Former National Director for Legal and Public Affairs of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), one-time Special Adviser to former Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, and a member of the Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC), Evangelist Samuel Kwankur, speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s statement of religious domination in a video that has gone viral, the removal of fuel subsidy and other topical issues.
You are one of the Christian leaders who supported President Bola Tinubu despite opposition to his choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). What informed your choice?
I am happy that he won; his victory was the will of God for this country. Prior to his election, there were heavy agitations; the issue of religion came up; some people wanted the president to come from the North, others wanted it to come from the South. The Christian body didn’t want him to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket; CAN then took the position that there should be no same-faith ticket, but the President ended up picking a Muslim as his running mate. Even though I was not too convinced by the reason he gave, I later realized that it was for political exigencies. But to be fair to the President at that time, he interacted with many Christian leaders, explained his position and predicaments, and some of us saw reason in his position. The major thing that caught my attention in this explanation is not just his person but his antecedent. Tinubu is a creative person. The reason Christians would not want a Muslim-Muslim ticket is because of the former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-rufai’s opinion that Muslims have come to dominate.
Some leaders in the North are of the opinion that the Muslim-Muslim ticket has come to stay and will continue for years to come.
That is what El-rufai said; you don’t need to say some. I watched the video; he is a crafty man, and there are other people that are thinking that way. His speech is frightening and toxic; it could further cause danger to the fragile peace in the country. It is unfortunate that a man of his caliber could be talking of domination in this century. What I often tell Nigerians is that God is interested in the affairs of this country, so we don’t need to be afraid of anybody dominating us. There was a time in this country when a leader came up; all political parties adopted him, but he didn’t rule this country. There was also a time we had a Muslim-Muslim ticket; every Nigerian supported him; he won but never got to the seat; that is the hand of God at work. So as far as I am concerned, I don’t think they have taken over forever. Some people don’t believe that Southerners can rule this country again; that’s why, when we started the primary, almost all the aspirants were coming from the North. Some people believe Southerners cannot rule this country again, that they have taken over. The belief is that the North has more states and more population, and with these, it can dominate, so you can see now that God has made a Yoruba man a leader. We are not weighed down by them; there is a place for God in everything.
My candid advice to the former governor of Kaduna State is that he should not set this country on fire. The vituperations of the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, His Excellency Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, against the Christian community and non-Muslims in Nigeria in his recent address in Hausa language to some Islamic clerics at the end of his tenure as the Governor of Kaduna State, whose video has gone viral and is easily accessible in the public domain, are quite unfortunate. Being a member of the Nigeria Interreligious Council (NIREC), I have closely interacted with respected Islamic leaders of high repute and found out that there are Muslim leaders, unlike Mallam El-Rufai, who are deeply concerned about the peace, development, and growth of Nigeria without pretence. Truly speaking, El-Rufai is a setback to the peace process that NIREC has been battling with in the midst of religious upheavals. Let it be known to all Nigerians that those of us Christians who supported His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu did so out of sincere hope that both he and his vice president would work to ensure the sustainable development of Nigeria through their policies, experience, and exposure.
President Tinubu seems to have hit the ground running in a hard way with the sudden removal of petroleum subsidies, and people are already feeling the pain of such action. What do you think the government should do to cushion the effect of the removal?
At this present moment in Nigeria, there is no need for procrastination; whatever needs to be done should be carried out on time. On this issue of subsidy, the country has been dilly-dallying it for a long time. Successive governments have been paying lip service to its removal without doing anything. The issue of subsidy in Nigeria is organized crime by some cabal. In the first place, there is nothing like a subsidy; it is just another way of perpetuating corruption. This subsidy regime has been investigated by different committees, including the National Assembly, but the findings are frightening and reveal it to be another conduit pipe to cripple the country. Though President Tinubu hit the ground hard, it was the right thing to do. There is no need for procrastination. Any leader who is focused will start on a hard note. When you are in a race, your starting point will determine how far you can go. Apart from the insecurity, this is another critical area that has been consuming this nation. The President is not new to governance; I want to believe that he must have seen records and discovered how deep the cancer called subsidy has eaten deep into the fabric of our existence, I mean the economy, and more over, he won this election since March, and he might have been briefed, so I don’t want to agree that he is ignorant of what he is doing and other things he is going to do. The most important thing in leadership is sincerity of purpose. When you are taking a measure and you are convinced that the steps you are taking are cogent enough to solve a problem, you don’t look back otherwise you will be derailed. Like the subsidy we are talking about, it may bring hardship from the beginning, but the benefits in the long run are huge and beneficial in many dimensions. Take, for example, the infrastructural decay in virtually all the sectors in the country; they need special attention. The huge amount that the government has been using to service this fraud call subsidy can be used to put them in order as well as service other areas. I want to believe that the President meant well for Nigeria and that he never brought measures that will further worsen the plight of Nigerians.
But the postulation in some quarters is that his pronouncement on removal subsidy is like putting a cart before the house, that certain steps ought to have been carried out before the removal (cut in).
Mr. President is not new to government; he has been around the corridors of power for a long time. Don’t forget, he was governor of Lagos State for a solid eight years with a track record that cannot be disputed. What measures do you want him to put in place? He knows the likely hardship that the removal of subsidies can bring and has set machinery in motion to tackle it. Check out the way he handled the threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Council altimatum to go on strike; he quickly struck a balancing point instead of engaging them in a combative way. He is a listening president; let’s give him a chance. Subsidy in Nigerian parlance is evil. It is always apt to start with the difficult aspect, which I believe is the economy, followed by insecurity.
This is a season for political patronage, as many party stalwarts have started scheming for one appointment or another. What do you think should be the criteria for getting the best for the country at this critical time?
I don’t think it should be based on party patronage alone, but it should be critically thought out, which I believe Mr. President must have done. One of these is that our leaders should be able to manage this nation in terms of our diversities. When we talk about compitency, this should be the first criteria, but in considering compitency, you have to consider the diversity of this nation. This issue of appointment based on the number of votes delivered during the election should be deemphasized at this particular time. Some sections of the country are of the opinion that because they gave the highest votes, virtually all the appointments should go to them; they are acting as if, without the vote of the minority, they can deliver alone. I don’t believe that President Tinubu should follow that line of thought. The President should not accept the choice they made for the position of Vice President; it may be relevant in winning an election, but it may not be relevant in running the system. The President has to understand this fact. Compatibility fusses with diversity; it shouldn’t be by patronage; if there’s somebody that you know can handle a particular assignment, give it to him; in fact, some people need to beg to take leadership positions. Actually, it should be who can handle what, and it should be done dispassionately, not on what Nigerians called man knows man.
Insecurity still remains one of the major challenges facing this country, and attempts by the previous administration to tame the monster seem to have become a mirage. What steps do you think this administration should take to address this pathetic situation?
I think the entire security architecture should be rejigged. There is a sense of familiarity and comfort. It is like the government has come to accept the terrible situation as a way of life, yet people are being killed on a daily basis. It is glaring that with present arrangements, the government cannot win this war against insecurity, especially in the northern part of the country. Right now, there is a desire to satisfy ourselves above state interest. When you see a nation whose leaders are only interested in their tribes and religion, that nation will not grow. It is the same thing happening in both security and religious circles: insecurity will continue to strive because the system is corrupt unless the present administration takes the bull by the horns to change the narrative. Body language is very important. When the former President Buhari came in, people were afraid. The nation stated resetting until they discovered he was not what they thought he was, so everything collapsed. Even security people were trying to do their work correctly, but it didn’t take long before he lost control. For efficiency, the security system should be rejigged, and those in government should reassure the security chiefs that they have free hands to operate and that they should operate sincerely. The operation should be devoid of sentiment; when people don’t see you operate in a transparent way as followers, they do the worst. The security should be transparent and monitored; those who are not willing to work in line with the stipulated guidelines and are found wanting should be removed.
Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), seems to have lost all round in Plateau State; what are the stalwarts doing to reposition the party?
I don’t have the fear that APC is gone; the party will definitely bounce back to reckoning. Many of us were in the PDP, and we know what the party went through last time. We also know what affected APC in the last election. It is a matter of time. I see the APC taking over power in Plateau State before the end of this tenure.
In what way?
We are in the Tribunal, and we have a very good case. With what the lawyers have put in and with the competence of the Tribunal, we believe that something is coming out for our party there.
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