Hon. Kosoko Dele represented Badagry Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives where he served as the Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology. In this interview with Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, Kosoko, who is a State Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke on the change APC government under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari will bring to Nigeria and why Olorunda Local Council Development Area (LCDA) deserves to have a stake in Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s cabinet in Lagos. Excerpts
Lection has come and gone and your party is forming a new government. Do you think the change, which was their mantra, will translate to positive change?
I have no doubt in my mind on what General Muhammadu Buhari said he will do. He is a man of few words but full of action and with brains behind the All Progressive Congress (APC) project, Nigeria will rise again. Right from the formation of the APC, we wanted a change, and I am grateful to Nigerians that they really understood the trends and ensured there was a change. By the grace of God, we will keep to that spirit of change. APC will not fail Nigerians.
What do you see as the challenge before Buhari, that is, which areas do you think he should focus immediately?
You remember that in his campaign, he emphasized three major areas – security, anti-corruption and economy. These are the areas that British Prime Minister, Tony Blair also talked about when he visited him recently. I think these are priority areas.
As a Nigerian, aside these areas, can you give us other areas he should add in his priority list.
Well, he should also add education, health and unemployment. But in all, I think I can identify four major issues. The issue of security also translates to the economy. Where you have security, definitely you expect development. That also goes for employment. When security is not there, you can’t talk about developing the economy and employment. So, the other aspect is power. If you don’t have stable power, your economy cannot grow. Unemployment cannot also reduce. And the issue of education is also key. All these critical areas can be tackled by leadership by example. When leaders are not corrupt, definitely too, the subordinates will not be. Government must try to ensure that we reduce corruption to the barest minimum. In the health sector, if we have the health facilities, what is the point of travelling as far as India looking for treatment? We will also look at the infrastructure. When you don’t have infrastructure, movements of goods will reduce.
Given the economic realities, the new government may not be able to tackle all of these problems at the same time. But I think the story of Nigeria will change for good with this government in the saddle.
Nobody will invest in an atmosphere that is not conducive. On the issue of power, we must have stable power. We are talking about productivity, to engage people to work for 24hours. It will only boost our economy. Then, we talk about unemployment. They will fight corruption head-on. When you look at any leadership, you can’t steal without the collaboration of others. Nobody can steal alone in government. Stealing is a process that involves a lot of people. Definitely, there is an initiator, but you can’t steal alone. Even armed robbers don’t steal alone. You plan and then execute. I have identified more than five critical areas that he, Buhari, should be able to tackle. I am sure if he can look at these areas within six months, there is going to be positive changes. There are some other things like the issue of water, issue of roads – that will also come. But what is more important is for Nigerians to be able to have square meals a day.
Let us take two issues, Boko Haram and power. The outgoing President tried to tackle these two problems. How do you think Buhari should do it differently?
The issue of Boko Haram is not alone. What about kidnapping, what about armed robbery? Boko Haram, some people say is a religious issue. No. They have their own hidden agenda. But Buhari said he is going to review the operation of Boko Haram. They are human beings. They stay within us. And it happens in a particular area. The issue of Boko Haram is just one. The Niger Delta militants which the administration of Yar’Adua rehabilitated, they are also militant groups too. When you kidnap someone, it has the same gravity. Somebody who kidnaps, can kill. Now, the militants are there, armed robbers are there. All these issues must be tackled.
If we have a conducive environment, investors will come. But a situation where there is serious security challenge in the land, nobody will come and invest. We have been on this issue of power for 15 years. Where there is a problem, there must be a solution. We have a lot of sabotage on this issue. People who import generators to this country, except that issue is tackled, the issue will continue. It also goes to petroleum marketers. The alternative thing is to buy fuel where you don’t have power.
Your business cannot flourish when you are spending 80 percent of your income on these expenses. Most of the companies are relocating to where there is stable power. If there is power, unemployment will be a thing of the past because people will believe on productivity, people will believe on commercial businesses, not to resume by 8 o’clock and close by 5 o’clock.
Another problem is that the recurrent in this country has taken 80 percent of the total budget. So with the remaining 20 percent, what do you expect on infrastructure?
You see them having 42 ministers surrounded by their aides and personal staff. It is uncalled for. Look at the percentage of wages in the recurrent, it is too much. No country expends 70 to 80 percent of its budget on recurrent and expect miracle or development, no. The remaining 30 percent cannot take care of infrastructure; it cannot take care of security and other sectors.
You said for the past fifteen years we have been on this issue of power and have been unable to get it right. Do you think somebody somewhere is playing politics with power?
Yes, but we have professionals who can find solution to the problem. We have technical partners. If it is the megawatts that are reducing, what is the cause? Can’t we find the solution in the last 15 years? Is it building additional power stations to supplement the existing ones? In as much as we allow all these indigenous or big companies to import generators to this country, we will still continue to find ourselves in this problem.
What do you think Buhari should do to stop this fuel scarcity once and for all?
I think there will be handover note. We are reading in the papers that they are indebted to the marketers to the tune of about N200billion. Look at those people involved in the fuel subsidy fraud. What is the punishment meted out to them? They have just been on trial. We are not sincere. We thank God that we are witnessing government changeover. If not, something drastic would have happened. We may just wake up one morning and discover that the country has collapsed.
Is it true that your party, APC, is overwhelmed by its current position, considering the situation in the National Assembly leadership where they seem unable to come out with something tangible on the way forward?
Politics is dynamic. Politics is something that you study, you project and you don’t give up. It is a game. How did APC come about taking over the government today? It is hard work. We will study; we will look at the mood of the people before we conclude. We are watching. We have learnt lessons from the fall of the PDP. We don’t want such a thing to happen to us. We will handle the issue of the National Assembly leadership. By the time we come up with the candidate who will become the Senate President and Speaker of the House, Nigerians will know that we know what to do. We are on top of the game.
Let us look at Lagos State where you come from. What are some of your random thoughts of what you expect Ambode to do?
Let me divert a little bit. Lagos State has 20 local governments and 37 LCDAs. Why we voted overwhelmingly for Buhari is to make sure he addresses the injustices done to some states. Now Lagos State with their population has 20 local government areas and 37 LCDAs while Kano has 44 local governments, although both states have equal number of representation in the House of Representatives. But then, we are talking about local government which is nearer to the people. It is the only platform through which people can get to the government easily. We want that issue to be addressed and Lagos State will be one of the states that will present this case to the National Assembly. We are not saying only Lagos State. There are other states too. That is why I have been advocating for the creation of more local governments instead of states. The issue of local government must be the first thing Lagos State will present to the National Assembly. Also, the constitution should be amended so that the term of office for the lawmakers will not exceed two terms. Since the governor is not allowed to contest for third term, we should not allow legislators to contest for as long as they want.
On Ambode, we expect that the best brains will work with him. Actually, Tinubu has laid the foundation. Like in Olorunda LCDA, it is the will of God that we were able to win two Houses of Assembly, otherwise we could have lost out completely to the opposition party. That is why we are saying that Olorunda specifically deserves to have a stake in the cabinet formed by Ambode. We deserve commissionership because we delivered well.
There was this call that your state chairman should resign?
I have not seen the relevant section that after the election, the leadership who do not perform should resign. There is no section in our constitution. The issue that Ajomale should resign is uncalled for.