Omotola: Campaigns Have Focused on Propaganda at the Expense of Economic Issues

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Mr. Lai Omotola presides over the Forward Nigeria Initiatives and chairs CFL Group of Companies. The quest for a new Nigeria has brought him into socio-economic and political advocacy, tracking policy initiatives of presidential and governorship candidates, and providing useful guides on how to build a better economy and polity. In this interview with Gboyega Akinsanmi, Omotola faults the trend of political campaigns ahead of the general elections, saying it has deviated from real issues. Excerpts:

What kind of changes does Forward Nigeria Initiative want to see in Nigeria?

The group is basically to identify initiatives that will move Nigeria forward. It involves two things. First, we identify past initiatives that have been well-implemented and that moved Nigeria forward. Second, we develop new initiatives that will move Nigeria forward. From time to time, we look at initiatives that our governments are proposing. Even in the course of this campaign, we look at different initiatives that candidates are putting forward. Basically, initiatives are to solve our problems. When ideas are initiated, it is left for the initiators to implement and institutionalise the initiatives. That is what our platform stands for and the idea is to commit candidates contesting for different political offices to take initiatives that will transform our society and add value to our countrymen.

In the light of the group’s mission, are you satisfied with the content of the current political campaign?

It depends on where you are looking at it. At the state level, for instance, you find quite a number of initiatives that have come to bear. If you look at the campaign of APC governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, he has unveiled a new initiative to address youth unemployment. This is contained in its Employment Trust Fund. He promised to set up the fund with a sum of N25 billion.  This initiative is fresh. What he intends to do with the fund is to tackle access to capital by the young ones, unemployed youth. How that going to be achieved is another thing entirely. But we identify with that initiative that Ambode will set up a trust fund for the youth. There was a similar trust fund that Governor Babatunde Fashola set up when he assumed office. This is called Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). We are living witnesses to how the fund works. From time to time, we, as a group, identify with different initiatives that governments and institutions would bring to bear on our society. We are already tracking new initiatives that have come up and reviewing them.

At the federal level, what do you say about the economic policies of  APC and PDP?

Globally, the economy is always the hotbed for discussion. Until recently, we have been able to bring economic issues to the fore in this campaign. What have been taking the media space are General Muhammadu Buhari’s certificate and a lot of propaganda. When former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Professor Charles Soludo, came up his mind-boggling write-up, economics has been brought to the front burner. There are certain issues that we all have to look at. Every government will always have policy direction, that this is the way we want to go. For instance, Soludo believes in economy that helps expansion. Sanusi believes in an economy that is well-regulated and even over-regulation. But Soludo believes in a little bit of regulation and let the market forces contribute to it.

But do not forget that the issues that Soludo raised have now become an agenda for their economic policies. The issues are very simple. He raised issues on inflation, interest rate, FOREIGN EXCHANGE rate, foreign reserves, and then unemployment. Those are the issues that Soludo raised. Till now, the political parties have not addressed these issues. Today, we all know our economy is in a bad shape. The indices show that our economy is in a bad shape. It is even going to get worse. So, we have a common ground on the poor status of our economy. But what we have not heard from the political actors is: How do we intend to stabilise our economy? What is the strategy for growth? But we have not agreed on how we intend to stabilise. We have not seen any strategic for growth. Candidates have not articulated how they intend to stabilise and grow our economy.

What is your take on the welfarist bent of the APC manifesto?

One of the issues Soludo raised is that if APC wants to introduce welfarist policies, they have not articulated how they intend to implement the policies and how they will raise funds. However, APC has responded to how it plans to raise funds to implement its initiatives. APC has promised to block a lot of leakages and funds from those leakages are sufficient to feed people. Economics is very important. As far as this campaign is concerned, 99 per cent should be devoted to economy because a weak economy cannot fight insurgencies. It is not possible for a weak economy to wage war against Boko Haram. If we are talking about insurgencies, unemployment and infrastructure and we do not articulate how we can stabilise the economy, every other thing will fall like packs of cards. But what is taking the headlines now is more of propaganda. Every person is asleep on economic issues. If we do not have a clear-cut perspective and direction on how we are going to salvage our economy that is at the lowest ebb, whatever happens after the elections, there will still be agitation. The reason is that people cannot see the transformation President Jonathan has brought about in the last six years.

Beyond economic issues, do you think President Jonathan is ready to hand over power if he loses at the poll?

For everyone that wants to take over power, we all know it is not a tea party. The present government will be reluctant to hand over. But the problem is that at the end of the day, they will have no other choice than to hand over because Nigeria cannot avoid the backlash of doing otherwise. I believe when it gets to that point, as we have witnessed in the past, leaders of thought and elder statesmen will gather together and salvage this country. I believe that it may be tough, but we will get there. The handover, like the president said, will be sacrosanct.

You just talked about the transformation agenda of President Jonathan. Which aspect of the agenda are you talking about?

Nigerian political actors just throw word at the people. When you talk about transformation, the first impact is that transformation gives “a wahoo effect”. For example, let’s talk about Oshodi. We all knew how Oshodi was. If you travelled over 10 years ago, you now come in the night and pass through Oshodi, the first thing that happens is the new face of Oshodi.  This is not political. It is just a natural thing. We are going to have a wild effect. In all sectors the president has been working, can we look back and have “a wahoo effect”. The Jonathan administration has talked so much about rail. The rail project they are talking about is the rehabilitation of rail tracks. These tracks have existed since the era of our colonial masters. In fact, our rail system had been existing before our independence. What the president has done is rehabilitation. This is good, but it is not enough. It is sad that the federal government now puts locomotives on the tracks. That is not transformation. They are just reforming the system. If they have brought high speed train, you can talk of transformation. President Jonathan said our children can now see trains. That is an insult. This is not high speed trains.

Let me give you an example. When you take what Fashola is doing in Lagos and all Jonathan has done in terms of rail development, the cost implication of what Fashola is doing on the Blue Line alone is far more than what Jonathan has done. By the time the Blue Line is completed, everyone that goes there will be amazed because it is high speed. We have elevated tracks in Lagos. But Jonathan does not have one elevated track. It does not stop there. We are going to have elevated tracks across Lagos lagoon. This is an example of transformation. You can be in high-rise building on Marina and see the train pass through the lagoon. That is what we call transformation. It has never happened anywhere in Nigeria. When you complete the process, can you compare the Blue Line with the locomotives? It is a bold move for Lagos State Government to commit itself to $1.3 billion Blue Line project. Do not forget that it is not just one rail project. The state has a blue print for seven high-speed rail lines. It is already on the table. It is left for implementation. The immediate impact of transformation is that it gives “a wahoo effect.”

If you look at the campaigns of Akinwunmi Ambode and Jimi Agbaje, do you see change coming to Lagos as some people have canvassed?

The annoying thing that I have found in recent time is the way we have responded to Jimi Agbaje’s campaign. Whenever a man applies for a job, two things are very important. The two things are qualification and experience. The two things go hand-in-hand. Experience is even more important because qualification is just an attraction. Experience is the key element. The only position that will not require experience is the placement for trainee. We can situate this argument to what Agbaje is doing. In 2007, Agbaje contested the Lagos governorship race. Eight years after he contested, he came back again. We all know Lagos State has moved tremendously. The question I will like to ask Agbaje is, what values has he added to himself for eight years. What is Agbaje bringing to the table in term of self-development and self-achievement? I will give an example. Agbaje contested against Senator Musiliu Obanikoro. In the last eight years, Obanikoro has become an ambassador. He has become a junior minister. He has become a head of parastatal. For eight years, Agbaje cannot show us that in terms of personal achievement, this is what I have been able to do. In terms of personal achievement, this is the leadership course I have been able to attend. This is the advocacy I have been able to do for different social fabrics. We cannot see anything. What we see is someone that is a serious greenhorn.

I think we take the administration of Lagos State for granted. We take it for granted because we think things work easily and we think that is how it is going to be forever. A lot of things go into it for Lagos to work. If Agbaje enters today, he is going on two-year training to understand how Lagos will really work. Because Lagos is in a hurry, we cannot afford someone just coming to learn. Lagos is now positioned to get a governor that will hit the ground running because four years are too short. The good thing about Lagos today is that the governor does not have to reinvent the wheel. Already, a system has been created. All he has to do is come and be part of the system. The transition must be SEAMLESS. That is why the transition of Fashola to Ambode will be seamless

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Omotola: Campaigns Have Focused on Propaganda at the Expense of Economic Issues