Friday Olokor, Abuja
There was drama on Wednesday as the Edo
State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, clashed with a former Governor of
Cross River State, Donald Duke, and an ex-Governor of Niger State, Dr.
Babangida Aliyu, over the poor performance of the economy and decline of
the Naira against other currencies.
The incident happened at the second
public lecture organised by the Kukah Centre for Faith, Leadership and
Public Policy with the theme, “From activism to political power: The
challenges of democratic governance in Nigeria.”
The programme was moderated by the founder of the centre and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Hassan Kukah.
Oshiomhole berated the previous Peoples
Democratic Party-led government for the development, saying that the
crass corruption which characterised that administration was responsible
for the country’s current economic crisis.
Oshiomhole said, “We have to change the
society where all you need to do is to get your brother elected and get
him around the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and he turns to
an oil marketer, do some papers and becomes a billionaire in the name of
subsidy.
“We have to change that; and that is what this change is all about. There is always a time between decisions and consequences.
What politicians did in the past; that is the consequence we are facing now.
“There is always a timeline between
massive looting of the treasury, transfer of defence budget to private
pockets, taking money meant for infrastructure and spending $16bn on
light. The more money you spend, the more darkness.
“To be an activist does not connote only
being a progressive. What I question is that you cannot have a
centralised system of compensation for governors, chairmen and
councillors.
“If we have a national compensation, how
can those governors turn round and question the national minimum wage?
It is that discrimination that I find extremely offensive and
unacceptable. No one can change the society with individual activism.
“The idea is not to bring down a
government but to defeat a particular policy. It was not my interest to
bring down President Olusegun Obasanjo’s government but to oppose some
of the policies.”
Earlier, Duke, who also doubled as the
chairman of the occasion, berated the government of the All Progressives
Congress and its change mantra, adding that, the change campaign was
nothing but fake propaganda.
He said, “Sadly, politicians in our society today are mostly jobbers and budget padders advocating for themselves and not the society.
They cleverly and surreptitiously apply the word change. I, of course,
won’t use that word because, as a member of the PDP or what is left of
it, that word change dey do me one kind.”
Duke also questioned the sincerity of
Oshiomhole as a labour leader during his days as the President of the
Nigerian Labour Congress.
According to him, idealism then contradicted some of the programmes championed by Oshiomhole.
Similarly, Aliyu tackled the APC
government, governors and their economic policies, warning that, such
economic policies had increased the suffering of Nigerians.
Aliyu confronted Oshiomhole, who he said
benefited tremendously from the PDP government but only turned around
to ridicule the party.
He said, “During my time we paid
salaries. In the North, apart from Kano State, the rest 18 are civil
service states. Payment of salary is very crucial in sustaining the
economy. This time round, they don’t understand anything about the
essence of salary.”
Speaking on the policies of the APC
government, Aliyu said, “Please Governor Oshiomhole, talk to Governor
Rochas Okorocha, tell him that civil servants were not employed to be
farmers.”
He said although the governor can defend the government, the prevailing economic circumstance was biting the masses severely.
Aliyu said, “Go to the market, go to the
streets, you will hear cry. I don’t understand this silence when some
people are messing up.”
The Director of the Kukah Centre, Dr.
Arthur-Martins Aginam, said the forum among others was to elevate the
quality of political discourse in the country by generating ideas
through robust and informed engagement between public officials and
citizens and in the processes deepen the nation’s democracy.
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