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By Vera Wisdom-Bassey
Chief (Dr.) Jackie Adunni Kassim, was the only female gubernatorial candidate in 2019 governorship election in Ogun State. She ran on the platform of United Democratic Party (UDP), and in 2023, on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). She is also the CEO of Missak Agency International. In this interview, the Yeye Akin of Otta Awori Kingdom said she is in politics to influence other women.
Excerpts:
How do you feel about all that is happening in Nigeria today, from demolition, to tribal wars, to Donald Trump threat, too many things happening at the same time?
The country is not unstable, is the people that is unstable. The country is not moving away from where it is, and now taking it from demolition, has anybody actually in government given out the reason why they are demolishing houses. When you buy a land first of all go and find out about that land. Go to lands office, they will give you the history of that land, to know whether you can build or where you cannot build.
But you see a lot of us think that because we have the money, we can do anything we want to do, the government may say don’t build here, drainage will pass here, it might not be immediate, maybe 10 years, or 20 year later. But the day development will come, there must be a drainage. However, because of stubbornness, we have money, we go ahead and do what we want, that is what is causing a lot of these havoc.
For instances, down the road here where I live, there is a street, is a corner piece. The man that build his house and left a space did not leave it because he doesn’t need it, but he is thinking of development. Lo and behold, somebody now comes and start building there. The land officers will come, and they will mark it. The man goes there give the people some money, and continues, now the building is upstairs. You see if the govt comes tomorrow now and demolish the place, they will say the government has come.
I think that our concept is so wrong, we don’t think deep about what we are doing. We only live for today, some houses are so old it could collapse at any time, and when it collapses one life will go with it. Is that one life not important to us? A lot of people don’t know the gravity of putting a storey building where a bungalow is designed to be built.
A Bangalow foundation cannot be the same with a storey building but we do it and because we are getting away with it, we think it is right. I am not saying what the government is doing is right but when they are demolishing a place they must have given them notice, they don’t just come overnight.
Looking at Trump, coming to invade Nigeria, what is your take?
(laugh) Our brother Trump, you see, he cannot invade Nigeria, because he came and rescued one of his citizens does not mean he can come and put us all at ransom. Does Nigeria need any help from them? Has Trump settled what is going on in America, has he washed his own home, clean?
You see we Africans, sometimes they (Americans) think we are dump, but we are not. If it has been the Christian Association of Nigeria that has stood up and said enough is enough, I will clap for them, how many miles from America to here in Nigeria? Which one concern you with our problems? They have turned it to a religious thing. When they went to Chibok and collected those girls, were they not muslims? Do you mean everybody in that town are Christians.
Why is Boko Haram still in Nigeria, who are they protecting? They are protecting something, to be honest with you. And they don’t want the village to know what they are protecting. Go and look at all the places where Boko Haram are, there are mineral resources there. Does our government even know where those minerals are? There is a state that does not have airport but they have a runway where they use to take our gold, our diamond, and minerals and zoom off.
Can you throw light into such states?
They know it. You see, we all know where these Boko Haram are coming from, but a lot of people find it difficult to say it. You just wake up one morning they say, this one has so many billion dollars. What are they keeping it for? They are keeping it abroad, how did they get it abroad? Is it not when these people get their bills, they get their cut over there. I am happy about what Trump is doing, he is freezing their account, and I wish he could get the money back to Nigeria, because Nigeria needs the money.
Why did you contest for the governorship?
I contested for governorship twice, but then one day somebody came and said ‘Mummy, is you we want, and you have to contest.’ I said I am not contesting again, I have achieved my aim, the aim was to bring more women out, stop being Vice, Deputy, but do these women support each other? No! We are still talking about Jonathan wife till today, she is not educated but she performed.
What is the way forward for Nigeria?
What is the percentage of people trying to achieve that goal, and the percentage of people that wants Nigeria to change. Most of the people in the political arena, or on top today, what were they before they got to the top, who were they before they got there? But we are deceiving ourselves.
I think that one of the reasons that I suddenly got interested in politics is because I want to influence other women. I was the only woman in the race in Ogun State. I hope that in the next general elections that we will have more women coming out for the position. Women should come out and contest, but women are not supporting themselves.
