…..Kogi a failed state
Chairman House of Representative Committee on Capital Market, Rep. Tajudeen Yusuf is known for speaking his mind, quite passionately on politics and governance. In the interview, with Frontline News Online , the lawmaker representing Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu Federal Constituency of Kogi State, gives an assessment on the performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC), led government in his state and the federal level. Yusuf also speaks on the predicted implosion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the battle for its presidential ticket and why Senator Dino Melaye is welcome back to the Peoples Democratic Party, despite his plans to run against Melaye for the PDP ticket for Kogi West Senatorial District.
The PDP signed an MoU with other parties and Senator Dino Melaye has defected to the PDP. Though some individuals have asked that their parties be removed from the list, what is your reaction to this, especially as you also have interest in representing Kogi West Senatorial District?
I came into the National Assembly in 2011, I won my party primary with three votes. I ran against an incumbent with very solid reach. I had seven others running from my town. You should understand the value of even one vote and that’s why I support the PDP coming together with other parties. PDP is a big party, but we cannot do it alone. In Nigeria, we don’t have up to 10 million people who are card carrying members of parties. The chunk of those who vote candidates into power are not members of any poetical party. But the more the merrier. The more people, you have to exterminate, uproot and pull down this demonic regime, the better. That some people claim that certain individuals singed on their behalf without their consent…who are the people making these statements? Who is more SDP than Chief Olu Falaye? Who is more ADC than Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola? The signing of the MoU hit the APC below the belt. Going back to your question of the defection of my brother, Senator Dino Melaye, he is welcome to the PDP. The PDP is the party of the people. We have the right to aspire and the people have the right to pick who they want to represent them. So, I declare today that I will present myself for the PDP primaries for Kogi West Senatorial District. But at the same time, I will submit myself to the wishes of our people. I am not one of those that jump from party to party. I’ve had enough offers from other parties, but I don’t believe in jumping from party to party. Despite losing the presidency, PDP is on ground in Kogi. Even if you listen to the wind in Kogi, you will hear it say, ‘please PDP come back’.
What’s your assessment of the APC government in Kogi State? Aside from what you just said, you have been quiet about governance in your state.
If you check properly, you would have noticed that I issue statements on developments in Kogi. I deliberately defined my approach, not to be seen as mercantile. When you having the same position, that is general and people can be begin to profit from it……you must be strategic. So, my approach to issues in Kogi State is to have a defined position.
You said even the winds in Kogi are calling for PDP’s return, does it mean Gov. Yahaya Bello hasn’t done well?
It’s very simple. Kogi people got enticed by the drum beats from the APC. If you ride on the tiger’s mouth, you end up in its stomach. Kogi unfortunately rode on the tiger’s back and now it has all the elements of a failed state. Kogi is a true reflection of APC’s failure. If you are looking for an example of bad governance or everything that could go wrong with governance, Kogi is a good example. If you walk the streets of Kogi today, you will feel the people’s passion and desire for the PDP to return to governance. However, I tell my people, that the fact a mango is ripe, doesn’t take away the responsibility of your plucking. If you leave it on the tree, it will go rotten. So we have a responsibility as party to get the mango plucked in a manner that it doesn’t fall and is not good enough for eating. Definitely, Kogi deserves better that what it has now.
So what kind of candidate should the PDP field for governorship in Kogi state?
He must be of high pedigree. He must have a clear direction of where he is going. When I was running for election into the House, I moved around my constituency. I saw the things on ground. I had focus on what I wanted to do. I wasn’t asking questions on what should be done. I hit the ground running. In my first week in the House, I moved a motion on the floor. The next governor of Kogi State must hit the ground running. The next governor of Kogi State should by now, have started thinking of what he can do. He won’t have the luxury of thinking what he should do in office. Kogi people are currently going through such a traumatic period, they might not be patient with the next governor. Whoever wants to lead Kogi next, must be sound, he must be selfless and committed. Above all, he must have the capacity to accommodate the divergent people of Kogi. It’s not enough to say, PDP must win election in Kogi, that anyone would do as our candidate. We must present someone that will deliver. Most of my friends who supported the government in the center are regretting it and I don’t want to be like them. I was in Ekiti State recently and I know what I saw. Ekiti and Kogi almost receive similar amount as allocation from the Federal Government, but I was surprised with the things I saw in Ekiti. Look at Lokoja, it is a glorified village.
Ajaokuta Steel has been described as the shame of a nation. The fact that it has been at 98 percent completion for years has left many wondering how we could condone this kind of situation. What is your opinion on this pivotal project?
You have aptly described it as the shame of a nation. Unfortunately in Nigeria, we have not been privileged to have leaders, who see things from a global perspective. We don’t look at things from different perspectives, we are parochial and myopic. We first think of ‘how does this benefit me’? Not ‘how does this benefit us as a people’? The rail that will take a particular raw material to Ajaokuta has not been built to forestall the completion of the project. At the peak of the cold war, economic decisions were based on getting people to your side. Russia was building our steel industry and we were aligning with the West. But I think more importantly, we don’t have a nation. The average person in Nigeria, first thinks of himself as a Yoruba or Hausa man, before he thinks of himself as a Nigerian. Ajaoukuta is where it is because the powers that be don’t think it is located in the right place. Rather than look at what Ajaokuta can do for Nigeria, the jobs it would create, successive governments have played lip service to the project. I said it on the floor, the day we took on the issue of Ajaokuta Steel, that prosperity will judge us as one of those with the privilege of being representatives of the people, that we must do the right thing with regard to Ajaokuta Steel Company. The PDP- led Federal Government came up with an agreement, which some of us, despite being of the party didn’t approve off. But the so called, pro-people and anti-corruption APC government, came and adopted the same agreement, word for word. They went and renegotiated under the table and signed the agreement.
Many believe that the PDP will implode with the number of heavyweights angling for its presidential ticket. How will your party cross this hurdle?
What I know is that once you have the kind of coalition the PDP has gone into, it’s natural to have people with ambition. But people know that the presidency is a seat, not a bench or bed. If it’s a bench, it can take four people. But the president sits on a chair. Can’t you remember the number of people that ran for APC’s presidential ticket? Only one person emerged, for me it’s good for the opposition to have many presidential aspirants. But once one person emerges, I believe all those involved are mature, so they should support him. My position is that all those aspiring for the PDP ticket are much better than what we have now. I therefore will support whoever emerges. What I hate the most is hypocrisy. This government marketed anti-corruption as its main agenda. They told the whole world, they are a purist government. But I have realised this is most corrupt regime we’ve ever had. People should commit themselves to ensuring this common enemy is taken out. Nigerians as a people have never been this divided.
Do you agree with Senator Kwankwaso’s theory that for the PDP to defeat Buhari, its candidate must come from one of the ‘K’ states?
What we need is a candidate, that we all will agree to work for. Buhari wouldn’t have gotten the votes he recorded in the southern states, without the people who worked for him. When you emerge as a party’s candidate, it is not your acceptability alone, that will get to there. When you become the party’s candidate, people will begin to donate their own goodwill. If we get our candidate from one of the ‘k’ states fine! But if we don’t get our candidate from one of the ‘k’ states, Kwankwaso should also donate his goodwill.
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