Interview

Fifteen months into the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar Adua, not a few Nigerians are feeling apprehensive about the administration taking the nation to the Promised Land. But his spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, in this chat with Ike Abonyi in Abuja thinks otherwise. He also spoke on a number of other issues, including teachers’ strike and the Niger Delta question

The Niger Delta issue appears to be overwhelming the Yar’Adua administration. Why did the government drop the summit for a dialogue?
The Niger Delta issue is not in anyway overwhelming the Yar’Adua administration and nobody has dropped the Niger Delta Stakeholders Summit. In fact, I fail to understand the slant given the recent comment of the Vice President, which was interpreted to mean the summit had been dropped. Fortunately, I was around when the VP made the statement in question and I heard what he said. The explanation of the VP was that if people feel so fixated about the word summit, which they erroneously connote to mean another jamboree, then they can call the stakeholders engagement a dialogue or anything. The bottom-line is to find solution to the problem; that was what he said, not that the idea of a constructive engagement that is meant to address the Niger Delta question has been shelved. It has not. The peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta question is a process and not an event so nobody is under any illusion that you would just hold one conference and the problems would disappear. While the President is determined to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the problem, there is need to acknowledge its complexities and very soon he will unfold his Niger Delta agenda in which the issue of a stakeholders summit is just one part of the entire inventory. That is essentially what the VP was saying.
Will government adopt military option?
I wonder where some people get the idea that the government is adopting a military option to tackle the problem…
Well, the impression has been created by government, otherwise what then is the extent of foreign support the president has been seeking in tackling the issue especially from the UK , US and France?
What the president has always called for by way of assistance is in the formation of the Gulf of Guinea Guard Force for the sub-region. He is the principal promoter of that idea which is meant to make the entire Gulf of Guinea safe for maritime activities and the assistance he is seeking is by way of training and logistics. By his idea, troops will be contributed by the countries within the sub-region since we have the men, what we need is just support. You don’t need soldiers from Britain to fight some people in the Creeks, the whole campaign is ridiculous. And when you read about some alleged secret deals you begin to wonder how anybody could believe such mumbo jumbo in today’s world. To make matters worse some otherwise respected newspapers have been feeding an unwary public such stories that have no basis in fact. I recall that at the recent G8 meeting, the president asked for and got pledges of support for help in combating the rampant criminality of bunkering in the Niger Delta. While he identifies with the genuine claims by peaceful groups clamouring for righting historical wrongs, the point must be made that he will not stand by and allow violent criminal gangs operating with the connivance of some international criminal cartels to undermine our national security and sovereign responsibilities. But he has never sought direct military assistance from UK or from any government to fight any group. That is just part of the propaganda. How would the President bring the British military in, just how? The President has always believed in a peaceful resolution of the crisis, which we must admit has two fundamental phases. There is the challenge of development, which he will tackle. And there is also the criminal element, which he will confront. But because the problem has festered for long, the two now feed on one another but the president recognises that there is no problem that cannot be resolved through dialogue and instilling rule of law.
If that is the case, what is the level of talks between the government and the militants and what really are their demands?
The office of the Vice President has been coordinating most of the talks with the Niger Delta stakeholders and that includes some of the militant leaders and we are all aware of the contending issues of development. But we also know there can be no meaningful development without peace. For instance, as I stated recently, no contractor wants to do any business in the Niger Delta because of the high risks involved so even if you want to military projects aimed at development, that can only happen if you bring a measure of stability to bear which means peace must precede any meaningful efforts in that direction. That is the essence of the summit really, to get the stakeholders to buy –in into the president’s plan of action for the region. The militants, that are those who are genuinely campaigning for the development of the region, are recognized by the government and they are being engaged and will continue to be engaged but those who hide under the crisis to kidnap for ransom and steal crude oil will also be dealt with in accordance to the law.
More than one year after President Yar’Adua promised to declare emergency in the power sector, all we hear everyday are stories while the power situation deteriorates. Will he ever declare the emergency?
The emergency in the power sector will be declared but it is also not for another entertainment, it is a serious matter meant to tackle in a realistic manner the power challenge in our country and I am talking of both short and long terms. I am aware of what critics are saying but the hard part of leading an orchestra is that you must have the capacity to back the crowd and that is what the President is doing. There are those who argue that he could have pumped more money into the power projects when he came in last year without stepping back to see why the genuine efforts of the last administration have not yielded the expected results despite all the efforts. With the way things were and with no clear direction, any spending would have ended up a waste. I feel sad about the way President Obasanjo is being castigated for the power projects because he took a bold decision and made considerable efforts but it would have been a shame if President Yar'Adua could not learn some lessons form that experience that would allow him avoids possible pitfalls. It may have taken him a year but at least now, the president has a clear direction on power in the short term, medium term and long term and his achievements in the direction will be measurable once the emergency is declared.
But when will the emergency be declared? I recall that the president said he would do this within three months of assuming office. Three months became six months, then one year and now we don’t know for sure if it will ever happen.
I don’t know if the President promised to declare the emergency within three months but even if he did, the point remains that at the point when he said that, assuming he did, he was not yet the President. On assuming office, he must have seen things differently and a fuller picture could have compelled him to review his strategy. You see, as they say, the view of the road changes the moment you move from the passenger’s side to the driver’s seat. When he assumed office, he had the opportunity to see more than he did as an aspirant. Now, what was the President to do at that point? He had two options. Either to coast along and declare the emergency unprepared just to please the mob or tarry awhile to get it right. He chose the second option. One thing you forget is that this same power issue was critical in 1999 when President Obasanjo took over and he made promises. Efforts, and I am talking of genuine efforts have been made and in spite of what you read, the problem in the sector was not all about corruption, yet nine years after we are still more or less where we were in 1999. That should tell you something about the sector and the compelling need to have a proper plan. But now, there is a clear direction and the Power emergency bill is ready to go to the National Assembly for appropriation. The states will also appropriate the money legally. But that is just one aspect because there are other components designed to make Nigerian self-sufficient in power supply in the long run.
Okay, let’s talk about education which is also one of the campaign points of the president. For weeks now, Nigerian children in public schools have been at home due to the nationwide strike action. Considering that the President is a former teacher, one expects a better approach to tackle the impasse. Why is there a lacklustre attitude from the government?
I feel very sad about this but so does the President and you are not correct to say the attitude of government on the issue is lacklustre, no, it is not. The problem is that the whole strike was designed to create a wrong impression that the Federal Government is the principal actor when the NUT officials are quite aware it is not within the purview of the president since he doesn’t pay primary school teachers. You see the problem is that perhaps because of decades of military rule, we have more or less created an all-powerful president who should be involved in everything and our democracy will never grow if we allow such notion to continue. This is a matter that concerns the states and I am aware that some states even pay much more than the TSS that the NUT is demanding. The problem is that we must decide whether we want a unitary system or we want to be what the constitution says we are which is a federal system. Many people have been calling on the president to intervene and when you ask them how, they would not give any plausible answer. How can the president dictate to the governors what to pay teachers? The Ministry of Education has had extensive sessions on the issue and dialogue is still going on with regards to the issue, which is quite unfortunate. I am an advocate of public schools, I attended public schools and I believe teachers should be well remunerated but you can’t dictate what you don’t pay. That is the dilemma of the president on the issue. But there are other issues some of which were raised in the back page of your paper (THISDAY) today in a piece by my friend and former colleague, Bolaji Abdullahi, who is now the Kwara State Commissioner for Education. I think people need to read Bolaji’s piece because he comes with the perspectives of someone who knows and can situate both sides of the arguments. But I agree that we have to find solution to the problem of our education at all levels and working with other stakeholders, the president will do that. But he will not be blackmailed on this TSS issue because that exactly is what is going on.
But there is this allegation in some quarters that Obasanjo's friends and associates are now prey to attack by the EFCC while some former governors believed to have looted their states are going about free. Yet the likes of Prof. Borishade, Femi Fani-Kayode and Bode George are being haunted.
One thing you must give credit to President Yar’Adua for is that he doesn’t interfere in the work of other arms of government. He respects the principle of separation of powers. He also doesn’t meddle in what doesn’t concern him, like what the EFCC is doing. Prof Babalola Borishade and Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode as far as I am concerned are innocent people to whom allegations were made and I think the case is in court so I will not speak about that. As for Chief Bode George, I am surprised to hear he is being haunted, by whom? But since we are all Nigerians, I perfectly understand where you are coming from and this is where I believe the media should help. It is not always good to criminalise people who have not been convicted, whether they are former governors or political opponents. Every citizen should have the opportunity to defend himself in a competent court of law. But the point is that we most often want to apply the law of the jungle for people we don’t like. That goes against the spirit of the rule of law which presupposes all accused innocent until proven guilty. But I need to stress that contrary to what some people say, the rule of law is not meant to protect any corrupt public official, whether former or still serving. The law is ever sure and while the process of conviction may be slow, under President Yar’Adua’s watch, people who steal public funds will account for their deeds. However long it takes, as the Bible says, the sinner will not go unpunished.
There is a general feeling that the President is ill prepared to govern Nigeria , that he has no plan or vision for the country and many say this because of the seeming inaction and I can give you an example. Last year, the Minister of Transportation under a media blitz visited the Benin-Ore express road yet as I am talking today, that road remains as impassable as it was last year…
Let me assure you that the president is aware he has a mandate of four years and he will deliver on his promises but he has realised that to succeed, quick-wins and low hanging fruits would just not do so he set out very clearly to identify problems and plan meticulously before applying solution that will work. Yes, there are major economic roads that are today eyesore, like the Lagos Ibadan Express road, the Benin Ore express road, the Kaduna-Abuja road, the Onitsha-Owerri road to mention just a few. These are roads that have been in deplorable conditions for more than a decade now. What you have had over the years are periodic repairs and resurfacing of these roads after which they go bad again. Hundreds of billions of Naira have been spent on them yet the stories remain the same year in year out. As they say, you don’t continue to do the same thing again and again yet expect different results. The president has taken a different approach and I would say that before year 2011, he intends to deliver most of these roads, some with no fewer than eight lanes and when that happens what people would be talking about is the quality of the roads and not the amount spent on bad roads. All the plans are in place and some of these roads will be concessioned with work started before the end of the year. The ones that are not economically viable will be operated under a different arrangement. I once said it that planning takes time but if the President wants to adopt the approach of populism which some people suggest then he could because he has everything on his side to do that. Considering the amount of money we have in our foreign reserve, all a populist president would do is perhaps call a meeting of the governors and agree to spend huge sums on roads and some of other projects. He would then take the money and then award the contracts upon contracts. Of course that would make some people happy but at what cost? That again would be an easy choice that requires no rigour or fresh thinking and while it may earn for the president a temporary applause, such recourse to cheap populism will hurt the nation ultimately. The President has elected not to travel that road because as a leader, he knows it is his responsibility to chart the course. But ultimately, his approach will pay off because I am very certain that Nigerians will at the end of the day applaud this president who is bringing a scientific approach to governance. Because at the end of the day his achievements will be clear and measurable.
Finally, there seems to be confusion concerning the birthday of the President…
Well, if there is any confusion, it was created by the media to make money and the least I expect was that those who benefited from the so-called confusion would just keep quiet. We were attending the G-8 summit in Japan when some editors contacted me about the President’s birthday, asking whether the birthday was July 9 and I replied that the real date is August 16. I recall that when the number of calls and text messages on the same issue kept increasing, I also began to have my doubts even when I thought I was very sure so had to ask one particular media chief to wait so I could ascertain the correct date from the President’s International Passport again and I did. I asked for the passport from one of our protocol persons and he gave it to me and I reconfirmed that it is indeed August 16 and sent a text to the person in question to reconfirm to him because he was the person who actually informed me people were placing birthday adverts in newspapers to congratulate the president. I knew what was going on since I come from the newsroom. I am sure letters were written from the advert departments of the newspaper houses to some identified people to place adverts for the president and they obliged without checking whether the date they were given was correct. But even though most papers knew they were wrong they still allowed the adverts to run in which case they did not allow the fact to stand in the way of making money and I don’t want to blame anyone for that. But it is unfortunate that some newspapers whose editors knew the fact, including one to whom my office actually sent a copy of the President’s CV, would go ahead to run ridiculous stories about a so-called confusion. Even while he never flaunts it, considering his background, we all know there couldn’t have been any question about the President’s date of birth. The reason why I didn’t make a public statement on the issue when we came back from Japan was that I thought I should not embarrass the people who had been misled to place the adverts to congratulate the president. Even though I know he cares less about such things, I still considered it unfair to make the people who innocently felicitated with the President to look stupid, that was why I quietly told editors that the birthday is August 16 and not July 9. But now you read stories of how the president is not listed in Newswatch Who is Who as if we don’t know how people are listed in such publications. It’s a simple thing, they send you questionnaire which you have to return with a token fee and if you don’t return your form, you are not listed. So what is the big deal if the president, a former governor was not listed? Well, I just hope nobody will place any other congratulatory advert on August 16, after all the President has had the fortune of celebrating his birthday in advance, at least on the pages of newspapers.

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