Dr. Tunde Elebute, Deputy Director, Crime Victims Foundation of Nigeria (CRIFON), Lagos State chapter, is a development economist, rights promoter and public affairs commentator. In this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, he speaks on crucial issues in the polity, including proper exploitation and running of the solid mineral sector, mass protests over hunger and suffering in the land. Excerpt:
How would you react to an expert revelation that Nigeria needs as much as N21 trillion foreign loans to avert bankruptcy in 2024?
Who will grant this type of loan to Nigeria bearing in mind the state of the nation’s economy? Where is the ability to repay? I say capital NO to it. Those who have managing the existing loans are corrupt and will embezzle the N21trillion fresh loans if taken and we will be worse for it. People will continue to be leaving the country and the citizens will continue to be poorer. I am against it. It will not do the country any good.
There have been protests in some parts of the country over the level of hunger and suffering in the land. What do you think the government should do to make lives better for the people?
First, if the government still has nay stock in its silos, it should open them to bring out some of them to force down the food price. Because of the palliatives, the Federal Government, state and local governments will buy rice from the common markets at higher costs with the aim of distributing them as palliatives. By so doing, they reduce the quantity of rice in the markets. This action of the governments made the price of rice in the market to skyrocket. The government, federal, state and local governments should stop buying rice from the markets. The action is adversely affecting the people. If governments want to give palliatives, they should empower the people with skills and support them with funds to set up and practice the skills. Government should leave rice in the common market alone. Governments should change their strategy on palliatives. They should offer scholarship to children to attend vocational institutions to learn skills. There is a lot of money in agriculture. Government should declare emergency in food security and mandate all the states to cultivate crops in areas they have comparative advantage. We should go back to Obasanjo’s Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and Shehu Shagari’s Green Revolution. These are how to avert food insecurity in the country. Government should face insecurity squarely and go after Boko Haram, bandits, and other criminal elements killing people and stealing the food and cattle of others. Government should stop the stick and carrot approach towards terrorists and bandits and eliminate them.
With increase in kidnapping and other forms of criminality, how do you see the suggestion by the Afenifere that government should adopt multilevel policing to solve the problem of insecurity in the country?
Yes, Nigeria is overripe for multiplicity of policing. We should have police as Federal, State and Local Government levels. At the local government level, they should pick from different CDAs. I perfectly support Tinubu as governor advocated for state policing. He should implement it now. The federal Government should give financial support to states and local governments to fund state and Local Government Police. Lagos has Security Trust Fund and they have been using it to support the police. Several individuals and companies contribute to this security funds. States should have these security funds to fund security in their areas of jurisdiction. Federal, State and local governments should employ more policemen. Credible people should be engaged to manage the security Trust Funds in states and local governments.
How do see the renewed calls for restructuring by some eminent men? Do you see it feasible under President Tinubu regime?
I join them to make the call. Why will it not be feasible? The APC, Tinubu’s party, is in control of the Executive and the National Assembly. If the bill or proposal for restructuring is sent to the National Assembly, it will be supported by the APC legislatures and lawmakers of the other parties. Why should Tinubu not have political will? All the parties and politicians have been calling for restructuring. This is the best time to restructure. Let there be competition and healthy rivalry among the components. This was the case during the First Republic. Awolowo did it and the other regional governments did it and Nigeria was booming. The regional governments were on top of their game. Awolowo, as the Premier of the Western Region, was a great thinker. He thought deeply to bring development in the Western Region. The other Premiers emulated him and Nigeria was buoyant. Godwill Akpabio, as governor of Akwa Ibom State, tried. He did a lot in Akwa Ibom because he invited indigenes back home. Okorocha as Imo governor started well, though he deviated later. If the country is restructured, several Nigerian experts abroad will be brought back to help develop their regions and the country will be better for it. Let Nigeria be restructured. It will bring excitement, make people work and check corruption. Now, some people work and others consume. Restructuring will lead to more wealth creation. There will be collaborations between component units and there will also be trade by batter, like people exchanging palm oil with yams or rice produced by other components of the country. Nigeria is ripe for restructuring.
Would you support the scrapping of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs considering the level of corruption in the ministry?
That ministry should be scrapped. Even the pioneer minister used it to siphon funds. She was concentrating in the North. Yet, you do not see what she did. The North is still very poor and the Almajiris are still there. The Northern elites have failed the North. Look at the East and West. The Easterners businessmen will pick young ones, train them free for about five or six years and empower them at the end of their service and training. Even after they become independent after leaving the services of their masters, the young men still relate with their former masters and enjoy their support and sometimes partner with them. That Igbo system of financial and business empowerment is the best. It works and should be adopted by other ethnic groups.
How do you think the solid mineral sector should be made viable to boost the nation’s economy?
The Federal Government should handle the solid mineral sector as it handles the petroleum industry. Everybody involved in mining the solid minerals must have genuine licences and the sector should be well monitored. The solid mineral sector should be fully under the control of the federal government. There is a lot of corruption in the solid mineral sector as it is presently run. A lot of people are illegally benefitting from the illegal mining of solid minerals. The North should willingly allow the Federal Government to fully handle the solid minerals in the region as it is being done to petroleum in the South. The Minister of Solid Mineral Development, Dele Alake, should initiate action for an Executive Bill that will give the Federal Government full authority over the solid minerals, no matter where they are located within the country.
What is your advice to Nigerians at this crucial moment in the nation’s history?
First, let everybody reconcile with God. When there is peace between men and God, God will give people peace and everything will be well. Everyone should work hard and create more wealth. Those stealing Nigerian wealth should know that they are destroying the nation. Those who steal lack faith in the nation. If the nation is grounded, they will not survive because people will go after them. Nigeria is not totally down and can be rebuilt. Government should look at the problems of insecurity and encourage food security. Government should make laws that anyone who steals should be executed. The problem we have now is that there is a lot of corruption in the system, the Executive, the Legislature and even the Judiciary.
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