Constitutional lawyer and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Tunji Abayomi, speaks with Special Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, on the party’s leadership crisis in the National Assembly, corruption and governance, among other issues.
PC NASS leadership crisis breaking the party
I don’t think so. I don’t think the crisis can break APC, but, certainly, there is need for some care in handling the crisis considering the number of members on both sides. It is an unfortunate development because I do share the position of the president that he would have preferred that members (legislators) supporting (Bukola) Saraki would abide by the wish of the party. This is because Saraki will also need the party. I don’t think the crisis will break the party, but it is a challenge from which the party should learn an important lesson.
President Muhammadu Buhari foot-dragging on some important issues
I don’t think so. Decisions for a strong and serious government should be based on policy. Policy is arrived at after serious and intense dialogue. Take the petroleum sector for example. Removing or not removing the subsidy on the products is not a decision that can just be taken without getting input from various sectors. Should they investigate the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), if it is a good idea, they should also think of the implications. Should he appoint ministers? Yes, it should be done quickly, but he should also think of the Federal Character. So for a government that captures so much emotion and expectation from the people of Nigeria, it has to take a lot of care, so as not to disappoint a lot of people. If, for example today, the president makes announcement on his ministers and the people are disappointed, you can imagine the effect on the people. It is going to be shocking to the people. I don’t think he is slow. That is my view and I don’t think the government will be slow, but it will be careful. That is what I think.
Era of government controlling the power sector better than privatisation
The problem of this nation is not privatisation. It is also not government controlling the industries and sectors. The main problem of this nation is, first, we have leadership that is not inspired by the greatness of the nation. Second, we have a leadership that does not set high standard and work towards it. Third, we have a leadership that is very corrupt and preoccupied with selfish interests. If you put power sector in the hands of government, like some nations, and the leadership is serious, it would perform. If you put it in the hands of private people, that is the private sector, and the leadership is unserious, it would not perform. What makes a difference in the life of any nation is the leadership.
China today is roaring like a huge lion because of leadership. America is a great nation because of leadership.
When, in the past, the world had no airplane and some people felt that it was possible to fly from one nation to another, how did they achieve this? They got committed. They set a high standard and worked towards it. We have a nation where the leaders don’t set goals, let alone high goals. Nicolo Machiavelli in The Prince, said: to make a difference, The Prince should set his goals beyond his target and should aim at his goal not his target; that if he misses the goal, he would have exceeded his target.
In our nation, there is nothing like that. Leadership is very commonplace. We have leadership without condition. So, regardless of whether power or any sector is privatised, or in the hands of government, until we have leaders that are strong enough to lead effectively, courageously and strongly on high values, this nation will not go anywhere.
You may ask me, is it only a problem of leadership? I don’t know. It is also a problem of followership. Since Buhari became president, I watch on the television as people keep talking leadership, leadership! Disappointingly enough, few people talk of followership. In this nation, one of the endemic problems is the quality of followership – the tendency of our people not being willing to sacrifice for strong values. When you have a nation where the values are fluke and weak, and where there is largely no control for appetite on mischief and disorder, where the law is weak and ineffective, regardless of what sector, whether it belongs to the private or to the public, there will be problem. Why is it in Nigeria that those who stand on strong principles are always called troublemakers? Why is it that people don’t follow people who stand on strong principles? That is the problem. The people themselves, the followers, need a rethink just as leadership needs reform.
Thought on corruption
I have said it on different occasions that in our country, corruption is like a wasting disease such as cancer. At the early stage, it is difficult to detect, but easy to kill. But we are at the late stage where it is easy to detect but more difficult to kill because it has metastasised. Even in the oil companies today, there is corruption. If you go for simple contract, you cannot get it, unless you are willing to give kickback. In the banking sector, it is the same problem. It began with politicians, then it infected the military when the military came to power. When the military left, it took over the civil service and, now, it is in the private sector. I think the way to handle corruption is to live above board and have a leadership that lives above board. I think Nigerians are recognising it, hence they voted massively for Buhari because Buhari said unless we kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.
So, it is not that government will cure it one day. Cancer that has metastasised is not easy to be cured. But the government can raise a new tree with a new blood flowing into it and that will begin with the leadership.
In this nation, the leaders get the type of followers they want. They get good followers if they are good. They also get bad followers if they are bad.
Missing link between the people of Ondo and the government
The major cause of Ondo problem is, again, leadership. Ondo State needs transformation, development-oriented leader and not a politician. A politician has no job; so, he makes his money through politics and prepares for the next battle in politics. Ondo, at its present stage, needs a transformational leader, who would see politics as secondary like Baba (Adekunle) Ajasin (Second Republic governor of Ondo) and would not be preoccupied with state resources or personal wellbeing. Ondo needs somebody who does not want to build an empire, but if you have a governor that spent millions or billions in celebration of first anniversary, second anniversary that would rather build a fountain on the main road just for people to go there and take photograph, if you have a governor that builds a diagnosis centre and calls it the best in Africa, one that is more preoccupied in celebration and acclamation and more preoccupied with awards instead of burden of leadership, it will not give the state anything. He would waste the state. That is what we have. So N41 billion left by the late Dr. Olusegun Agagu is gone. All the oil revenue that is coming to the state is gone. All the federation allocation gone, even the loans are gone. Now, the unexpected has happened. Ondo is one of the states that cannot even pay salaries of workers at this point.
I don’t think this state has one single industry, certainly not one that employs 300 people. The problem of Ondo is the same problem the nation has. When you have leaders that are preoccupied with barge of offices instead of the burden of leadership, this is what you get.
APC and preparations for 2016 governorship race in Ondo
I don’t think APC is preparing; I don’t think APC is sufficiently preparing yet for the governorship election next year. You know that preparations for the governorship largely rotate around a candidate or aspirant. I think that, gradually, aspirants are coming out. As they come out, they create greater consciousness and inject possibility to the party and people begin to pay attention. I believe that between now and January 2016, there will be a lot of activities on the issue of governorship, a lot of people will come out. The good, the bad and perhaps the ugly will come out trying to run for the governorship election, but let us pray for a good leader that will give Ondo proper direction.
Governorship ambition
The decision is not yet taken, but someone once said that once you aspire for the governorship once, it is ever in your mind and never goes away. In my case, I have aspired for the governorship twice, may be it will be in my mind more than once now. But on the final decision of whether to run or not, I have not considered that yet. I am more interested right now in the establishment of a national government that meets the expectation of the Nigerian people. When the vice president came to Ondo, we had an opportunity to discuss Nigeria extensively and we proposed a vision that the nation needs a transformational leader that is strong enough to commit to high values. I believe my interest goes beyond Ondo. I see myself as capable of representing the best that is possible in this nation. I do not see myself as being limited to this environment. I want to say, let us build a Nigerian nation I will be proud of. I think that is what my preoccupation is.
If the nation becomes stable and good, then perhaps we can see how we can sacrifice to use my world connection, my intuition, my intelligence, my fortitude, my determination, my principles and commitment to the ideals of government for the benefit of Ondo government.
I want to make it very clear that I am a contended man. I believe history has given me opportunity out of the ruins of the past. I have built some forms of mountain of hopes that I believe will inspire quite a number of children from either the villages or the poor homes in Nigeria. If I have achieved what I have achieved out of stubborn efforts, what else can I ask for? So, for me, the issue of governorship is not a matter of life and death.
Involvement in politics
The reason I went into politics is because of the rising frustration in our people. We made a big sacrifice to bring about democracy. In my case, I experienced three detentions. On the third one, I was detained in Jos Prison in a Cell called ‘The German Country’. We fought the military at the risk of losing our lives, and at a time, my life was in danger. All of that we did with the hope that democracy will bring more realisation, more fulfilment and development to our people. But look at the failure of democracy today. Those who took over the consequence of our toil and our struggle became careless in vision and in commission. Take a look at the National Assembly, see how much money they make from the national poverty. Today, 80 per cent of young Nigerians have no jobs. When you have a nation where the bright and the brightest children cannot find job, where our youth are totally depressed and deprived in their land, it is not possible for a humanist to keep quiet. I have nothing to do in politics but to help my people.