Why did you back Labour Party in the last governorship election in Ondo State?
I didn’t back the Labour Party, but its candidate, Olusegun Mimiko, on self recognition. My support for him was because he performed. Since my party didn’t field any candidate for the election, I decided to back Mimiko.
I didn’t lobby Mimiko to appoint my son, Deji, as commissioner. Mimiko and Deji came to know each other in 1999, when I was running for Presidency. They were in the field together campaigning for me. That was how they met and they have sustained the friendship till today. I didn’t influence his appointment by Mimiko, first as board chairman, and as commissioner.
Nigeria is 53. Would you say this is Nigeria of your dream?
Certainly no. At independence in 1960, my generation was just entering university. We were excited and hoped that, within one or two decades, Nigeria would have completely transformed and occupied a place of pride in the comity of nations. Shortly after independence, it has been crisis after crisis. We had the Western Regional crisis that led to the trial of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo for treason, which led to a breakdown of law and order in the region. Remember operation wet e; thereafter in 1966, there was a bloody military coup in which some leaders like the Prime Minister, Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the North Ahaji Ahmadu Bello, and his counterpart in the the West Ladoke Akintola, were killed. The aftermath of the coup was the mass killing of Ibos in the North, which culminated in the outbreak of the civil war that lasted two-and-half years. Invariably, the forces that could not brook opposition in the post independence era drew back the hand of the clock. It shattered our dream of a great nation as young Nigerians then.
What are those things you think we are not getting right in this country?
We have not got the right leadership. Nigeria is blessed with virtually everything such as large population, large market, good climate, mineral resources etc. But leadership, which is very critical is missing. That is why other centres of power are not developing that explains why we have been wasting our resources and missing our chances. It was lack of right leadership that had led to the emergence of sectional militant groups like the MEND, OPC, MASSOB, and now the dreadful Boko Haram.
A joker comes whenever we want to choose a leader. A cabal decides on who becomes our leader. No matter his antecedent. Once he can do their biddings. That is why our leaders have been selfish, sectional and juvenile in attitude-lacking mature minds. Many of our leaders steal public funds to invest abroad. I was in Dubai recently, a business tycoon over there accosted me thinking I was one of the Nigerians, who came to invest billions in Dubai. He told me that one-quarter of his company’s customers are Nigerians. Our leaders invest public funds stolen in other economy, not Nigerian economy. Money that could have been used to build electric generating plants, rehabilitate schools and hospitals, modernise agriculture, reconstruct cities and towns, and provide water for our people are being used to buy houses in Dubai. In the past, it was Switzerland, but now, Dubai has become the first choice in keeping stolen funds. It is part of the illness and tragedy of our time.
When Chief Awolowo was alive, he lived and dreamt of peoples’ welfare and development. Western Region was a pace setter under him. He introduced the first television in Africa at a time when some European countries were yet to have television. He built the first standard stadium in the country. He was the first to introduce free primary education and free healthcare for children of school age and his government was the first to establish Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board in Nigeria despite being a christian. Awolowo used his house at Ibadan as collateral for a bank loan taken by farmers at Elere Village to establish Gari Processing Plant.
Unless we have government and leaders that de-emphasise the acquisition of wealth and personal aggrandisement, what we are lamenting today will continue to persist. The present day may even be better than the future. I moved into this house in 1979. Since then, there is no public water supply and most of the time the generators are on for power supply. What have we done in the past 53 years with all the oil wealth?
Do you regret losing the 1999 presidential election?
I won the election. The result obtained by my agents at different collation centres and brought to me showed that I won the election by 1.2 million votes. Former President Jim Carter of United States, who led an observer team, told me “you are being wronged”. I asked him to say it in public. Carter addressed a press conference and said: “The true result of election observed by my team was different from what was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).” The pressure was on me to launch a nationwide fight, but I told my supporters that I didn’t enter politics to cause pain or crisis. My intention was to serve. It is not a do or die. If you don’t allow the wish of the people to prevail you can never get it right. The power brokers prevented Awolowo, MKO Abiola and Falae from ruling the country because they would not play their game. If you keep frustrating the people’s choice, the nation will never get out of the woods. God is righteous. He can never support fraud.
How has it being reviving the Social Democratic Party (SDP), ahead of 2015?
We have started mobilising support for the party. People feel nostalgia for the SDP because it was the party that once controlled the National Assembly, that produced 22 governors out of 30, that had majority in most state Houses of Assembly and that bridged the political, ethnic, religious and other divides in Nigeria. All these achievements surge the minds of the people when they hear the party’s name. It’s image is working for us. It is being well received across the country. People are happy about it. We are launching the party on October 31, in Abuja.
You were the Minister of Finance when military President Ibrahim Babangida introduced the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which many believe ruined the economy. Sir what do you think went wrong during its implementation?
Babangida announced the adoption of the SAP on December 18, 1985. That announcement brought to an end the debate over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan. I was appointed Secretary to the Federal Government on January 30, 1986, six weeks after announcement. I was never involved in the planning of the SAP. I supported it because the thrust of the SAP was right. SAP was intended to liberate Nigerians from economic bureaucratic control of the Marketing Board, Central Bank, Price Control Board. From 1945 to 1986, it was the Marketing Board that determined the price of cocoa. The cocoa farmers were the highest tax payers in this country as they paid 40 per cent of their earnings as tax. That SAP had stopped. SAP also eliminated import license because people were free to import directly and eve earn foreign exchange. During the Shagari regime, Nigeria imported goods worth $34 billion that we could not pay for. SAP became the solution to the problem. IMF could have paid off the $34 billion but it could have taken over the management of our economy by positioning its officials in the Federal Ministry of Finance. Shagari’s incompetence caused the crisis.
Prior to the introduction of the SAP, the Cenral Bank determined the foreign exchange arbitrarily. It was stopped. Market forces determine the value of naira. By the time I left government in August 1990, the exchange rate was N5.50k to a dollar. Soon, after I left, it rose. By the time Obasanjo took over in 1999, it was N86 to dollar. The mismanagement led to over valuation of naira. The naira is still undervalued. The level of foreign reserve warrants a stronger currency.
President Jonathan’s ambition to run in 2015 has split the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and the crisis is affecting governance. As an elder statesman, what would you advise him?
Well, I am not a member of the PDP. I don’t involve myself in the internal affairs of other political parties. But on his 2015 ambition, Jonathan has the right to seek re-election for a second term, based on the provisions of the 1999 Constitution. The constitution permits him. He’s acting within the precint of the constitution. The law does not stop him from completing the Yar’Adua’s term following his death. Those against Jonathan’s running in 2015 should go to the Supreme Court for the interpretation of the constitution. If people don’t want him, they will reject him at the poll.
What is your assessment of the Jonathan Administration?
He has done fairly well despite the monumental problems confronting him in the past two years. His major problem is the PDP made up of opportunists that ganged up for power. They are not committed to the country but what individual can grab. Besides, some people vowed to make the country ungovernable for him shortly after 2011 presidential election. The aftermath of this threat is the Boko Haram insurgence.
However, Jonathan himself was not fully ready for presidency. For someone who wants to rule a heterogeneous country like Nigeria he must be well prepared. Before I came out to contest presidency in 1999, i had prepared a blue print with inputs from technocrats, professionals and politicians. Jonathan found himself in trouble because of lack of preparation. The problems are many and complex. He needs to sit down and fine tune his strategy. By and large we have other presidents that have failed the country in the past.
Are you satisfied with the government’s handling of security challenges in the country?
Now, yes, but before, no. I have always advocated military action against terrorists. Every fight will end up on peace table. The First World War ended on a peace table. Jonathan wasted about one year dilly dallying on Boko Haram problem. I was not happy with him until he started fighting. Military action is part of the solution. If Boko Haram believes in violence, persuade them through military action.
The Yoruba leaders have complained against the marginalisation of the ethnic group by the Jonathan Administration. What steps have been taken to reverse the situation?
The marginalisation is real. Do you know that in some key sectors of the bureaucracy, there are no Yoruba directors in the past 60 years? We under the platform of Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF) met President Jonathan to formerly present our case. He acknowledged that there was marginalisation and promised to address it. Now tabulation of appointments in the civil service has started with a view to correct imbalance in the system.
President Jonathan has set up a committee on the national conference. What’s your view?
It is a welcome development. The ultimate solution to most of the problems in the country is restructuring. The national conference will lead to that. More powers will be devolved to the regions and more funds would be given to them to perform their functions. That was the British plan for a heterogeneous society like ours. With restructuring, marginalisation will become a thing of the past.
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