CHIEF Tokunbo Ajasin, a strong advocate of an autonomous Yoruba nation, says he is disappointed by performance of the All Progressives Congress led-federal administration, urging Nigerians to speak with their votes if Nigeria has to make progress. KUNLE ODEREMI brings some excerpts:
With the general election around the corner, what can you say about the political current across the country?
I am not too happy with the way things are particularly because nobody is really saying the things I want to hear on restructuring. Though PDP is saying something, I look at it as a way to get votes. To me, it is not sincere because I remember the APC said the same thing before it came to power. And while it is in power, it set up a committee on the need for restructuring of the country. That was the Nasir el-Rufai committee on restructuring and you would think that with APC in power, it would introduce it in the National Assembly as it has the majority and most of the states are controlled by the APC. So, I thought the party would bring up the matter for discussion and present a bill that will effect even what they decided. But the el-rufai report was discarded. In this election, nobody wants to come out and say that he would restructure in a fortnight manner and it is something that is fundamental; it is something we need in the country for us to progress because the practice of controlling everything from the centre is not going to work. It hasn’t worked, it is not working and it can never work. We keep managing the system and doing the same thing all the time and if you are doing the same thing again and again, you are not going to get a different result. That is why I am saying that the political parties as we have them today, including the forerunners, APC and PDP are mere vehicles to win elections and acquire power. Obviously, there is no one talking about that aspect of restructuring the country. I am a believer in Yoruba autonomy. We want a situation where we will control our resources. Let every group control their resources in the true spirit of federalism. I want people to say it. Let those who want to be president say it even at the risk of losing the election. Maybe, they think they would lose at the poll. But I don’t think they will lose for saying the truth and charting the way forward for the country and out of its quagmire. It is a fundamental change we need. If you do it, Nigeria will be prosperous. If you merely pander to inanities, we will keep doing the same thing and getting what has impeded national cohesion, nationhood. It is quite disheartening. Even the political party that I belong to has been in government for eight years and we promised that this is what we are going to do. Yet, we are not fulfilling that promise.
Why do you think it is difficult for APC to restructure the country?
I don’t know. I am even surprised because when we started, I believed that President Muhammadu Buhari was going to make a difference; I had believed that he was going to do a lot of things that would make a difference in the lives of Nigerians and country as a whole. He failed to live up to that expectation. Insecurity has continued unabated; the rate of corruption is out of this world; it has become systemic in Nigeria. The economy is a shambles. There is fuel scarcity. I’m embarrassed that this is happening under the administration of a political party that I belong to. So, how can I truly come out and say that people should vote for us.?
So, do you perceive the election as a referendum on APC administration?
Yes, it is a referendum on APC because it is either we continue to suffer the way we have as a people or we want to change from the status quo. Unfortunately, the main opposition party is the same.
But, there are alternatives?
Yes, we have a few of alternatives. The major alternatives in the presidential race are Senator Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples party (NNPP) and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP). Unfortunately, people see them as being part of the old order, going by their political trajectories in politics. They cannot make a difference. But, it is difficult for me to make such assertion because having been a part of APC, people are likely to perceive me from that perspective and angle.
Do you think ambition drove both Obi and Kwankwaso out of PDP?
It is unfortunate. There is ambition that you want to change things; that you want to do things right. There is this other ambition that you want to be president. You don’t have to be president to make a difference and effect some changes. It would have been nice for both Obi and Kwankwaso to get together to run because they are offering something different. But going solo sometimes is more difficult because they are going after the big guys in PDP and APC. They are fringe parties but if they come together, they will also become big and that’s the area I blame some of them. If you are really sincere and want to change things, you can say for the sake of Nigeria and people, let’s get together and reach a compromise on the way forward. You must have the same vision.
It could have been nice for the two of them to team up. We have tested both PDP and APC and they haven’t done well. If PDP did well, we wouldn’t have got. Unfortunately, they have not done any better. I haven’t seen anything better from APC. So, we need a fresh party to come up with new ideas on how the country can work and flourish and prosper and make Nigeria happy. Look at Buhari. Is he in charge? He is not in charge because APC was never a party. It is a mere vehicle to grab power; it lacks any ideology, vision. It is anything goes. A party should have a unique selling point. That is why it is easy for one person to leave APC today and go to PDP or vice versa. Or, you can remain in your party and work against its interest on all fronts and no one will challenge you. They say some people are in the Villa working against APC; all these negate the ethos of democracy and party discipline.
Do not believe that the elections could serve as the real pathfinder for Nigeria to rediscover itself?
I’m sceptical; I’m not as optimistic as I used to be about Nigeria. It is difficult for me to believe that things are going to change except we have someone who is bold, courageous and visionary who is ready to take far-reaching decisions that could make a difference. But I do not see APC and PDP fitting into that vision based on their antecedents in power. imagine people who did not take part in the primaries conducted by their parties becoming candidates for national assembly election! After losing the bid for the presidential ticket of the party, then come to pick national assembly tickets. Nobody stepped down for them. I think the judiciary should have been more circumspect on the matter concerning those tickets. There is no justice in that scenario and circumstance. So everything has broken down. My reservations about the coming elections include the way the candidates of the parties emerged. Did they emerge democratically/ they didn’t. delegates were induced with money at the primaries and you are saying they should not buy votes at the polling booth? INEC is saying there is no buying of votes when in your presence, you were there at the primaries and the candidates were using US dollars to compromise delegates. You are now challenging anyone. Everybody knows that within the PDP and the apc before they got the ticket, they paid. INEC was there. So, vote-buying started at the conventions of the parties. The process was faulty right from the beginning. You can’t build something on nothing. It is a sad commentary about our civil rule. Someone came through that system. That is what has been happening and we have going through that vicious circle. INEC ought to have recommended the cancellation of those primaries and convention that were corrupted by the candidates; what you sow is what you will reap. I’m not expecting any surprise in the election because it will be a miracle if Obi wins or Kwankwaso.
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