We must caution those creating false impression about Buhari - Sen Jajere
Some Nigerians are grumbling over the appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari. Do you share their view?
To me, what the president is doing is in order because Nigerians voted for change and this is exactly what they are getting. President Buhari is someone that cannot condone incompetence. If you are a dirty person, if you have an unclean record, and you are not an upright person, there is no way you can make it into his cabinet. And that is why many people would continue to be disappointed even if they are in the APC or they worked for Buhari’s emergence. God has now blessed this country with one man that has conviction in cleansing the system for the betterment of all. God has endowed Nigeria with all the resources needed for development, but, because we lacked focused leadership, people who believe in the Nigerian project, there is nothing to show all these years. We must appreciate Buhari because of the fact that before the 2015 elections, hope was lost for the survival of Nigeria.
How do you think the clamour for spreading appointments can be addressed?
I feel people from the Southeast Zone should not complain because Buhari was someone they detested, they don’t even believe in him. They rejected him but even at the preliminary stage of his government, he considered them because he believes Nigeria belongs to all. I wonder why they are now bringing the issue of Federal Character. The president has the prerogative to choose whoever he knows is competent, loyal and willing to Senator Alkali Abdulkadir Jajere was a member of the 7thSenate under the platform of the APC. He says Nigerians must stop using ethnic and religious sentiments to look for positions. He also observes that the 8th Senate has started on a bad note, saying that the anomaly must be corrected for the system to work well. Excerpts: work with him. People should wait for him to appoint ministers, chairmen and members of boards and parastatals, and assess whether he reflects Federal Character or not and then make genuine commendation or condemnation. The truth is that it is only in Nigeria that people are looking for positions they don’t deserve. It is only in Nigeria that people who lack competence and capacity to do jobs hide under the principle of Federal Character, religion and ethnicity to make noise. Let those accusing Buhari cast their minds back and see what happened during the administration of former president Goodluck Jonathan. It is then that they would appreciate the incumbent president. Even in the military circle, it is a known fact that those that he appointed as service chiefs are the right people. Everybody agrees with the choices he made. Personally, I thought some of the new service chiefs had retired because we did not hear about them for long. I recall that years back, when the chief of air staff was in Maiduguri as a squadron leader, we had about five aircrafts permanently stationed there. Every evening, he will take one of the aircrafts and go round Maiduguri and its environs for surveillance. In these trying times, who else do you think can give you the air cover of the North-east better than him? Tukur Buratai equally excelled in the fight against the terrorists in the Niger Delta. Buratai is now the chief of Army staff and you can see the marked difference. In the naval circle, they know that the new chief of naval staff is an experienced person, only that he was not given the opportunity to prove himself. These are the kind of appointments that Buhari is doing and people should be patient with him. If we say we would not allow him to do what he feels is good for Nigeria, we shouldn’t have voted for him. We cannot vote for someone as president, try to tie his hands behind his back and expect him to deliver something good.
What do you think Nigerians should do to stabilise the polity?
We should all count on the confidence we have in Mr. President because we all regretted the mistake we made in the past. When he came as a military head of state and tried to restore the dignity and economy of the country, some people misunderstood him and got him out of power. We now voted for him as a civilian president because of his credentials and, therefore, we should allow him to do what he feels is right. Some people are deliberately creating false impression in Nigeria, stereotyping everything just to cause disaffection and we must caution them against threatening the system. We should all pray for the president to succeed because if God has not intervened, our problems would have been worse.
The 7th Senate which you were part of settled within a short time but there are issues in the 8th Senate. What is your take?
I don’t want to say much because the case is before a competent court but the truth is that the 8th Senate started on a bad note. Bad note in the sense that as an institution and a law making body for the country, the Senate should not be where it is today. What I know is that up to the close of the 7th Senate, there was no time that amendment was made to the 2011 Standing Rules.
Do you think the problem can be resolved soon?
That is my hope. The National Assembly is an important organ that must stabilise itself because without it, there is no democracy. The Senate should not allow itself to be compromised and or destabilised.