President Buhari not interested in 100 day anniversary –Garba Shehu

                                                 

Many Nigerians looking forward to the anniversary of 100 days in office of President Muhammadu Buhari were shocked to see that the President has no interest in the anniversary. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Garba Shehu, tells OBIORA IFOH that President Buhari sees such anniversary as fraudulent and deceit. Excerpts:

How has it been so far under President Muhammadu Buhari, with 100 days gone?

When the President visited the United States, he did say that he does not believe in celebrating 100 days because such activities are fraudulent and that he will not engage in deceit. That is why he went to his Daura home town. If Nigerians have anything to say about it they should say it and I can assure you that the President will hear. But there will be no special activities about that.

Does that mean there is nothing much to show?

Well, Nigerians will decide whether there is anything to show or not. You represent public opinion. Without meaning to blow our own trumpet, I just left a town hall meeting in Suleja organised by the BBC and I took my notes. The ordinary Nigerians are praising President Muhammadu Buhari for security in the country and some of them scored him 90 percent and above. There were tailors who used to open shops for two hours in three days and now, they can open their shops for up to 20 hours a day and some of them are saying that sometimes they have 24 hours uninterrupted power supply. I think this is an opportunity to clear the useless claim by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that it is the work of Goodluck Jonathan that President Buhari has come to claim credit for. The records are there with the Ministry of Power. All the records are there.

They are saying power has improved because it is raining season. Let me say that none of the hydro plants has added any megawatt. What is going on is that, like the Americans will say, there is a new sheriff in town. People are taking their cue from the fact that there is no nonsense President who has taken over the administration of this country and his body language sends the message. Nobody is blocking gas pipelines, gas is flowing and there is better management and everybody is standing up to do the right thing. Better management also means better engagement. Whether it is the host community or youth groups who are undermining things, they are looking at a selfless administration serving the country for the sake of the country. This is the thing that is responsible for the improved power supply. No hydro station has increase output.

At the town hall meeting, somebody said they drove from Suleja to Yola and back without any policeman or soldier stopping them to ask for bribe and the same thing happened on the way back.

There is an environment that has been generated by the presence of Buhari in Aso Rock. Whether anybody likes it or not, it has changed things and we are feeling safer and when people go to sleep, they are comforted by the fact that there is somebody who will bolt the door. All these things about security are happening because the soldiers themselves believe that they are being led by a caring leader. Citizens are feeling that the pressure of insecurity is going away not because Boko Haram has been eliminated completely, but because of the work that has been done. The management that has been brought to bear on the nation’s security is reassuring. PDP wants to divert our attention. It issued a statement that there is corruption going on even with Buhari in government. Maybe they are alerting President Buhari that the men they left behind are still continuing with their old game. In that case, maybe we should watch out and do something about that

What informed the choice of Col. Hamed Ali as head of the Nigerian Customs Service, when there are several career officers for the President to choose from?

Well, I don’t know because the President didn’t talk to me on this. Let me ask you one question. Do you, in all sincerity know Col. Hamed Ali? If you do know him, how many of his types do we have in this country? This is the man who many probably felt should have gone to head the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. But looking at the critical place of Customs in the nation’s economy, you need somebody like him. After oil, the next revenue spinner for the government is the Customs. In these few days we have been listening to briefings, I have seen people flying ideas that Customs revenue can be tripled on the basis that corruption is eliminated.

I think that Col. Ali brings a rare breed of reputation that will be difficult to find. There might be a few people in the Customs, but maybe they are too low in rank to warrant this appointment. I think the President has done the best thing anybody can do for the Customs and the nation’s economy. 

Otherwise, smuggling will ruin Nigeria. Look at what is happening in the textile industry in Aba, Ikeja, Kaduna, Kano and Gusua. There was a time when they used to employ about 400,000 people. All the textile companies in the country today can no longer employ more than 30,000 people.

We have more Nigerians in need of clothing today than those so called glorious days of the textile industry. Look at the issue of rice. Ebonyi, Anambra, Niger, Osun, Kebbi, Sokoto and Kogi have been brought together by the President and given the matching order to produce the rice need of this country. The rice industry in this country has failed because cheap Asian rice is being dumped here. 

The President did not ban importation because that would have offended WTO. What he has done is to say if you want to import rice go and source your dollars anywhere you can get it. But CBN and the banks will always supply to manufacturers who want to bring in spare parts, equipment and employ Nigerians and for those who want to pay for medical bills abroad and maybe for school fees. By that action, the scope of import has been significantly reduced and that will encourage local production.

What is responsible for the cash crunch being experienced in the country, considering that this is happening under Buhari?

I don’t know anything about cash crunch. Perhaps, the more competent people to answer your question are the bankers. I should think that there is more money now going to the people because the local farmer who could not sell his produce because nobody was buying will now sell their goods. 

The tailor who does three hours a day because of lack of electricity can now do 12 hours a day and that will fetch him more money. The revival of the economy is a process that will take a long time. It will not require government opening the vault and bringing out money and give to people.

It is a working economy. Look at the businesses in the North-East that were closed for a long time for lack of patronage because of in security. Now, if you go to Yola, it is booming, the same thing with Gombe. Even in Maiduguri, you will be surprised at what you see. In spite of the threat that hangs over their heads, night life is resuming. This is what will bring money to the people because they do business and work to earn money which they spend. I assure you that were it not for some of the measures that the President tried to take through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, maybe you would not know the naira by now. The collapse would have been disastrous.

The Chibok girls are yet to be rescued, despite the promises made during the campaign and Nigerians are agitated…

To be fair to President Buhari, did he ever say he will bring back the girls on the second day of his administration? What he has always said is that we don’t even know where the girls are and that we need to go in there and get the intelligence and situation of things and then act. Without meaning to endanger what is left of those girls, you know that the Sambissa forest is being degraded right now. The bombing is done in a careful manner to avoid certain locations of interest as far as the Chibok girls are concerned. I am not saying that the girls are here or there. But there is better intelligence now. In fact, Sambissa forest is under observation 24 hours in case somebody decides to move those girls from point A to point B.

If there is any movement that is suspicious, we have drones; unmanned aircrafts that fly around the place at night and during the day, the men takes over and fly the aircraft. In the last few days, you even saw the Chief of Army Staff leading the troops and I am aware that in the last few weeks, very interesting pictures have been shown to the President on the basis of which we will say to Nigerians, don’t lose hope on the Chibok girls. I am not saying they have been found or that they have been seen. But it is not yet time for Nigerians to say we have lost them.

From what you have said it appears the government was jolted by what it found on ground regarding the state of security?

Boko Haram was there for five or six years under Jonathan and he did not end it. Now you have a President who came and said go and end it in three months and this is about to happen. From my conversation with these commanders, it is clear that they are not going to wait for three months, but do their best to beat the target given by the President. So, there is so much going on and I can assure you that the spirit is very high. The Army was there with the soldiers for about nine days. That is leadership because you see him leading the soldiers from the front. If the CoAS himself is there, who are you to drop your gun?

A lot is happening and Boko Haram has been degraded, they have lost central command and are now in splinters. What you have now are bits and pieces carrying out distractive action because they don’t want to go down alone. So, they are looking for very soft targets such as churches, mosques, markets. The Airforce is clearing this place for the ground troops to move in. They are looking for bomb making structures and moving convoy of these insurgents. But they are being careful about certain locations with the hope not to harm these Chibok girls in they are in those locations.

Should Nigerians hold Mr. President responsible if the insurgency is not ended in three months?

The President is responsible for the affairs of this country. If insurgency is not ended in three months, what to do is not to start blame game. As head of your home, if you tell your wife that your dinner should be ready by 5pm and you come home, the dinner is not ready, are you saying you will tell her to pack her things and leave your house or you look for explanation. The President has appointed people and given them the matching order to do this within three months. Supposing your wife says the grinding machine you bought is fake, will that be her fault that she didn’t prepare dinner by 5pm? A lot of people have argued that the fight against corruption is selective and just in the media because nobody has been convicted.

In all the years under Jonathan, how many high profile convictions did you get?

But this is the era of change. This question would have been okay in 1984 when Buhari came to government in Army uniform. What they did then was to look around and sent to jail all those accused of corruption. We all choose democracy and democracy has due process. Even if it is your wish that those accused of corruption should be jailed tomorrow, President Buhari will not do that because he was to follow the due process of law because the constitution protect the right if every Nigerians. If you have a case against anyone, go to the police or EFCC or ICPC. Even at that, they need time to investigate.

Maybe that is why the anti graft agencies don’t have a good record of conviction in the past because they don’t do a good job. Immediately they take such cases to court, the judge will enter a no case submission because of the shoddy nature the case was investigated. Because there is a political purpose for that investigation, the case will collapse immediately the hearing begin. This is going to be different. This crude oil theft which so much has been said about and for which many countries have promised to help, when the President went to America, he did not ask Barack Obama to give him the list of Nigerians involved or those who stole money.

We are doing our own investigation after which the government will now say, thank you for blocking this account for a while until we are able to prove that the crude oil that left Nigeria on this day for one of your harbours did not have permission and papers to leave the shore of Nigeria and so was stolen crude. Such a government will have to be convinced that this money is proceed from stolen crude from Nigeria and we got promises from all over the world that they will return the money. When they return it, that again takes a process. President Buhari will go to a judge and say this and that country has returned this money because XYZ stole our crude and these are the proceeds. That is evidence. So Nigerians will have to be patient with the President and the process. You will not be happy if the President begin the trample on the rights of fellow citizens.

The President promised to release the list of his ministers this month, September…

We are in early September. Can the President be given the grace of end of September? Midnight of September 30. The President is working hard and he is focused. What this country requires is the kind of focus that he is bringing to bear on the key challenges the country faces. The focus requires that attention be brought to bear on certain key areas. What sense does it make if you live in fear and had to stay indoor everyday because of curfew and insecurity?

Which would you prefer? Ministers in jeeps with tinted glasses and police escorts or your ability to sleep well without the fear of the bomber? This country will not experience development without peace and security. The President has made that possible and he is addressing corruption that has eaten deep into the society. But certainly ministers will come. Sometimes, you begin to wonder where the pressure is coming from. But you understand that it is a reward for delivering my constituency and so it is understandable. But the country should be placed above anything else and I think that is what the President is doing.

Is the government comfortable with what seems like sectional imbalance in appointments being made by the President?

I have said that these appointments do not constitute five percent of the appointment the President is going to make and they will come in waves. The President has also made two more appointment from the South West. Do you want Northerners to start abusing him for giving two appointments to South-West? They are emotional reactions to things that will come and go. This country has gone past that stage. I am not talking about competence because in this country, we have so many competent people all over the place. But give it to the President, he has the right to choose those he will work with or cook his food. Somebody has cooked for him for 25 years and because of federal character, you want him to remove him and bring in another person? These appointments are like a fan which must blow all sides. These things will come and Nigerians will feel adequately represented because it is the requirement of the constitution of Nigeria and that is the position of the President because he is a fair, just leader and will do right to all manners of people.

Do you think the President will enjoy the cooperation of the judiciary in the fight against corruption?

Let me tell you that the judiciary in this country is lucky because it is led by the present Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, because he has brought to the judiciary a reputation of incorruptibility and strong will. If things are going wrong, the judiciary is also watching. Even under Jonathan, the NJC was still wielding the big stick and judges have been fired. If it happened then, what do you expect to happen now? Let us leave it to them because it is their own domain.

The President is careful about one thing: separation of power. There is a new environment in the country. Nigerians themselves choose Buhari not because he had money to give to voters at the polling centres. He said he will do three things: tackle corruption, economy and security. So, if you are a sitting judge and you know that you are a member of this community, you should know this is the sentiment now, abhorrence of corruption. I believe everybody is being touched by what is happening now. It is not just about power, but the changes are happening everywhere.

The President promised job creation, but in the last 100 days we have witnessed job loss, especially in the banking sector.

People are losing jobs others are gaining jobs. That is a normal thing. The scale on which the President wants to create job is not this one or two jobs. He is looking at a mass transformation of agriculture and solid mineral. The projection is that agriculture alone can mop up all unemployed people in this country when taken seriously. Americans and Europeans pride themselves in agriculture. There is lot going on right now. There is a committee headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. For the first time, Nigerians have voted for a party which has a welfare programme for them. That will come bit by bit until the promise is delivered. The youths should get ready. If it is office work, there is office work in agriculture and this government will create the environment for Nigerians to work in agriculture.

The Senate leadership seems not to have good rapport with the President, to the extent that the Senate President cannot have audience with the President…

Did you see a letter from the Senate President requesting for audience with President Buhari? If he had said so, then believe him. But from the point of view of the President where I look at things, I have not seen a letter any such letter or the President telling the Senate President he has no time for him.