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From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
As the inauguration of the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu draws closer, Spokesperson, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Abdul-Azeez Suleiman has expressed the optimism that the new President cannot afford to let down the Northern region in particular and Nigeria in general in terms of favourable policies and programmes.
In this interview, Suleiman noted that with the large votes from the North that gave Tinubu victory during the presidential election, and the campaign promises he made to wrest the region out of poverty and insecurity, the people are looking up to him to hit the ground running and salvage the situation.
The CNG Spokesperson also talked on other issues regarding the presidential inauguration.
What are your thoughts about the May 29 inauguration of the President and governors-elect?
The inauguration of a new set of leaders at the federal and state levels has been an ongoing process throughout Nigeria’s years of practice in democracy. The inauguration this May 29 is just another of the periodic leadership succession processes that would come and go.We’ve witnessed major transitions with complete transfer of state power from the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the then opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) and it was smooth.This May 29th event is one of the several minor transitions of power within the same party which we are sure will be smooth and peaceful.
What should Nigerians expect from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as soon as he assumes office as the substantive President of Nigeria?.
This is an important question because on 25th February 2023, Nigerian voters trooped out en-masse and offered a verdict trusting Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lead our nation through and out of its limitations, into a future in which we will live secure lives and pursue livelihoods in a united Nigeria whose resources will be protected by leaders.The elections of February were pre-eminently a victory for the people of Nigeria, the victory of popular will over desperate attempts to subvert it. They were about the possibility that we could look to a future without insecurity; that our young ones will get good education, acquire skills and get jobs; that corruption will be arrested, contained and eliminated. They were in the hope that we will celebrate an end of poor governance; to leadership that runs away from threats, and to leaders who remember the people only when they need votes. Northern votes overwhelmingly went to Asiwaju and combined with those from other parts of the nation to comprehensively ensure victory for the APC. But no one expects that Tinubu will run an administration that will give to the North what it does not deserve. As a leader who had spent a large part of his life working to get Nigerians to trust him to lead a nation that is critically endangered by leaders who fail to lead with justice and sensitivity to its plural nature and the limitations of our political process, Tinubu is coming to face incredible expectations. Our northern region for instance would want to see him work to reassure us that our people had not been abandoned at the mercy of a rampaging insurgency and sundry crimes that understood that weak political will and corruption had weakened our national resolve to fight them.The North expects Tinubu’s government and security forces to fight this insurgency with resolve and awareness of their obligations under the law, as well as the knowledge that victory will only be pronounced when the nation achieves full cessation of hostilities, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in the entire region.We recognize that the simultaneous challenges of continuing the fight the diverse multiple and intersecting security challenges, rehabilitating I.D.Ps and rebuilding lives, communities and infrastructure will require the best in leadership capacities and huge amounts of resources. Let us say without any doubt that we believe that Tinubu can meet these challenges, or at least lay solid foundations for their achievement.The sense of emergency which is needed to be applied to dealing with the scale and nature of the humanitarian disaster in the North also needs to be applied to the management of the national economy. The North would therefore want Tinubu to review and redesign harmful policies calculated to continuously weaken it politically and pauperize it economically which were contrived by previous administrations on the back of the most gratuitous insults to justice and fairness wrapped in the crude cover of crass political opportunism and breathtaking ineptitude. The nation generally would want to see a radical deviation from the path set by the outgoing administration which has acquired the reputation of being the worst in the history of our nation in terms of any capacity to generate confidence in achieving credible national goals. Nigerians all understand that a combination of past abuses and mismanagement of the economy and the collapse of crude prices and sabotage of oil and gas facilities have created a most challenging environment for the management of the economy. But we as patriotic northerners will not relent in reminding the incoming administration that hunger is stalking millions of homes, inflation is making life difficult by the day, people are losing jobs, businesses are closing down. Infrastructure is decaying, young Nigerians are losing hope of being employed, our hospitals are full of people who suffer mysterious illnesses, and they cannot afford the fees. Moving from where we are to where we need to be will require patience and fortitude. Until we get there, it will be President Tinubu’s lot to assemble the Nigerians to advise him and take forward his vision. He will need people who will convey his concerns and compassion; who will reach and bring comfort to millions who suffer in an economy under stress; and people who will combine his personal integrity with competence and commitment. It is important to let the incoming administration know that we at the CNG have established a standard of judgment which we will not compromise, and its hallmarks are to be respectful and responsible in relationships with leaders at all levels, and to speak truth to power. We will not lower the bar where the interests of the North, the unity and security of Nigeria, or the welfare of all citizens are involved. We will engage all leaders and fellow Nigerians as we have always done as northerners: with respect and the certainty that leaders who cannot be advised or criticized are a liability, and fellow Nigerians are deserving of respect in the same manner we demand to be respected.
Many Nigerians have expressed fears about the impossibility of the inauguration taking place. Are you also nursing thesame fear?.
It’s nothing new for Nigerians to cause apprehension where there is none. At some point, some alarmist Nigerians even predicted that the 2023 elections would not hold; they predicted death for some major candidates, military intervention and the rest.
But the elections have come and gone, winners have emerged, losers have taken the democratic steps of seeking redress in court. We really don’t see any potential impediments to the inauguration.We don’t entertain any feelings that the inauguration would not hold because this is not different from all other transitions.
American President Joe Biden has approved powerful delegations to witness the event. What is your take on this?.
That is a further proof that the democratic world does not share the unnecessary fear that the inauguration would not hold as scheduled. The gesture by the US government, which has been a major Nigerian international friend is quite reassuring in this regard. It is as well a salient endorsement of the February elections and their outcome. This gesture would hopefully encourage our do-or-die politicians to learn to accept defeat and allow things to move on. We expect more such gestures from other international friends as a seal for improvement of global diplomacy.
Some Nigerians have said that it is better for the election petition tribunal to have concluded its work before the inauguration. What can you say to this?.
This is a matter of court process that involves clearly stated procedures and unforeseen occurrences. There is a standing rule that a new administration would be sworn in every 29th May of every election year. Petitions are usually anticipated and they have never interfered with the handover. The courts have civil procedure rules that must be followed before judging on issues. Those seeking to halt the handover have also opted for legal redress and must be subjected to the processes of convincing the court. Until that is done, the inauguration would go ahead while the cases go on in the courts.
