… says FG allows corruption to thrive in MDAs

By Levinus Nwabughiogu, Abuja

Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is a respected name in Nigerian politics. He’s become almost everything within the public space: former civil servant, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, governor of Kano State, minister of defence and senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He had previously contested to be president of Nigeria. All these happened on the platforms of various political parties. Now, he is giving the presidential contest another shot in the forthcoming 2023 general election on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP. In this exclusive ten minutes interview Kwankwaso x-rayed the current socio-economic and political situations in the country, saying there is no palatable story to tell. For him, there is much work to do ahead to rescue Nigeria. 

What would you be doing differently from what President Muhammadu Buhari’s is currently doing should you win the election?

First of all, I want to say that we have our own history and that’s the history of performance. Performance in all the areas that are becoming serious issues today in this country. If you look at the issue of security which is very critical now because most people are finding it difficult to move from Point A to Point B, not only in the northern part of the country, even in the south, it’s a big issue. We have the issue of people going to the villages to destroy the places, picking up people in their houses, on the road and so on. So, that reminds me of my association with the military as their minister.

I believe that wit the right political will from the leadership in the country, with the supply of arms, ammunition and the other equipment with good provision for the welfare of our armed forces and of course, our other security agencies, I have no doubts that the military has got the capacity we require for them to finish all what is happening today. 

On Economy

We know very well that after security, there is the issue of economy and in the area of economy, there is a lot that the government can do. But mainly, it is for the government to keep its eyes on what is happening in all the sectors to ensure that wastages are being minimized. Today, we have seen how things are happening at the state and even at the national level.

So, I think main thing is to tackle the issue of wastages. We all know what is happening in terms of the Ministries, Departments, Agencies, MDAs. It’s like everybody is operating his own country and money is being pumped especially now that most of the money is now borrowed. And it’s most unfortunate that it’s like no body is supervising to make sure that whatever that is sent to those places is utilized effectively for the people of this country.

Borrowing to pay salaries, does that bother you as well? 

Obviously, it’s a sad story that a government will borrow money and spend it on recurrent expenditure. And that explains, really, how bad the economy is being managed. In addition to the economy itself is the issue of infrastructure especially the electricity, the roads, the rail-lines and so on that can allow people and goods to be transported from one point to the another. 

On Education

Then, the issue of education. No body is talking about the issue of education today in this country. And the most unfortunate thing is even the ASUU that is on strike now. This reminds me of my eight years in Kano. Even when ASUU was on strike, their members in Kano were not going on strike because we were doing the right thing.

So, they will come and tell us that they were not going to be among those going on strike. So, it shows clearly that if the governments – state and federal governments are doing the right thing, all other areas including ASUU themselves, the tertiary institutions will follow suit.

On Agriculture 

Even in Agriculture, we were told that a bag of fertilizer is more than N30,000 now. I am not sure if people have got that money to buy. The minimum wage is N30,000. So, your salary can only purchase a bag of fertilizer which is very unrealistic. So, I think there is a lot of work to be done. That’s why we are putting out heads together now to convince Nigerians to vote for us because we have the capacity, the experience, we have done it before and I am sure if we have an opportunity, this time around, we can even do better. 

Talking about the economy, one cankerworm that eats deep into the economy and drains the system is corruption. And some persons feel they are sacred cows that can’t be touched. How would you tackle corruption because it does appear to be endemic?

Yea. You see, from our own experience in Kano, once you have a good government, strong government for that matter and one that keeps its eyes on what is happening in the ministries, departments and agencies, there won’t be any problem. People will key in. One area which is very key in fighting corruption is the civil service. You find out that If you go as a governor or President, if they know you are very serious about fighting corruption, you will find everybody keying into the programme of fighting corruption.

If they realize that you are corrupt and ready to condone corruption, they will teach you even how to do it. And from our experience in Kano, we can say comfortably that these people are very flexible. The same people, they get corrupt persons they help them. The same people, if they are sure that that is not your area, they will keep off and support you to succeed. They supported us to succeed. This is not your area. They supported us to succeed.

So, it’s very sad that we found ourselves in this terrible mess where corruption now is the order of the day in ministries, departments and agencies. And that has even trickled down in almost everywhere now even the ordinary people are thinking of how to cheat each other. I think these are the areas that must be addressed.

Should you become the President, would there be sacred cows in your government?

No, no. That’s what I am telling you. If we had , you would have heard about them in Kano. We started from ourselves and I am happy and proud that helped me even to be in peace now. You cannot be corrupt and fight corruption. It can’t work.

They can even come quietly and tell you what you are doing. Therefore, you should shut up. But if you play it clean from your own side, then, you have the moral right and courage to fight corruption wherever it is, either close to you or far away from you.

Vanguard News