Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor, a renowned activist and the Igba of Warri, is one of the grassroots political leaders in the country, who have seen it all since independence and are therefore rather hard to impress these days. But the journalist, industrialist and CEO of Rita Lori Hotels says in this interview that President Muhammadu Buhari has started on a good note. She spoke on other national issues. Sam Egburonu reports
So far how do you see the performance of President Buhari?
I think President Muhammadu Buhari has done very well. I said very well because the state of the nation before he took over was very precarious. And I say so without mincing words because I know what I am talking about being a mother, industrialist and partly a traditional ruler; I manage people. During the independence, I was a journalist and knew what was going on.
Before President Buhari took over, there was a huge problem in this country. Today, we thank God that that bad wind is over. I knew that I had to run around talking to heads of states, talking to people who should be taking certain actions, and today, we thank God that that bad wind is over. Gratitude to all the churches, from what happened, at my age, I know that God hears prayers.
I want to emphasize my gratitude to all those who came into it. The Churches, Mosques, the women, we prayed. Because when you see what is going on in other countries like Sudan or other African countries, one trembles.
So, we were all very worried. But Buhari’s name struck fear that ‘look, if he wins, you have to behave yourself.’ He won. The name alone started working for him before he started. Then, the second thing is that people started respecting themselves by going to return the stolen money on their own. If Buhari were somebody else, he will go and start borrowing money. The western powers were quoted to have said they were going to help Nigeria and with that, if he were somebody else, he would have gone to start borrowing money, but he didn’t. He looked for money to bail out the states that were owing backlog of salaries.
The second thing Buhari has done is power supply. Do you notice that the situation has improved? We all have noticed the improvement in power supply. What happened? Whether he did it or not, his name did it because they know he is a no nonsense man. If you don’t do your job, he is going to get at you.
You said we were in precarious situation before he took over. One school of thought said ex-President Jonathan averted that danger by conceding even while they were still compiling the result; what is your take on that?
Jonathan as a person, deep down, is a good person but he was surrounded by people who didn’t think well for the country; he was surrounded by people who are working for themselves and their families. So, Jonathan’s heart is not the heart of a politician. His heart is that of a teacher. And they took advantage of it but Jonathan himself knew towards the end that he had been fooled by his so-called friends. And he knew that he was going to endanger himself and the whole country, and that heart of a teacher took over and conceded to the advice of stakeholders of this country.
We all as a whole are stakeholders but there are people who are real stakeholders, who hold this country. They surrounded him at the last minute that this is the way it has to go. So, by the time his so- called friends came, he was already surrounded by the stakeholders of this country, who said, ‘look, we cannot go through all the rubbish. There is no reason for us to be in a situation where we will become bastards, world bastards, where our children, father and mothers will be running all over the world.
He was surrounded but he could still be adamant and cause trouble but the heart of a teacher took over from the heart of a politician.
On controversy over the source of the bailout fund
I heard the PDP saying that the money he used for the bailout was part of the money saved by the Jonathan administration. If that is true, most of the states were PDP states. Why couldn’t they pay for months? Why couldn’t they pay especially when they were going for elections? It is because the money was not there.
On her roles on derivation and Niger Delta region affairs
I fought with the then Head of State, Olusegun Obasanjo, openly. We said to them create institutions to look after the Niger Delta, not to appoint one man, make him a minister and say he is the one to look after the Niger-Delta. So, they created the NDDC. Let NNDC come and tell me what they have done.
They said the money is not enough. If money is given to a man who does not know the worth of the money, he cannot use it judiciously.
It is like we are talking about Buhari. He did not meet any money there but he has not gone to borrow yet. He has paid workers’ salaries. So, NDDC show me what you have done.
So, what has the Ministry of Niger Delta done?
Before the election, the Minister of Niger-Delta Affairs came and said he has done the East-West road. I said it will be very good; I will be able to convince my women to vote for you. Give us a date, we will go and see the road and on the road we will campaign for you. He left and never came back.
So, what has the ministry of Niger Delta done? Especially people like Rita Lori, I have fought for 13 percent derivation. I carried placards in Abuja that the money should be given to us. I took Ibori to court for 8 years because of this fund. But the last minute when Ibori was about leaving office, he created DESOPADEC. I want DESOPADEC to tell me what they have done. This is the DESOPADEC I fought with my all for. Vehemently, I fought Ibori for this. Now Ibori created DESOPADEC, after eight years, but he developed Oghara. People of the underdeveloped riverine areas who own the 13 percent, nothing was done for them. NNDC and DESOPADEC should give us account.
The amnesty was a good programme. Jonathan continued with the amnesty programme and even expanded it. Where is the fruit of the amnesty today? All we hear is Kuku or what sent some people all over the world to study. That for every child in the Niger Delta, whether you go to school or not, you get N65, 000 every month; People that went to school, did they get N65, 000 sitting at home a month? So, if you give young men, who didn’t even go to school N65, 000, because they are from a certain area, in this country, without work, how long do you think the federal government will continue to pay that?
The amnesty programme is said to be ending this December and some people are saying, no, it must not end, that there is going to be trouble. Which trouble? Because of all these problems, the Niger Delta has no money. They should ask the leaders, especially those who managed the funds.
On her assessment of the governors in the Niger Delta region over these years
For me I don’t talk about things I don’t know. I don’t even know their names because they have not performed. If you ask me today, the governors I can tell you their names, I can tell you about Fashola, because he performed for me to see. We only know governors who are performing.
The federal government can’t go and develop the Niger Delta. It can only create institutions to develop the Niger Delta. Some people from the oil and gas communities in the Niger Delta came to me yesterday, and they were talking about DESOPADEC. They were saying they want the money given to the communities directly and not to the governors.
Their argument is that the governors don’t visit their areas. They should use the money to create institutions to develop their areas, to take their money along with the people and the people will tell them what they want.
These people in the Niger Delta didn’t help Jonathan. As a person, Jonathan tried. He had the heart of a teacher and not the heart of a politician. Politicians’ heart is very different. They are treacherous. If somebody can give his people money, N65, 000 a month, what do you expect him to do for you again? Even though, you are an illiterate, for all the period he was there and they were getting that N65, 000, they can use it to start up a petty trade. If you are a girl, you can use it to start up a hair-dressing saloon business.
Now there is no more money and the amnesty programme is coming to an end this December, and some persons are asking me to go and fight on their behalf. If I go to fight, Buhari will ask me, was your son not there?
If they give you all the money all over the world, it will still not satisfy them. The leaders of the Niger Delta didn’t help themselves.
What do you think the Buhari should do with the national confab report?
The national confab was actually asking for fiscal federalism. At the end of the day, that was what we gained. With the present generation of politicians, there will always be trouble. Can you imagine, in that confab, people were still struggling for states; how are you going to feed your people? People are not thinking about the country, they are only thinking of themselves. When 36 states can’t pay workers salaries, where will the 18 more states recommended by the confab get money to pay salaries and run the states? You think we will continue like this, so that one state or a group of states will continue to feed the whole country? It can’t work that way.
So, what I must ask Buhari to do is that he must take a look at that confab and face it squarely. If he thinks at the moment, that the country is so weak, one has to depend on the other, they must create infrastructures that will give those states happiness. Like in the Niger Delta, I’m quarrelling with them because the leaders who ran different institutions failed. At the end of the day, we will have to fall to fiscal federalism.
Every bird must fly. All of them will continue to go their different ways to expand. However, there are some who want to remain where they are, good luck to them. But those who are ambitious and want to work give them the privilege to develop themselves. The country is so big, so we all have different abilities of development. Some can’t develop but you can’t keep others waiting.
When we were in regions, Awolowo was always the first. He created the television, Azikiwe followed and then the Northern Region.
Awolowo and heads of other regions developed their regions massively. But today, every Tom, Dick and Harry, establishes university, because other people have built universities. These are the leaders that believe politics is everything to them. Politics is just a means of getting people to lead the country. But these people believe politics will give them direct food.