Social media will keep Buhari on his toes – Omojuwa

As the May 29 official handover date by President Goodluck Jonathan draws closer, many sectors of the country continue to draw agenda for the incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari. Japheth Omojuwa, socio-economic and political commentator, in this interview with MABEL DIMMA, weighs in on a number of issues that should be urgently addressed. Excerpts:

Every sector of the economy as well as professional bodies is making demands on the in-coming Buhari administration. What is your take on this, knowing that he cannot please everybody in four years?

General Buhari must focus on what he wants to achieve in four years and he must go for it with all the vigor necessary to get things done. Power, infrastructure, education, security and the rule of law must take precedence. He cannot afford to look to please everyone but if he gets certain things right, he’d please every rational unbiased Nigerian. For instance, power and infrastructure must be made a priority. Reforms are necessary as they would help lay the foundation for the future. There is no need to emphasize about the fight against corruption; he is almost obsessed about that. They should also look to reduce the number of ministries to help cut down on the cost of running government.

It appears the international community is enamoured by the change of government in Nigeria; do you foresee any ulterior motive in all of that?

The International community found it very difficult working with President Jonathan’s government. At certain times with certain governments I cannot mention, it proved even impossible. If you paid attention to the news and followed the dollar private jet saga in South Africa, you’d see our government had to resort to guerrilla means of getting the basic things that’d only involve bilateral diplomacy done. The International Community have now seen an opportunity to work with a new government and like Nigerians; they are obviously and rightly excited about the change that is likely to happen to Nigeria’s foreign policy. Hopefully, we would not be using our ambassadorial positions to compensate politicians and privileged individuals going forward.

You were one of those vehemently advocating for change in the country, you wanted the opposition, Buhari in particular to win; what are your reasons for this?

The same reasons as those who voted against President Jonathan. He had unprecedented years of astronomic corruption against the highest ever returns from oil sales in a five-year period. They watched touts become thugs till they became an international terrorist organisation; they watched as women got killed, refused to believe girls had been abducted until a regular rescue effort became an international embarrassment. They were clannish, parochial and were obsessed with identifying enemies rather than looking to identify ways of making the country work. They were fulfilled to just have power, they forgot the essence of power; service to the people. They missed it even till the end as in their delusion they actually believed Nigerians were going to judge them based on their five weeks of leadership, a post-election postponement cosmetic show. Our people saw through that charade.

We have heard so much pledges on how to rid the country of corruption, do you think some of the characters coming to take the reins of power will lead Nigeria to the Promised Land, given allegations of corruption trailing them?

We will not get a perfect collection of people to take the reins next month. What matters is that such people are not given prominent positions and where they exhibit signs of corruption, they must face the law squarely. But to expect that all those that will serve under Buhari will be wholly clean of allegations of corruption is to expect too much. We’ve got to be pragmatic about these things. What Buhari cannot afford is to appoint obviously corrupt people into his government.

What role do you think social media will play in consolidating the change that Nigerians are yearning for, going forward?

The same role it played in the outgoing government; help keep the government on its toes, help amplify what is wrong in government, help promote agendas for Nigeria’s development and help celebrate government when they get it right. That role will only get amplified, as more Nigerians will get online in the coming years.

What do you think was responsible for PDP’s poor outing at the polls?

The party was not directly involved with its own campaign. Most of the people that were the genuine identities of the campaign operated out of the PDP structure. They took some shocking decisions like having one of the most critical voices against the president come try to sell the president just months after: I really do think that was a thoughtless decision if not out right stupid. Plus really, even if the PDP had put together a good campaign, it would have been a good campaign trying to sell a bad product.

Rivers State recorded the highest number of electoral violence; what in your opinion was responsible for it?

The Patience Jonathan factor certainly played a role, not to mention the history of militancy that came to the fore during the elections. What happened over there was certainly not unexpected; it is only shocking that we somehow allowed it to happen.

Using the principles of separation of power, how would you rate the performance of the 7th National Assembly?

The Senate was mostly a joke save for a few sparks. The leadership was a cog in the wheel of our people’s aspirations. Senate President David Mark had no idea he was there to serve the people. His idea of leadership was to make sure Mark was alright and anything could happen after that. He would say he provided stability but that was stability that came at great cost to Nigerians.

The House of Representatives are much virile and bold. They stood out for the people most of the time but both houses are guilty of being over paid. They have no business being on N150billion/year and I have personally had this conversation with some of them. The NASS must understand that it is an arm of government in its own right, not an appendage of the Executive. The outgoing Senate leadership was mostly an appendage.

The NNPC has been embroiled in several allegations of corruption; what do you expect from the incoming administration in terms of sanitizing the corporation?

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is a house of corruption. It exists only to feed the insatiable need of certain people and their craving for undeserved earnings. It would not even be enough for the incoming government to clean up the NNPC; they have to whittle down its functions. It cannot make laws in an industry where it is also a player. If the NNPC cannot make money for Nigeria – it continues to run at a loss – then it should die a natural death. You can bet the incoming administration will treat the issue of the NNPC because at the moment, it exists for the purpose of a few people’s desperation for just more cash.

You witnessed the elections in Kaduna first hand, what was your impression of the exercise?

Inspiring. Northerners don’t play with the politics of this country. Educated or not, they are interested in who governs them and once they decide for or against you, you can’t stop them from expressing that love or hatred. I witnessed the presidential election in Lagos and I can tell you things are just different.

Source: Business Day