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Nigerians going through hell – Shettima, AYCF

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…Says some government policies are hard and harsh on the people

 

Comrade Yerima Shettima, a human rights activist, is the national president, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF).

In this exclusive interview with Sunday Sun, he speaks on the Tinubu presidency, hardship in the country, national grid collapse and the controversial tax reform, among other critical issues.

Excerpt:

Nigerians are experiencing so much hardship at the moment. What is your take on this serious predicament?

Really, it’s a bad experience and we are all in it together. Sometimes, I imagine what is happening, it has never been this bad.  I look forward to seeing the government coming up with policies that will favour the people, not anti-people policies. I still think that some of the policies of the government are hard and harsh on the people and the government must have a second look at some of their policies. I still want to give the government more benefit of the doubt in terms of performance and time delivery, but if after more time nothing changes, then Nigerians will not have a choice, but to move to the streets en masse. It is only then that we can declare that the government is not serious. The truth that must be told which we also know is that the eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari was a disaster, and nobody should expect an immediate magic in things turning around. President Buhari’s regime wrecked the economy, left hopelessness on the state of insecurity and in almost every other sector there was nothing much left to be desired. You may say, it was still an APC government under President Buhari, but Tinubu was not in-charge. All we need to do is to continue to plead with the President Tinubu administration to have another critical look at some of its reform model and see what they can adjust in terms of strategy and method. The truth is that any reform that you are implementing should be seen to have a positive result and effect on Nigerians. If it is otherwise, then something is wrong. I am not giving excuses for the government for not doing much, yet as expected by Nigerians, but I am saying that with what was handed down to this government by the last administration, it will not be an easy task to  overcome the past mess within a year plus. The government needs to do more because expectations are high. If things continue this way, I mean, this hardship for a longer time and the government continues this way, then Nigerians will not have another choice, but to declare it a failure. But given what they inherited, the disaster of the Buhari tenure, it’s politically proper to still have the faith that things will get better, unless they prove me wrong.

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Exactly what time or duration do you think Nigerians should begin to complain if things do not change?

The reality as I have said is that the government cannot reverse the damage of the Buhari regime as easy as most Nigerians think. They cannot even reverse all the mess in four years, but Nigerians should begin to see conscious relief, improvement and  the government coming up with policies that give hope.  They should come up with policies that will allow Nigerians to breathe. There is nothing bad in dropping a policy that does not give hope to the people. That an economic policy has worked somewhere successfully does not mean it must work here in Nigeria. So, the government must be very sensitive concerning the policy models they import into our situation. No magic can solve the Nigerian problem in just less than two years of this government in power, but let us believe for now that the government is looking inwards and correcting some errors too. Government should go for policies that should put smiles on the faces of Nigerians. This country is hugely blessed  and there is no reason for Nigerians to be in this mess if the government decides to be more sensitive to the plight of the people. Yes, there is hunger, there is insecurity and Nigerians want to see gradual progress taking place. Yes, the time may still be too short for an objective assessment of this government, yet something better than what Nigerians are experiencing is possible. So, the onus is still on the government to raise the leadership bar that will inspire hope on the people.

You just touched the issue of insecurity, and now aside from the issue of bandits and Boko Haram menace in the North, another deadly group, Lakurawa has increased the tally. What is your view on this?

You see the issue of banditry is proactively getting down through the hard efforts of the Nigerian armed forces, the networking of all security apparatus. We are getting good results. The Minister of Defence, Matawale is doing very well and I commend his efforts too. The Lakurawa issue will not be too hard to tackle given the present synergy among our security agencies.  For the first time, we are witnessing serious synergy among the Army, Navy, Air Force, Civil Defence and others. Their efforts are yielding positive results. They should just remain focused, give them a good fight and they will win the fight. I commend what they are doing. We just need to support them more, and let more intelligence gathering be done on them, with more action also following. Once we overwhelm this insecurity other things will fall in place, and development in the areas of the economy will also be positively affected. Security is a commitment that all of us in our little ways should be part of. Even the foreign investors on their own, will come if security is assured. The world is a global village that nothing happens in your country without other foreign countries knowing what is happening. When there is investment this hardship will reduce drastically because people will have work, jobs to do.

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What is your take on the continued detention of EndBadGovernance protesters?

I am shocked that some protesters are still being detained because there is no reason for such. This is not a banana republic and the people have a legitimate right to protest.   Charge them to court if they committed any other atrocity aside the peaceful protect.  Do you have evidence that they destroyed something or looted: if you have such evidence take them to court for them to give judgment,  not detaining them illegally. I do not think the protest was such a violent protest in the first place. My position is: if they are found wanting, take them to court or you release them. We are being governed by law; we are not a banana republic as I said earlier.

Let’s know your view on the continued collapse of the national grid?

It is bad and shameful. These are some of the things that, naturally, we should decentralize it, so that every region should have power to manage and improve upon.

If you continue to centralize this power where something happens in one place it will affect the entire country, I do not think its healthy. It is even a security risk to continue to have power outage in the country. It is long overdue; we decentralize power, so that nobody will be putting blame on one person. We cannot continue this way.

There is this issue of tax reform that the Tinubu-led government is proposing, but the North, particularly, Northern governors, seem to be kicking against it…?

(Cuts in) I do not think it’s only the Northern governors because a lot of other critics of the tax reform abound in the South too. For me, I do not think that such issues should arise for now when millions of our people are facing serious hardship,  and severe hunger in the land. They should be conscious of the timing, the government should be very sensitive of the time we are in. They should focus on priority issues: let the people breathe, give them hope, give them assurance of things getting better and them seeing that things are getting better.   We should be looking for policies that will ameliorate the very harsh condition of Nigerians rather than talking of tax reforms. We should be talking more on how to deal more decisively with insecurity; so as to improve in production. We should worry more about how to make people go back to their farms and ensure they are safe. The issue of tax reform can come later not now. As I said earlier, a lot is being done on security, so they should improve upon what they are doing. Tax reform matter should not be on the priority list of attention for now. Sometimes, I don’t know who advise the government to undertake certain issues, not minding the timing. They are making this government look as if it’s a tax regime. As a government they should also be sensitive about perception. What do Nigerians think about what you are doing as a government? Do they trust you? Or you have trust deficit? They should look for ways to reduce poverty and the sufferings of the people rather than sitting down and creating something as if all is well. Anything that will hinder the interest of the common man, I think government should avoid such for now. They should find ways to reduce fuel pump price, reduce inflation, ensure there is food, food security, others can follow later. They have to reduce the cost of governance and tackle corruption too before bringing some issues up. Let the people be engaged first with meaningful jobs, let power be fixed and after putting some of these measures in place, you can then have the moral right to raise such issues and plan its implementation. If you don’t make things better for the people, they will have no other option than to troop out to protest. Government should know that most Nigerians are dying of hunger by the day. This tax issue must be suspended for now, while things are being put in place to facilitate the expected growth and desired development. Let us not look at this tax reform as if the North is against it, no. I think it’s time for President Tinubu to rise to the challenge of leadership and be counted. At the moment,  Nigerians are going through hell for survival.

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