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Is it right
for some Nigerians to mock Chief Rotimi Amaechi, former Governor of Rivers
State and Immediate Past Honourable Minister of Transport, for sitting at the
airport waiting for commercial flight, saying he was not able to charter aircraft
again, why should they mock him?
Let me ask you; is it a crime to wait for
commercial flight?
It is nonsensical, very very nonsensical. You
see the paraphernalia of office is a different thing when you are out of
office; that is exactly what is going on, it is normal. Okay. Queen Elizabeth
died, when she was about to be buried, the Bishop said now remove all the
paraphernalia of office and let us bury our sister, Elizabeth as a simple
Christian. So why mocking him, to me it's neither here nor there. There is
no reason they should mock him. Like you asked, where is he going to get the money
to charter flight? Was he in a haste? Was he on official assignment? He is now a
freeman working on the street like every other citizen, official protocol is
totally different, after all today, Buhari is in Daura, without those official
protocol; when Tinubu leaves, the same thing, yes, I don't know why people should
make noise about Amaechi sitting in the airport premises.
Over the
weekend the news made the rounds that the former vice president and
presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, paid a courtesy call to the former
president, Muhammadu Buhari, and you know such well-advertised visits do not
take place for nothing, don't we have all the rights to apply political
interpretation in this visit, do you think Atiku Abubarkar is planning to
rejoin APC?
I neither discussed with Atiku nor the
former President, Muhammadu Buhari, I can't give you any cogent answer. I don't
know what was in Atiku's mind. Whether he went at the invitation of Buhari or
on his own volition, I don't know. But then we must eschew bitterness in
politics, after all Buhari is a northerner, Atiku is a northerner, and they are
Nigerians, nothing stops two Nigerians from meeting, this is the way I look at
it, if there is any other political undertone, I don't know. I do not see it as
a serious issue.
The other day I read in the papers that the
former President, Olusegun Obasanjo visited the first lady, Senator Oluremi
Tinubu, what is bad about it? Having different political inclination should not
bring enmity, that is the way I look at all these things, so whether Atiku has
any political motive for visiting Buhari I don't know because I can't speak for
him.
We are
jittery because Atiku is known to change party, 2027 is approaching...
Well, well he has the right to change party, it
is within his right to change party.
2027,
whether we like it or not, is approaching and so fast too, one year in the life
of the present administration is gone, what are the chances of APC in 2027
General Election?
Before 2015 I granted an interview and said APC
will spring surprises, and they sprang surprises, they also did it again in
2023, in 2027 they will still spring surprises. And I have said it time without
number, before we can change these things, and draw conclusions, APC will rule
16 years that PDP ruled. It is as simple as that. In as much as we have not
started talking about 2027, when that time comes we will be able to compare, we
are just 9 years, it still remains 7 years.
There was
a particular news item that some lawmakers are signing for the release of
Nnamdi Kanu, your take
As for Nnamdi Kanu, I have said it time without
number, whether some lawmakers are signing or not, I have appealed to the
federal government, I am an Igbo man, that Nnamdi Kanu is our son, all these
court cases will not help out, let him be released using political approach,
then we will take him home as our son, we will discuss with him, we now know where
he has misfired and correct it, where he has got it right we support him.
My position is whether signing or not let the federal government use
political approach and release him.
The current First Lady of Nigeria, Senator
Oluremi Tinubu, appears to have a very unique way of carrying out the First lady
office, what is your impression?
Yes,
Senator Oluremi Tinubu, I think she is so methodical in her approach to issues.
I see her as a very simple and unassuming woman who is focused and well-educated
for her responsibilities. I see humility in her, judging from her outlook, her
dressing and her public outings; she appears very natural, in complexion and in
dressings. These attributes are very commendable.
During her days in the senate more especially
the 8th and 9th assemblies, she was able to prove her worth, she sponsored so
many bills and was able to weather the storm in those days.
Her bill to give Lagos State a special status in
the budget which I have commented on for two or three times, even though the
bill didn't pass through the approval of the senate.
Since she became the first lady, I can say that
she is doing very well with her Renewed Hope initiative, making sure that the 35%
appointive positions for the women is maintained and working side by side with
the husband to make sure that the country is moving on the right track despite
the fact that there is hardship as a result of accumulated decades of economic
decay inherited that was not caused by this administration.
She is a pastor as I heard and the husband is a
Moslem, and there is relative peace in the house, I have never heard that the
Bible and the Quran are quarrelling in her household. When she made a statement
during the campaign days that they are not coming to loot the treasury, oppositions,
saw her statement as bragging or whatever. But what she was saying in essence
is that they applied for the job and they are ready to do the work because
naturally they have been blessed with economic wealth, so the opposition
misinterpreted the first lady but that did not deter her because she made a
very factual statement. You know in this country when you make a factual
statement, you will be criticized, when you tell lies, you will be criticized,
everything is politics. Even when you say good morning to your fellow human
being, it is politics, everything is given political interpretation, and the
woman made a very factual statement. Even though I am not in the family pocket,
I believe that economically Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his family are very
comfortable. Therefore they came to serve and not to loot the treasury, and may
God help them to reposition this country for better.
Are you
saying in essence that the current First Lady is remarkably different from the
other past ladies that we have had in this country?
I didn't say so, but what I am saying is that
the current first lady has participated in the governance of this country by
virtue of being in the Senate, by virtue of, one, being the first lady of
Lagos State, so she has a very great wealth of experience in governance that
will help her husband in repositioning this country for better.
The past First Ladies, they all have their own attributes, until we have a flashback of those first ladies and their roles I will not be able to talk about them. But it suffices to say that the current first lady is a special gift to this country.
Remember that Senator Oluremi Tinubu proposed a bill to reform the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOS) to make it a more viable entity. She also received the award for the most impactful female senator at the Guardian–organised international women’s Day Summit 2021. She is an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).
As the First Lady of Lagos State, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, a forthright
role model who has made tremendous impact in the lives of several people and
institutions within and outside Nigeria, was described as an exemplary First
Lady. She founded the New Era Foundation, a non-profit organisation, dedicated
to youth development, girl-child education, women empowerment and inspiring
young persons to excellence.
Her other achievements include the Annual Spelling Bee Competition to
raise educational standards, annual One-Day Governor programme,
which has produced many first class university graduates, alternative High
School for Girls to help young ladies who dropped out of school due to early
pregnancy, to complete their high school education, endowment funds in four
universities.
Others are: Science Block at Adeyemi College of
Education, Ondo, considerable donation towards the building of the National
Sickle Cell Centre and donation of her entire 50th birthday monetary gifts to
social causes.
As a senator, she hosted a quarterly Town Hall
Meeting with her constituents; she sponsored three bills to provide social
security for elderly citizens; seek the amendment of the Labour Act to enhance
employment opportunities for women, and a bill to provide special economic
assistance to Lagos State in view of its status as a former capital city and
the commercial capital of Nigeria.
She embarked on Post-Secondary School Scholarship
Scheme [PSSS] –Annual disbursement of N100, 000 to 26 beneficiaries for four
years, and 624 students of tertiary institutions receive N10, 000 as book
bursaries. Petty Traders’ Empowerment Capital Scheme: Provided grants to help
650 beneficiaries within her constituency to re-capitalize their businesses.
She provided maintenance grants to alleviate the
plight of the elderly through the Elderly Citizen Assistance Scheme.
She ensured the sponsorship of Youth Empowerment and
Skills Acquisition Scheme (YESAS) to enable more youth in her constituency to
become economically productive and self-employed.
Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s Good Boys and Girls’ Empowerment
Scheme (GBGES) took off young people from the streets and turned them into
economically productive, self-reliant individuals; she distributed free GCE
forms; Widows’ Economic Empowerment Scheme (WEES) to help 650 widows finance
their business.
It is everywhere, in the public space that as a
Senator, this passionate educationist helped secure from the Tertiary Education
Trust Fund, TETFUND, funding for various institutions, such as N160 million Special
Intervention Fund for the development of Adeniran Ogunsanya College of
Education, N109 million Special Intervention Fund to enable the Sir Michael
Otedola College of Primary Education, MOCPED, construct its school of Primary
and Early Child Care Education; N108 million Special Intervention Fund to support
the Lagos State University, LASU, in addressing some needs in the area of
teaching and learning facilities, another sum of N41.6 million Special
Intervention Fund from TETFUND to enable the Michael Otedola College of Primary
Education, MOCPED, procure a power generating set, computers, multi-media kits
and other e-Library materials.
You always
advise our people, you can do so now
My advice is that, both myself, yourself,
president, governors, members of the national assembly, the general public, let
us be prayerful, and look on to God and also try to show changes wherever we
feel we are getting it wrong, right from our families to the seat of power; then
let us criticise constructively. You see, when you come out and be talking with
a mindset, you are bound to make mistakes and let us at all times protect the
image of this country. We don't have any other country, I can say you, Mr Uche,
as president, you did this or you did that, but it is wrong to say Uche family
you are stupid. That is what I don't like in our politics, when you go out and
you keep running Nigeria down and you are a Nigerian, and you come back to
Nigeria, I don't see any sense in it. So let us at all times try to protect the
image of this country. Then criticize the person directly in charge of that
particular assignment, not even talking at that person, but talk to him in
order to have a change because nobody is Mr. know all. That is my advice.
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