It is possible for Nigeria to reclaim its Giant of Africa status if we have the right leadership –Bucknor-Akerele, former Lagos Deputy Gov  

Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele is a Nigerian politician and former deputy governor of Lagos State under the then Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.  She speaks to ISAAC NGUMAH on state of the nation and the way forward. Excerpt: 

What can you say on the issues of protest in Nigeria?

The government is out to stop people from protesting; it is their fundamental rights; when you don’t see what you ought to see, then you go and protest.

Should this present government facilitate the review of a Constitution, create an Assembly that will review the report of the 2014 National confab and 1963 Constitution?

I am not sure whether the present Assembly will be able to review the Constitution because from what I can see, many of them don’t want any change in the present Constitution. What I believe is that that Constitution should be put out and there should be referendum on it.

Some analysts are saying that Nigerians are gradually turning to beggars with the way the government is going on with the sharing of palliatives. What is your take?

Nigerians are turning to beggars; the government has turned many people to beggars. I am shocked to see the number of people who are begging even on the streets, people who possibly are professionals and have lost their jobs because the companies that employed them have closed down. Most of them are people who are in need of financial assistance; people are asking of financial help because they have been impoverished. People are finding it difficult to live now; palliative is not what Nigerians need. What Nigerians need is a government that will make sure people earn good wage and those who are in business are able to run their businesses so that the people can prosper. Right now, everybody has been impoverished.

What can you say about the hardship, poverty, hunger and frustrations in the country?

Bad situation; I never imagined that Nigeria will get to this stage. Am sorry, we have no one to blame but the APC government.

Why should we blame the APC government?

Well, first of all you look at the economy. I am starting from Buhari’s time; look at all promises they made – ‘one naira will become one dollar’. They promised to revamp the economy. Did they fulfill any of their promises then? Buhari did his eight years and started the down fall of Nigeria. Tinubu now comes in and he has continued and people are getting poorer by the day. During Buhari’s time, people could still eat but with Tinubu, people cannot even get one square meal a day!

Some analysts are saying that unemployment and institutional failures are the cause of insecurity in the country. What can you say on this?

Well, I will say ignorance. When I say ignorance, I mean lack of education and also unemployment. Religion too has become cause of insecurity.

Some analysts are saying that Nigeria is no longer working along with the dreams and promises of those that fought and won Independence for Nigeria. Do you agree?

This is quite true. The people who won Independence for us, we do not have a country that is working. In Nigeria, what is working? Nothing. Do you see anything that is working? Even the traffic lights don’t work. So, we are far from the dreams of the founding fathers.

Nigeria at 64; what can you say on its achievements so far?

I don’t see any achievement. I think we seem to be moving backward into the middle ages instead of the 21^st century.

 Is it possible for Nigeria to reclaim the giant of Africa as we are properly called?

It is possible if we have the right leadership.

Do you see Nigeria progressive in other diversifications?

As I have said, with the right leadership and with right government policies, we can move forward and get back to the position that we were before the giant of Africa.

What can you say on the state of insecurity in Nigeria?

Well the state of security as we all know is worse than ever than before because the security challenge was largely in the north but now the security challenge has moved down to the south.

Some people are saying that the present government is working hard to ensure that the refineries are fixed in no just time so that things can get back to normal?

 I wouldn’t know whether they are working hard to fix the refineries because we keep on having dates on when the refineries will be working, July then it is posted to October and December, so we don’t really know when the refineries are going to be working.

Some people are saying that the present policies of the President are geared towards alleviating the sufferings of the masses. What can you say to these?

What are they doing to alleviate the sufferings of the masses? I don’t see it because the sufferings of the masses are getting worse by the day. As I told you, many people cannot even get one square meal a day! Is that alleviating the sufferings of the masses? It is not certain.

What can you say on the just-concluded election in Edo?

The election was a disaster to be honest with you.

How prepared is PDP to win in Ondo State?

Well, we are making efforts.

Anambra 2025; what is the plan of PDP to win the state?

We will make sure we win. PDP has resuscitated itself and it is moving forward.

What can you say on the political structure in Nigeria?

We are not a democratic country; am sorry to say. So, we only play lip service to democracy that we have now.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubarkar has written to the National Assembly requesting a six-year-term for the President and the Governors. What can you say to this?

 Well, I don’t know six-term, two-term, five-term is really what we need. I think, we need to restructure the country. When we have restructured the country, we can decide. Each federating unit can decide the term of the Governor in its units.

What can you say on the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President?

What do you mean by renewed hope? I don’t know whether hope was ever lost but certainly, they are just words; they don’t mean anything.

 The President in his live broadcast on October 1 talked about reforming the political economy of the country. What can you say to this?

I don’t know how he wants to reform the economy or what he means by reforming the economy. Until he actually lays it down and tells how he is going to reform it that is when I can make my comments.

On Local Government Autonomy, do you see it as a positive step in Nigeria democracy?

Well, local Government should be under the state; I don’t see a situation where the Federal Government is the one dabbling into Local Governments’ affairs. I think it is a dangerous situation because it means that the government at the centre will control my local government and I may not be the same party with the government at the centre. So, it is disadvantageous.

What can you say on the crises rocking PDP especially in Rivers State?

I don’t think there is crisis rocking PDP in Rivers State. I think, it is a crisis of godfather and godson. I think that has been put to rest with the Local Government Election.

What can you say on electoral law in Nigeria?

Well, the electoral law is such that it has not brought us the dividends of democracy because those who are operating the laws are not adhering to those laws.

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