Cabinet reshuffle not the answer — Yahaya Abdulkarim
Malam Yahya Abdulkarim is a former governor of old Sokoto State and one-time minister of works during the tenure of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo. In this interview, he explained why Buhari is passing through difficult times trying to address national wo
Nigeria recently marked its 56 year independence anniversary. How do you see the journey?
Nigeria came through two major events that retarded our developmentthe Civil War and incursion of military in governance. These two things retarded development of Nigeria and allowed its peers to surpass her. Some areas were neglected such as agriculture, industry and power development mainly because oil was discovered. If we had developed our agriculture, we wouldn’t have the kind of problems we now have. Any nation that buys food, like Nigeria does, is in trouble. Our culture of feeding has changed because of the kind of food that we import. When I was small, in our home, we don’t eat rice except when there was occasion, we used to eat maize or guinea corn. But now, you find that every woman, poor or rich, will go for rice and if you don’t buy rice for her, she will not make food for you, this is very unfortunate. We can grow rice, but if you go to market, price of imported rice is higher than price of locally produced rice, why? These are some of the problems that Nigeria is facing.
How was the economy when you were a governor?
When I was a governor, the oil was 11 dollars per barrel, but when it was 100 and 100 plus dollars, per barrel, that money should have been invested in agriculture. When I was governor, I was getting N56m per month. Five years after, some people were getting billions, money that they didn’t need. One governor even said that when he vacated office, he left N20bn. He did not know that he exposed himself as someone who lacked capacity to manage resources and spend money to provide his peoples critical needs such as water, education and healthcare. The people need things and you said you left so much money in the coffers, what for? The money is meant for development, not to be kept.
We have to subsidise agriculture for farmers. If you buy fertiliser at N3,000, per bag, and sell it to farmers at N500, that’s not a loss, provided he puts it in soil of your state.
How do you think we can come out of the present economic recession?
Some people suggest that some public assets should be sold. I am not part of that. I know this recession is temporary. What caused the recession is the volatility of the oil market, coupled with the insurgent activities in the South-south. African Development Bank is willing to assist Nigeria. The most important thing is to reduce spending.
What are areas government should cut its spending on?
We have to look at what is happening in the states, not only at the federal level. The states should also think of reducing their expenditure. I think they are extravagant, doing some things that are unnecessary.
Some have called for the replacement of some ministers, is cabinet reshuffle the answer?
It is not the answer. People say they want dynamism from some of the ministers. If you are doing the right thing, you will find that either your ministry is growing or you are assisting to improve the economy of the nation.
The appointment of minister is the prerogative of Mr President. People can make suggestion but If Mr President thinks a minister is working the way he wants, then, he keeps working with him.
What’s your view on restructuring?
The proponents of restructuring think of it in accordance with the advantage that their people stand to get. We have come to the place where we don’t talk of Nigeria, we talk of our area. Even the big men, who are supposed to be nationalists, are talking about their area. When states were created, people were happy. Though we have 36 states, many people are still agitating for more. But, if you get more, you will end up with small units. By restructuring, what they want is for every region to be its own master and pay tax to the federal government. If this is done, it means that we will be confederation. That means having weak centre, and if we have weak centre, it will lead to separation.
What do you think is the best way out?
In democracy you will never rest. When you solve this problem, another problem will come out. But when you sit and negotiate, you will always come out with solution.
How do you see President Muhammadu Buhari’s approach to governance?
There is improvement in security. Buhari fights corruption and corruption is fighting him. People who amass wealth are many, and to get money out of them, they can do anything. We, as a people, should encourage him to continue fighting. In future, if people know that they’ll be exposed if they take people’s money and the money will be taken from me, they will not do it. We want him to continue because what happened in the past was what made us to leave our party. I established PDP in Sokoto and Zamfara states. But when I saw what was happening in 2014, I had to leave the party because I did not feel comfortable. I was sure we were going to lose as a party. So, I said I am quitting because the way they were going was not how it should be.