By Olakunle Olafioye
Former presidential candidate of the KOWA Party, Prof Remi Sonaiya has reiterated the need for the government to demonstrate more political will in tackling insecurity in the country. Sonaiya who contested the presidential election won by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, in this interview, attributed the seemingly intractable security challenge in the country to bad leadership leading to high level of corruption, injustice, lack of adherence to the rule of law, among other ills in the country.
She also spoke on other major national issues, including the agitations by separatist groups; Nigerian women and politics.
Nigeria is battling a major security challenge which appears to have defied all known solutions. What would you say is fuelling this challenge and do you see the possibility of the government winning this seemingly intractable battle?
Most countries that are undergoing upheavals and all the kinds of problems we are having, I think in general we can attribute them to bad governance. Bad governance fuels insecurity. We all know what the indices of bad governance are. We have a lot of unemployed people, high level of corruption in all facets. We can also think of injustice, lack of respect for the rule of law. The whole of these factors add up to give us insecurity. When there is good governance, when the people can earn decent living from their labour; when people elected into political positions give good service to the people, you tend not to have this kind of challenge.
Do you see the current administration winning this battle?
Well, if there is the will. There are so many things that are not clear to the people, particularly those of us that are not in government. When you are in government you definitely have access to more information. We are not sure of what those in government are seeing and what information is available to them. However, in general where there is determination there is usually a way to triumph over such extremely difficult situations. I think what Nigerians are saying is that they would like to see greater determination. You know how long it took the government to change the non-performing heads of the security agencies despite the calls by Nigerians to have them replaced over their poor performance. It took a long time before we saw that happen. There must be a sense of urgency in getting things done. I am convinced that if there is the political will, there will be a way out of this challenge.
What is you take on the agitation for the emergence of new nations from Nigeria?
These are situations which have arisen because of the problems we are going through. The development did not just suddenly appear out of nowhere and for no reason. Like I said, if there is good governance, people will be going about their businesses quietly and living their lives without any problem. But where you give people reasons to believe that they do not count or you make people to feel sidelined and so on; there will definitely be agitations. I think the best thing a leader can do is to seriously look at these agitations and not just dismiss them as people who are grumbling for no reason. There are usually major reasons behind such agitations and it is the responsibility of those in government to seek to address the underlying causes.
How would you assess FG’s response to these groups?
Has the government been hard on groups that have committed grievous crimes such as murder, kidnapping the way they have been hard on these agitators? These are reasons behind those agitations. When people perceive that there is lack of justice then you can’t help, but have these kinds of upheavals.
Some analysts are of the opinion that the timing of the agitations, coming at a time the government is battling several other challenges, is not right. What do you make of this submission?
What kind of things do the government have at hand that are more important than the agitations? The leaders who contested elections are the ones who put themselves up for the responsibilities the people elected them for. Once that has been done and they have been elected it is their responsibility to listen to those who voted them there. It is not the time for them to say “I ‘m busy looking at something else right now so I cannot attend to your own need now’. All needs are legitimate and that is what governance is there for. You must be addressing all needs at the same time. They must be seen to administer with justice and fairness. If you do not do that you create more and more problems for yourselves. If there is no adherence to the rule of law, and if there is no fairness, you are creating more troubles for yourselves. So you don’t go ahead to create trouble and then tell the people who stand up to agitate and to claim their rights, that you are busy addressing other issues. Leaders who administer with justice and fairness give themselves a good chance of succeeding.
You once ran for the presidency in this country, with your experience do you see the prospect of a woman leading this country anytime soon?
Why not? Are women not leading in other countries? Women are heads of educational institutions, financial institutions and so on. Two Nigerian women occupy two of the highest positions in the world- the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and in the United Nations as Secretary-General. I am talking about Dr. Okwonjo Iweala and Aminat Mohammed. The media is a major stakeholder in this country. If things change for good in this country all of us will benefit. We should not look at situation and say that is the way it is and how it must continue. So, what is wrong about changing the political culture of Nigeria? We should tell ourselves we have done things the wrong way enough and now it is time to change. We must be ready to change.
What would you suggest should be done in order to give Nigerian women more opportunities in the nation’s political landscape?
There have been a lot of suggestions on what should be done to encourage women in the nation’s politics. For instance, people have suggested the need to have independent candidates so that that we could reduce the powers of political parties. People have suggested having seats exclusively created for women. So, there are so many suggestions out there. Representations were made during the public hearing for constitutional and electoral reforms. Those are the things that should be considered and amplified. Let’s challenge ourselves to think critically about our situations in manners that will bring about the desired transformation in Nigeria.
Do you still have the intention of running for the presidency again?
I don’t know. What I am busy doing now is engaging with people who have ideas and contributions to make; people who are making suggestions about things we need to do to move this country forward. So, I am politically active. It is not about running or not running for me; it is about saving and rescuing our country from the hands of people who have destroyed this country; people who are plunging the Nigerian people more and more into despair and poverty every single day.