Chief, you were at the Eagle Square
on Monday when Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima were sworn in as
President and Vice President of Nigeria, what is your overall assessment of the
inauguration event, the organisation and everything?
First of
all, in my usual way, whatever happens, we must give glory to God who made it
possible for us to have a very smooth transition. From the revered Muhammadu
Buhari to the recent and current President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Vice, Shettima,
God in his infinite mercy allowed that occasion to go on smoothly without any
hitches, people were happy. The visiting presidents from African countries and
the representatives of the Western World were all there, it was very calm and
it is worthy of commendation. And I commend the chairman of the Presidential
Transition Council headed by the former SGF, Boss Mustapha, they did a very
good job, well organized, well-coordinated. Above all I must continue to
congratulate former President Muhammadu Buhari for being resolute in handing
over, to Tinubu despite the bickerings, despite so many social media attacks
and all that, he was so resolute. I also want to congratulate the wife, Aisha;
that supported him, they did a marvelous job. In short when Buhari was leaving
the Eagle Square I was full of emotion. He got up from his seat went to the
podium and assisted in the swearing in and signing of what I may call
certificate of oath, I am not a lawyer but this is what came to my mind. We
witnessed it, immediately he came down from the podium, he entered his vehicle
and left for the airport en route to Daura as he said. I was full of emotion, I
said ‘this man is a gentleman, a perfect gentleman, he should be emulated’.
Then, the
new President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his remarks assured Buhari and Nigerians
that he will not fail. That assurance has gone a long way to douse the tension
in everyone. I must tell you that the occasion went well, it was a great
success; in short to God be the glory.
The huge crowd, the presence of world
leaders including all the West African Heads of States, do you see this as a
sign of renewed hope in Nigeria?
Yes, it is a
sign of renewed hope in Nigeria, the
world leaders came out en mass to support the transition, in as much as there
are alleged or assumed pockets of resistance here and there, making some
statements and all that but the world leaders were here and what baffled me is
that United States of America, Great Britain, these are world’s super powers, they
sent in their representatives and that
shows that Nigeria is on the right track, we are already marching to the new
Jerusalem which is the renewed hope. I thank the world leaders and I thank the
African leaders, I thank Nigerians for their supports, for their perseverance,
for their willingness to support our nascent democracy, non-truncated, it is a
thing of joy, so it is a sign of renewed hope.
You listened to the inaugural speech
of the president, what can you say struck or inspired you most in his entire
speech?
What struck me
most is his promise to unite the country, because without unity you cannot move
forward, without peace we cannot do anything, what struck me most is his
promise to keep this country as one indivisible entity where we live in peace
and not in pieces, and I believe him, he will do that because the man is a goal
getter, he is a man with so many ideas on how to solve any nagging problem, he
is a man that works round the clock to get things done and done very well. Those
who have worked with him have testified that once you are working with Asiwaju
Bola Ahmed Tinubu you cannot rest, you cannot even sleep, you must work 24
hours, because he is a man that does not accept excuses. His promise to run a
unity government endeared me most, and once he gets it right every other thing
will fall in place. I congratulate him for that statement.
Still on the President’s speech, do
you think Tinubu’s administration holds any hope for Nigeria?
Why not, it
holds hope for Nigeria. You see, Tinubu is a practical politician, he is a businessman,
he is a technocrat; he is a finance man, so there will be no mistakes. When you
follow the trajectory of his life, you can agree with me that he is going to
get it right. It might be rough from the beginning, yes, it might be rough
because a lot of things went wrong. If you listened to Senator Shettima, the
Vice President, he said it won’t be rosy, it might be rough, but as time goes
on we will get it right. Tinubu is somebody that goes for brainboxes in
selecting those that work with him, he goes for brainboxes in the course of his
consultations to get it right, I believe that if he was able to get a mini-Nigeria
which is Lagos correct, he will get the whole Nigeria correct. So I have no
doubt but one thing I can assure you, it is not going to be easy, we must
prepare for adjustment. He too has to adjust, he has to be on his toes, we
Nigerians must be on our toes, but above all, we must pray for him and give him
maximum cooperation to achieve the best within the next four years.
Tinubu in his speech described Buhari
as a patriotic and honest leader who has done his best, but Tinubu fail short
of saying whether that best was good enough or bad. Your take.
What else do
you want him to say when he has described him as a patriotic and honest leader
who has done his best? Buhari is not God, and Tinubu is not God, if Tinubu
described Buhari as a patriotic leader, go to the dictionary and get the
meaning of patriotism, so what else do you want him to say? And you listened
when he said, even if you are in Daura, even if you are in Niger I will still
come there to consult you, what else do you want him to say? He has said it
all. It is a very good and excellent commendation and I thank him for such remarks
to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tinubu said my administration will
govern you on your behalf, we will never rule over you, sir, does this confirm him
as a true democrat?
It is very
simple and clear, it is a simple English, a simple expression which even a
market woman would understand. I am not going to rule, I am going to govern
according to your wishes, that is what he is talking about which means he is
going to consult widely before taking any decision, he will get the opinion of
the populace, he will consult widely, he won’t just get up one day and dish out
orders, that is what he is talking about, it will be an inclusive government, both
those that are appointed as executive members and the masses, their views will
be taken into consideration before conclusions, that is what he is saying and
it is a welcome development in a democracy. He has equally said that there will
be freedom of speech, you can criticize him, constructive criticism, not going
into nihilism, political nihilism; he will welcome all criticisms before taking
any decision. What it means is that market woman is involved, okada man is
involved, traders in the street are involved, captains of industries are
involved, politicians are involved, teachers are involved, students are involved,
the youths are involved, and remember he said, the youths and the women will be
more active in his administration, I am not quoting him directly but that is
the implication of what he said. So he has said it all, he is not a ruler, he
is a governor, he is a leader, he is a coordinator; he will do eclectic fashion
in selecting ideas to come up with one single idea that will favour everybody,
that is the implication of that statement.
Many people have described President
Tinubu as a beacon of hope, do you agree with them?
My answer is
totally yes. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I must agree with them is a beacon of
hope. Let us look at his life, this is a man that was brought up by a widow so
to say, in short when I met the mother, in her home about 2005 or so, she told
me a lot about the son which I have kept to my chest, and since then I have
been watching, I went back memory lane how Asiwaju started and he has never
failed. Despite the fact that he had a lot of punches here and there, he still
trudged on to become somebody in society. My late elderly friend and brother,
and uncle, Chief Joseph Ifediobi, Okosis Akpo, was another man that knew Bola
Ahmed Tinubu right from childhood, an Igbo man for that matter. He spoke to me
at length about Tinubu and I kept those things to my chest and I kept on
watching. Even though Owelle Chuma Azikiwe whose other name was Bamidele, was
an Igboman, he believed in Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, his intelligence, his
will power, and I have been watching since then. This man called Bola Tinubu
started from nowhere and ended somewhere. This is a man that took it upon
himself to say, we must change to democracy during Abacha era, he nearly lost
his life, at a time he went into self-exile, when the country was so hot for
him. Upon all the juicy promises and all that, he said no. He hates
intimidation, he champions human evangelism.
When he
returned from that self-exile he continued and made sure the military was out,
even though with so many other people, not him alone, but he was at the
forefront. He gave us hope that time and that hope was realized. He now came
and contested for Senatorial seat, he gave us hope and that hope was realized. He
came to be the Governor of Lagos State, he contested and won, and in Lagos he
turned everything around for good. In short, it is in him that I saw what is
written in the book of Ezekiel that the bone shall rise again. When he became
the governor of Lagos State the dead bone raise again, he changed everything in
Lagos State for better despite the fact that some people were criticizing him.
Then in this
our business complex, we started it with him, and today this complex is
standing, even though we started it at the twilight of his administration, he
handed us over to Fashola and Fashola helped this place to germinate and grow
to this level and today we have over 5000 people here feeding from this place
and over 30,000 dependents courtesy of Lagos State government as established by
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as sustained by and approved by Babatunde Raji
Fashola (SAN). Then the politics went somehow, he was standing alone as a lone
governor in the opposition, from AD to AC to ACN, and he fought for the
establishment of APC and fired that shot that ousted a sitting president. In all
these things he gave us hope and those hopes where realized. Upon all the
battles he had with the then Federal Government, as the governor of Lagos
State, he did not back down, he sustained the tempo. Now check among his
temporaries when he was governor, how many of them can do what he is doing now?
This is a man who will give you hope and that hope will be realized. It is not
by his power but it is by the special grace of God, so he has a special grace;
the day he was created, as they say, no other person was created. He is a very
fearless man academically and naturally intelligent. This is a man that picks
people from wherever you are, it doesn’t matter whether you are from Lagos State,
southeast, south-south, north or whatever, he will pick you and make you
somebody, and one thing about him is that even if you attack him and still come
back he will accommodate you, God brought him as a source of hope to mankind,
for Nigeria, for Africa and for the world.
This is a
man that will talk from morning till morning without repeating himself and
whatever he tells you he is going to do i. And then he is blessed to have
gotten a very intelligent pretty woman, Oluremi Tinubu who saw tomorrow when
she said, Lagos State should be given special status in the national budget
right from the Eighth Assembly. I have made so many publications supporting
that, the Eighth Assembly didn’t do it, the Ninth Assembly didn’t do it, I
believe the Tenth Assembly will do it. So Tinubu has been a source of hope and
those people that said that he is a beacon of hope, they are correct, and that
is why his slogan is renewed hope, we are waiting and it will come to pass by
God’s grace.
Tinubu said the fuel subsidy is gone,
and immediately he said this, fuel stations are under lock and key, sir do you
think that this policy statement is right at this point?
You see, the
problem with Nigeria is, if you keep quiet the people will complain, if you talk
they complain. If the president refused to talk after the swearing-in they will
complain, the social media would have been awash with all manner of attacks and
now that he has talked, people keep complaining. People have called me and said
the man you are supporting, look at what he has said, he said that fuel subsidy
is gone, and all that. Let me tell you, that statement is not intended to
inflict suffering on Nigerians rather it was intended to restructure our
economy for good; that panic will go away with time, after all during the campaign,
all the presidential candidates said that subsidy would go, so why are we
complaining? Now that he has been sworn in, and has reaffirmed that statement,
why are we complaining? It is for better so that we can use those funds for
other things and that will reduce our inclination to borrowing, so it is a
welcome development. And with Dangote Refinery bringing in fuel in the next one
or two months, I think things will normalize, the biggest individual refinery
in the whole world, I think you would agree with me that Nigeria is great.
The new president also announced the
need for the unification of the exchange rate, we have always had this
disparity, black market 740 plus and official rate 450 plus, how do you think this
can impact on business and the economy generally?
Of course, after
all when Abacha was in power he said this is what I am going to buy dollar and
he retained it and things were okay in terms of the exchange rate. I think
Tinubu will replicate a similar idea, it will help business to grow. When you
import goods, you won’t find it very difficult to set your price, when you want
so buy goods abroad, you won’t find it difficult to negotiate, so it would
create a very smooth trading system, it would help to stabilize our economy, it
will equally show that Nigeria, the giant of Africa has come up with excellent
idea to improve international trade. It might be difficult, some people might
see it the other way, but with persistence it would work out, and I would be
glad if he achieves that.
To you, do you think there is
anything the president did not capture in his inaugural speech? We would want
you to set agenda for him?
He captured
almost everything. In as much as he cannot capture everything, you know that
address, I would say, from my own personal understanding, is an impromptu
address. He has not been able to sit
down and address the nation as the president, but he made that speech in line
with the requirements of the inauguration day, I believe he will still address
the nation, but he captured almost everything, more especially when he said, the
unity of the country, and once there is unity everything is okay. The only area
I would say he did not touch though unity covered it, is the various agitations
here and there, but I know he will come up with a solution to that, agitations,
southeast agitations, Yoruba agitation, he is going to address it, but I know
he would touch them.
Your message to Nigerians
The only thing
I have to say is to congratulate Nigerians, congratulate our great party, I
congratulate our national chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu for leading us to
victory, I must congratulate the chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council,
His Excellency Governor Lalong of Plateau State, and let me come to my home
state where I am living, I must congratulate His Excellency, Governor Babajide
Sanwo-Olu on his victory and going into office for the second time, and that is
why in our business complex here, we shut down the market in Lagos, the Adem
Commercial and Industrial Complex shut down the market in honour of Sanwo-Olu
and Bola Ahmed Tinubu when others even refused to do so, we shut down the
market to give them honour.
Then above
all I must advise for us to live in peace and not in pieces, we must eschew any
form of violence, any form of blackmailing, any form of backbiting, we have to
eschew those things in order to get what we want from the government, in order
to be our brother’s keeper. The security of this country must not be left for
the police and army and all other security agencies, all of us, directly or
indirectly are policemen and military men, we should support in quenching all
these security problems, and that is why I believe in the slogan which says, if
you see something, say something, May God Bless you.
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