The government of Buhari has just
ended, 2015 to 2023, obviously, ministries and agencies have rounded off and
handed over their stewardship report; from what you read, heard and observed, do
you think these ministries and agencies truly helped President Muhammadu Buhari
to realize his vision of a prosperous and united Nigeria?
The answer
is yes. They helped him, more especially the Ministry of Works and Housing
headed by Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN); the Ministry of Labour and
Employment headed by my good Senior brother, Senator (Dr) Chris Ngige, and as
you can see, Muhammadu Buhari has awarded him CON; the Ministry of
Transportation equally did a lot, the Health Ministry that helped to contain
the covid-19 and all that. In one of my publications I called them the heroes
of Buhari’s Administration. They did well.
I am sure you are more conversant
with the Works and Housing Ministry, do you think the ministry met the expectations
of the President and the Public as well?
The answer
again is yes. The ministry did a lot, in infrastructural development, housing
development sprang up in almost all the six geopolitical zones of this country.
At a time, the ministry was handling about 524 roads across the country at the
same time, they had an agreement with SUKUK Fund to fund some of these roads,
the ministry was so detribalized in such a way that I can tell you, if Fashola
comes to the Southeast he would be carried shoulder high, if he goes to the Northeast
they will carry him shoulder high, Northwest, the same thing, North Central, South-South
and Southwest which is his home base, they will carry him shoulder high. A very
quiet unassuming Nigerian, very humble and very very decisive. Go to Anambra State,
you see the Federal Secretariat there; at a stage the governor of Anambra State
invited him to train the staff and he graciously granted that request; call him
anytime he will answer you. Even though he is not somebody that always runs to
pages of newspaper or Television, his works advertise him and will continue to
advertise him.
President
Buhari gave him an unfettered hand, to take decisions and implement them. He
constructed so many bridges in this country with the approval of Mr President,
but the one that touches me most is the one that concerns me, my state and my
zone, the Second Niger Bridge which I must keep talking about. Somebody asked
me the other day, why must I keep talking about this Second Niger Bridge? I
smiled. Recall that some people were in government for 16 years; they didn’t do
it and today this young man, this Mr. Everything, because I told you sometimes ago
that he knows something about everything and everything about something, this
Mr. Everything did it. And somebody will come up tomorrow to ask me why are you
talking about Second Niger Bridge? The person should be careful. Go to that
bridge, I don’t know whether you have plied it, go to that bridge, it is a masterpiece,
a signature project; the best bridge in Africa, with all the attacks here and
there, he didn’t bother, Buhari didn’t bother, today the bridge is built and
commissioned. I have written so many articles on that bridge and on this
revered gentleman. In fact, as time goes on I may publish a book on him, go and
check the records of his law firm, all the cases he handled, the Appeal Court
where he appeared, and the Supreme Court, go and check the records, I have
taken time to study all these things. So when they made him SAN he deserved it.
Today he has bowed out as a hero and we are still appealing to him to bow in
again to sustain the tempo as one of the brainboxes of the Tinubu
administration, whether he will agree or not I don’t know but Nigerians will
feel alienated if he bows out completely. Yes it is not easy to have served the
government for 24 years at a stretch, he hadn’t time with his family, he hadn’t
time with his town union, he hadn’t time with his friends because what he has
handled demanded 24 hours plus, attention but then age is still on his side,
health is on his side, we will not be happy if he bows out completely.
Today, he is
the chairman, Shelter Afrik West Africa, I congratulate him. So if he can chair
that world class conglomerate, let him continue to serve Nigeria, we need him. We
yearn for him. We will sieve him out wherever he may be, we will keep on
disturbing him until he takes up any of the posts, some people say this may be
lower, this may be this, that is not the issue, the issue is for him to be in
Tinubu’s administration to help in stabilizing all the government policies;
even if it is not the Works and Housing, he can go into the Judiciary, he can
go into other things provided he is within the corridors of power. I know there
maybe forces against this, which is normal, if everybody is singing your
slogan, then you are not getting it right, that is why you must be on your toes,
and I appeal to our overall mentor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to please hold
Fashola to his chest.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his
inaugural speech acknowledged the immense contribution of Buhari in the
infrastructure subsector, and he said I will continue with the infrastructure
development agenda of Buhari. Now is that statement a confirmation of the good
work of Fashola and probably a reassignment of that ministry to him.
In as much
as I don’t know what President Tinubu has in mind by making that statement, but
if you ask me I will say it is a confirmation. If Buhari hadn’t somebody like
Fashola in that government it would have been a disaster. So I want to believe
that it is a confirmation, one way or the other. You see somebody came to my
office and said, you always write about this man, and I responded, if what I
said is not correct, go and refute it, not coming to me to disturb me, I cannot
entertain such nonsense. If what I said is not correct go and write your own
and refute it, that is the right thing to do, and no one has done that. But I
believe that Bola Ahmed Tinubu may be routing for him again in that direction,
only God knows. But it will be good if he does.
We want you to look at the Housing
sector in Nigeria and tell us the challenges in that sector, if any, and what
you think can be done to ameliorate such challenges. And again tell us what you
feel the present administration can do to ensure affordable housing for
Nigerians.
First of
all, let the state governments all over the federation willingly provide land
for Federal Housing Authority to come into their states and establish housing
estates; that is the first thing, so that the Federal Housing Authority can
come in with a scheme to help to develop affordable mass housing in their
states. Once that is done, other things will follow. But you see, everything in
this country is politics, no matter the political party, state governors should
willingly approve land for the FHA and we have good hands there now, the Managing
Director of Federal Housing Authority is very accessible, very humane, very
approachable, his doors are open, he doesn’t care where you come from, so far
as you have a laudable programme, I am talking about Senator Gbenga Ashafa. The
chairman of that Board, Senator Shuaibu Lawal, is equally a very open minded
man, this is the time to tap from them to develop the 36 states of the
federation and the FCT; their doors are open. The State governors are
challenged to approach them, not that tomorrow, they say, they are doing one
state, they didn’t do for us, let them go and approach them, their doors are
open, and they will be willing to assist, because they do not have the power to
jump into any state and start doing anything, and that is the first thing they
have to do, and good enough Fashola made it possible, he gave them unfettered
hands to make sure that housing schemes are developed throughout the
federation.
Again, the
communities, at times you don’t blame the governors, the governors might have the
intention but the communities would come with frivolous demands, agitations and
all that, they forget the benefits because when such schemes are developed jobs
are created, people would be working in those estates as workers.
Let us look at the mortgage system
where people take ownership of houses while paying for them. Now in this
country, it appears that it is not working as expected and that seems to be a
challenge militating against mass and affordable housing for Nigerians. What do
we do to embrace the mortgage system in Nigeria?
You are not
correct, it is working. Go to Federal Mortgage Bank, I can tell you for real
that it is working. That is the only answer I can give you. I can give you
contacts, it is working. The problem Is that people are outside making
assumptions that are not correct when they have not even gone there, it is
working.
Someone said Fashola is a trail
blazer, he has run the race and he concluded well. What do you have to add to
this assertion?
Well any
person that made that statement is correct. In law he proved his mettle, he was
not found wanting, he handled his cases with utmost diligence. In his personal
dealings with people, he was almost impeccable. In serving the various stages
of government he was not found wanting, rather wherever he was given an assignment
the place changes for good, that at times we begin to wonder whether Law is
Public Administration, whether Law is Medicine, whether Law is Architecture,
whether Law is Engineering, and the rest of them. Then his humble nature, he
doesn’t discriminate, he has never failed in any assignment, he is always taken
to where there is difficulty, and once he gets there he will crack the nut. How
else do you describe such a person? So whoever that made that statement must
have done it in good faith, even his enemy knows that he is s trail blazer,
because he knows something about everything and everything about something.
Lastly, your message to the new Minister
of Works and Housing, whoever he may be, because a lot obviously still need to
be done. Your advice.
My advice is
that, in Igbo adage, they said that a blacksmith who doesn’t know how to
produce a local gong should go and study the tail of the kite, which means any
incoming Minster of Works and Housing should please go and study Fashola’s template
and improve on that.
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