University of Calabar Bursar, Peter Agi, asks Nigerians to stand by President Muhammadu on his efforts at fixing the country, in this interview with Special Correspondent, REUBEN BOJOR. He also speaks on corruption and other issues.
President Buhari not forming cabinet 100 days after
Delay is not denial. This is a man that came to meet a society that was bankrupt politically, economically, technologically, culturally, religiously. He met a people who were downtrodden and to some extent, had lost belief in our value system; a depressed citizenry with a high degree of psychological suppressive tendencies. He met a resource base that was virtually depleted. What is wrong with taking time to understand that? What is wrong with trying to have proactive effort in minimizing wastages and curbing leakages in the system? What is wrong with trying to search and bring people of profound integrity to be part of his government? What is wrong with trying to understand the real causes of corruption and initiating credible steps to prevent the collapse of the political and economic system? The fact that he has not constituted his Executive Council does not mean that government is not running.
At this moment, curbing corruption and the desire to maintain stability in governance is a daunting task and requires a deep understanding of required re-engineering processes.
His desire is to ensure that he has people of proven integrity; people who are sincere and have the love of the country at heart. So it takes a while to find this kind of people, in a peculiar setting that is as bad as Nigeria’s.
He is taking his time to comprehend and chart a path for the good of the Country. I call for patience and understanding because it is not an easy task to correct the many ills that were perpetuated in the past. Let’s wait. The country is moving. There’s is a paradigm shift in the annals of our country. Let’s appreciate the fact that, even though he is being looked upon as slow, his desire for change is something that is seemingly attainable and should be encouraged.
The fact that he is there as a president, has brought about psychological re-alignment in the conduct of the people. Now, if he is able to curb corruption, which I have seen as a deep-seated issue that brought decadence in our society, obviously, he will be seen to have succeeded.
Past administration in bad shape on account of emerging figures
The way the country was going called for concern. Now, the figures are massive but there are realistic figures. You can imagine the income we generate from oil. A barrel of crude oil is sold in dollars; the exchange rate is overly high. If you translate that money even in naira, it is massive. The figures are actually real. But like they say in Law, until proven guilty, nobody is guilty. That does not mean that efforts should not be made to prove under the law the issue of people’s involvement in corruption encapsulated in sleaze, misappropriation and so on. If President Buhari has taken it upon himself, he must be firm. He must not be swayed by the political antics of corrupt politicians who are people with desire to maintain the status quo. If he has begun it, he should sustain it. Now, because he is alone in this onerous challenge, the corrupt people will fight and when they fight, they will sustain the momentum.
The culpable should be freed or punished?
The law says there should be punitive measures taken against those found culpable. In this context, corruption has brought about moral decadence, economic disadvantages, depression, and suppression of the psyche of the people. Nothing appears to be working in Nigeria because a few cabals have stolen everything that belongs to Nigerian. Everybody in governance thinks about his immediate family and what benefit will be accruable to his direct family. I even suggest that the corrupt people should be annihilated, if found guilty. Punitive measures should be taken against the rich and the poor in the same measure. I don’t encourage plea bargain at all.
Funds from all sources being in one account
It is good for us to guarantee easy control and uncomplicated monitoring of our financial asset with a view to ensuring effective and efficient resource management. And then we are able to ensure strict adherence to the tenet of accountability and transparency not unmindful of prudent utilisation of wealth. If it is something that worked somewhere, why not; it can work in our country. It is a plausible initiative that should be encouraged by all government institutions.
Root cause of moral bankruptcy in public institutions
Greed! It evolved from the society. We celebrate those who are corrupt. Until we change that consciousness and look at what is real and live a life of contentment then the challenge with remain the same. Somebody was telling me not too long ago, that those who steal one naira are put in prison while those who steal in billions are celebrated. There is no law that favours those who steal more. But why is this scenario playing out? The judiciary is corrupt. The legislature which should make the law is corrupt. The executive anchors and drives the vehicle of corruption. There’s a rippling effect between the decisions taken at one side of the government to another. We must stay and think about this -: where is Nigeria headed? We must have nothing to do with gratuitous acquisitiveness.
Agenda for the President
Industrialise the nation and place emphasis on skill. Focus should be to encourage entrepreneurship and skill acquisition. America is thriving because we have a lot of entrepreneurs in America. In Nigeria, there is a battle of conflict of interest between the political sector and the economic sector. But you must marry both. Which means, that the political interest of those in leadership must be to encourage those in the private sector. He should have a sustained policy on infrastructural development and good tax incentives to encourage foreign direct investment and local participation in the economy. By and large, let’s start evolving a situation where skill acquisition becomes paramount.
The inflationary rate is high. Today, there is a policy that induces inflation. Our exchange rate seems to be diminishing. We must make conscious effort to stabilise the Naira and then to greater extent, discourage too much emphasis on importation and create a platform for industrialisation within.
We depend on products from other countries. Government must work to ensure the re-orientation of the people to appreciate local products.
Security is another area that I expect the President to address. He should work to improve on our security intelligence and surveillance framework as well as training and retraining of our security personnel in the interest or pursuit of conducive environment good enough for investment.
Cross River governor, Senator Ben Ayade, on making the state an economic hub
Moneys for Cross River State will remain in the state only to the extent that, the Cross River State Government provides the infrastructural structures that should drive that process. We must encourage the fact that, inside of Cross River, whatever it is that will spur investment is implemented. So far so good, I believe the background he has in private sector would help in this direction. Let’s hope his dreams turn out real.
