Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Olasunkanmi Sulaimon Yussuff, discusses the state of the nation in this interview with select journalists in Ilorin, Kwara State. Hammed Shittu was there
How will you react to moves by some politicians both within and outside your party, APC, to form a mega party ahead of next election? Do you not feel threatened?
I’m going to answer it this way; Mega party or whatever party you call it, the best thing in a democracy is that there is opportunity in opposition, and when you don’t have strong opposition then bad governance continues. As APC government, we are doing our best, and I think as of now, our best is sufficient for Nigerians to know that we mean business. For instance, so many things have been revealed in the last one and a half years and Nigerians are more aware about what government does today than they did in the past. Most government in the past were shrouded in secrecy but today we talk about NNPC; people now know what goes on there. It is the same for FIRS, EFCC. People now know more of government than what they used to in the past. So, as a party, we have opened up government, people know what National Assembly does as one arm of government; from budget, to making bills to representation. So, whether it is mega party or minor party or majority party, we are not threatened at all, and don’t forget that in politics it takes time before you take root. If anybody is aggrieved about what is going on in the party, they should follow what they used to preach to us, that is, explore the internal mechanism of the party to get solutions to such grievances. People should come back to the party, if they are planning to leave the party. Anyway, I’m just guessing now, they should not forget what they’ve always been telling us that if there’s a problem they should stay within the party and sort it out and fight but if anybody feels cheated and he feels the best for him is to leave and go and form a mega party, then since all of us are politicians, we are going to face ourselves. We have done it in the recent past in Edo; we knew what we did in Ondo and Ekiti and, Osun election is coming in 2018. So, all of us have come of age, no politician can threaten anybody again in Nigeria. We are all politicians whether it is mega party, or minor party. Mega party is not a threat; democracy is for everybody and political party is like an open market with open entry, free exit. If you are dissatisfied with the political party then you can go and form your own party. As far as I’m concerned, APC has done well in taking care of Nigerians. Political party don’t belong to some sort of people alone, it belongs to everybody and if your interests are not being taken care of, then you opt out and if you think that your interest can still be taken care of then you stay. People are talking about mega party and we are waiting for them.
Nigerians went through tough times last year, what should their expectation be this year?
We are all aware that the Nigerian economy has gone down because of so many factors, not only human factors, but also some natural occurrences and because for a long time, Nigeria did not plan for certain things to happen. 2016 was tough; we were not able to implement the 2016 budget, particularly the practical part of the budget. The new government has been talking about the diversification of the economy and, of course, it’s not something that can happen overnight. When you consider all these factors that means going into 2017, we have to do a follow-up to what we have been doing. Things have been difficult in the economy and I don’t want to talk too much about oil. As I always tell people, our economy can do well at the productive stage, because it is when you are able to do well at the productive stage that you will have something to build on to the manufacturing stage. So, when you are able to do well at the manufacturing and productive stages, then you can now talk of the service sector of the economy. In Nigeria today, we talk about service and telecommunication, internet, foreign exchange, all these belong to developed economy. What we should concern ourselves with as Nigerians is the productive sector of the economy vis-à-vis the manufacturing sector and, what is the productive sector, we talk about raw materials, exploitation and exploration of mineral resources, and not oil alone. Definitely, we are still going to follow slightly the same pattern of 2017 because if you talk about diversification, it doesn’t happen overnight. If you go into agriculture, for instance, there are two broad based of crops, we have the arable crops, we have the cash crops. For cash crops, it takes from 4 – 5 years before you begin to harvest; so you don’t diversify and expect quick result, it takes a reasonable length of time. There is not going to be market difference in 2017 from what we had in 2016. The government should also block all the loopholes, make sure that the level of ghost workers are minimised to be able to save more money and invest. Again, when we talk about investing in infrastructures, the way they do it in other countries is different from the way we do it in Nigeria. Most of our roads in Nigeria are supposed to be constructed and toned, it’s painful. It is true that we have the highest rate of capital flight, whereas in developed countries, construction is done to stimulate the economy by giving jobs to local contractors, but in Nigeria when we talk about road construction, we are talking about giving contracts to foreign companies and, as such, we have capital flight. I wish local contractors are encouraged. As of today, Nigeria is doing N2 trillion local contracts. If you want to go into construction of roads and houses, you have to patronise local contractors to stimulate the economy. These are areas I think the government should look into in 2017 and, of course, as a deputy speaker, we have always being telling the executive that the most important thing in an economy is to be able to retain whatever money you have in the system; at least minimally, 80% of whatever money you have. That is the only way the economy can be stimulated. There’s not likely going to be market different in 2017 from what we have in 2016. Other than administratively, government is becoming tighter, cleaner and neater. So, the era of government as usual is gradually coming to an end in Nigeria because the executive is bringing sanity into the system, and that is part of development too. When business is not being done as usual again that means government can focus largely on development.
The poverty rate in Nigeria is growing, particularly under this administration. What can be done?
Poverty is a natural phenomenon; no matter how you try, some people will be poor and no matter how stringent the condition is, some people will be rich. But, what the government tries to do at every point in time is to improve the lives of the people called the masses by providing security for them. The present poverty that is permeating the length and breadth of Nigeria is self-induced. People don’t want to create wealth before they earn a living and this is important. I am not saying that government has been doing what it ought to be doing; government has a lot to do. But like I said, people should be fully engaged. If you talk about education, there is no country anywhere in the world that can employ 10% of the workforce. I want to clarify that; no country all over the world can employ 10% of the workforce. What that means is that almost 80% of people who go to work on daily basis are employed in the private sector and these private sector employees are your drivers, your cook, your gardeners, and in overseas countries, those are what they call jobs. These are the things we must look at, create such environment and provide jobs that we are talking about. You may think that they are menial but they are not. In oversea countries, if they say that they have two or three jobs, its either they go to the airport to be luggage pusher, security guard elsewhere, and so on. You have to be fully engaged in something. So in Nigeria, the idea of employment is of somebody who has gone to school and is now employed in an office space; that is not what is called employment. So, my appeal to people is that while government is trying to alleviate poverty, they must be conscious of the fact that they must find a way to horn their own skills, to be skillful in certain things. I have seen a lot as an Engineer, those who enjoy the economy are the artisans, welders, bricklayers, carpenters and the rest of them, because these are the people who are always fully engaged at all times. So, nobody is praying that anybody should be poor, nobody likes a poor environment but the fact still remains that people should understand that the so called jobs we are talking about is not with government, it’s with all of us. We must be able to use our hands to do certain things. Government alone cannot eradicate poverty- it’s difficult for any government to do that- what any government can do is to provide the enabling environment, which is even difficult to provide now. If the government wants to award contract, let it be given to local contractors, so that it can retain the money within the economy.
What is your message for the people of Osun State, as the election year approaches?
Yes, first and foremost they have my sympathy, I know workers there have not been earning their salaries regularly and, when they do, it’s only in Osun that I hear people are earning half salaries. I’m not so familiar with it now. I have been out of that system for about one and a half years now, I cannot specifically say some things, but I know that people have not been earning their full salaries, and when such salaries come, it comes in trickles, in half or something. My message first and foremost is to workers, that they should know that things are going to get better, and that it’s a lesson for all of us that when an economy is struggling, paid employees suffer most. Those who have to change the face of the economy are likely to use the money that is supposed to be used in paying salaries and so, they have my sympathy. I want to again generally touch on the people of Osun, I know that they are resilient; I know they are hardworking, but they should have hope that things are going to get better. And some of us in our own little ways are making frantic efforts to go back home to invest and empower people to make sure that things get better.
