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‘Tinubu’ll address insecurity by enhancing economic opportunities’

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Oluwaseun Faleye, in this interview, speaks on the blueprint of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his chances in the election. FELIX NWANERI reports

You and some your friends recently held a business lunch with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Lagos. What did you seek to achieve at the meeting?

To us the conveners, it was an intellectual engagement between the business community and the political stakeholders in Nigeria, setting the stage for what should be a sustainable collaboration between the public and the private sectors for collective benefit in the form of accelerated growth of the Nigerian economy. Represented at the event were dynamic individuals playing leading roles in key economic sectors such as the healthcare, insurance, legal, mining and solid minerals, construction and housing, entertainment, technology space, finance, education, oil and gas, power and energy, infrastructural development and finance, sports, creative industry amongst others.

It was in recognition of their rich background in economic activities in different sectors that we invited them to come and give their practical insights to the candidate on policies that will move their respective sectors forward and unleash the economic potentials of Nigeria. For the participants and invited guests, it was to provide useful insights, inputs and feedback gained from their practical experiences to better enrich the APC Action Plans under Tinubu’s leadership. And for the candidate, it was a listening session, to receive well-intentioned and well-informed feedback from those operating the engine room of our economy such that policy formulation and regulations becomes all-inclusive and undertaken with extensive collaboration of key stakeholders. In response to some of the participants’ comments, Tinubu made a lot of bold policy statements such as his commitment to remove oil subsidy and use the funds saved from the removal on social programmes and providing infrastructure, to his commitment to increasing our gas utilization and monetization by targeting the African and European markets with his plan to continue building the necessary evacuation infrastructure to these markets, as well as his commitment to increase our power generation, transmission and distribution capacity including his commitments to public private partnership to delivering public infrastructure.

Given the importance of power to business and productivity, how Tinubu will solve the protracted challenge of power in Nigeria?

Tinubu has indicated that he will make sure that Nigerians have the energy requirement to excel in their different endeavors and that is a bold policy statement. And he intends to do this by continuing with the huge investment that has gone into improving our transmission lines to making sure that all of the power that is currently being generated is getting to our homes. If you are observant, you will see the various transmission components that are required as part of the deal struck with Germany and Siemens to improve our transmission and distribution capacities being transported to various locations across the country. I have seen a couple of them on our roads and we will begin to see the benefit in more power to our homes very soon.

Tinubu has promised to restructure our economy, grow the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 10 percent by 2027, and cut unemployment rate by half within four years. Where is this growth going to come from and how does he intend to achieve these promises?

It is important to bring clarity to these issues, so that Nigerians can make better and informed decisions. Tinubu’s economic plan is to restructure our national economic model by leading us towards a production and export-led growth rather than be an import dependent nation. This economic model restructuring is hinged on enhancing our national productivity by increasing our agro-allied activities, encouraging and increasing local manufacturing and industrial revolution as a substitution for the things we import, particularly the everyday items that we use as a people.

He also intend to intensify Nigeria’s grand national infrastructural campaign to reconstruct and expand the numbers of our highways, railways, airways, supply portable water and renovate our old dams and new ones that will provide irrigation for agriculture and power generation. We see a nexus between our national economic growth and increased agro-allied productivity, the enablement of agro-allied value adding local manufacturing as well as our national infrastructural campaign focusing not only on major highways but also prioritized rural roads that will serve as conduit of agricultural produce from farm to market and food processing factories.

What is Tinubu’s Housing policy that people can hold on to as housing is a critical measure of well-being for people?

The issue of housing is very emotive for Nigerians and rightly so. Shelter is an important consideration for everyone, as a matter of fact, it should form part of fundamental human right and government must do its part not only in providing housing but in enabling people to own their homes. You may also be right that governments have always promised one defining policy or the other regarding housing but it is important to note that under President Buhari, the Federal Ministry of Housing has embarked and still embarking on a National Housing Programme with affordability and acceptability as key guiding principles in almost every state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. This is a good step in the right direction and worthy of multiplying.

Nigerians are worried about the state of security; do you think Tinubu has done enough to allay their fears?

The general consensus is that security is the bedrock of any prosperous and democratic society and that knowledge is not lost on our candidate. He has stated it clearly that the safety, freedom and prosperity of all Nigerians shall be his highest priorities at all times. His commitment in that regard is not hollow. His commitment is borne out of his past experience.

We know he sanitised the security situation in Lagos during his tenure as governor, using creative policies and interventions to tame violent crimes. He has promised very radical changes to our security architecture and this is key because as a country we must redefine our military doctrines and practices using both kinetic and non-kinetic means to respond to our security challenges. First, is the plan to bolster our security forces that will take cognizance of the number of our security and law enforcement personnel vis-a-vis our population. We believe that the number of our military personnel is low compared to our national population. It is grossly below the globally accepted standard and increasing the number of our personnel as well as enhancing their welfare and salaries will not only bridge that gap but will also bring about more jobs.

Tinubu has promised to set up and train specialist units to be known as Anti- Terrorist Battalion to combat terrorisms, kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes. This specialised unit will be highly trained and incentivised to undertake this important work. He will also continue the heavy investment to upgrade our tactical communication and logistics support as well as upgrade our weaponry systems, which are key to give the sort of aerial and technological advantage needed to suppress insurgents and bandits.

What in your view are the underlying reasons for the insecurity we see in the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria? Are they driven by economic challenges or are they political in nature?

Insecurity in any given society is mostly driven by lack of economic opportunities and that is why Tinubu’s plans to address some of our security challenges by enhancing our economic opportunities are commendable. Without a doubt, a much more inclusive economic environment will enable people to earn decent income and they will be less inclined to take actions that are disruptive to peace.

In the North, the security challenges we face in that part of the country will be addressed, in my view, by few fundamental actions. First, is for us to recognise the driver of these conflicts. They are security challenges exacerbated by climate change that has degraded the environment and made the sort of sustenance farming that these communities are used to much more difficult all through the Sahel region to the northern part of this country. This is what fuels economic migration that gives rise to conflict and dislocation in our communities.

Second, is the issue of civil strives that arose in countries such as Libya and Mali that also fueled non-state actors’ migration towards that part of our country and brought about arms proliferation. The third consideration is akin to resource fueled conflict. We feel that the security situation in the North East and North West and generally in the North is amplified by the exploration of mineral resources that abound in these states by unlicensed operators and non-state actors. The solutions are therefore threefold.

Tinubu has stated that he will complete the Great Green Wall of the North to mitigate the effects of desertification and deforestation that compounds economic migration and leads to instability. The Great Green Wall of Nigeria is part of a wider African Union led initiative to address desertification, land degradation, promote climate change adaption and resilience strategies and improve food security in the Sahara and Sahel regions.

What qualities do you think Tinubu has that other presidential candidates’ lack that makes you to believe that he stands out and will win the election?

There are so many qualities Tinubu has that set him apart from other candidates vying for the office of pressident. First is his deep knowledge of the issues that we face as a country and his unyielding commitment to deal with them. I am not sure any of the other candidates has that level of commitment to resolving our security and economy issues. Second is his compassion. Tinubu is a compassionate leader and Nigeria of today needs nothing more than a strong, committed and compassionate leader to lead her in a fair and equitable manner. But very key is his great determination and the cando spirit that he has, which exemplified all through his life in private and public service.

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