By Daniel Kanu
Senator Soji Akanbi who was also a member of the House of Representatives was a strong voice then in both chambers.
Today, Senator Akanbi is the chairman, Committee on Strategy and Policy (TSGCC), member, Committee on Election Planning and Monitoring (PCC) and the initiator, Coalition Movement for Bola Ahmed Tinubu (COmBAT).
In this exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, the former lawmaker, speaks on the 2023 elections and challenges ahead, why the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is less enthusiastic on townhall meetings, among other crucial issues. Excerpts:
Most Nigerians are dissatisfied with the scorecard of your party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, especially, when you look at the economy, security, corruption etc. In fact, Nigerians seem to be leaving the country in droves, what we now know as the “JAPA Syndrome”, due to hard times?
First and foremost, I am a Nigerian, and APC is my party, but what I want you to get clear is that it is obvious that our economy is struggling and security is not in the best form, no reasonable and sane person will run away from that. Things are hard, no doubt, and looking at the Nigerian economy, we can see the price of food items rising, some basic things are turning to gold; I sincerely agree with you and sympathize with Nigerians. But let’s not forget that most economies in the world are struggling too and we know what is happening in other parts of the world that it has not been quite easy. But that notwithstanding, ours is a third world country where the institutions are weak and there is not enough palliative for the people. So, it may be wrong to compare our country with those of the developed world with strong institutions and established social services and all that. But I think the critical question to ask is if the party, APC, is addressing the issues. Yes, they are doing that. What I want to make clear to you concerning your question about security, about the economy is that APC is a platform that has structure, that has spread and the candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, coming on board now is using the platform, not generally as continuity for the security challenge or to continue with the economy the way it is, no. No individual will like to continue with the way things are. Of course, when Tinubu said continuity, it is that APC will continue as a political party and remain in power with the mandate of Nigerians, not that the security situation or the economy will continue as they are, no. It is only those who want to be mischievous that are misinterpreting it. When you talk of continuity, you are talking of the party remaining in power, but the new leadership will also come in with something new, something fresh and perhaps, with another approach or style of doing things. You know when you are taking over from a government, you have to actually sieve out the good and the bad, you look at what the outgoing government did well and the areas they did not do quite well, and you know the reason for such failure, then you now know what to do to avoid a repeat of such. That is why government is said to be a continuum. You look at the strength and weakness or the area of failure of the outgoing government if any, and then you fashion out your policies and ensure you avoid the mistakes. Nigerians are complaining about insecurity and the economy, which I believe that Tinubu, by God’s grace, if Nigerians give him chance to lead this country in 2023, will turn those things around. He has the ability and capacity to do that as the track record is there for him. He is the first governor to expouse the frontier of governance by creating more local government and why? He knows that local government is very close to the grassroots and through that, you take development and democracy to the grassroots. You can see that he is a thinker and a doer and you know what he went through to sustain that in the hands of Baba Obasanjo and Atiku, but he stood his ground because he believes that it was the best thing that can happen to the grassroots. This is the type of man that Nigerians need at this point. Tinubu of 10 years, 15 years ago is more energetic now, more agile, more experienced. And at the moment people and our dear country are looking for such an experienced leader that has the courage to bring positive change. But let me also say here that before President Buhari and the APC came to power, the insecurity was such that territories were taken then, they (Boko Haram) were hoisting their flags, but the insecurity came in other dimensions, especially kidnapping, but if we want to be fair with the government, you and I know that government is not folding its arms, but making every frantic effort to ensure the situation is under control. I agree with you that the security challenge is a serious one and anybody can be a victim, but the government is definitely doing something. You know that security issues are sensitive issues and you may not have known all that the government is committed into it. I am not holding brief for the government, but I know that the government is not folding its hands. But the Tinubu that I know loves to take challenges head to head and will stop at nothing to ensure things are well fixed to the joy of all. It’s wrong for anyone to outrightly condemn or write-off the APC government because in the area of infrastructure, for instance, no previous government has done or come close, so you cannot compare with any previous government. This is not contestable. And I can tell you that President Buhari-led government has been fair to everybody. Don’t forget the money he gave to governors to offset salary backlog, pension, among others. As I said before, Tinubu will be coming with his own team and we all know him and his ability to put the right peg at the right hole.