Pastor Blessing Adima is a political realist and a staunch member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with Okpalaume Mary, he talked on topical issues affecting the social and economic development of Nigeria and Delta State.
Excerpts:
It is over a hundred days since President Mohammadu Buhari assumed office. How would you say it has been for Nigeria; what differences have you seen so far in his administrative style especially in terms of appointments?
I would have said I have never seen anything change but yes, some things have changed because change has two faces; it is either it is ugly or beautiful, negative or positive, progressive or retrogressive. I think the Buhari ‘change’ has taken a negative turn since he assumed power. Looking at it from the economic angle, during their campaign, I felt they understood the Nigerian problem very well but they didn’t. During their campaign, they made it look as if the Nigerian problem started when the immediate past president assumed office. To them, everything was bad in Nigeria. But is everything bad? No.
It took Jonathan almost one month to do his own appointment. He started his appointment by June 23rd and I wanted to be careful not to rush Buhari because it appeared he knew Nigeria’s problem better than anyone else and he would put up his cabinet almost immediately. So in terms of political appointments, the man has failed because he is jittery and if he is telling me he is afraid to fail, then he should resign. This is the first time we have elections that are not close to swearing in or handing over. He was declared winner on March 31 so he had the whole of April and May 28 to look for credible people. Or is he telling me that in the midst of 170 million people in Nigeria there are no saints he can pick?
Then let’s look at his mode of operation. I start from where he began to play to the gallery; when he announced to Nigerians that he met an empty treasury. That showed the height of insensitivity. We are not talking about a local or state government. A federal government cannot run dry. Every government encounters huge problems. President Obama met a huge debt of 3 trillion dollars but he did not cry to the whole world. Goodluck Jonathan met a huge debt of N2.56 trillion and other debts that successive governments left behind for him; he didn’t cry either. So why is the man crying; is he begging for sympathy? He should simply come out and say, “I cannot fulfill the N5, 000 stipends for 25 million people because we have bigger issues and we cannot pay the youth corps members the N39, 000 we promised and we also cannot give free meal but this is what we will do for you…” I think Nigerians would only grumble and forget about it. Unfortunately, there is nothing in place. All infrastructural projects have been stopped. He talks about bail out as if the money is coming from his pocket. Bailout from one government to another; did we go to him for bailout? He said you want to fight corruption and governors who misappropriated the funds of their states are being bailed out with tax payers’ money. Those governors should be stripped of their immunity and arrested. Besides, there is nothing like a bailout in our constitution; I have never seen where the president has the right to go into the Nigerian treasury to take one trillion naira without an approval from the National Assembly. He does not understand what it takes to run a democratic government and I think he is doing himself more harm for not appointing aides who would give him credible advice. He doesn’t have an Attorney General that will give you advice from the legal angle; he inaugurated an Economic Council without an Economic Adviser; without a Minister for Finance and Minister for Economic Planning. He inaugurated governors who are wasters; who does not know what it takes to run the economy of their states.
I think President Mohammadu Buhari has not done much and I advice to him is to retreat from the sycophants surrounding him and consult the few Nigerians who he can reason with on how to run the country so that he govern Nigeria well.
President Mohammadu Buhari promised to fight corruption when he assumes office. How well do you think corruption has been tackled in Nigeria and what would you suggest if the fight is not going in the right direction?
Honestly, that will be a diversion of attention. Of a truth, is the president really the one fighting corruption? No. Of course, he knows where all leakages are in Nigeria. You don’t need an optical aid to know those who are corrupt in Nigeria. Most of them are running along with him today. There are institutions established to fight corruption and if these institutions are not leaving up to their bidding, he should dissolve them and reconstitute new ones for a more vibrant course so that they can fight corruption adequately. I am talking about the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC). They don’t need Buhari’s orders before they should arrest anybody; they don’t need him to tell them who is corrupt. They should not do their duties as if they are witch-hunting anybody.
How many successes have the EFCC achieved since its institution? I have never seen any success except for some biased cases. The institutions fighting corruption in this nation should be probed as well because they are not free from corruption either? You can imagine the kind of budget the EFCC uses to prosecute corrupt leaders. What is the essence of fighting corruption if the EFCC will budget billions of naira to fight corruption. What are they using it for? Is it not the same fuel I buy for my car they buy to arrest criminals? It will surprise you to hear that when you go out on a mission in a State they will come back with huge bills and allowances. It is worrisome. These are the people that are fighting corruption yet they bring extraordinary bills. Buhari should block those holes.
Many government agencies are not functioning. Past administrations just put them there to drain Nigeria’s money. Goodluck Jonathan was able to tackle some of them and there are many more President Buhari needs to tackle. He should look at those places and block them.
I was agreeing with El Rufai when he said that the NNPC should be scrapped but scrapping the NNPC the issue. What is NNPC and what is PPPRA? Of what value is it? Can’t the DPR run that course too? Then what is the duty of DPR. The bulk of government’s responsibility should be reduced. To me, PPPR should be scrapped, not NNPC. And the law that made NNPC another parallel government should be reviewed because they spend money without the approval of the presidency; hence you see the corruption going on there. It is so funny that the federal government (president) can appoint a Minister of Petroleum but he cannot as well as sack the minister.
Many things are wrong in Nigeria and they need to be corrected. So President Buhari should settle down and listen to some reasonable issues Nigerians and set this country on track again. That I think the former president intended to do and I want Buhari to take off from that line.
Are you insinuating that the EFCC and other anti-corruption agencies are not living up to expectation; do you really think they should be scrapped?
Of course, EFCC and ICPC should be scrapped. What are the duties of the Police? Why should we set up a body that that will override the police? You said you do not trust the Police yet you make a police officer the head of that body. How can you run away from an entire community and make one of the citizens of that community a king in the new community you established; what result do you expect to get? The police should be well equipped. The Intelligence Department of the police is not there to investigate burglary or armed robbery. Before the establishment of the EFCC have we not been fighting corruption in this country? But since the institution of the EFCC, what record have we achieved? It will amaze you to hear the enormous money Nigerian government spent to prosecute former Governor James Ibori via the EFCC. The whole process is a fraud. So EFCC should be scrapped. Why do we have the DSS? Is it not to investigate criminals? Every government office has a Department of State Services (DSS) or the State Security Service. They are not there to be part of the government. They are supposed to investigate corruption in those offices. In the Nigerian ports where many criminal activities take place, you have the DSS but why is the EFCC overriding the DSS?
Do you think the APC is derailing from its CHANGE agenda?
They only picked the word change. Maybe they conducted some kind of sample survey and came up with the change slogan. They never had a good manifesto. I have not seen any good policy programme from them that can really make Nigeria run faster than it was doing during the transformation agenda. I have never seen anything good from them; all you hear is talk, talk and more talk. And they are still talking. They keep talking and complaining when they are supposed to get to work. I don’t think the APC are doing well. They should go back to the drawing board.
The PDP is now in the opposition at the national level. How do you think or what strategy do you think PDP can put in place to form a formidable force in 2019?
PDP is already a formidable force and it has solid grounds to winning the election come 2019. I thought APC was going to make things difficult for them by coming up with one good policy that will rubbish the entire transformation agenda of the former PDP government but nothing is in place. Apart from critics like us, PDP as a party is not in a hurry to criticize. They wanted to watch the government so that they can correlate their achievements. But what is happening now? In terms of character disposition, they have shown Nigerians that they are not reliable and many Nigerians are beginning to regret.
It was obvious that the Urhobo nation under the Urhobo Progress Union never supported the APC in Delta State during the electioneering period. Would Urhobo fare well in Buhari’s dispensation?
Why should we keep depending on a federal government? It is really out of place for us to be crying that we are not given out fair place in the government. Delta State is our own; let us properly utilize the resources very well and we will have no reason to look up to the federal government. That is why the implementation of the national conference is paramount. If that conference report is implemented, nobody would want to contest for Nigeria’s president because it will be less attractive. That is just the truth. So I don’t see how our not supporting the APC in Delta State should make us suffer under the Buhari government. If our governor put our resources to prudent use we won’t have any reason to cry. Everybody must not be in government but what is due to the people should be given to them- our share in ecological fund and our 13% should be given to us; our money from the federation account should be given to us.
Besides, we have an Urhobo Senator who should be able to represent us very well. If Senator Amori is vibrant then I don’t think what should be given to Urhobo people would be denied. So there is no fear of what Buhari would do to Urhobo or do to Delta.
Since Governor Ifeanyi Okowa took over office from former Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, to what extent would you say that he has been able to tackle the inherited problems in the state?
Okowa inherited a government that I will describe as magmatic in nature -a structure that is neither solid nor liquid. He inherited a very bad government; a government with about N637b debt. A government that consumed the entire local government fund causing the25 local governments to go on strike. Okowa has fared well so far. He has commissioners, advisers and special assistants who will help him to run his government. We must give kudos to the man who knows what it takes to govern a state as complex as Delta. Despite of the huge problem he inherited he is weathering the storm. We have every reason to be patient with Okowa seeing the enormous problems that he inherited. We don’t have to rush him or else, Delta will crash and we will be like one of those seven churches that never existed after the warning from Jesus Christ. We have received a warning that Delta State is in trouble, we should support him so that the overcome.
How do you see Okowa’s cabinet; do you think the caliber of people he chose can help him to take Delta to a higher level?
Credible! The ‘twelve apostles’ will help him to take the government to a reasonable height within the next one year. However, I would advise Governor Okowa not to increase the number of commissioners yet especially within the next one year so that at least we can recoup and solidify. Like I said earlier, he inherited a magmatic government and the lava is still flowing. Until it settles and solidifies, I think those ‘twelve apostles’ are enough to help him run the government.
Which areas do you think Governor Okowa should focus on for meaningful developement in State?
The Delta beyond oil dream is not new to him. Okowa should follow it to the letter. Agriculture should be looked into. Peasant farmers should be encouraged just as former present Jonathan encouraged farmers into agro production. Delta State alone can produce one third of the food that can Nigeria. We can grow over 40% of the cassava that is consumed in Nigeria. His own local government is an agricultural local government so he cannot turn his eyes away from them. Okowa was once a commissioner for agriculture and farmers appreciated what he did then. Agriculture is the biggest industry and many nations are surviving on it. With agriculture we can survive in Delta state.
