President, Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu, speaks to DANIEL AYANTOYE on the performance of President Bola Tinubu ahead of the President’s first anniversary in office
President Bola Tinubu will be one year in office on May 29. How will you assess his performance?
President Bola Tinubu has done well in some areas but he is lacking in other areas. If I look at the security situation, though there is some kind of escalation out there, I am better impressed, because it appears as if the political will has been given to the fight against insurgency. The military seems to be doing a better job now than when former President (Muhammadu) Buhari was in office at about the same time. So, in that regard, I will say yes. There are a lot of challenges because some people are not happy with him, and they appear to be undermining the system. But I believe he has done reasonably well in that respect.
About the economy, I believe there is a lot to be done. We know he had to make very serious decisions, especially about the removal of fuel subsidy. That notwithstanding, I believe that he should have had a robust CNG infrastructure on the ground before doing that. So, as a person, I wouldn’t have done it the same way if I was in his shoes. So, in that respect, I think he needs to do more. There is general development. Some of the ministers are doing a good job; there is no doubt about it.
People are insulting, saying all sorts of things about (Nyesom) Wike, but at least the facelift he is putting in place in Abuja is giving some credibility to the government, and in that regard, we can say yes, he has done a good job of it. So, we cannot say that he has done badly; no! He is working on it and believes that with political will and rejigging of some of these policies to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians, the second year will be better, because I know and I see clearly that he has the political will to correct the security challenge, which is affecting all other sectors like food security and the economy, because when people pay more for food, not just because of transportation caused by high fuel prices, but because the bandits, the terrorists are not allowing farmers to go to the field. By addressing that, I think we’ll have a better economy ahead of us.
What is your take on the decisions that the President has taken since his assumption of office?
He hurriedly took some decisions, thereby generating problems for him and his office. But overall, I can say this man has not done badly. To me, he has shown the political will to address some of these issues, which I believe are bedeviling this country. What Buhari was lacking in terms of political will, he (Tinubu) has it. I think that’s a good enough consideration. I didn’t look for a saint as a president. I just want somebody who has the political will to correct the ills of this country and I think he does have that, but he needs to get advisors who will weigh issues.
He removed the subsidy, but we have a lot of gas flared all over the place. He also introduced CNG outreach across the country. He should give some subsidy on installation or conversion of vehicles and by now, people will not even feel the impact. It is only somebody who wants to use petrol that will go for it. So, in terms of implementation, he needs to have a think tank that will help him to do it better.
In October last year, you said the Middle Belt is the most battered region in the country. Why will you describe the impact of the President in your region since he emerged?
We have suffered and the suffering has not abated, but the truth remains that as I said earlier, the man has shown political will to address the issues of insecurity. Of course, we don’t expect that everything will happen in one day, but has displayed political will. With the service chiefs now, who I believe, based on my assessment, are doing a better job than the ones before. Maybe because of the political will, I think the Middle Belt which is still being battered can be a better place given the kind of policies that are meted out. We just believe that things will not happen as spontaneously or as quickly as we want, but gradually I think there is hope.
What do you think should be done to remove your region from such a battered state?
We have always cried for state and community police because many of these places where the terrorists terrorise are places where they believe there is no resistance, nobody to challenge them. So, they come in and attack our people, kill people in cold blood. But because the system is so corrupted with a false narrative of a herder-farmer crisis, the people who go and attack don’t even have cows. They are just a bunch of terrorists with the backing of some criminals within the system, who go around terrorising and killing people.
As we are talking, parts of Agatu, Amala in Benue State, and other places are being occupied by these terrorists. The whole architecture of security is overstretched, given the fact that these people are operating at different levels in different places at any given time. So, we advocate state police, and we thank God the state governors, the National Assembly, our people are keying in. We advocated ranching. From what I read today, even the National Assembly is keying in. So, whether they are using that false narrative of a farmer-herder crisis, ranching solves the problem.
Whether they are talking of people being attacked and the security infrastructure is not adequate, state and community police will address the problem. The Middle Belt is in pain. They have lost so many people and have even lost ancestral lands to these terrorists. Our people are in IDP camps, but I believe with the approach that we are seeing, within a short time or a short while, we will have everybody going back to their ancestral lands and going to the farms. So, there will be enough food on our table at a time.
You are a strong advocate of restructuring. What is your take on the decision of the President for the implementation of the Oransanye’s report?
We have no option but to restructure this country. Even the state police issue is part of a restructuring. We have a lopsided system operating, and we’ve had problems and challenges. We wouldn’t want to continue moving in that direction. The report should be looked at. The National Assembly is there to make whatever amendments or modifications to suit the current situation of the country. Many of us are saying the 2014 CONFAB report itself contains nearly all solutions to our national problem.
There’s no perfect constitution, but at least we need somewhere to start. He can look at that. Presidents usually prefer to do their own thing or start their programme. But even in the (Nasir) El-Rufai exercise, the team had their report. Let him look at them and have a good team that will come up with something workable to make Nigeria a better place for everybody. We are not objecting to anything restructuring. We are for it. Let’s get this country restructured so that things will work better than they are now.