A former Air Officer Commanding, Training Command of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Femi Gbadebo, in this interview with ADELEKE ADESANYA, laments the Nigerian situation, in which certain actions far removed from the personality traits of President Muhammadu Buhari are taking place in government circles. This situation, he says, may be because some people have hijacked presidential authorities. Gbadebo also speaks on the embattled Inspector General of Police, the IPOB, the Boko Haram menace, and the ‘Mainagate’ scandal. Excerpts:
The Zimbabwean military has taken over the government from President Robert Mugabe. As a military expert, what is your immediate reaction?
The situation is that we still have to wait for a formal declaration to know exactly what had happened. When such a thing happens, you make room for dialogue and change. Until the final details are out, we will not know whether the military is there to stay or not.
Their Chief of Army Staff said they took the action in order to flush out the corrupt people in government. What is your position on this?
Until the picture is clear, we cannot conclude. When we have a system like what has run in that country for so long, even before the military are compromised, they cannot claim to be better than the officials they are talking about. So if they are taking over, let them say they are taking over and if not, I really don’t understand what they are doing.
And you remember what happened in Guinea when the military took over. So if you don’t put your house in order before you start something like that, it will backfire. That is why I am saying they really need to see clearly so that they won’t be permanently condemned.
What, I think, happens in most cases is that, those who are not even fit to be in certain positions are the ones often appointed by the President. Meanwhile, most of them do not share his dreams for this country, and they all have ulterior motives and are ruining his government gradually
What lesson do you think should be learned from what happened in Zimbabwe?
Nigerian politicians really need to take a cue from all the political events happening around the world.
Likewise, people should start learning to defend their rights. When people in power think they are totally in control, they take the masses for granted too much, and that is what is happening in Nigeria right now.
I think Nigeria really needs to start to learn. Our citizens should stand for their rights and it is not about getting down to Abuja or Port-Harcourt; it is about making those representatives, whether in the House of Representatives or Senate, in your area, accountable. When those representatives come under pressure, they will begin to take the message back to Abuja and they will begin to call themselves to order. It is for people in power to know that we are no longer fools; we know what is going on. And we can make life uncomfortable for them.
Looking at the state of things in Nigeria – strikes, massive job loss, corruption, injustice, abuse of power, among others, which have lingered for long, don’t you think some people may start thinking of what happened in Zimbabwe?
Like I always say, we all need to embrace the idea of ‘change begins with me’. If we understand that the real change has to begin with the individual, then what happened in Zimbabwe won’t occur in Nigeria. Unfortunately, some people don’t even believe that change should begin with them and that is where the problem lies. Until we all begin to do the right thing, we cannot fault that public official at the top for whatever he or she does, perceiving him to be wrong.
That is why I am saying that most people, as long as their brother or sister is in office, whether he or she is doing something wrong or not does not count. They don’t see anything wrong with his wrongdoing. That is why the fight against corruption is very difficult because you will find people supporting someone, who is corrupt, simply because he or she is from their area.
The people at the top are comfortable. So the issue is, are they really fighting for the masses? Each time they go for vacation, they come back smiling while the masses are at the receiving end. So we should sit down and think. It is not the amount of money you give to workers in Nigeria that will solve their problems; it is providing some services that are affordable and true, like sound education, good health care delivery system and effective transportation.
You once said that the structure in our military now will not give room for coup to take place in Nigeria. But in the event of extreme bad leadership, don’t you see the military wanting to come back?
No, the military are not there to rule. What is there is that, it is the people that are being taken for granted. The kind of thing you see happening in Zimbabwe now is that, if a group of military wants to do something, it is more of a survival move. If you go back to the history of coups in Nigeria, you will find out that any time we have a coup, the leadership of the military is more of a survivalist’s, where they will realise that if they don’t do something, the younger ones will come in and when they come in, it is always violent, because they believe they have to get rid of the senior people who they think may become problems for them. What happened in Zimbabwe is not really a coup, it is an organised take-over of power from someone who has refused to let go for over four decades.
On the issue of IPOB, some people have condemned the Federal Government for proscribing the group. Are you for the proscription?
The Point I want to make here is that, the people that are now speaking in condemnation of the government action, where were they when Nnamdi Kanu was doing what he was doing? You see, even sometimes when you think it is convenient to do something like that and it backfires, you say someone is frustrating you. The IPOB, having come under this situation, need to restructure. They need to put their house in order. Even as we are speaking, the boys in Enugu are the ones fired up by Kanu. So they are the ones still acting as militants and saying there will be no election and all the rest. So they need to get their house in order to really know exactly what their actions are and what they stand to achieve in the Nigerian nation. They need to first declare what they want and when they want to change the battle.
Left to me, if government had handled their case very well, they should have been like the Oodua Peoples Congress and others, knowing when to be useful to maintain law and order; or they can even transmute to a vigilance group.
Some Nigerians are of the opinion that the killer Fulani herdsmen should also be proscribed and declared as a terrorist group by the Federal Government, if the IPOB could be so proscribed.
Well, the IPOB has a clear leadership that is now in transition. They are volatile people out to cause confusion and make the society ungovernable. There is a difference between the Fulani herdsmen and the Meyatti Allah. Meyatti Allah is an organised group of Fulani leadership that comes out and negotiates on issues, and continues to prevent non-violence people. Meanwhile, the Fulani herdsmen are not with clear leadership. They are bandits that are killing people around the country. Most of them are said to be Chadians that sneaked into the country. They never had a spokesman. In fact, we have yet to confirm whether they are a spillover of Boko Haram or the said Chadians bandits.
On the Boko Haram that you just mentioned, Nigerians are currently bothered over the resurgence of the group. What is the way out?
You see, the issue with Boko Haram is that they had been left for too long before we started giving them attention. They are just like a wound left for a long time before being attended to. These people we are dealing with are of different localities. They are not a group. What is disturbing about them is, where do they have sponsors? Where do they see the arms with them? And all these are indications that something is wrong somewhere in our government.
Like President Buhari has said, that corruption is fighting back, we all see that the case has to do with some people who benefit from the situation. They sponsored the situation so that they can have their ways at various levels. Although, the government and the military are not relaxing on the situation, because if you compare the situation now with how it was in the last three years when Goodluck Jonathan was president, you will understand what I am saying.
Then, there was no security in the regions. The Boko Haram men could just surface and take over a whole community; we are not witnessing that anymore. What they are doing presently is now suicide bombing with one or two people. I know it is not good to have people dying when you have the bomb exploded, but the reality is this: you cannot compare what is happening now with what obtained then.
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has been battling with Senator Misau, as the senator raked up many allegations of misconduct against the IG. What is your take on the issue?
Both of them should have been called to order before now. But with the allegations flying around, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission can look into Misau’s case. Though the IGP is too big for them to probe, the Police Service Commission can also probe and question him, and if he is found wanting, then he should be dealt with, because that means he doesn’t deserve the office.
But already, the President is said to be shopping for a replacement for the IGP. Do you think this is connected with the allegations before him?
I think that is not connected with the IGP’s feud with Misau. We have this unfortunate situation in our law where people get into office with a year or two to their retirement. And once they get to the age, it is either they are retired or given a year extension. Whatever happens, we have not had an IGP that has spent more than three years or so.
And this is not good for this country. If we really want to help this country, we need to beg the President to shop for people who have longer years to go so that they can serve well because, when you get to an office, it may take you a year to settle down and study the whole situation. You can imagine a situation that, after a year in office, you are just retired. It will definitely affect the situation in the country. There will not be total and adequate improvement as needed. For instance, if you look at corporate organisations, like banks and others, nobody retires as Chief Executive in two years. In the first year, he is settling down; second year, he is coming out to execute plans. And you will now retire him? Then the company will always be in problems.
On Maina’s case, we can see some people in Buhari’s cabinet also appear culpable, while the family of Maina said he was working with the DSS before he was recalled to his office. What is your perception about the whole situation?
There are problems in the Presidency. There are some people who are above the President and it has also shown. Maina has never worked alone. A situation whereby someone who is just an assistant director is now given a parastatal status to be handling much billions of naira is not good for the country. Maybe it is better that the government brings in experts from outside – people that can handle big money and bring them into the institution. What, I think, happens in most cases is that, those who are not even fit to be in certain positions are the ones often appointed by the President. Meanwhile, most of them do not share his dreams for this country, and they all have ulterior motives and are ruining his government
gradually.
