…Suggests how to salvage Nigeria’s deplorable situation
By Daniel Kanu
Respected intellectual, policy analyst and Professor of Strategy and Development at the Commonwealth Institute of Advanced and Professional Studies, Prof Anthony Kila, in this encounter with Sunday Sun, bares his thoughts on some critical issues confronting the President Bola Tinubu-led government, including escalation of insecurity, state police, restructuring, the hasty removal of fuel subsidy, among others. Excerpt:
Speak on the continued escalation of insecurity in the country despite assurances from the President Tinubu-led APC government that they are on top of the security challenge?
Well, the truth is that, number one, the root causes of insecurity have not been tackled. You cannot be doing the same thing and expect a change; we have not done anything different on this issue. The other issue is that there are no clear cut consequences, punishment for the people caught in insecurity offences. I am glad to hear that those that killed the Obas have been caught and are being investigated. That is a good example of what should be happening on the Plateau, and in every other part of the country. I believe, for example, that although we are talking about how to curb insecurity, but the main victory is in no occurrence. We must make sure nothing happens, and that is the basic truth, but we have lost that one. Victory is that it doesn’t happen at all. So, now that people are committing the crime, what are the consequences for those caught? What are you doing as a deterrent for others not to continue in such crime? You need a very big intervention as in the declaration of war against those in such dastardly act. you need to give them an unpleasant signal as “how dare you do this under my watch”. You must talk tough and follow it with action. You must send a strong message that their enterprise can never strive under your watch. You must send a message of “how dare you.” It is not something that stops at talking or just mouthing what you will do. You rather follow it up by ensuring that there is security presence, not just the military, police, navy, but the DSS and others in those areas. Their presence will be such in the place or location where the crime/incident happened will be under siege by the security operatives. That is part of the things you do when you are sincere in fighting insecurity. I agree with you also on the factors of having school children etc, yes those social factors need to be addressed and you do your best to prevent it not to happen, but when it happens you make legitimate and superior use of power. A state that cannot apply superior power is a failed or failing state. You must have a superior power force to challenge them and give them a signal that “they cannot dare without being crushed”.
A lot of people have been advocating for state police. Do you think it’s a good option for Nigeria?
I think it should be interrogated. There is nothing wrong in considering it. You need people that are aware about the territory, not just bringing them from outside and they are ignorant of crime issues within the environment. You need people who are knowledgeable about the environment, those who have an idea of who the criminals are. You know that if you stay in an environment you will know the bad boys. You need to be a product of the environment or the area to know those keen in committing crimes in the area. Even if you are not a police officer, you know your area, you know suspicious characters, and not that you see a person carrying laptop, or who you think dressed rascally, according to their youth fashion, and you conclude the person is a criminal. There are some people that may look calm, but because you live in the environment you will know also that they are criminals, not just because of the way they dress. Look, because you know the territory you are likely going to know some of the bad boys, the criminals within the area. Because you know a territory you know what is normal and when you see people gather in a place you don’t just suspect, but you already know them, whether they are bad people or not, you have an idea of who they are. Another thing is that if you call a governor the Chief Security Officer, he should have security under his command. Some people may be afraid of abuse, but can have a law that will checkmate such and ensure that nobody will abuse it. It is not a bad option.
There are some advocates of restructuring Nigeria, but restructuring seems to mean different things to different people. What does restructuring mean to you?
Some people don’t understand what restructuring means. It is not something difficult, but it’s just that some people are politicizing it. Restructuring whether in economics, in politics etc, simply means resetting the structure of the country, restructuring how it is governed. It is not a difficult thing; it is only the people who don’t want it that are causing the confusion, making the issue appear difficult. Restructuring seeks decentralization. It’s giving more powers to the regions. It’s just that some people are mischievous about it and they don’t want. It’s important we educate people on the use of words, restructuring is not a difficult thing to understand. Here, people are asking for devolution of power, that you decentralize power for greater impact for governance.
The court has ordered the Federal Government to fix the prices of goods. How feasible is this bearing in mind that we are running a deregulated economy?
My friend and brother, Femi Falana SAN, is leading the fight, and you know he is a socialist, a welfarist and fighting to get a fair price for the Nigerian people. But that approach for me is not a good approach. It is not a good approach because the best way to get good prices for the people is to let the demand and supply law to play out. The way it will play in our favour is to increase the supply side. Price that goes up shows that what is available to buy are not enough, it is because production is low. It is because the food belt of the country is not producing food as it should. It is because the cost of petrol and diesel are so high that the transporters will also review their money and increase their money. It is because the forex, the value of the naira is falling down, the prices are high because the electricity production is failing and you spend more to produce. What is happening is that the supply, the goods are not there. Those who are old enough on the matters of the history of political economy and finance will know that we have had control board before, but it has not worked and it cannot work, given our experience. What you need to do is to deal with the issues that are making prices to go up. You need to increase production. It is not to be solved by throwing money to the people will even make matter worse. All these issue of palliatives, grants, throwing money around are terrible ideas. But you can give money to producers, and empower them to produce rather than throwing money to people which will in turn cause inflation. You can also freeze tax, that you stop people from paying tax, let the government look for money through partnership.
I have said at different fora that increasing individuals’ wages without simultaneously enhancing the production side of the economy could potentially result in inflation. I have always suggested adopting a more collaborative and concentrated approach to governance that prioritises bolstering the supply aspect of the economy over stimulating demand.
My observation of this government is that you can look at some of its policies as haphazard, not properly thought through and not well consulted before doing it or before implementation.
It’s always good to go to a more consultative, concentrative kind of governance that focuses on supply rather than demand.
My fear is that when you just give money, it’s likely going to lead to inflation because we’ve not augmented the supply side of the economy, and we’re putting more money into the hands of the people. This idea that the government wants to distribute money to Nigerians is not something that can work in a population with over 75 million adults. I think that a highly effective approach to decision-making involves seeking input through consultation, careful consideration, and open communication. We should not be consumers, but producers, and our expenditure should be capital expenditure.
What will be your brief assessment of the President Tinubu government within its eight months of existence?
If the truth must be told, I think so far, so bad. It’s so far, so bad because expectations were very high. You know, the impression was that oh…Lagos boy, the city boy is in-charge and the rating was so high. There was over-rating, so to speak. That was the first trouble that was created for him, to make people believe that he will perform miracles. I think the government is high on intension, I think, perhaps, they mean well, but low on delivery. I think they genuinely want to do well, but somehow are not getting things done well. The idea of removing fuel subsidy immediately was wrong calculation. It could have been done, even a month after when you must have put few things in order. I do not like the spirit, it was not a good spirit, that moved the president the same day of inauguration to announce the removal of subsidy. If you care about people and you understand the dynamics of economics and the effect your action or policy will have on real people on critical issues you should know that you cannot take such bold step without anticipating huge consequences, without planning cushioning effect. It is like trying to take out a tooth without analgesia, even when you eventually do, there will still be small pain, but you must have killed/suppressed the bigger pain. As we speak a lot of Nigerians are suffering real hunger and frustration. Businesses are closing. Some parents, their children in school are stranded. Family relationships are suffering due to the effects of a hasty policy. I think this is a government that loves, but they don’t know how to love.