Dr. Victor Oluwasegun Akande, a politician, academic, and lawyer, has defended the tax reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration, asserting that they are crucial for Nigeria to catch up with the developed world. Akande, who served in the Lagos State House of Assembly from 2015 to 2023, criticised Nigerian youths, accusing them of squandering the opportunities given to them in public office. In an interview with OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI, Akande shared his insights on governance, reform, and the role of youths in national development. Excerpts:

How would you describe the economic policies of the Federal Government in the just ended year 2024?
To be realistic, 2024 was a tough year. This is because we did not do what we ought to have done before now, we have just woken up to reality. But now that we are trying to put a round peg in a round hole, and we want to get it right, we have a price to pay. We are now trying to bring what was vague to reality. Most of our past policies were fake because we were living a borrowed life. Number one, during the era of former head of state, Ibrahim Babangida, he subsidised dollar. Also, when the late Gen. Sani Abacha came, there was no difference. Former president Olusegun Obasanjo too came and he was using billions of naira to subsidise dollar and we were living a borrowed life. What we had then was not the real economic situation of Nigeria. So, getting it back is going to be hard, we are paying a price for our stupidity that had lingered for about 30 years. Go back to the era of former president Goodluck Jonathan and former president Muhammadu Buhari, the same thing happened. Thank God that Bola Tinubu came to power and he said that there is no more subsidy. Like I said, it’s not just fuel subsidy, it is for every other thing that has now changed our economic policies. This will take us away from poverty and catapult us to posterity. So, judging from that, it’s going to be hard, we will have to pay the price. Also, all the policies that this administration put in place are hard, but they showed the reality of what Nigeria is. But because we had been living a borrowed life, we didn’t want to face the harsh reality, which is the true position of what and who we are.

You made mention of the administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari, under his government there were issues about corruption, why can’t the current government recover some of these loots and put the refineries back to work before talking of fuel subsidy removal?
Even former president Olusegun Obasanjo could not fix the refineries. All the past administrations could not fix them, you can see that it is paying off now, as the refineries have started working. This is because we have put a round peg in a round hole. When this administration came to power, the first thing they did was to remove subsidies so that they could have enough money to develop the economy. I want you to know that most of our foreign debts had been paid by this administration.

But people feel that the high cost of goods and services affected many people and they are saying that someone like President Tinubu shouldn’t have done this….
Something cannot be bad for too long and you expect someone to turn it around within a few months. This is something that has been battered for more than 30 years. President Tinubu has not even spent two years in office and you want him to turn things around immediately. It’s easy to spoil things, but it’s not easy to build. To destroy this building is easy, they would put it down within 30 to 40 minutes, but to rebuild it would take months even if the money is there. If you don’t have the money, then you will suffer before you get the resources to rebuild. As you are building, it will take time, inflation will come in and the structure will have to be adjusted.

But what of the tax reforms that people believe is another hard policy that shouldn’t come now, they feel they have made enough sacrifices?
Go and check all the developed countries and the western world that have become commercial nerve centres, they depend on taxes. As we speak, Nigeria has not even captured 40% of the tax that ought to go to the government, we don’t have a tax culture. It’s not our culture to be paying taxes and now we have laws in place for us to follow, what do you expect? Part of these taxes is what the government would use for development. They feel that the poor should pay as they earn, while the rich would pay more. It is now the rich that are paying more and not the poor. That little that the poor are paying, because they are not used to paying taxes, they are now crying. Go abroad and see what is happening there on taxation.

Let’s look at youth development, it is believed that the elders are recycling themselves and education has become expensive as private primary, secondary and universities have taken over. How best do you think the government can develop Nigerian youths?
Who are the people going to private primary and secondary schools and private universities, are they not citizens of this country. So why are we trying to classify it?

We are talking of the majority
Whether the majority or not, why are we trying to classify it. It is pay as you go and earn as you go. If you have the capacity to send your children to private schools, no problem or else let them go to public schools. Sometime ago, private schools had more qualified teachers and paid more, but now it is the government that has more qualified teachers and are paying more. Even most teachers don’t want to stay in private schools anymore, they prefer government schools as the government now pays more and they are the largest employers of labour. Again, the carrying capacity of public schools is higher than that of private schools. I will cut my coat according to my cloth, not my size. Instead of sewing ‘agbada’ I would sew ‘buba and sokoto’ if my cloth is small. Nobody should force his or her child to a school that he or she cannot afford, it’s like punishing the child. It might be the prerogative of the government to make sure that there is education for all, that is why they came up with student loan. The administration of President Tinubu has tried. If you are in need of the money, just show proof that you are in a secondary school or a higher institution of learning, you don’t need any collateral or anything to access it. They are not asking you to start paying now, you will start paying after graduation and you have started working. Have they not tried, did we have such in those days? Even when you make it free, you are not helping the people, you will make the children to be lazy. When they know that they collected loan for the education they will be serious and they will want to come out in flying colours and get good jobs.

What’s your view about the case of a man that was sentenced to death in Osun State for stealing a fowl, how best do you think we can have judicial reforms in Nigeria?
That analysis is wrong because I listened to the Attorney General of Osun State and the judge; the parents of man were not being truthful. If you listened to what actually happened, you would know that they misrepresented the fact of the matter. I don’t want to talk about it much because those who ought to do the findings had already done it. The man has been released and if what they found out is the truth he can still be rearrested and sent back to jail because he misrepresented the facts and the truth. It is time we regulated the social media. It was the social media that sent false information to the whole world.

Are you saying we don’t need judicial reforms?
We are not saying that, nobody is perfect, the law is not perfect. The law would become perfect overtime. It would take shape overtime. We cannot say because something happened now we should discountenance it and reform it, it takes time. It’s a gradual process. You cannot say that our judges are corrupt even the law itself is blind.

It is believed that the Nigerian President is too powerful as there are too many things on the exclusive list and that power should be devolved to states, what’s your view on this?
People have been agitating for devolution of power and that is why the administration of President Tinubu is trying to shelve some things. If you look at tax reforms, he is saying that you have to collect taxes on what is being sold in your state and bring little to the centre. But some states are agitating that they don’t want the reforms because it is making other states to be richer as they are not producing much. They don’t want the states that are producing more to enjoy their resources. Even when the government is trying to bring out policies that would be beneficial, some bad elements would still not allow it to work. There is no policy of the government that the people would not attack. Whatever the situation is, it’s good to have reforms, it shows that the government is listening. We need reforms in all sectors. You say that the Nigerian President is too powerful, let’s go back to the parliamentary system that we were practising that the people felt should be changed. It was because it was not working and there were problems and there was a lacuna that we decided to follow the American presidential system of government. When we wanted to adopt it, we did not adopt it wholeheartedly, that tells you that we are babies. We are too brilliant to be caged with one system of government. Also talking about old people that are being recycled, what did someone like former governor Yahaya Bello that was the governor of Kogi State do better? All the youths that had occupied public offices, what had been their impact on us. I am also a youth, but we still need guidance. We got it wrong when we sent the colonial masters away thinking that we were perfect. It should be infusion of the old and the young to get a perfect system. If you do away with the old because of their ages, you will suffer. Look at President Tinubu, he is an elderly man with a good knowledge of governance. He now brought brains to work with him and if you don’t perform, he will relieve you of your duty and bring another person. The administration is working, though we have not arrived yet. Look at youths in the entertainment world, when they are giving opportunity to showcase themselves, they indulge in drugs.

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