Salisu Matori is a senator who represented Bauchi South in the National Assembly between 1999 and 2003. In this interview with RAUF OYEWOLE, spoke about the economic crisis inherited by the Tinubu-led administration, how Nigeria can utilise its resources to create employment for teeming youths, and common task of rescuing the country from the doldrums.
The Tinubu-led administration came to power on the mantra of ‘Renewed Hope’. Have you seen hope in this journey?
In my opinion, you cannot quickly give an assessment without analysing and bringing into focus the development leading to this current situation, which will enable us to understand the complexities of governance.
Looking at it from my point of view, you can definitely say, yes, there is hope. One of the important achievements that we have seen, despite all the challenges, is relative peace. Relative peace in the sense that we have gone through thick and thin to arrive at where we are today. Despite Boko Haram and different kinds of terror groups that have wreaked havoc on this nation, we are still able to survive it, and we are making progress towards bringing insecurity to the barest minimum level.
Are you saying this government has achieved something tangible about insecurity, even with the Lakurawa terrorist group killing and maiming in the Northwest?
Frankly speaking, the issue of insecurity is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. What is happening in Nigeria is happening in other countries, especially our neighbours. In fact, the entire world is engulfed in one form of insecurity or the other. Those of us who travel can tell you the model of this global mood. It is not what it used to be five or 10 years ago. It is unbelievable.
In the United Kingdom, France and the United States, the current security challenges they are facing, make ours look like a child’s play. But we thank God, in spite of all this, we are able to achieve the little that can make us sleep. We should not underestimate what this government has achieved by improving security in the land.
As a politician, would you say that the current administration is doing enough about the people’s welfare?
For you to arrive at a meaningful position on this issue, you must understand that whether we like it or not, whether we are in support of the current administration or not, we have to take into account the difficult situation this government inherited. Nigerians should understand the state of our economy and what is being done to solve the challenges. It is not something that started yesterday, it is something that has been incubating over a very reasonable period of time.
I don’t want to sound as if I’m trying to create a defense for the administration. On the day of the inauguration, the first statement by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove the subsidy, which some people are claiming is the genesis of our current economic situation, is not true. The Nigerian economy had been surviving on artificial respiratory organs and we just got a doctor with the right diagnosis and prescription to cure the ailment. We will succeed.
Do you think that the decision to remove the subsidy was timely?
Most Nigerians hold the opinion that the President should have studied the situation while in office before taking the decision instead of announcing it on the day of his inauguration. Many people said he was too overzealous about it. But we all know that Nigeria cannot continue to subsidise fuel with our increasing debt profile, which is affecting infrastructural development in Nigeria.
But unfortunately, most average Nigerians on the street do not understand the intricacies of how the economy works. So, you must understand why they are complaining but the country cannot continue lamenting, we need practical solutions and we must salute the courage of the President for being realistic in his approach to finding solutions to the crisis.
You see, one of the major challenges we have is that we play politics with everything, even the best of policies are politicised. Unfortunately, political elites that are supposed to explain issues to the common man are the ones misleading them by painting good policies bad to gain political advantage. And that will not help us.
All right-thinking people who love this country will agree with me that instead of lamentations and accusations that bring bitter arguments, which are not supposed to be on the plate. But they expect Nigerians to swallow it hook, line, and sinker. That is not correct. We need to think better and proffer solutions.
Frankly speaking, I pity this administration and I sympathise with them for reaping what they did not sow. You cannot come and say to me that somebody who fought for election and won would want to occupy an office simply to punish his people. It might have happened in the history books, but in the present circumstances, it is not right. Instead of condemning various administrations, we should tarry for a while and join hands to solve problems facing us as a country.
The solution definitely will not come overnight but it will come. That’s one thing we should all believe in. You see, on many occasions I wanted to speak on national issues, but one thing that frightens me mostly is that the minority that are very vocal will attack you for not seeing issues from their perspectives. Some are incurable pessimists about Nigeria and there is nothing we can do about them.
I am using this opportunity to appeal to my fellow Nigerians to understand that it is not good to talk down on our country. We need serious and sustained orientation about how to be patriotic and love our country. What happens in other countries is worse but they don’t talk down on their country. We should appeal to our elites and the intelligentsia to do more in contributing to nation building.
As I said earlier, every single issue is misinterpreted with either political or religious lens. This will not help us. It is time for us to come together to salvage our nation through constructive criticism. Democracy all over the world thrives with constructive criticism, and we will be happy to see that in Nigeria.
You won’t understand that the previous administration spent eight years in office but some people did not see anything good in that administration because it did not serve their personal interest. That’s not fair.
As a Senator between 1999 and 2003, do you think members of the National Assembly are doing enough now to cut down the cost of governance?
Things have significantly changed from when I was in the National Assembly. One would be happy if those changes are for the good of the country especially considering financial aspects as it relates to cost of governance. I can vouch for my colleagues that we served together. We all came to serve Nigeria. We came to salvage what was destroyed. We came with the intention of making sacrifices for our country after many years of military incursion into politics.
I will give you an example. My salary as a Senator was N13,000. That’s what we started with, but we were also receiving allowances for the driver, and security man because at that time, we did not carry about policemen with guns and everything. What are we going to be afraid of? That is how it was then. By the time we were leaving office in 2003, all the allowances came to N700,000, with about 11 staff to pay. Some analysts said we performed excellently at that time. So, I am not casting aspersions on the current legislature, but I am only telling you historical facts. Apart from the legislature, the executive also has to critically look at the cost of governance and prune it down to fit the current economic realities.
What is your opinion about the recently created regional development commissions?
Well, it depends on how we look at it. Sometimes various governments say something, then in the next five minutes they forget it. They are suffering from dementia. Take, for example, when I was in the Senate, one of the major programmes that I set for myself was the Coastal Oil Exploration in what we call Inland Frontiers. And in these Inland Frontiers here in the Northeast, we have the Chad Basin and Kolmani River. We did everything humanly possible to make it possible. I was here when President Muhammadu Buhari came twice to Kolmani River to launch and commission different wells that have been drilled. And they told the gathering that before the end of the year 2022, we were going to have three industries. One is going to be a modular refinery to utilise the crude from that place. The second one is the fertiliser industry while the third was chemical energy. He said that energy will be available, cheap, and deforestation will be reduced to the barest minimum because alternative energy is provided. This came from our president and we believed him. But 20 months after, nothing has happened.
God has given this nation, in fact, each local government resources to develop, which are not tapped. When people are talking sometimes, you don’t blame them because they are speaking their mind but we don’t walk the talk.
Look at our youth, how they are roaming the streets, and we speak about unemployment when God has endowed us with enough resources to create jobs for them. Let’s charge our government to think and act properly. By doing so, they will reduce the rate of unemployment and crime in Nigeria.
Another major thing that is baffling any right-thinking person is that we are so greedy. Everybody wants to grab, grab and grab. Nobody is interested in producing but consuming imported goods. During our days, we say, eat what you produce and produce what you eat. We must work hard to create the necessary wealth for our teeming population. Look at our population, it has grown to an unprecedented level. What are we going to do with these young people who are roaming the streets? If we don’t stop it now, you may end up with a very serious problem in the future. And the only way you would do it, in my view, I’m not an economist, but I heard economists speaking from time to time, let us create an environment where our youth will be gainfully employed.
