By Alawode Omotunde

Elder Bayode Joseph is very passionate about the development of Nigeria and her people. He is a retired federal Civil servant and the current Chairman of Shooda CDA in Ladipo Estate, Oshodi Lagos.
In this interview, he bared his mind on the current state of the nation and what the leaders should do to get the economy back and restore security in the country.

What is your take on the state of the nation’s economy?
At present, the economy of the nation is in shambles and it appears as if the managers of the nation’s economy have exhausted all devices to revive it, but all to no avail. So many manufacturing companies have closed shops because of the harsh policies of the government and have relocated to neighboring countries, thereby causing capital flight.
Some business concerns cannot withstand the harsh business climate again and have decided to fizzle out.
In all these scenarios, workers are being sacked in the process, thereby worsening the unemployment rate.
We should reduce the rate at which we import virtually everything into the country. We should step up the exportation of our agricultural products and other manufactured goods to earn foreign exchange.
I want to suggest to our youth to think of something they can do to support themselves economically, especially in the areas of exports of agricultural products.

How do you feel the citizenry has been faring under this present government?
Well, to be very candid with you, the citizens of this country are bugged by a myriad of problems ranging from the high cost of living, uncertainty, inflation, unnecessary increase in utility tariffs, insecurity etc.
The negative effect of all these is incessant death, increase in drug abuse, family imbalance, despondency, suicides, and the prevalence of all manner of crimes.
In fact, the people have been antagonized by these vicissitudes of life occasioned by unfavorable economic policies of the government.

Can you tell us what this government will be remembered for?
It will be on record that this present Federal Government rode on the mantra of CHANGE and RESTRUCTURING to power but failed to give the needed positive changes the people are yearning for nor the restructuring they promised.
They failed to do what they earlier promised during electioneering campaigns.
They promised to end insurgency and restore a constant power supply in six months of taking over power but all these promises are a mirage. They promised a reduction in fuel pump price but what we witnessed is a periodic increase in petroleum products. They promised jobs for our youth but the unfavorable policies are throwing the under-employed into the job market thereby saturating the unemployment market in the country. This present govt has done worse than the previous ones in all areas of the human development index. The citizens will remember this government as having succeeded in inflicting pains, anguish, and suffering etc. on the people.

Has this government been able to meet all the campaign promises they made to the nation and what have they been able to achieve?
Not at all. Like I earlier responded to a question in the course of this interview, the Buhari administration has failed to restructure, which was one of their campaign promises. They promised to bring down the prices of petroleum products but diesel now cost #350 per a litre, while petrol is now #146 naira per a litre. The cost of kerosene and cooking gas is beyond the reach of the ordinary people.
The government has also failed to provide security for the people which is the primary responsibility of any government.
But we must also acknowledge the fact that they have given Rail Transportation priority attention with the construction of standard rail gauge like the one from Lagos to Ibadan and the completion of Abuja, Kaduna rail line initiated by the previous government which is currently in service. I want to advise them on the need to concentrate on the interstate and regional rail line development and layout considering the immense benefit this initiative will bring to the nation’s economy.
Our leaders are hypocritical and this is because most of them have traveled abroad to see how the social system, amenities, and infrastructure are perfectly working in those countries and they failed to reciprocate the same here. To underscore how unpatriotic some of our leaders are, they will travel there to enjoy those facilities and will refuse to provide the same here even when funds have been appropriated for such.
I want to advise them to sit up and provide the needed dividends of democracy to the people.

What is your take on security challenges of this nation?
The issue of security has been very challenging and the government appears not to have solutions to the myriad of security challenges in the country at present. The situation, concerning insecurity is alarming and the government is playing the ostrich.
The worst scenario is the introduction of a new dimension into it where school children in Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions are being kidnapped at will, with some of them being killed in the course of rescue operations or directly by those that kidnapped them.
Farmers are being prevented from cultivation of their farmlands by the herdsmen, bandits and other non-state actors who go about perpetrating heinous crimes.
At present, parts of Niger State has been taken over and is being administered by Boko Haram. Kaduna, Nassarawa, Taraba States etc have witnessed increased attacks on the locals, especially Christians by armed men for unjustifiable reason.
I want to advise that the president should, from time to time rejig the security apparatus of the nation, deploy the needed manpower and military hardwares to fight this monster called insecurity headlong.

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On ENDSARS saga, what do you think the govt. can do to calm frayed nerves as well as curb future occurrences?
Government should not play politics with the reports of the Judicial Panels that were set up to look into complaints of abuses arising from the nationwide protests which unfortunately ended on a sad note at Lekki Toll Gates when the Army was called to dispel protesters, as in the case of Lagos.
I want them to award monetary compensation to victims of the unfortunate incident, punish the security agents found to have engaged in abuse of his office in the line of duty, activate a quick response mechanism for the public to lodge the complaint on abuse of their rights by the security agents and publicly apologize to the youth and the citizens for the unfortunate incident.
In order to curb future occurrence, govt should decentralize command structure of the nation’s Police for effective monitoring of Officers’ performances and discipline those with questionable characters.

They should create a department where complain of abuse by the police from the public are treated with despatch and provide monetary compensation to victims of such abuses where necessary.

What do think the govt can do to create peaceful and healthy communities, towns, state and nation?
There can be peaceful and healthy environment for the people to live and thrive in their chosen field of human endeavors if only those in leadership take governance seriously and consider the people as the reason for their being there in government.
Every year, the federal, states and Local governments release their yearly budget with fanfare, but lack the political will to embark on sustainable projects that could impact people’s lives? Most of them embark on white elephant projects and are mostly abandoned at the end of the day.
There should be deliberate industrialization of our rural areas, the establishment of cottage industries, provision of sustainable infrastructures, and functional amenities. Functional Primary health care Centres should be established with a complement of trained medical personnel to man them, agricultural processing industries should be sited in areas where we have abundance of such produce. Feeder roads should be opened for the transportation of agricultural goods to markets. There should be constant electricity supply to help the small and medium scale enterprises to thrive. Government should provide adequate security to the citizenry and encourage manufacturing, support exports and guide the people from exploitation by the shylock merchants. The agents of govt. should preach peace and practicalise on this ideal so that people can learn from them. If the above steps are being taken and other economic measures put in place, a lot of people will be gainfully employed; a petty business will flourish, artisans will put their expertise into practice and the rural-urban migration will be halted. This in essence will translate into economic prosperity for the people and a merrier populace as well.

Concerning security, what is your take on state and community policing?
I support the call for State and Community policing because of the benefits that will be derived from its practice. This is a police force that will be superintended by officers who are from that locality and understand the terrain very well. So, there is every tendency that it will bring about effective collaboration with the locals and gathering of intelligence to aid their operations.

What is your advice to the citizen concerning security during this yuletide period?
In view of the already precarious security situation in the country, the tendency for the heightened commission of crimes is expected; I want to say that our people should be extra careful when traveling through towns and at social functions.
They should not flaunt their wealth in the public and should be vigilant at all times. They should avoid late-night outings. They should be conscious of their environment and assist the Police and other security agents in intelligence gatherings and report any security breach to law enforcement agencies.
The Police, I want to also suggest, should activate the rapid response unit and dedicated lines of the force to enable quick response to emergency calls. If these measures are put into consideration, there will be peace during this season.

You have just been elected as the chairman of Shooda CDA, in Ladipo Estate, Oshodi, Lagos, what will you do to bring development to the people resident there?
My leadership as the Chairman of our CDA will be very transparent as there will be regular meetings of the Executives with residents on the way forward.
In such regular gatherings, we will compile their inputs and demands and present same to the authority for consideration.
I intend to attract amenities to the area such as a regular water supply. I also want to embark on environmental health awareness campaign and cleaning where gutters and drain outlets will be cleared and distilled regularly.
We will hold consultations with our Councillor, House of Assembly & Representatives members to intimate them of our needs and how best they can provide same to the people.
Security of the residents in the CDA will also be of utmost importance to my leadership and I will do my best to make sure that residents and property in the CDA is safe from miscreants.

What is your reaction to the ongoing roads construction in Oshodi/Isolo L G Area?
I must admit that Oshodi/Isolo Communities have not had it so good before now. I commend immensely the present Council Chairman, Otunba Kehinde Almaroof for the roads rehabilitation, construction and upgrading he has carried out so far and still doing. I must also thank the House of Representatives member representing Oshodi/Isolo federal constituency 1 for also attracting road construction projects to the area.
This is exactly what the people need from government and from those that represent them.
If this tempo of development and infrastructures Renaissance is maintained, the local government will be a model Town where people will prefer to leave and transact businesses.