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Tunde Thomas
President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to take measures to ensure that restructuring of the country is accorded a top priority by his administration.
Giving the advice in this interview, former Director and Legal Adviser, Central Bank of Nigeria, Prince Anthony Olatujoye spoke on a number of other issues.
There has been an increase in agitations for the creation of state police in view of the surge in kidnappings, armed banditry, and killings across the country, what’s your take on that?
The debate on whether state policing is the right way to go has acquired such notoriety that one finds it unnecessary to add his voice. However, one clear issue that has come out of this is the need to decentralize the Police to meet the dictates of federalism. I have no hesitation in aligning myself with the popular position to wit- that the decentralization should be community based. In other words, I believe that community policing system which is controlled centrally by the IGP appears more attractive for now, if only to put a check or some of our powerful state governors from turning same as instruments of humiliation against their perceived political enemies. The overbearing influence of some of these governors over State Electoral Commissions readily comes to mind.
Nobel laureate , Prof Wole Soyinka recently declared that Nigeria’s problems have overwhelmed President Muhammadu Buhari, and that another national conference should be organised to discuss Nigeria’s challenges, and solutions for the country. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo also shared the view that a national confab needs to be organized to address the problem, while some believe that the national confab organized by former President Jonathan is the way out of the recent quagmire the nation is enmeshed in. What is your take on this?
With profound respect to the Nobel Laureate, I do not think there is any country in the world without social-political and economic challenges. Accordingly, I find it difficult to agree with the erudite professor that Nigeria’s current challenges have overwhelmed the President, thus rendering him incapable to savage the situation. In fairness to the President, it is not difficult to see the efforts being made to neutralize some of the troubling challenges of insurgency, food insecurity, erratic power supply and infrastructure decay in the country.
I am not aware that the President has ever behaved as a leader incapable of salvaging the country from these challenges. This brings me to the suggestion of the Nobel Laureate on the desirability of another National Conference to address the Nigeria question with a view to putting to bed the challenges which he believes are serious enough to convoke such Conference.
This is not to say that the Noble laureate is alone on the call for another conference as the same sentiment has consistently been echoed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and foremost legal icon, Aare Afe Babalola(SAN). Frankly speaking. I do not believe that another National conference is the route to take. However, this position does not in any way derogate from the need to have a people-oriented constitution which will radically address some, if not all, the troubling issues agitating the cerebral minds of the professor, Chief Obasanjo, Aare Afe Babalola and indeed some other Nigerians. It remains for me therefore to say that Mr. President, the National Assembly, the State Assemblies and indeed all of us should have a second look at the 2014 National Conference Report and others before it, so as to agree on those areas or recommendations that can be adopted for immediate constitutional alterations. The rapprochement between the presidency and the National Assembly leaves one with the hope that a lot can be achieved in this direction instead of taking another conference pilgrimage which may distract government from actualizing its agenda for the Next Level.
Omoyele Sowore’s on-going trial has become a controversial issue with some Nigerians saying that he has not committed a crime, and that he should be released, what’s your own position on this issue?
Honestly, Omoyele Sowore’s ordeal arising from his #REVOLUTIONNOW has been over-flogged and should ordinarily be left for the courts to determine. But there is a need to advise other upcoming Sowores to always seek legal opinions before embarking on similar voyages which may not find favour with the Law. Without prejudice to the matter in court, the government may magnanimously reconsider its position on the matter.
What is your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’cabinet?
It is my view that, it is too early in the day to assess a cabinet that has not fully assumed official duties unless assessment in this contest means a commentary on the pedigree, character/ industry of the individuals who make the cabinet. If so, I wish to submit without any equivocation that the choice of minsters by the President looks pretty good for the Next Level, moreso when the president had earlier admitted he would personally select his team which would assist him to fulfill his promises/ mandate, namely, fighting insecurity, rejigging the hemorrhaging economy, fighting corruption. I say this having regard to the track records of a good number of these appointees who have either served as ministers with the President in his first term, or as ex – governors with intimidating records of performance, or legislators and technocrats who have distinguished themselves at various times of their services to the nation. I have in mind the likes of Babatunde Fashola(SAN), Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Rotimi Amaechi, Zainab Ahmed, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Dr Chis Ngige, Dr Ehaneri, Timipre Sylva, Abubakar Malami(SAN), Hadi Sirika, the uncommon ex-Senate Minority leader, Godswill Akpabio, the cerebral Sunday Dare, the “O to ge” Prince of Kwara politics, Lai Muhammed, my indefatigable brother, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, et el. Indeed, I have no reason whatsoever to doubt the administrative /professional perspicacity and readiness of the 43 man cabinet to take Nigeria to the Next Level.
What are your expectations from President Buhari during his second term?
The President has set out the agenda for his second term in office aptly tagged the Next Level which is expected to move Nigeria to a level comparable to what obtains in developed economies. It follows therefore that the current strides by Mr. President in the areas of creation of jobs, improvement in the power sector, agriculture, the new vistas for fighting insurgency, banditry and kidnappings, setting up of an Economic Advisory Council, vibrant foreign policies particularly in relation to the issue of xenophobia in South Africa, creation of jobs, liberating 100 Million Nigerians from poverty, and finally the zeal to actively challenge the corruption-ridden award donated to P & ID by a British court in respect of the $9.6 billion gas supply contract, give some hope that this President looks set for business . Therefore, my expectations from the Next Level governance architecture include but not limited to enthroning a transparent and responsive governance structure in Nigeria, largely addressing the unceasing issue of restructuring with a view to according our federalism its proper place in the comity of nations and leaving a legacy clothed with integrity, unity, good governance, robust / democratic institutions of state and a viral economy. It is hoped that Mr. President will set in motion the machinery for the actualization of these expectations.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State was accused by some groups and individuals of being partisan in the way he handled the recent crisis between the people of Ikale land and Araromi-Obu in Ondo State, what’s your position on how the governor has handled the issue?
When the news of the crisis between the Ikale and Araromi – Obu people first came to me, as an Ikale man, I shuddered at the initial reaction of the state government which to all intent and purpose was not only biased but highly humiliating. More worrisome was the unnecessary humiliation of the paramount ruler of Ikale land, His Royal Majesty, Oba Faduyile by the State Governor during the governor’s fact-finding mission to the Oba’s Palace. The good news however, is that the matter is now receiving attention by the panel set up by the government to examine the immediate and remote causes of the unfortunate imbroglio between the people of Araromi-Obu and the Ikales. It is common knowledge that there is a subsisting court order, affirming the rights of the Ikale people over the land in dispute. Let me at this juncture applaud the intervention of some prominent Ikale sons and daughters led by Prince (Dr) General Olu Bajowa, a leading star in Ikale land. I also salute Samuel Adetuyi, commissioner of police (rtd), Ikale Progressive Association in Abuja and Ikales in the diaspora. Let me conclude that I have also spoken with His Royal Majesty, the Abodi of Ikale land on the need to continue to uphold the cause of the Ikale people and to also cooperate with the Panel of Inquiry looking into the dispute. I wish also to admonish the Ikale and the Araromi-Obu people to sheath their swords and allow peace to reign and to also respect the extant ruling of the High Court on the matter until and unless same is upturned by the Court of Appeal or ultimately by the Supreme Court.
