*Urges FG to dialogue with Boko Haram sect

BY DAPO AKINREFON

SENATOR Babafemi Ojudu is a first time Senator. Ojudu, former Managing Editor of the News magazine,  who represents Ekiti Central Senatorial District in this interview with Vanguard last week, argued that if stringent measures were not taken by the Federal Government to curb the activities of the Boko Haram sect, it would portray the country in a bad light. He also bared his mind on other burning national issues.
Excerpts:

The recent bomb attacks have raised fears about insecurity in Nigeria. What can be done to tackle this problem?

Let me say that all acts of violence, terrorism and intimidation are condemnable in its entirety. Having said this, I don’t want to be part of the crowd that leave the cause of a disease and go about treating the symptom. There is discontent in the land. Nigerians are angry with their leaders for neglecting them over the years. Thousands of our youths are yearly leaving higher institutions without any hope of securing employment.

They are hopeless, listless and helpless. They want to survive, they want to give expression to themselves and this is manifesting in both kidnapping and bomb throwing. What we need to do is to address these angers. If we don’t then we are moving gradually towards the Lebanonisation of Nigeria. The insecurity, the violence we are seeing now is nothing but an expression of the anger and frustration that has enveloped the land. It is clarion call on all our leaders that something needed to be done and done fast.

While some Nigerians are calling on the Federal Government to dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, others are calling for a clampdown on the sect. What is your view on this?

This is no alternative to dialogue. This will enable you to understand the root cause of the problem. An eye for an eye, as they say, will leave all of us blind. We must also look at the issue of extra judicial killing. The summary excution of the Boko Haram leader while in the police custody is condemnable and this I think may have led the to the escalation of the problem as we have it today. We must ask for justice and equity at all levels.

If we had interrogated the Boko Haram leader and sought to know the cause of their discontent, put him on trial and allowed justice to take it’s course, the story may be different from what it is today. We should learn from his and recent history for that matter. Did the killing of Adaka Boro, Ken Saro Wiwa stop the agitations in Niger Delta? No! Let us learn to dialogue. It may seem odd but at the end of the day it helps.

Before the expiration of the last National Assembly, there were some outstanding bills that were not passed, is there any prospect that the current assembly would look into these bills?

I believe all outstanding bills of the last session of the National Assembly will be brought back for scrutiny and those needed be passed. I do not think there is any rule of the House that is opposed to that.

The jumbo pay for legislators has continued to generate heat in the polity with some Nigerians calling for a part time National Assembly, do you share this view?

As at this interview, details of the salary and allowances of the National Assembly members are not yet made available to me. In fact just this morning at the closing session of the Senate, one of the Senators raised the issue and he was asked to wait until things are straightened out.

It will therefore be unreasonable of me to at this moment be talking about jumbo pay of lawmakers. We all have to wait till we have the full details before making comments.

What is your position on the plan to slash pay of legislators because new members, like yourself, are not disposed to this?

This issue has not come up for discussion at all. If it is discussed and it is the general opinion that it should be cut, so be it.

Do you support the resolution that new members of the National Assembly should not be allowed to hold principal offices?

I do not.

What should Nigerians expect from the current Senate?

The fairly large number of ACN members in the House will ensure  robust representation this time around and the people of Nigeria will be better served.

The South West, as things stand, is not holding any key position, what step will members of the ACN in the National Assembly take in this regard?

Ensuring development is not a matter of holding key positions. After all Obasanjo was in government for eight years and there was no development. What we need is to have leaders who are dedicated and committed to the upliftment of the people. Coming from Zamfara or Kaura Namoda is not important. What is important is their vision, their will to serve the people.

The Irish and British missionaries who established those schools many of the first generation of educated Nigerians attended were not Yoruba, Ibibio, Hausa or Ibo, yet they left a legacy which will forever be erasable.