Author of Obama: First African American President: Successful Timing, Shehu Bankole-Hameed, is the national chairman of the Team Prosper platform, a grassroots support organisation for President Bola Tinubu. In this interview by KUNLE ODEREMI, he speaks on the ongoing mobilisation by some aggrieved youths for the planned protest, the reform programme of the Tinubu administration, performance of the president’s ministers, among other issues: Excerpts:
HOW do you see the ongoing plan by the youth to hit the streets over the hardship arising from the various economic policies and reforms initiated by the administration of President Bola Tinubu?
In any democracy, the right to expression is fundamental to the success of any government that practises it, this expression is guided by the rules of the law as contained in the constitution in the case of Nigeria. So, ordinarily, the youth have an inalienable right to peaceful demonstration. To narrow it down to economic hardship is also a laudable one; there is an abundance of such by our past leaders; some of whom are in the current administration. The toughest part is: will anything be achieved by the chosen “economic” hardship and to tie it to bad governance? The first reaction is to suggest that the motive is hijacking the governance space, simply put, advocating coup or civil unrest that leads to uncontrollable violence.
Some individuals are insinuating that the protest is the handiwork of certain forces in the ranks of the opposition to rattle Mr President and his government. Others claim the protest is unnecessary because it can cause further dislocation and disruption in the polity, just as other people said the exercise is necessary because of the perceived lethargy of the government to public outcry over economic frustration among Nigerians. Don’t you believe the protest could have been avoided, in the first place, if the authorities had been proactive and dynamic following public outcry over economic policies and reforms at all levels of government and governance?
The term proactive is suggesting that the government hasn’t done anything to get the attention of the guys planning on bringing mayhem upon the law-abiding citizens, in particular those of us living in Lagos metropolis and that of Abuja. I disagree. Many ongoing efforts of this present administration have been woefully ignored or underreported by the aides of the president and the nation’s media. The increase in monthly allocation to the state governments, the palliatives-distribution of rice, grains and monetary intervention funds, all have gone with whimpers. You may say that the administration has itself to blame for not being more communicative as expected. The truth is that equity and fairness demand that the state governments acknowledge their own receipts and give account of the utilisation. Maybe Niger and Borno plus Lagos states have mentioned or actually indicated that they received various intervention funds and support from the Presidency, but three out of 36 states are extremely poor. I suspect that the administration’s response to the opaque nature of reporting by the various state governors made it turn to the court for the determination of financial independence of the local governments in order to ensure that its efforts to give succour to the citizens get to them.
There are is no doubt that the country is going through, perhaps, the most critical challenge in the last few decades, with the basic things of life almost priced out of the reach of the man on the street. The view of some citizens is that there is no significant impact of government at any level so far. According to some analysts, the president seems to be overwhelmed by the gamut of the challenges facing the economy, and indeed, in all the critical sectors and that his approach in addressing them appears suspect, ineffectual and effective. To what extent is this true?
Reflecting on my response to the immediate past question, it is clear that the president has an adequate grasp of the situation and he is responding to the situation as economically advisable as the international multiplicity of factors would accommodate. I would give the president a pass mark. Now many members of his team are non-existent as you may imagine. Maybe that resonates negatively in the public space.
What are those things or steps you believe ought to have been taken by the federal government but which it ignored that has led to the current bedlam and planned protest?
Honestly, I’m of the opinion that many of the people who hold ministerial positions in this present government have not lived up to expectation. Unfortunately, many have also been accused of blatant corruption with little or no real consequences.
As the leader of a powerful group and caucus of pro-Tinubu presidency, are you not worried that the country appears to sink down the abyss after the much-vilified Buhari administration for alleged ineptitude, rhetoric and laissez faire attitude? Why and how?
Well, if one is to pay attention to the market space, the story is ugly. Yet the planned efforts and purposeful execution of many programmes, even as these aren’t given the due attention and media presence, will eventually make noticeable impact in the coming months. If you want to know, we recorded trade surplus, a first in recent history of Nigeria and we have an improved balance of payment position in the international arena.
As an integral part of the ruling elite, given your current role and status within the political space, how would you describe, rationalise and situate the prevailing state of the nation?
We are part of an international community that is experiencing inflationary trend due to the underlying consequences of long recovery from COVID-19, the war in Ukraine and the blockage due to the Israeli military operations in Gaza and the response by Houthis of Yemen in the Red Sea, which significantly impacts maritime trade. Also, we note that the last administration did make it clear that we were utilising over 95 percent of our revenue for debt servicing, with very little left for any real investment in infrastructure and other social amenities. Clearly, then, we were borrowing to pay wages.
The authorities at different levels have suddenly become jittery over the planned protest by the youth: federal and state top functionaries, as well as the traditional institution appear apprehensive thus the frenzied move to douse tension and apprehension across the board. Why do you think all the influential leaders are catching cold over what is allowed under the law, including the United Nations Convention and the African Union charter, to name just two?
You don’t need me to answer this question. Please refer to Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and more. It is not rocket science to deduce that uncontrollable, rudderless, ghost leadership of the demonstrators led to disastrous consequences. May I ask you, if you would be glad to see the Boko Haram alliance with the rebels of Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Biafran agitation, as the planned “revolution” spins out of control?
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