Aliyu Zakari-jiya, a pharmacist, is governorship aspirant. He spoke with correspondent JOHN OFIKHENUA on why former Governor Abubakar Audu and other leaders should sponsor a younger politician against Governor Idris Wada during the exercise.
Why do you want to be the Kogi State governor?
I see myself as a worthy candidate because I believe that I have the capacity. I have the competence. I have the character, and I have what it takes to govern a state like Kogi State. Today, what Kogi needs is somebody who has a vision to translate the abundant natural and human resources in Kogi State to benefit of the people. Kogi State needs somebody who has the character just like President Muhammadu Buhari has. Kogi State needs somebody who has the competence, somebody, who is a wealth creator, not just somebody who waits for Abuja to bring allocation before sharing. What if Abuja says we don’t have money to give to you, what happens? Does it mean that the civil servants will not get their salary. Does it mean Kogi State has to die? So you need somebody who can see beyond the present moment, somebody who has the ability to turn around the state. The state is stagnated but all this I have mentioned to you I believe I have them. I have been mentored in the art of wealth creation. Educationally, I have acquired skills both in business and politics and in other areas. I am a pharmacist, with a postgraduate diploma, a masters in Business Administration, as well as a masters in Health Management. So you need somebody who can manage the resources of Kogi State and make people feel better instead of somebody who will just sit down remove salary, remove overhead, security vote, and nothing is left at the end of the day. As it is now, the Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos State is about N23billion every month. Thanks to the duo of our leaders Tinubu and Fashola. Other states are now emulating that. Look at Kano State, Kwankwaso increased the internally generated revenue not depending on the statutory allocation from the Federation Account. So, you need somebody who thinks along that line to be able to revive Kogi State.
The former governor of Kogi State, Abubarkar Audu is eyeing the seat. How do you hope to compete with such a political heavyweight ?
Prince Abubakar Audu, our leader in the State. He is the leader of APC. He contested first in 1991 under NRC, and he won, in 1999 under APP and he won. In 2003 under ANPP, he couldn’t win. In 2007 under ANPP, he couldn’t win, and in 2011 under ACN, he couldn’t win. Like I told you he is our leader. We want to believe that the problem of this generation should be solved by this generation. He has done his best with the available resources when he was governor of the state. There is no doubt, and you cannot take that away from him. But like we always say if you are successful and you don’t plan for succession you have also failed. We are saying that we the younger generation should be given the opportunity to showcase what we have. Rotimi Amaechi is just 50 years. So you can imagine that he was governor when he was 42 years old. Look at His Excellency Bukola Saraki, he is just 52 or 53. So you can imagine how old he was when he was governor. Look at Orji Kalu, look at Suswan, look at Fashola. If Fashola was not given that opportunity nobody would know his skill and competence. But today Fashola has showcased who he is because he was given the opportunity that is why we are asking that we too be given the opportunity to show Kogites and Nigerians the skills we have. Things keep changing. Change is the first law of life. Even our system changes, cells in our body change. We are not stagnant so we have to change. We cannot keep shouting change and keep recycling old hands. The education of the 60s and 70s is not the same thing as the education of today . I once told somebody that when I was in secondary school and university, there was nothing like the social media. But, today,there is social media and there is Internet and it assists children in the school. That is is why we are saying that the elders should stay as elders . We appreciate them a lot. We thank them for what they have done in our lives. We thank them for what they have done for Kogi State, but they should allow us to grow. They should breed leaders so that Kogi State should be the envy of other states eventually.
What are you going there to do that the current PDP governor is not doing ?
The governor cannot even pay salaries. The infrastructure have decayed. The present PDP government cannot even pay salaries. In the last two months it was talking about 40 per cent salary before the state NLC revolted. The state is stagnated; we are not moving. There is nothing moving in Kogi as it is today. When I hear people say everything is moving, I tell them to go to other states and see how things are moving. That is how you will know that things are not moving in Kogi State. We need to change that state for our children. For our own future, we cannot allow the state to rot. If you go to Kogi State, especially the State capital you will know that there is no road. Some local governments don’t have general hospitals after creation in 1991. You have to take healthcare close to the people. Teachers are on strike. As we sit here with you now the healthcare workers in Idah general hospital have been on strike for past one year. So what are we talking about ? Is that leadership. Is that governance? Our people are suffering, there is no job for the youths. Today now Kogi has been turned to the headquarter of kidnapping. You must have read on the news that a commissioner was kidnapped from his farm. A judge was kidnapped, a NEPA manager of Ajaokuta was kidnapped. A reverend sister was kidnapped. Is that the kind of state you want to live in ? Is that what you call progress? Pipe borne water is not available. So what we want to do is a sharp contrast from what is happening right now. We want the state to develop. We want the state to have progress, and that is why we are coming on board. And that is why we are asking the people to support us.
To unseat an incumbent governor requires popularity. How popular are you in the three senatorial districts? Or is your popularity just in Igala land ?
I am very popular in the three senatorial districts of Kogi State. I didn’t just come up to contest this year. I am a founding member of MRD, MDD, I was the first secretary of ACD as well as Action Congress before we went into ACN . I contested under ACN in 2011 but the party asked me to step down for Prince Abubakar Audu, which I did. So, I am not just coming up. We have structures in the 239 wards in the state. We have been going round for sensitization and consultation in the last one month. So the popularity is there, especially the youths and women because they need change. They are desirous of this change. And they have resolved that they will effect this change come the next governorship election.
Who is queuing behind you? Are the youths asking you to effect the change for them?
The youths are queuing behind me . In fact, the youths are one of the reasons why we are out campaigning because they said the future is in quagmire, their future is bleak. They don’t know where they are heading to. They cannot continue to be thugs. Some of them are not willing to go into social vices. Some of them are graduates but after four years of postgraduate the are still riding Okada. Some don’t even have money to buy Okada. Some are just roaming about but now they have said they cannot continue. They need somebody that will emancipate them from the shackles of misgovernment, hunger, impoverishment , squalor and poverty. And that is why they are queuing behind me and saying look, go, we are right behind you.
Which challenge do you foresee in this contest?
The basic challenge we encounter is that Kogi State as it is today has been bastardized with money politics. PDP has brought in so much money politics to play so that when you are talking to people what they are thinking and looking after is money. But it is not the majority. Most people actually want this change. They are looking for somebody who is very good. The second issue is disunity in the state. Our previous leaders have sown seeds of discords among us. We look at ourselves with mutual suspicion and mistrust. The Igala ,and, the Okun man, and the Ebira man no longer look at themselves as Kogites. You are looked upon based on tribe, ethnicity and religion. So we intend to reunite Kogi State because our strength lies in our diversity. If you don’t unite you can never have peace and development. God did not make mistake for bringing us together. Our destiny is tied together as a people that must live together and grow together.
What is your agenda for President Muhammadu Buhari ?
Nigeria is coming back on track with the election of President Muhammadu Buhari. We know that he has a very sound agenda for Nigeria. You can see, he just said yesterday that he is going to recover all the looted money. Secondly, he is to begin to fight corruption because corruption is one of our biggest problem in this country. And somebody is going to unify this country because at a time the unity of this country was at the lowest ebb. So President Muhammadu Buhari has come with a very robust blueprint to revive the Nigerian nation. Nigeria will eventually become a country which we will be proud to call our own.
Of all the challenges that we have in this country, which of them do you think is the most expedient for him to tackle first ?
The issue of corruption is the most expedient because our treasury has been looted. Our collective asset or commonwealth was completely looted . Now you can see that some states cannot even pay salaries. There is no money available to carry out capital project. So that corruption is what needs to be actually sorted out expediently because once there is corruption, nothing works. Corruption was what almost killed Nigeria. Corruption in the oil sector, corruption in the power sector brought us to where we are today. And corruption in governance is something that has to be actually looked into. On the whole, corruption is what is responsible for the challenges we have today.
Since corruption is a monster that fights its fighters, how would you want President Buhari to fight it in this democratic setting?
Of course, one of the ways he can fight corruption is to strengthen ICPC and EFCC. He is to laise with other arms of government ; the judiciary to treat corruption cases with expediency. He is to make sure that what needs to be done are done in government. And whoever is found wanting in corruption cases should not be left to go free.
The security situation in the country is worrisome and President Buhari has ordered that military check points be removed, what is your take on this ?
The security situation was worse than this before President Muhammadu Buhari came in. And the removal of military check points was also replaced by police vans patrolling the highways. I think that is very much effective than military checkpoints that stay in a particular place. This is because sometimes robberies are carried out few kilometers from checkpoints. So when patrol vans are moving around to replace checkpoints it is much more effective. Secondly, security itself is a very large world, because you have to talk about security in terms of job security, physical security, and security of lives and properties. You can see some of the things done since he ascended office. In fact, he is going to visit Cameroon today. He has liaised with some of the presidents in the neighbouring countries such as Niger and the likes. They are working very hard to ensure that security in the country is well taken care of. Security is a large umbrella but if you talk about physical security that area I think he is doing his best so far. And I also want us to believe that we should give him little time. He just assumed office not quite a month and half. And we can see what he has done so far within a short period and by the time President Muhammadu Buhari completes 100 days in office, Nigerians will be happy that we have him back.
Oil prices are fluctuating, revenue is failing in a hurry, what quick fix can Nigeria apply at this moment ?
It is because Nigeria is a mono economy; we rely solely on oil. We didn’t look at other areas that we could generate revenue from. Agriculture is an important area that we can generate fund from to fix a lot of other areas. But for long agriculture has been neglected. We have a very fertile land, we have the people, all we need is incentive. If you give them incentive the market is there but we are not looking at that. There are mineral resources, especially in Kogi State. That is why you find Obajana there . As it is today, you have two cement producing factories in Kogi State. We have one close to Okpella Cement factory . And mineral resources is one area we need to tap into. So there are other areas we can look into in order to improve our export, and we will generate more money to take care of the challenges we have in Nigeria. So my advice is that the economy needs to be diversified so that our source of income will improve. Also, our GDP.
Do you see Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited as a viable project ? Is it still a project that is worth investing in ?
Of course yes, Ajaokuta is very viable. The iron ore is also even there. The problem about Ajaokuta is about the will . Once the will is there, surely there is going to be a way. I believe that President Muhammadu Buhari will fix Ajaokuta Steel Company.
Kogi is an agrarian state that should yield internally generated revenue from agriculture, should you become the state governor, how do you harness the agricultural resources for revenue generation ?
Yes! You are quite correct. Kogi State is an agrarian state. It is a state that is blessed with abundant human and natural resources. We have the land, very fertile land. All that the government needs to do or when I get there by the grace of God, is to tap into the abundant natural resources that we have especially the land. We can go into mechanized agriculture. We can give incentives to people to farm. I give you an example, the North, especially North East, feeds the South with tomatoes and other spices like onions, pepper and the likes. We can as well do it. The other area is irrigation farming so that we can harvest more than five to six times in a year depending on the type of crop. We have to introduce irrigation, we don’t have to wait for raining season. Kogi State is surrounded by bodies of water from Ebira, the Central Senatorial District to the East Senatorial District to the West Senatorial District. We don’t lack water, why can’t we have earth dams and reticulate this water so that people can use it to farm. We get them very good seedlings that will be disease resistant, that the yields will be better. We will give them training on how they can manage this farm. Apart from crops, there is also animal husbandry, animal , fish farming. We can also do it. But like I told you, we need somebody who has the skill, the capacity and the talent to harness the talent of our people for the benefit of the state. If we promote agriculture in Kogi State, the issue of lack of payment of salary will be a thing of the past. The issue of money to execute capital projects will be a past issue. Apart from agriculture there are other areas: tourism is there . We have mineral resources so it depends on who is there if the person has the vision to carry out these things.
As someone who grew up in the old Benue State, you have a vivid knowledge of how the River Niger sustained the commerce of the old Benue and Bendel States. What happened along the line? The commerce flopped, and from my own observation the river appears too shallow. What are your recommendations to the Federal Government for the revival of the River Niger Based economy ?
If you say Benue State you cut it midway. We were in the then Kwara State, under Kabba Province. And even before the creation of Kwara State, River Niger had been there. It was first of all known as the Oil River and later to River Niger. It was the only means of transport in the colonial era. And that was why you had a port in Idah, there was a port in Lokoja and a port at Baro. And that was where the colonial masters were moving their produce: groundnuts, cottons from the North into the Atlantic Ocean and that was the source of commerce then. But like you said, you are quite correct that River Niger is shallow now. And it is because of the human activities at the upper end. You know that River Niger is dammed now. There is a hydro electric dam at Jebba and Kainji. So, that dam is what restricts the flow of water to Kogi State and other states that border River Niger. What we need to do is to make sure they come up with a commission on River Niger. A commission that can take care of River Niger and they look at the sanity because sometimes it is very dirty. Sometimes water hyacinth and water lilly are growing on it thereby denying the inhabitants of the river; the fish of oxygen because they compete with them for oxygen. So my recommendation to the Federal Government is to set up a commission on River Niger. Because it is also a source of revenue to the people. A lot of people such as the fishermen depend on River Niger for their earnings.
Who are you ?
My name is Aliyu Zakari. I am a pharmacist. I graduated in 1990 from Ahmadu Bello University. I hold a postgraduate diploma in Management . I also have a Masters in Business Administration, as well a Masters in Health Management. I have been in the corporate world since 1990. I know what wealth creation is all about. I know what leadership is all about in both public and private sector. I am somebody who is well equipped for the task ahead. I am somebody who is Multi-skilled. I am well travelled. I am somebody who have stayed in the opposition in the last 16 years. I never moved an inch because I believe you have to have opposition to have a virile democracy. You need the opposition to have a robust democracy, so, I have never moved from one party to the other. And that is why I told you that I have been a founding member of MDD MRD, up to ACN before we formed APC which is now in power. So, I want the electorate in Kogi to take a critical assessment and evaluation to dissect all the aspirants that are coming up, look at them and ask questions. We should not allow money politics to mislead us. We should not allow money politics to misguide us. We should not be deceived . We should ask about their character, we should ask about their competence. We should ask questions whether they have vision or skill. Can they do this job that they are asking for? We don’t want this serial failure because we had it in the past. They said doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is madness. If we are talking about change, we need to change from the way we have been doing things so that we can get better results. It is that change that brought president Muhammadu Buhari today. And we are happy that we have him. He said in Lagos during the primary “ I do not have money. And even if I have I will not give you. But I am willing to sacrifice myself for you.” I want to tell the electorate that I am willing to sacrifice myself for them. It is not all about money but somebody who is going to work for them, somebody who is going to make them happy at the end of the day. They need somebody who is going to deliver the dividend of democracy to them. The need somebody who is going to move them from the position of hopelessness to hope. So that is my take.
