Professor Oluremi Sonaiya was Nigeria’s only female presidential candidate in the 2015 general elections. She was the standard bearer of the KOWA Party. In this interview with ADELEKE ADESANYA, she argues that old politicians, who have been recycling themselves in the Nigerian political space for decades, should be flushed out to give room for people with new ideas, if the country wants to move forward. She also advises Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State to apologise to LAUTECH students over his recent altercation with them. She also speaks on other raging national issues. Excerpts:
The incidence of kidnapping seems to have worsened and taken a more dangerous dimension in Nigeria in recent times, especially with schools becoming the targets of the kidnap gangs. What do you think government should do to check this dangerous development?
Though I am not a security expert, I know that the case is a perturbing one in the country presently and, of course, a lot of security experts have been attending to it. But I will say that it is time schools management, parents and government looked into creating a more secure learning environment for students of all categories in this country, especially now that the kidnappers have shifted their focus to educational institutions across the nation.
There should be adequate introduction of security measures to protect students and staff’s lives. For instance, in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, there have been the introduction of new security control measures, which were not there before, and all these put the whole citadel of learning on alert. So, I think the major thing is to create a serious awareness on this ugly development in the media, so that people will be mindful of their immediate environment for security purpose. Also, it is high time schools had to think beyond having an ordinary gateman and CCTV. They need to approach security experts to help them to ensure adequate and technical security in their environment so that the issues like those at the NTIC and others do not happen again.
You were one of the people, who believe that President Muhammadu Buharis’s charisma would help put Nigeria in good shape. But now that the country has been in great hardship under his administration, what do you think is wrong with his style of governance?
Well, for one thing, I believe that those in position of authority are the number one problem this country is having. Buhari as a leader is not the issue here but the people in government with him. Even the remuneration that people that are in government are getting is unjust and unfair. What are the National Assembly members doing that they cart away so much money? Why should they be paid so much money monthly? Though I cannot say this is what their monthly allowance is, I heard that it runs into hundreds of millions of Naira and even more. Imagine, what good they are they doing to this country for them to be having such huge amount of money at the expense of the poor people in this country? That is not fair, and that condemns the rest of us to poverty. Nobody has the right to earn such money for himself, even as a president or whatever big position you may hold. So, we must seriously deal with issues like this if we want this country to move forward.
On the other hand, I will say it is time we started thinking of ways to block ways through which our money is stolen by our politicians. You can imagine that most of them, because of their selfish interest, hype the cost of projects for their benefits while some of them will give the projects to the contractor that will also pay them part of the money in return. And at the end what we have is poorly executed projects; meanwhile there is no economy in the world with all these malpractices that will be balanced. Look at the amount of money we have spent on power supply in this country and yet our electricity is still epileptic. These are the issues we need to confront, if the country will move forward.
There are speculations about a proposed mega party to challenge the ruling APC and the party is expected to emerge from an agglomeration of the various political parties in the country. How do you see this, and is KOWA party a part of the forces behind this political realignment?
I cannot unilaterally take any decision for Kowa Party, but I can categorically tell you that Kowa Party will not be in alliance with anybody, because our ideology is to build a political party that is totally different from those of the polluted set of politicians that are coming together to pursue their selfish interest always. We are looking at building a political party that will present to the people a true democracy, a party that will produce candidates that will serve the people without the interference of any godfather, a political party that is devoid of moneybags, imposition of candidates and all that. So, if we join these people, how do we achieve that? They will definitely kill our dream and hijack the platform. We want a true democratic political party that will have the interest of the people at heart. We can’t keep doing things in the same way and expect a positive change. So, I will say if the Mega Party is going to be populated by the same politicians that have been recycling themselves in different political parties in the country over a long time, then it will not help this country. I am saying this because I know that the party will be full of the same set of politicians, whose primary objective is to take over power at all cost and enrich their pockets. For me, I don’t see the Mega Party as the messiah that will save this country. What new idea do they have for this country? Who are the people there? Are they not the same set of people that we know in Nigerian politics?
What then do you think could change Nigerian politics for the good of the people?
I hope Nigerians will one day come to the conclusion to chase out all these old politicians that have deceived us for decades, with their votes and usher in a new set of people with good ideology to move us forward. And I believe that now is even the time. Nigerians ought to have known that this set of people have nothing to offer us, except enslaving us and impoverishing the people. It is time they are flushed out of Nigerian politics for new people with good ideas that will help us. And this fight can be achieved with the support of the media and other relevant stakeholders.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State recently had an altercation with the students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology over their school that was closed for about a session. How do you see the governor’s reaction to the students’ agitation?
This is part of the change in our political culture that Kowa Party believes should be worked on. The elected people are servants of the people, who should serve the public; not that they will get to power and start acting as dictators. There is no reason an elected person like the governor should assume a picture of arrogance and talk down on people who elected you. He got it all wrong. And that is why we are saying that Kowa Party is seeking to be a party that will be in line with best political culture. It is a pity that such things happen. And if I were the one that said what I should not have with annoyance, I don’t see reason why I cannot apologise to the student. So, if he too deems it fit to apologise, there is nothing bad in that because nobody is perfect. The governor should call the students and mend fences with them. But my concern is that even if that is done, will it be from his heart, because our people play politics with virtually everything. But be that as it may, I think he should apologise to the students.
We can’t keep doing things in the same way and expect a positive change. So, I will say if the Mega Party is going to be populated by the same politicians that have been recycling themselves in different political partiesww over a long time, then it will not help this country
Recently Nigerian lawmakers proposed a bill for a law that would empower them to jail ministers who disobey them. Is this a right step in the right direction?
Do the lawmakers themselves not deserve to be disciplined? Let those of them at the National Assembly lead with example. Are the law makers holier? We all see their deeds, and we know their worth. They should let the discipline begin with themselves before they think of applying it to other people. Let them put their house in order. Apart from that, let everybody who does wrong pay for it, be it minister, legislator, judiciary and the rest. You see, one of the major challenges we have in this country is that people commit crime and get away with it. And this is one of the issues Buhari’s government is facing. All the people they have been trying for corrupt practices, who amongst them has been convicted? Not until I see people being jailed, I will not see seriousness in the fight against corruption. So, the lawmakers should lead by example.
