“We are in one chance with President Bola Tinubu. This country is now in comatose. The economy is in comatose. The people are in a dilemma; they don’t know where to turn to. That is why people are now japaing.”
Chief Niyi Aborisade, a UK-based legal practitioner, is the Mogaji of Ajagba, Oke Ofa Baba Isale, Ibadan. He is the founder of the National Movement for Positive Change, UK and has been involved in human rights activism for over 30 years. Aborisade speaks on sundry national issues and his desire to become the next governor of Oyo State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
I would not know your antecedents but you seem to have been silent about what is happening to Nigerians in recent times?
Anybody who follows me must have heard my voice. I have spoken with Galaxy Television; I have spoken with some newspapers. If you Google my name, you will see my works as regards human rights activism.
I have spoken against the system; the situation that Nigerians found themselves today. Recently, I was at the Oyo State government-owned Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) where I spoke on the situation, particularly the unprecedented increment in the price of fuel which is now about ₦1,200 per litre. It has consequence, probably unintended consequence. Foodstuff now is a no-go area for the people. I wonder how people will be spending the ₦70,000 minimum wage that has not even been implemented. To fill a 2.0 Engine vehicle is now over ₦60, 000, not to talk about people having 4×4 Engine vehicle which will now require nothing less than ₦120,000 to fill.
People can no longer drive their vehicles; they have to park and walk. Those in government are living a luxury life; they are spending money like a drunken sailor, whereas the people who put them there are suffering. So, it is like na monkey dey work, na baboon dey chop am.
The President Bola Tinubu administration said its policy was deliberately aimed at curbing excessive spendings. But you are saying people are parking their vehicles. Maybe those affected are the ones having three or more vehicles…
Excessive spendings by who? Who are the most affected by the government policy? The elite can still afford to drive around their vehicles; they can still live their life of luxury. They spend hard currencies. If you have five cars, that means you are a successful person and you know how to manage your resources.
But we are talking about the people, the general populace. Those are the people that are suffering. They cannot even afford to buy a cup of gaari because it is now very expensive, ditto yam, cassava and other basic foodstuffs. All these things are now luxury to the masses. They said they are protecting the people. In fact, they are not protecting the masses in any way. Rather, they are killing the masses.
If you know the number of calls I do receive for financial assistance, it has quadruple what it was before. People are now asking: “Can you help me, my children have not eaten?; I cannot go anywhere because of the situation.” This has to change. This government is failing. Nigeria is now becoming a failed state under this government. We have never had it this so bad. We have to say the truth.
What do you think can be done to address the failure as you put it?
We are being deceived that oil subsidy has to go because of a cabal that has been taking an advantage of the subsidy. Less than two years ago, we were buying fuel at ₦192, ₦195 per litre. But they said it is in the best interest of the country that they remove the subsidy and it was removed. They said it is going to benefit us, but we have not seen the benefits.
And talking about palliatives, which palliatives? They claimed that they sent palliatives to the state governors. Some governors, some senators packed the palliatives into their own houses, while the masses are still suffering. This system is not working. Government has to go back to the drawing board again to revise the policy that is not working; the policy that is destroying the economy entirely.
As I am speaking to you today, a dollar is about ₦1,750; pound sterling is about ₦2,300 to one pound. So, this policy is not working. Government has to change. It must not continue. Otherwise majority of the people will die of hunger and starvation.
The policy and the system are two different things entirely. Is it the policy that is wrong or the type of system that we are running as a country?
When we say we make a policy, there should a system to implement the policy. So, the two work hand-in-hand. There is a policy and they are following it through. But the policy is not working, as at today. Both the system and policy, nothing is working because when the masses cannot feel the positive effect of a policy, then it is not working.
They said it would take years before we would start seeing the positive effects. But for how long? Is it when majority of the people are dead? Is it that time that the policy would be working. Or is it after the tour of eight years of President Tinubu has gone? Is that when it is going to work?
Now, the policy and the system are both wrong as things are today. Something must give way; either they change the policy which will affect the system or they change the system. The president and the vice president recognised the suffering of the people. They said they shared the suffering of the people but that does not prevent them from buying a new private jet at a very expensive price, buying new bullet-proof car, repairing the official residence of the vice president with over ₦21 billion. They told us that we should endure. I wrote I poem; I called it Endurance. Endurance is only for the masses, not for the elite. So, the masses are the ones that are suffering and I pity them.
President Tinubu is less than two years in office, some people are saying he met a rot that would take him time to clean up, that he should be given space and time to correct the errors…
Space and time of how many years? Which error? Let him come out and condemn his predecessor. He has never condemn his predecessor for one minute. It is normal for any new government to meet liabilities and some other factors as well. But he became the president because he said he can do it; that he can make a change; and he promised that fuel will come down, “don’t worry, e lo fokanbale, a maa gbe wa’le”. This has turned out to be an empty promise.
This is a man who had links with the government; he is not a new person. He knows how it was. So, people relied upon that promise that this is somebody that has been in government for years, as a governor and as somebody who had a very close link with his predecessor. He knows the areas that he should address, but he has not addressed any. In fact, the policy that he brought is what I can call a killer policy; a kind of fire brigade approach.
Does Niyi Aborisade believe in Bola Tinubu before the 2023 elections?
No!!! I never believe him.
What was your position then?
I looked at the candidates and I knew that, in all honesty, the three of them that we produced at that time, I didn’t see anyone of them that can do anything better and positively for Nigeria.
Are you expecting an angel to come down to come and do something better?
Not an angel, but you look at their precedents. What have they done before? How are they going to do it? People were just dancing; they did not listen to their campaign promises. They did not take time, seriously, to look and ask, are these capable to do what they are promising? Can they fulfill their promises? Is there an antecedent? Is there a precedent from any of them in the past? So, when you look at it…you know, hmmm, Nigeria is in one chance.
Eventually, Tinubu emerged as the president. Fair enough, people voted for him and then they expected a positive change from him, a renewed hope. Can anyone, in his right mind, now say there is, indeed, a renewed hope?
Did you think either former Vice President Atiku Abubakar or Dr Peter Obi could have done better?
That is an hypothetical question. That is why I cannot answer it as it is now. The one that I can answer is the one that we are seeing. Tinubu is the president; there is no other hypothesis of saying Obi would be better or Atiku would be better. It does not make any difference because they are not there. But the one that is there is the only one that we should examine properly. We need to scrutinise that policy of his. Is he bringing positive change to the country? The answer is no. Is there any hope, as things stand today? The answer is no. Unless the policies are changed…and he is not ready to do that.
Do you think the Nigerian problem has to do with the person in office or the office itself?
I think it has to do with the person as well. The aura, the capability of the person in office matters a lot. It takes one person to change the country. This is very important. The personality of Chief Obafemi Awolowo we all know and that was why he surrounded himself with positive-minded people and the team brought positive changes to the old Western Region during their time. So, the personality is very important. A good personality can make a change.
And the body language of the person involved matters a lot. The law of the country and the people of the country matter a lot. We need to look at the policy. The only people that are suffering much are the masses. What is the president going to do about it? This is not something that should be postponed anymore. They promised us that the refinery in Port Harcourt and the three others will be working; and that this would be in tandem with the Dangote Refinery. Where are we now? Fuel is now ₦1,200. When they came to power, it was less than ₦200. And now, there is still scarcity of fuel. How long should we continue to pamper this government?
We are good at theories. You, as a person, what could you have done better, if you find yourself in that position?
One thing that I could have done better is the issue of the oil subsidy. The subsidy should not have been removed entirely; maybe removal in phases; maybe, in the first instance, at 50 per cent. Instead of ₦580 per litre, we start with ₦250 or ₦300 per litre.
You said you are making money by removing the subsidy, but where is the money? Are we not better off when the cabal was selling and we were buying cheaper and the masses were not complaining? Are we not better off then than now? They said they are saving, yet we are borrowing. It is nothing but deception. You said you are saving money, but at the same time you are borrowing. We should look at it. If I have money and I am saving, do I need to borrow? Every time, we are borrowing. So, much of our incomes are spent to service debts and we continue to borrow. For how long should we continue to borrow? I can’t see any saving.
We are in one chance with President Bola Tinubu. This country is now in comatose; the economy is in comatose. The people are in a dilemma; they don’t know where to turn to. That is why people are now japaing. The best brains and some of the best people are now going abroad because this environment is no longer conducive for them to stay in. When you find it difficult to feed your children from the salary you are earning, people cannot go to the market to buy basic food items. The era of bellyful is over; it is a case of have you eaten something?
For how long shall this persist?
That is my question…for how long? The president has a job to do. He needs to re-evaluate his promises and probably bring a succour to the system.
Could it be that the problem is that the president is too far to the people?
Yes, he has lost touch. Many years of being an elite has made him to lose touch with the people in this country.
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, recently said no food for the lazy man. Isn’t she right?
But Nigerians are not lazy. They are ready to work if they can find employment. But is the salary enough with the rate of increments in the prices of food and fuel? Would that salary be enough? Can somebody earning ₦500,000 every month be able to survive with the salary? If you are living in, for example, a three-bedroom flat, you know how much that is in Lagos? So, how would that ₦500,000 be enough? So, it is not about salary increment alone. We need to bring down the prices of every other things.
She also said her husband is not the cause of the hardships and sufferings of Nigerians…
But he is the president. The buck stops at his desk. He is the president and everybody is looking towards him for a policy change. He said he can make a change. That is why people voted for him. If he is no longer capable, then he can resign from being the president. Somebody else will take over if he cannot do it. It was because it was believed that he can do it, that is why the people voted for him. The people made a choice out of three candidates.
But some people still believe that he can do it…
But he has not done it. He has done almost two years.
Don’t you think that we should give him more time?
Like for how long? You mean after the first four years of failure of this administration, we would now say let us give him another four years?
Some people will say, if you fail, you can repeat a class…
You can repeat a class, if you fail but, sometimes, a time comes that you have to tell that student that ‘you can no longer continue; you have to withdraw’ because if he is not doing well, he is not making any progress. As things stand now, Tinubu is not making any progress.
Are you a politician and of what ideological bent?
Of course, I am a politician. I am a progressive. I believe in the school of Awoism. I believe in a welfarist society. This country now is what one can call an over-capitalist society. What we need now is a welfarist society; a type of society that Chief Awolowo created in their own time and brought changes to the life of the people- free education, free health care system…
Is it not sad that we are still talking about free education in the 21st Century?
It is so sad. In the UK, education from primary school to secondary school is free. You don’t pay nothing.
What do you think are the impediments here in our clime?
Because there is no good government. They would rather share the money between and among the selves than to spend it on free education.
A media icon, Dr Yemi Farounbi, will always say, “there is enough to meet the need of the everybody, but not enough to satisfy the greed of a few”…
Exactly, it is greediness that is destroying the fabric of this country. Those who are in power, they would rather…look at the amount of money they said some few people stole. And only few of them, maybe three or four, have been jailed. So, there is a way they are covering themselves. And when you discover that somebody has stolen billions of dollars, anybody who tries to bring that person to justice, they will make sure they take him out of the system. The powers-that-be, those who are in government, they would rather share the money; they share the loot and the people are suffering. They don’t care; they don’t love their countrymen; they don’t love their country. If you love your country, you will not syphon money and keep it abroad.
Are you aspiring for any elective public office?
Yes, I am aspiring to become the governor of Oyo State.
In what year?
In the year 2027, by the grace of God. That is my aspiration. I will bring positive change to this state.
Is Oyo not witnessing positive change so far?
Yes, so far so good. It is not as bad as in many countries. Governor ‘Seyi Makinde is trying his best to make that positive change. We have seen so many transformations as well. But can continue from there; I believe that we can still do better. We can improve on the situation, like he did. Governor Makinde improved on what he met on ground. He has done well. Look at the Ibadan Circular Road and other roads in Oyo State. He is doing well. But we can improve on what he is doing; we can transform the state.
You want to contest on which party platform?
I am a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as at today and I believe that I will contest the 2027 governorship election on the ticket of the PDP.
The governor recently said that he didn’t know who will succeed him but he will have a say on who succeeds him. He further said the next governor should not be more than 50 years old. As I am looking at you, you should be over 60…
I am not over 60 years old; I am still still under 60. Although, he said that, but that does not mean that he has made up his mind. That is what he had said, but the situation is changing. Even age comes with experience. And the Constitution do not allow discrimination on the ground of age. Who the cap fits, let them wear it, so says Bob Marley in one of his lines. So, it is the person that can do it that matters, not his age that matters. So, the governor should have to reconsider that stand; look for those who are capable to continue the good works that he is doing. If you discriminate against aspirants because of their age, you may rob the state of good governance.
And you are sure that you have what it takes to be the next governor of Oyo State?
Yes, I have what it takes. Even the governor knows that I have what it takes.
Can you say this before him?
Why not? He knows that I can do it. He is doing well. I am sure that I can take over the baton from him.
How loaded are you, pocket-wise?
All I can tell you is that I have all what it takes. We are not borrowing money from anybody. We have our own money and we are going to do it. I have said it many times- people should not be thinking of money when they want to choose a leader. This is very important. This is why we are finding it difficult to request for accountability. Anybody that purchased your vote has purchased your life and he will do whatever he likes with it.
I am not talking about the election. Starting from the basic, you want to obtain the governorship form which goes for several millions of naira. Can you afford that?
God willing, no matter what they set as the amount, we are good to go. There are people with are behind me. They will finance and sustain what we want to do. I have people who trust in my dream. Money will not be an impediment to achieve that we want to achieve.
So, we should be on the look out for a new face in public governance in Oyo State in 2027?
Yes and sure. The people of Oyo State should on the look out.
