are going to get out of this situation.
If you meet Tinubu face to face, what would be your advice to him?
Tinubu is my friend. Unfortunately, he, by his own words, said he is going to carry on with Buhari’s administration which was declared a failed administration as far as we are concerned by some of us and we didn’t hide this. We made it public. From every sensible social economic analysis, people agreed that the country was in difficulties. Socio economic indices were negative and so on. Nigeria does not produce much. See our foreign exchange. When I was Vice Chancellor of ABU, it was one dollar to 80 kobo. This is just about 40 years ago. Currencies in good countries don’t change in years but 40 years and I used to buy a dollar for 75 or 80 kobo. But today, if I want to, I have to spend N1300 to get one dollar. What happened is simply that Nigeria is not a producer. And if you don’t produce, you can’t sell anything and can’t earn foreign exchange and that won’t leave you with a respectable foreign exchange. And people who see things will determine how much you have to pay for their products and that is what happened to Nigeria. We buy everything and we produce nothing. I don’t even want to use these figures because it is so shameful that today that to buy one dollar you have to go and seek N1300. So I feel sorry for my friend, Bola Tinubu. We met once at the airport before the election but since he took off I have not seen him personally. But I have sent a direct message through a mutual friend. I wish he can set up a team that is seriously objective. Forget about these sentiments about constitution and so on and so forth. For me, I feel that Nigeria has to go back to the drawing board and start afresh. The damage that has been done is going to be extremely difficult to repair without going back to the drawing board.
Some also argue that our undoing is the presidential system of government which is wasteful. What is your take on this?
Of course I have always argued against presidential system of government. It does not suit our situation. It was forced on us by the Murtala/Obasanjo administration at the post Gowon constitutional discussion. They said we shouldn’t even discuss the pros and cons of Parliamentary system of government vis a vis any other system that we may wish to use. They just abandoned parliamentary and borrowed Presidential whether French or American. Even the Presidential is not being followed the way Americans are following their own. In the American presidential system, there is law and order. The former President, Donald Trump was brought before a Magistrate in handcuffs because the judge said if he must appear before her he must appear in handcuffs and that’s what happened. So his handcuffs were removed in front of the judge for a social case that he has to appear in New York. Here the political frame is not working and the operators are not working well and there is virtual breakdown of everything more or less. Recently I issued a statement on judgments that are coming from our Supreme Court. Similar cases elsewhere, different judgments and so on. This shows that we are not following strictly our laws, we are not following certain things that are difficult to pinpoint but in most cases they have to do with corruption in the system and so on.
There were attacks recently in three local government in Plateau State where over 100 people were killed, just few weeks after NAF accidently dropped bombs in Kaduna, killing over 100. What is your reaction to these killings and the undying issue of banditry?
Very sad indeed. Again an indication of failure of government and failure of leadership. In countries with good systems and good leaders, you don’t find this. So this is another sad chapter in the history of Nigeria. You have military dropping bombs on civilians in a ceremony. Not just once, when people were rescuing the victims, another bomb was unleashed on them. How can you explain this? Accidental means the system is not working. In a system that is working, the intelligence will be extremely accurate as to who are on ground and what they are doing before you take that final decision. The decision process in this case, without prejudice to the inquiry they say they are going to do, somebody must have given instruction for somebody to pull the trigger based on what information, either a failed intelligence in the system, which is the most likely scenario in this case. And in the case of the recent killings in three local governments in Plateau State, this is not new. This is the recurring story every day in various parts of the country where people are being killed, whether on religious or ethnicity. It is there every day. The questions still remains, you have a system that is not working for Nigerians. As long as the system is not working for Nigeria, Nigeria will continue to produce criminality in the form that we are seeing on ground today. It is our children and our grandchildren that are in the bush and are being called bandits. They are the same children and so on that are Boko Haram, they are the same children and so on that are IPOB and so on and so forth. So system failure and that is why I believe and hope that President Tinubu will agree and take Nigeria to the drawing board to look at itself once again. It is important that Nigeria should go back to the drawing and re-examine itself and see whether over the last 60 years we are said to be managing our affairs well and the honest answer is no. Let’s go back to the drawing board to find out the things we need to do, restructure or re-correct or reframe to get something for our children and grandchildren.
Some have argued that presidential power should rotate to the South-East for equity and justice after Tinubu’s tenure. What do you think of this argument?
I don’t agree because it is democratically irresponsible. If you are practising democracy of one man one vote you don’t talk about power going to one area or region or something. You are looking for leaders who will take us out of the woods. The search is going to be for good leadership in Nigeria, not allocating a leadership that you are talking about. If Nigeria is going to practise democracy then it must throw away this nonsense called allocation of regions or tribes and so on. To do that is to go back to ethnic cleavages. There are 500 ethnic groups in Nigeria and if we have to do it in the name of Igbos, then we have to do it in the name of Itsekiri next time, and in the name of these tribes that are scattered across the country. If it is justice in the name of allocating ethnic groups and with about 500 ethnic groups, then four years times 500 ethnic groups and so on. It does not make sense and will complicate our issues the more. All this hullabaloo about Muslim-Muslim ticket, there is nothing as such. There is no Muslim party in Nigeria, there is no Christian party in Nigeria. So Nigerians are either Christians, Muslims or unbelievers. So they should choose which party is on the ground. The only thing I keep quarrelling about that this constitution must allow independent candidates to contest elections. If I am not happy with the political party, I should be able to stand for an election whether I win or lose, based on my own programmes. There should be a place for independent candidates as well.