Why politicians see the elite as endangered species – Ex-NNPC MD
Inuwa Waya, a lawyer and member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano State is in the 2023 governorship race. His decision to retire from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) as the managing director in charge of shipping, as well as the head of all the retail stations, in 2021, two years before he was due for statutory retirement, to join partisan politics, had raised a few eyebrows. In this interview, he discussed the reasons for his action, his ambition, and how he will navigate the murky waters of Kano politics, among other issue.
With at least two years before you are statutorily due for retirement, why did you leave the NNPC to join partisan politics? I had been in the NNPC since August 26, 1991. Before then, I was a counsel in the Kano State Ministry of Justice. I can tell you that the corporation is the most credible and transparent government agency you can ever think of, such that anyone who found himself in such a place would rather want to continue to stay till the last day of his retirement. But I am happy that I left the corporation in an excellent position.
President Muhammadu Buhari has done extremely well to reposition not only the NNPC but the entire oil and gas sector. With all these reforms already taking place, you need to realise, as senior and management staff, that these changes will usher in a rebirth of the corporation, so it is only fair for those of us who have been there for long to step aside to allow the younger generation to take the mantle of leadership and deliver it to the promised land. That is my sacrifice.
I believe the issue of becoming a governor is in the hands of God. I am not out of the NNPC, technically speaking, because I want to be governor, but for a purpose. I have a good relationship with the management and staff of the corporation and I believe the current leadership is focused and accountable, with a lot of reforms, which have yielded an increase in oil production.
It was gathered that your next agenda is to contest for the governorship seat of Kano State in 2023. Why?
We are elites; and most lifetime achievements of elites are limited to what they did during their days in the mainstream civil or public service. So when they return, some of them will start lamenting about what is happening in the country and become armchair critics because they feel it is too late for them to join the league (of politics), thinking that politicians would harass and intimidate them since they are not in the mainstream.
Politicians see people like us as endangered species. They believe you have all it takes to develop the society, and then, begin to block you, using legal, illegal and supernatural means. You have to be brave enough to break the ranks,
My decision to leave two years and retire from the NNPC is now enabling me to understand the nitty-gritty of the political process. And I imagine what would have happened if I waited until one month before retirement as provided by the electoral act; I wouldn’t have gone anywhere
instill yourself in the system to contribute and make a meaningful impact in the larger society.
That is why people like us have decided to pick up the challenge and sacrifice to join politics. My decision to leave two years and retire from the NNPC is now enabling me to understand the nitty-gritty of the political process. And I imagine what would have happened if I waited until one month before retirement as provided by the electoral act; I wouldn’t have gone anywhere. The mere fact that people like us are joining politics is already unsetting the political class. It is making them sit up and do what is right. That is a big plus for me, knowing full well that my involvement has gingered the political class to begin to think of probity and accountability.
What do you plan to do
differently?
I believe in the manifesto of the APC. And I will align myself with the party’s developmental agenda. I believe in what the president is doing. President Buhari is my hero and I see him as a role model. He was the major reason I joined politics. I support what the federal government and the Kano State Government are doing.
More specifically, what is the developmental agenda you have for Kano?
My concern is education, so the policy of free and compulsory education of the Kano State Government is commendable and we need to support it. But the challenge the state will face is the resources to sustain the system.
I will not play politics with education because I believe it is not about a given quota system or federal character but the need for the immediate development of your environment. We will take education for development, not business. Training of teachers will be paramount.
Again, we have an issue of drug abuse in Kano, which is also largely due to lack of education. This unfortunate act has led to school dropouts, which in turn resorted to insurgency and terrorism. If I become governor, I will build more schools, rehabilitate existing structures and ensure that teachers are not only well paid but qualified enough to provide the services they are employed to render.
To clinch the APC ticket, a lot of politicking is expected, and your party is currently enmeshed in internal crisis. Considered by many as a novice in politics, how do you intend to circumvent this to achieve your goal?
I am not a novice in politics. I remember that when we were in Rumfa College we used to visit Mallam Aminu Kano to see and learn how he addressed his political disciples. We cultivated that habit, and that created an impact in my mind, that one day I would take full part in politics.
When I left the college, I began several movements in politics. It was my involvement in politics that attracted the interest of the then governor of Kano, the late Abubakar Rimi, to employ some of us to work in the research unit at the Government House, set up
by the late Dr Bala Mohammed.
I was also involved in politics at the Ahmadu Bello University. So I don’t think I should be regarded as a novice. My 32 years in the NNPC and the kind of challenges I went through there, especially in the hands of politicians and how I survived it before my retirement will tell you how resilient I am. I was harassed, intimidated and got all sorts of threat to frustrate me out of the system because that is their stock in trade. I have had advice from people who asked me to return to the university because to them, politics is a dangerous game.
We know some people believe that political activities of a state are their exclusive right and they have to determine who plays the game, forgetting that parties are an amalgamation of interested persons coming together to form entities.
The reason I am joining the race is to protect the interest of the poor. I will not fall into any intimidation or harassment by any politician.
What about your ambition, vis-à-vis the crisis in the Kano APC?
The crisis in the party is normal because everyone gets more interested and you begin to see alignment and re-alignment. I am also in alignment with some groups, and as far as I am concerned, the APC in Kano is one. As far as I am concerned, Abdullahi Abbas is still the recognised chairman of the party. Where you have splinter groups that want to bring about a conflict because of the protection of their selfish interest, then you know it is about who gets what, where and when.
It is believed that Kano politics can be very intimidating and sometimes violent, how do you intend to navigate this challenge?
I am in politics to sanitise the system and make it more accountable and reliable. We will continue to campaign against violence, using the children of the poor who the politicians have denied education to foment crisis with daggers and machetes.
I have challenged them to tell any politician who asks them to take drugs and carry dangerous weapons against their opponents to bring their children to lead the fight. By the time you begin to ask the political class to bring their children to campaign and cross opponents, you will notice that in no distance time this violence would be eliminated.