CULLED FROM NEWSHEREANDTHERE MAGAZINE
Former Senator Ekiti North Senatorial District, Ayo Arise in this interview on Arise TV focused on the review of Nigeria’s 27 years of democratic experience and other major political issues in the land.
Adewumi Ademiju monitored the process and brings the report:
Dissection and assessment of the Democracy Day speech by President Bola Tinubu as to the hope it conveys to Nigerians regarding the importance of 27 years of unbroken democracy and the celebration And, secondly the issue of internal democracy.
In 27 years, how will you say that internal democracy has defined the type of democracy that we have today? Given that you sought to return to the Senate, but internal politics and the just-concluded primary elections denied you, are you satisfied with that and with what has happened, and do you think that that is what is defining internal democracy across board in Nigeria today?
The Democracy Day speech of Mr. President in every ramification deserves an A-plus grading, not that it covered everything or that it has satisfied everybody, but it struck the chord, you know, in every way possible. And the attention to Chief MKO Abiola, it’s very well deserved.
He sort of woke us up in Nigeria, to the fact that, we are one nation, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s religion or ethnicity, that we can decide to define ourselves and define our future, and that was very well displayed during the election of Chief MKO Abiola, that was later aborted, and that is why we are here today. The speech of Chief MKO Abiola, that is what resulted in all the protests, unfortunately, we lost him, after incarceration, and in his attempt to actually reclaim his mandate. I looked at the speech, it’s a speech of encouragement to Nigeria, and it’s a speech of reality, to let us know that things just don’t happen as quickly as we expect.
A number of individuals who are trying to build a house will know that it doesn’t happen in six months. Some houses will take one year, two years, and all that, depending on a lot of challenges that will come up along the line. But in terms of laying the foundation for an enduring democracy, I think the President of Nigeria actually did very well, you know, to showcase some of his achievements, and some of the things that he has planned for the growth and development of this country.
I think most of the challenges will not be left to us, on how we decide, to embrace the good sides of this, and not introduce all these negative things that we still keep on experiencing in terms of democracy. And also, in terms of the choice of who represents our people, and the real practice of democracy as it should be. As far as I’m concerned, Mr. President challenged many of us, and I’m one of those who have been his fan, and I think he has not disappointed in any way.
That’s my short intro on that. The other side of the question when we talk about internal democracy, it’s a very big challenge. It’s one thing for us to have a constitution.
It’s another thing for people to try to circumvent. The constitution, or the guidelines for any election. That was demonstrated in no small measure. You know, when I tried to come back through the primaries, because I knew what was in the pipeline.
So I wanted to prove a point. It would be a shame if some of us pass through this country, and we do not have a voice to correct the anomalies, and let people know that if you want to practice democracy, let us practice it. It’s a different kettle of fish altogether.
The experience that I got during the primaries, I really do not want to overbeat that, because I believe the chairman of the party has spoken with Mr. President, and I think they are looking at all the challenges,and I’m sure those of us who worked and who won our elections will be given our mandates. So for me, I don’t know. I’ve not been talking to, I’m not lobbying, but I put the facts on the table. I have presented to those people reviewing the election.
So I believe we have good binding in this country, and we’ll do what is right. Moving forward, we should put some guidelines in place to ensure that people do not misunderstand democracy to mean a person in power, to be appointing people to different places.
We want to showcase the best in our country, and we want to show that we understand what democracy is all about.
We want to see who are the people that the community people or those voters really want to represent them. So I would say there might be, there will be some changes, and this practice is an ongoing learning process, and I believe things will continue to improve as we move on. There are so many things that have improved in the past 27 years in terms of the electoral process.
So we have to give kudos to those that have fine-tuned some of the processes, and as we discover problems, people respond to them.
And I believe more than anybody else, our president has been very proactive in terms of facing some of these challenges and working on it and ensuring that corrections are made before too late. And so as far as the internal democracy, we didn’t put a lot of emphasis on the parties as concerned.
We still have quite a distance to cover but I believe that will continue to improve on a daily, quarterly, or yearly basis. And of course, our constitution, which has been tickled a little bit now, the federalism is going to start taking its root in fact, it has started very well under this president.
You originally became a member of this Senate in 2007, nearly 20 years ago, and you recently tried to return to the Senate. Is democracy in Nigeria working as it should? Are regular citizens getting the dividends of democracy, or are we watching the elite class pass the baton between each other? Some people now argue that the Senate has become a retirement home for ex-governors, and it seems that Nigerians are seeing the same names and the same family names recycled since we came back to democracy in 1999?.
The issue of the governance is still a major problem in terms of even attempting to go to the Senate. Even when you are not contesting or competing against them, if you are not their favored candidate, the chances of you making it is a little bit very challenging. But why is it so? It’s because governance and the political office in Nigeria has been now looked at as a source of building incredible wealth, rather than, industrialists or people who use their brain to develop so many things that makes life very easy for people.
And those are the ones that we know are successful. There are trillionaires in the world, billionaires all over. But in Nigeria, it’s a different case.
When a person becomes a governor, somehow, the money coming for the commonwealth that should be used for everybody, accessible part of it is actually cornered and annexed by those people. So for you to want to unseat a governor who wants to go to the Senate is a very difficult task. And that’s because the quantum of money that they have at their disposal, which is actually the public money, is very worrisome.
So I do not know how we’re going to get that one off unless people are able to work very hard and become worthy and be able to face them squarely on the field. Otherwise, apart from the fact that there is something they now call a system. I’ve never heard of that in any democratic setting.
They say the system has captured this one. The system has captured that. There are so many things that we need to begin to correct.
But as far as the governors are concerned, it’s a retirement home for them. And you can’t blame them anyway because once you’re a politician, you do know when to retire. And there is really no reason, particularly if you have done well and your people say, yes, we still want you in higher office.
But the question is, how well? Those are the things that can become a topic for discussion. But as it is today, I think that is one angle that we need to continue to work on and ensure that we continue to fine-tune our constitution. You can’t ban governors from coming to the Senate, but there might be ways that there will be transparency in terms of the primaries or in terms of the electoral process.
So we have seen individuals that have defeated governors for Senate seats in the past. We hope that, such opportunity will still avail itself once there is a reliable and credible process. But, you know, again, there is no way one can blame ( any president for such. Because if you hold the state money, you cannot be supervising them. They have to supervise themselves. They are the governor.
They are the chief executive for the state. But the question is that people must begin to ask, how much are we making in a month? So what is being spent on infrastructure? What is being spent on health care? What is being spent on so many other things that people should be able to be bold enough to challenge people to put their power as a place that needs accountability?
And these days now, we are seeing so many states doing very well. So is it for people to stand up and say, ah, Mr. Governor, this is what is happening with my neighbors.
They have roads, they have this, they have everything. So a governor that does not perform that goes there to just sit on the money and ditch our contracts that may end up not being done. Those people will have to be challenged.
And when they leave office, there is that opportunity, that immunity that they have when they are in government. And when they are the governor or chief executive of the state. I mean, it expires the moment their seat, or their official seat expires. So these are so many things that we can see areas of improvement every day.
Senator, you said something very verbatim. When the governor has not done very well, he should be challenged. Challenged by who? Are you speaking about what could be or the things you speak of, you know, represent a very utopian society? Are you speaking in terms of the society that Nigeria could be where leaders are held accountable for what they have done over the last, within the period while they had the capacity and the power and the mandates to do so. They are then held accountable for what they have done. Are you speaking about these solutions and possibilities as what is our reality or what we should look forward to? And if you’re saying this is what we should look forward to, why if somebody doesn’t do so well they should be challenged.
What does our current political landscape in terms of what to look forward to in the elections, say about the reality of that happening if we have the same set of people who have been making the decisions,managing our resources, still running for power?
I mean, it’s almost as if you’re looking up to a Nigeria that is almost non-existent.
Well, again, I share some of your concern. The situation is such that as we have so many economic policies that Mr. President has implemented, we’re hoping that many people will take advantage of that and build wealth for themselves and not rely or depend on the government’s employment.
The major problem is that the biggest employer is the government. Many of the people now depend on them to live, to have a livelihood. Apart from the civil servants, there are so many political appointees that everybody wants to jostle for one appointment or the other.
Because of that, a sitting governor hold on those public opinion holders. So as long as that subsists, there will still be a problem of the fact that nobody can actually stand up and ask questions from the government.
I’ve heard many people come on this show saying that yes, most of the money that we benefited or that we have made post subsidy is now being passed down to the governors so that they can improve the welfare, the lifestyle, the infrastructure of their respective states.
They are not saying the result of this and they are not seeing it in the development of the people. So as we continue to improve, this might be some of the targets that we set for ourselves as a nation that we need to ensure that people become accountable. It’s a major problem that even if you challenge somebody to the courts and the guy has tremendous money.
There are so many areas that we still need to be able to improve ourselves. So I can’t lose hope. For me, I have made it clear if I cannot provide a solution for Nigeria, I will not be a part of the problem.
And that is how I’ve lived my life. So for me, there is nobody that is governor that I cannot speak to.I will say my mind!
And for us, I have been an advocate of state police for a long time. And I’m looking at whatever clauses they have now. How do you prevent people from abusing that power? Because that has been the major argument against it most of the time.
But I think we cannot, because of those who abuse, not provide solutions to our security problems or not look at the good that will bring to the society. So that’s why I’m 100% in support of the state police act, whichever way that can be made to happen in the time ,it will actually have an impact on the security challenges that we are facing in this country. I believe this is one of the solutions that Mr. President has put in place.
And for me, I cannot fault him, because If you have this kind of challenge in the country, we are so large in terms of population. But even if we have all the money in the world, which we do not have, how many drones are we going to be able to deploy?
So I have to give kudos to the military people, the security people for the difficult job that they are having in terms of this security challenge.
But it’s been confronted, it’s most of the attention has been given to security. I understand for the first time the budget for the military is so huge, and it’s a security for most of it.
What will be your next steps now? I noted the fact that you referred to the new buzzword in political circles now, system. We used to hear of structures, structures, structures everywhere. But now this is the system.
If the system does not eventually pick you, what will be your next engagement with the system, Senator? I know that you are a loyal party man, and there is an election in your state, for the governorship election .
And of course, the general elections are coming in January and February. So if the system does not take you, I know you are a successful businessman, (what will be your future engagement with the system?
Well, let me give you one assurance. I am a Tinubu’s man to the core. I mean, I never worked with him, but from the time he was governor in Lagos state, and besides, an American-trained person just like myself, so we have this special support for those that have been exposed to the way things work in an advanced country. And so the meticulous way and the policies that he’s implementing, there is nothing that would shake my confidence in him, and of course, I know anyway it goes, I’m still going to vote for Mr. President.
In terms of the election, I don’t know. I’m waiting for the party at the center, you know, and I’m waiting for the chairman and Mr. President to have a pronouncement on this matter, because if I say the party, we have a secretary, and since he doesn’t believe in primaries, and the thing went viral, and how do you handle such a situation? So I look at it that, I don’t have to be a politician, that’s the honest to God truth.
If my people don’t say we want you to represent us, what would be my business?
I’m supposed to be retired, by this year I’ll be 70, so if my people say they want me, and I did everything to ensure, and I’ve demonstrated that, I’ve sent videos of all the voters that participated in my election, that quantum of crowd is enough to encourage me that I must be doing something right.
If people say, they love me this much, so it was a consolation, but I believe that the party would actually give me my ticket. So I don’t have any doubt about that. But for me now! I’m just going to be spending my money on something.
No, no, no, no. I will ensure that I develop my business.
I have other ways I can help the President, and I have other ways I can help my people.
So politics is there, I came back to APC since 2015. what post am I holding? it’s not what I’m looking for. So there’s nobody that can come and say something, and I’ve told them, it’s only the President that can tell me go and sit down.
Because I have a lot of respect for him, and I know he’s a fair-minded person. But any other person calling me that they are doing something to me, they are wasting their time. That’s the honest to God truth.So for me, I’m waiting for the party to make their decision.