Tunde Thomas
President Muhammadu Buhari has been advised to add more bite to the on-going war against corruption by ensuring that those who are found to have looted the nation’s treasury are given appropriate punishment without delay.
The national President, Oodua Peoples Congress,OPC, Aare Prince Osibote who made the remark, implored the President not to hesitate to step on toes if he wants the campaign against corruption to succeed. Osibote who succeeded the late Founder of OPC, Dr. Fredrick Faseun as the new OPC leader in this interview spoke on other national issues.
What’s the way out of the present state of insecurity across the country?
Insecurity has become a worrisome development. It has become a serious challenge that must be quickly tackled to prevent the situation from degenerating. Although government is trying but they still need to do more in order to give Nigerians the confidence that government is up to the task.It is unacceptable that bandits and kidnappers should be making life difficult for Nigerians.
But before we talk about finding solution to the problem, we first need to find out the causes of the problem. It is unfortunate that Nigeria is being turned into a jungle as a result of the insecurity challenge. But it is very important for us to find out why more Nigerians are taking to various sorts of crimes, especially kidnapping and banditry. It is when we do that, that we can now proffer solutions.
Some Nigerians have suggested that the Federal Government should recruit more policemen as part of the solution to the insecurity challenge, what’s your take on that?
Recruitment is not enough. It is not the final solution. Again,the question we should ask ourselves is this, are the law enforcement agents being given enough motivation or being well renumerated? This is why you see some of the law enforcement agents resorting to extortion. So, what we have to do is to take a holistic approach in tackling the issue.
Another major issue which must be looked into is how to stop policemen from being drafted to do jobs other than which they were recruited, to protect lives and properties of citizens. But sadly today, policemen are being deployed to protect wealthy individual and politicians. Policemen are now being used as private guards to individuals. Some of them are even being used as gatemen in wealthy individuals’ homes and this is not supposed to be so.This illegal practice must stop to enable the Police face its primary duties of securing the society, and not private individuals.
Then, we have to look at how to make use of retired security personnel who are no longer in service. It takes millions of naira to train some of these people who retired as Commissioners of Police, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, and even those who retired as Army Generals. We can tap from their experience in finding solutions to some of these problems. Nothing stops the Federal Government from consulting these retired personnel; they were trained with public money. We must also realise that government is a continuum. What you discover here is that when a new government or new administration comes in at whatever level, instead of continuing and building on what it met on ground, it will start afresh and this is wrong. It is one of those things drawing us backward.We have to realize that continuity is crucial to the success or otherwise of any administration, especially if the policy met on ground is people-oriented.
South-West governors recently announced their intention to partner OPC in order to find a solution to the problem of kidnapping in the region,what’s the update on that arrangement?
It is true that the South-West governors made that declaration but up till now, they are yet to reach out to me. I have also asked the Inspector-General of Police and even the governors to clarify who they are reaching out to or relating with. We all know that late Dr. Fredrick Isiotan Faseun founded OPC and after his death, I succeeded him as the national leader. What I expect the governors to do is to reach out to us,to tell us how they want OPC to help in tackling the insecurity challenge.State governors and the Police should handle the arrangement carefully so as not to exclude original OPC members in whatever arrangement they are making. As the new national leader of OPC, I’m ready to work with the governors and the Police in finding lasting solution to problems of banditry and kidnapping in the South-West.
Everybody knows what OPC can do. OPC has zero tolerance for crime and we will not allow South-West to be turned into den of criminals or to serve as a base for vices inimical to the well-being of Yoruba people. We are peace-loving, and we welcome everybody with open arms but we will never allow criminals to make life difficult for our people.
Apart from using hi-tech to tackle crime, there are also traditional ways to address the issue. Our forefathers used the traditional methods and it worked for them.The efficacy of these traditional ways of tackling crime is 100 per cent guaranteed. So, a combination of hi-tech and traditional methods will help. We can combine the two.The upsurge in some of these crimes can be traced to hunger and poverty. The Federal Government and states should look for ways to address these problems. As the saying goes, an idle hand is the devil’s workshop.
However, like I said earlier, the South West governors including the Inspector-General of Police are yet to reach out to me but if they do, I will honour the invitation and that will provide an opportunity for me to tell them the truth. You can’t solve a problem without identifying the cause and when you identify the cause,you will be able to find the solution.
What’s your position on the clamour for State Police as part of the solution to the insecurity challenge?
There is nothing wrong with State Police. No doubt, it is a good idea but caution must be applied because of the possibility of it being abused. State Police may be used as an instrument of persecution of political opponents by some state governors.State Police is good but are we ripe for it in Nigeria yet? State Police will also in a way help to reduce unemployment but if we are to create State Police, efforts must be made to provide safeguards against its abuse.There must also be proper orientation for personnel that will be involved.
What’s your take on the calls for reduction in salaries and allowances of public office holders as part of efforts to reduce cost of governance?
It is a good idea if we can do that. What these people collect as salaries is outrageous. Even abroad, they don’t collect that kind of jumbo pay and what is also annoying is that despite collecting such huge sums of money, these people are not making the desired impact on the lives of Nigerians. We only hear of billions and billions of naira being budgeted for this and that, but do we have anything on ground to show for it? Our public hospitals and roads are in a state of derelict. So, the question one will ask is this, where are all these billions going into? Definitely, there is nothing to show that the money is being used for developmental purpose, and this is not only unfortunate but also very sad.
It is very unfortunate that Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest number of billionaires in the world, yet there is poverty and hunger all over the place. Our political leaders are very greedy and self-serving.They travel all over the world and they see how they do things over there but why can’t they do same here?They abandon public schools here and take their children to schools abroad and not only, that they also travel abroad for medical treatment because they don’t equip hospitals here with drugs and other necessities that will enable them to function effectively.
How will you react to suggestions that the current presidential system of government is expensive and that we need to go for the parliamentary system to reduce cost of governance?
I don’t see Nigerian politicians supporting that idea since they are enjoying the present system and they will like the status quo to remain. Do these people care about ordinary Nigerians and their welfare? Certainly No. Many Nigerians are today literarily living in hell.The situation is so terrible and politicians don’t care.
What’s your advice to President Muhammadu Buhari over the present situation of things in the country?
Although Buhari is trying his best but he still has to do more. Before he was elected as President, Buhari promised to unravel all unresolved high profile murders in the country including the assassination of late Chief Bola Ige, late Marshall Harry and Pa Alfred Rewane. But I have not seen any action taken in this regard and I’m still waiting for Buhari to fulfill that promise.
Buhari’s administration is trying in the area of fighting corruption but he still needs to do more. He should add more bite to it. Some of the cases against looters have been dragging for so long but why must this be so? We want to see more convictions.Why are they dragging cases where looters have confessed to their misdeeds? Why foot-dragging?A self-confessed looter should be jailed without delay. Although some looters have entered into plea bargaining but that doesn’t stop them from being punished.
Again, Buhari may have good intentions but what about those working with him? Buhari must be ready to step on toes if he wants to succeed. If he is not ready to step on toes, then he may not be able to deliver on his electoral promises.
What was the relationship between late Dr. Fredrick Faseun,OPC founder and former President Olusegun Obasanjo? Is it true that Obasanjo hated Faseun and OPC,and that was the reason Faseun was arrested and sent to prison when the former president was in power?
I’m very close to both. Obasanjo is like a father to me. Although Baba Obasanjo is very tough but Baba is a nice person. He also likes people who are honest. Obasanjo and Faseun were close friends until Faseun’s death. They regularly exchanged visits. Obasanjo is accommodating and down-to earth. He runs an open door policy but unfortunately, some Nigerians have wrong impression of the man. Obasanjo is a great patriot.
When OPC was founded in 1994, Obasanjo was then in Prison as he had been jailed by the Abacha junta. But when he came out, he fully supported Faseun and OPC. What Obasanjo was then fond of saying was that Faseun was stubborn.That time, when Faseun was detained, it wasn’t Obasanjo that ordered his detention. It was the Police that detained Faseun and Obasanjo had no knowledge of his detention.
One thing that pained Obasanjo during Faseun’s lifetime was the breaking of OPC into splinter groups.This Obasanjo revealed to me again when I visited him recently after I assumed leadership of OPC. Former Osun State governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola was also in attendance at the meeting.