Last week, the Northern Elders Forum asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for failing to provide security in the country. The forum made the demand in a statement by its spokesperson, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. In this interview with MAYOWA SAMUEL, Baba-Ahmed further explains the reasons for the call and sets an agenda for whoever wants to take over the Aso Villa in 2023.
Last February, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, a former aide to Governor Umar Ganduje, was arrested by the DSS for criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari over the spate of insecurity in the country. A few other critics have faced this as well. Aren’t you worried about being persecuted or arrested by the government, particularly the DSS, over your call for the president’s resignation?
Calling on the president to resign is not a crime. It’s not incitement, it’s not subversion, it’s the exercise of the constitutional right of every citizen, particularly, if you have good reasons for making that kind of recommendation. So, no, I’m not afraid of being arrested. Bad as the country is, I don’t think we have descended to that level where the exercise of the right by citizens amounts to grounds of being arrested. No, I’m not afraid.
Reports emerged recently that the Nigerian Army intercepted N60 million cash, petroleum products and sophisticated weapons which were meant for ransom to free kidnapped victims of the Kaduna train attack. Do you support the payment of ransom by families to kidnappers, especially when the government hasn’t been forthcoming about securing the release of kidnapped victims?
Well, I’ll have to answer your question with a lot more information. The way to deal with this issue, which is getting worse by the day, is to look at all other options available to the government, none of which should fundamentally threaten the security of the state more than it is doing, and then to act on them. We must avoid a situation where the government is left with only one option and is not willing to look at other options, and those options that the government chooses are not yielding any results. I’m in favour of dialogue where necessary, I’ve been involved, on behalf of the government, in dialogue with Boko Haram many years ago. I believe that when you are dealing with a security challenge, if you are willing, you should look at all the options available to you. I don’t believe in one track strategy, the military itself says that it is helping in a symmetrical warfare which suggests that even the military itself says they cannot win this war in a conventional way. So, there’s nothing wrong in looking at the problem and then looking at other options. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I think a government needs to be broad minded, proactive and flexible with the way it does this.
After the train attack, Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai threatened to hire foreign mercenaries if the government continues to fail to provide security, particularly in his state. What are your thoughts on this?
I think Governor El-Rufai was just talking. He knew first of all that he doesn’t have the powers to hire any mercenary in the country. He might have been playing to a gallery which means he’s extremely scared, exasperated, frustrated at the failure of this government to do anything. He might have actually been trying to undermine and compound the problem of the centre, his own party, his own president, by showing how incompetent this administration is. Bringing in mercenaries into a country is a very serious issue and it’s not the kind of thing you even contemplate because Governor El-Rufai knows his limitations and his constitutional responsibilities. If governors are worried about the security situation of this country, especially APC governors, who are trying to look for ways in which they can recreate themselves, they should work with President Buhari and see if they can get him to accept, in the first place, that there are serious problems relating to security in this country, then give him advice on what he should do, that is what they should be doing, not making this kind of threats that they will bring in mercenaries.
In one of the videos posted by the terrorists, while they were parading their victims, they said that the government knows what they are demanding for. Many say what they are demanding for is the release of their detained leader who was arrested by security forces. What do you think the government should do in this case?
Well, I’m not privy to some of the more confidential issues relating to, if there is, any relationship between the government and the people who are unfortunately holding on to fellow citizens. What I should say is that we need to get those people out as quickly as possible, and we need to explore all legal and effective means of freeing them. Beyond that, if speaking with these people who are threatening our lives and homes, on the roads, farmlands or wherever, is likely to yield dividends, then talk with them, find out what they want. If there are things that can be done, let’s do it. We cannot continue to live like this, armed criminals gaining more and more incursions into our lives and our government is simply just saying nothing, going after them, threatening them, that’s not good enough. We cannot live like this for one more year under President Buhari’s administration, with people running for their lives, dying in the hands of criminals, being raped, assaulted, kidnapped, this is not the leadership we voted to power, that is what we were saying. We voted for a man, an administration to secure us and if that administration has failed to secure us for seven years, please resign, so that we don’t continue to live in fear till your final days are counted. That was the whole point about this.
“We cannot live like this for one more year under President Buhari’s administration, with people running for their lives, dying in the hands of criminals, being raped, assaulted, kidnapped, this is not the leadership we voted to power, that is what we were saying. We voted for a man, an administration to secure us
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If a retired general in President Buhari who people should be confident will swiftly address this insecurity because of his antecedents as a former military head of state, couldn’t do so, do you think a civilian who has never been a military man, if he becomes president, will be able to solve this insecurity?
If you read our statement, we didn’t only come out to say the president should resign. We also warned all these thirty something people coming forward to say they want to be president, that Nigerians have learnt a lesson from President Buhari’s seven years in office. We’ll now be a lot more discerning and critical, in terms of whom we will trust in future. If you are not really committed to the security and welfare of the citizens of this country, don’t come anywhere near power. Nigerians know better, we will not vote for someone simply on sentiments, not anymore. We are looking for competent, strong, courageous people, people who actually are concerned about the welfare, safety and security of our people. Don’t just say you want to be president, if you just want to be a president, then, it has to be in another country. This country needs a real and strong leader, somebody who can offer leadership to all the institutions of defense and security. Somebody who can give citizens cover, provide a conducive atmosphere for us to earn a living, not the same thing that we went through in the last seven years. That’s what we are saying to all these people coming out to say I want to be president, that if you want to be president in Nigeria, then go back and get ready because Nigerians will not just vote for you because of your ethnic group or because you have money or because of your religion, no, we are going beyond that.
Among those people that have come out to say they want to be president, Bola Tinubu said he wants to become president because it has been his lifelong ambition. Osinbajo said he’s running for president to complete what Buhari started. Some aspirants from the South East say they want to be president because it’s the turn of their region. From your judgment, are these reasons good enough for Nigerians to vote for them?
The only person good enough for Nigerians to trust should be someone who wants to lead Nigeria because he wants to offer service, not because he wants to satisfy a personal ambition, a kind of person who knows what the problem is and knows how to find the solution, the kind of person who is willing to submit himself to Nigerians and not treat Nigerians as if he’s doing them a favour by becoming president.
In the midst of the kidnapping of the train passengers by terrorists, individuals who should feel saddled with finding a solution on the matter like the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi declared to become president. Morally speaking, what are your thoughts on these pair declaring for presidency while efforts to secure the release of these kidnapped victims weren’t forthcoming?
I will tell you that Nigerians are not angels, everything that is going on, we are watching. I think politicians who think they can take Nigerians for a ride are finished. Anybody who is responsible for what our lives have become in the last seven years is going to pay a huge price to convince us that he’s a different person.
You called for the president’s resignation, and you also just said anybody who has responsibility for what our lives have become in the last seven years, is going to pay a huge price to convince us that he’s a different person. If President Buhari resigns, the constitution provides that the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who is one of those you may be referring to, is to take over. Will you be in support of him in this regard?
We don’t have a choice. If the president stops being president, the vice president steps in. He can’t pick who he wants, we don’t have a choice. He cannot remain there forever. The concern of every Nigerian is to see tomorrow, to see food on the table, to see an end to these killings and this violence that is going on all over the country every single day.
Finally, last year, Rev. Father Mbaka was suspended by the Catholic Church for criticizing President Buhari during his sermon in his church. You must have also recently heard about the sacking of an Abuja Imam, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid by the council of the mosque where he was preaching, for also criticizing President Buhari. How do you react to this sort of intimidation of religious leaders from speaking the truth and being on the side of the people?
Not all the clergy speak the truth. A lot of the clergy just simply jump on this and use it to make money, so don’t paint the clergy in any good light. The truth about it is that many members of the clergy were responsible for the creation of the bad leadership we are suffering from. So, I don’t want to say anything about this beyond the fact that if a member of the clergy who is in the service of God, compromises his or her position for political reasons, there will be the judgment of God. If there is no judgment from man, there will be the judgment of God. If he’s not afraid of God, then people will soon know that he’s just there for money.
