Mr Solomon Dalung was Nigeria’s Sports Minister between November 2015 and May 2019, under the administration of the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari. A lawyer, academic and politician, in this interview, spoke on a wide range of national issues.
Excerpt:
What is your assessment of Tinubu’s two years in office?
Tinubu’s administration for two years has been far below expectations because his personality in governance is not strange to the Nigerian political climate. He was a governor in Lagos for eight years, so when he was elected, a lot of Nigerians who cast their votes for him had high expectations of him. He was seen as the Lagos miracle maker, and Nigerians expected that in spite of whatever situation that was on ground, which Nigerians are also conversant with, he was the proper person to change things. Disappointingly, he dashed their hopes from day one and that sent a signal that he lacked the basic comprehension of the country’s situation. That is because he removed the fuel subsidy without even a government on ground. And if there was no government on ground, the fundamental question is, who would have subjected his thoughts and aligned it with the reality on the ground and if there were suggested methods and mechanisms of dealing with the crisis of the withdrawal?
So, that statement of ‘subsidy is gone’ was quite reckless and was not expected of a leader who is familiar with governance. So, that statement of ‘subsidy is gone’ was quite reckless and unexpected of a leader who is also familiar with governance, even though he and his men have appropriated it to be correct. But some of us, who are familiar with governance, considered it as the worst cowardice any leader will ever demonstrate.
That is because if he was courageous enough, he could have subjected the policy to a superior argument and the litmus test of scrutiny and he could have faced a panel and defended it; that is courage. But to cowardly ambush Nigerians as he did, was not courage at all.
So the sum total of what I’m saying is that the beginning of his administration ushered in what we are dealing with today. So my assessment of his performance is that it has been far below expectations and disappointing.
You have seen the number of endorsements President Tinubu is getting from APC leadership to the APC governors and National Assembly leadership among others; what do you make of the endorsements?
There was a Prophet Adams Oshimhole, who had earlier prophesied that any sinner, even if the person was an armed robber, a bandit or a Boko Haram member, who jumps into the APC’s ship, would have his sins forgiven. So, if you want to understand politically the meaning of these endorsements, you must go back to the prophecy. So, it is not an endorsement as a political reality. It is a conclave of sinners; people who have committed heinous crimes against the Nigerian people and they are jumping into the ship for the forgiveness of their sins. Not that they believe in Tinubu, no; they do not.
They are only assembling so that their sins will be forgiven. So it is a conclave of political cardinals who have committed grave sins against the Nigerian people and a political party has offered them the opportunity of forgiveness on entrance. So they are jumping into it and that is why all the endorsements are by APC.
So, even if APC has endorsed the President who is also the leader of the party, what advantage or what value has it added? The votes he got were not APC votes; they were the votes of Nigerians. If Nigerians had endorsed him, I would have taken time to make a critical analysis of it. But the APC members, what is their percentage within the Nigerian political demography? So the endorsement, to me, is what can be referred to as a political caricature of contemporary politics.
Last month, the Delta State Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori and entire state assembly members dumped the PDP for the APC. Last week, we saw the Akwa Ibom State Governor also defecting with some legislators, about 11 of them, to the APC. It is believed that more governors are still planning to defect to APC; are they defecting because the president has done so well or is Nigeria becoming a one-party state? What is your take?
You know there is an adage in Hausa that if animals will celebrate the death of a butcher, has the knife also died? If beneficiaries of the mandate of the people are defecting, have the people also defected? Let’s take the case of Delta before we come to Akwa-ibom. The person who defected is the governor whose mandate was very controversial.
It was in the dying minute that the Supreme Court affirmed his election. The most popular candidate who lost at the Supreme Court was persuaded to support him because of party loyalty. So, if a beneficiary of such a manipulation has decided to defect, would the people follow him? Now you can interpret the implication of that defection from the video of how people received the former governor in his ancestral home. Women conveyed the message of the community to him vehemently that he is on his own. And you know in the South-South and the South East, it was the women that set the agenda of independence for Nigeria with the Aba women’s riot of 1929. So you cannot ignore that significant political event that took place in his village.
The women of the South-South had sent a very strong message to the sinners who have run into the sanctuary of forgiveness that they are on their own. So nobody has defected, it’s the governor and his cabinet that have gone. You go to Akwa Ibom, the man who brought the governor; did he defect with him to the APC? The answer is no. There are about 15 or so members of the house of assembly that have refused to defect. Commissioners are turning in resignations one after the other. Before you defect, you consult the people and if they give you an endorsement, they will stand with you. But the governor did not even pretend in his defection speech, he was categorical. He said he has seen how Tinubu has performed and has decided to support him by defecting. So, that defection was not people-oriented or driven.
So, there is no value added to Tinubu except that he has compounded the situation in his party and there will be an implosion. Let me tell you this, I’m not a prophet, even if all the 36 state governors, decamp to APC and Seyi Tinubu is appointed the chairman of INEC; Tinubu is going to slog it out with the masses because he is the only President who has drawn a battle line between him and the masses by weaponising hunger, poverty and hardship. And he is not remorseful about it; rather he is very pretentious, always telling Nigerians to sacrifice for the good days ahead, while he, alongside his wife and son, are busy living lavish lives, spending lavishly all over Nigeria. When will they sacrifice?
What is your take about the moves by some politicians including Atiku, el-Rufai, and others to form a coalition ahead of 2027? Do you think they will succeed in that coalition?
A: This coalition is different from all attempted coalitions since the first Republic. The difference here is that the President has declared himself the enemy of the poor and the poor are dying every day of hunger, poverty, malnutrition.
So, like I’m saying, the coalition is unique. It’s unique because the President has declared himself an enemy of the poor, and he weaponises existential threats. So, the poor people are dying every day of hunger and malnutrition. They can’t afford hospital bills. They can’t live a good life. So, they are naturally angry.
Now, the coalition of politicians has realized that we are treading on a very dangerous ground because, in the final analysis, there may be an implosion of an unmanageable political crisis resulting from the hardship in the land. So, they are also providing succor for the poor by giving them hope that we are organizing ourselves to provide for you, an alternative that will end this suffering. So, the coalition is very popular among the poor people; that is the truth. It’s very popular. I deal a lot with the common people, and they talk much about the coalition, meaning that, ultimately, whatever the coalition will settle for, the common people will be interested in eliminating this current political reality before resolving the issues. So, it may not be a great issue as to who, ultimately, the coalition may put forward.
But, if the coalition is able to put forward a candidate and stand with him, President Tinubu is going to have one of the toughest battles. Even if he rolls out the power of Bourdillon, Nigerians will only end up collecting the money, but he will suffer the same fate as Jonathan. So, the coalition, yes, is of political elements who have their differences, they have their grouses, but the coalition is that of Portipha and Pontius Pilate. All of them are enemies of themselves; they are all enemies of Jesus. For the purpose of crucifying Jesus, they became friends and that is how I see the coalition.
With the likes of Nasir el-Rufai in the SDP, what is the fate of Adewole Adebayo regarding his 2027 presidential ambition? Some people have raised the concern that with people like El-rufai in the SDP, Prince Adebayo’s chances of flying the flag in 2027 is already endangered. What do you think about that?
I don’t want to underestimate Prince Adewale Adebayo’s political charisma, his image and personality within the Nigerian political environment. He is an obvious force to deal with in 2027. This is because he is the only presidential candidate who has consistently maintained a media campaign against the failed and unpopular policies of this governments.
So, Nigerians are very conversant with his voice, charisma and leadership qualities. So, whether you mobilize the whole politicians into the SDP, you must resolve the question of Adebayo in the SDP as a presidential candidate before any other person. This is because nobody has promoted the SDP in Nigeria like Adebayo. After Chief MKO Abiola, you rank Adebayo in the contemporary SDP as the highest. So, the concern as some people are expressing concern is normal. Human beings entertain such fears but the reality is that the name SDP since 2023 has been sustained unilaterally by the doggedness, commitment, dedication and selflessness of Prince Adebayo.
So, he is a force to beat in whatever political arrangement that the SDP will put on ground to produce a presidential candidate. Prince Adevayo is a patriot. He did not join politics for self interests, but has surrendered the rest of his life to the service of humanity and he did that at his 50th birthday. So, he is not into politics because it must be him, but he is into politics to ensure that good governance, justice, the rule of law, equity and fairness is reintroduced and reinforced in the governance structure of Nigeria. So, even if in a free, fair, and transparent process he loses, he will still be a team player in the struggle for a better Nigeria.
Is SDP still in the coalition arrangement?
This question will better be answered by the leadership of the party because I can only speak from the perspective of somebody who is aware of the development going on in the coalition. But I am aware that the coalition delegation met with the SDP leadership and I am yet to get the details of that discussion. So, I may not be able to say much about that.
Pat Utomi is planning to float a shadow government. What is your view on that?
I have listened to reactions of some APC members referring to it as treason. But, I think they are overwhelmed by failure; their brains do not think normally. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Prince Adebayo and the NC Front constituted a shadow government and I was a member of the cabinet of that shadow government.
What we were doing was to provide alternative policies, alternative and superior policies to existing government policies, so that Nigerians could know that they have alternatives; so that why the government opted out of a better policy would inform the judgment of Nigerians. So, the shadow government proposed by Professor Utomi, to my understanding, is to provide an alternative think-tank council that will be made up of Nigerians chosen from different professions and experiences, and assembled to be x-raying, analyzing, monitoring and criticizing the propaganda being dished out every day by President Tinubu’s propaganda machine as government policies. But in a real sense, they are not policies; they are just propaganda. A policy is a well researched proposal of the government about actions that will influence and improve the well being of citizens.
Therefore, the foundation of a sound policy is broad-based consultation. Let’s take the Calabar Coastal Highway that has been commissioned; 26.7km was commissioned by the President. The first of such caricatures in contemporary governance; 26.6km was commissioned. So, we need to have about four to five or six presidents to commission such projects. Now, this project failed the litmus test of policy formulation. The President just woke up and then called his friend, Chagoury, Hi-tech, and they gathered with the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi and they awarded a contract and paid N1.7 trillion upfront.
They have been demolishing people’s property. They have even demolished estate of Diasporans, who responded to investment calls, came to Nigeria and invested. No compensation. An MD of the company, a lady, has been crying and shouting all over and they have ignored her. A policy that destroys everything, claiming to build alternatives is a bad policy.
So, I think Utomi’s thought is to put the government on its toes and to present to the outside world that Nigeria is not deficient in sound brains because the shadow government will be offering in advanced discussion on policies, which foreign investors will appreciate. So, that will also reinforce confidence in Nigeria and when this government will finally be thrown out by Nigerians, we will have our image and integrity.
Do you agree with those who said that the 10th National Assembly has become a rubber stamp of the executive?
I disagree with them because they promoted the 10th Assembly to a rubber stamp. The 10th Assembly is a band of choristers for the president. Anytime they see the President in the Assembly, they become so excited like grandchildren who have seen their grandparents coming. They will burst into songs. The last one they sang, I had a problem with my ears. What I heard them singing, even people told me that was different from what they heard, ‘On your dollar we shall stand. On your dollar we shall stand. On your dollar, Tinubu, on your dollar, Tinubu, on your dollar, we shall stand.’ And all of them were singing and dancing but people said they heard a different song. So, I didn’t hear the one they heard but this is the one I heard.
So, the National Assembly is not a rubber stamp. It comprises a band of ‘Emi Lokan’ choristers who at every turn of events, will sing. I’m afraid that this 10th Assembly may wake up one day and with a voice vote, amend the constitution and appoint Tinubu as life president of Nigeria. I am afraid because Akpabio will just come and say ‘We have a proposal for the amendment of the constitution. We have received a report and the constitution has appointed Tinubu as the life president of Nigeria; those in favour say aye.’ And before anybody could say anything, he would hit the gavel and say the ayes have it. That is the type of a National Assembly that we have. So, it is not a rubber stamp because a rubber stamp assembly must have something on the ground to stamp on. This one doesn’t need anything. Even if it’s just a mere dream, even Tinubu sharing it on phone and the Senate President hears about it, the National Assembly will sit and you will hear the ayes have it. So it’s not a rubber stamp. If they were a rubber stamp, we would have expected that they would have something credible to stamp on. They are just a band of ‘Emi lakan’ choristers.
