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Subsidy is
not a Jonathan issue, says Niboro
Posted Tue Dec 13,2011
Niboro
Mr. Ima Niboro,former
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Jonathan in
this interview, relives his days in government and
also gives an insight into life out of office and the state of
the nation.
You left government some months ago after serving as Special
Adviser Media. So what have you been doing?
It has been a period of rest and stock-taking and a time for
putting my life back together from the chaos of active office,
not just in government but at the very heart of power. There are
many options available which I am studying very closely. But
most important is that I am putting together my memoirs
especially on the making of the Jonathan Presidency. You must
recall that some of us were witnesses and insiders during one of
the most turbulent phases of the nation’s history which was the
transition from the Yar’Adua years to the Jonathan era. Those
were intense times
laced with intrigues and mind-blowing manoeuvres, spearheaded by
a multiplicity of interests for and against the emergence of
Jonathan, first as Acting President and then as substantive
President. I recall
the last days of President Yar’Adua
especially the night he was dramatically flown back into the
country and we watched, the ambulances and the motorcade heading
back to the presidential villa, with heavily armed soldiers
crawling everywhere. It was like a coup.
Until we were able to figure out what was going on, some
of us actually believed that the military had struck. I also
recall the night of his passage and how I was saddled with the
task of announcing on behalf of the new government the death of
our president and leader.
There is really a lot to talk about those days when the
country seemed to hang on the precipice. But what remains
remarkable in my memory most of all was the almost inscrutable
calmness of the then Acting President Jonathan and how he
conducted himself with great dignity and aplomb even in the face
of the most provocative circumstances. His carriage, dignity and
conduct saved the nation a lot
more heart-ache that we could have experienced. His deliberate
decision to put the collective interest of the nation above his
own self interest, as well as his obvious determination to
ensure that Nigeria survived the Yar’Adua-Jonathan saga, was
quite exemplary indeed. I am sure Nigerians will never forget
how the President demonstrated his love for this nation by
refusing to seize destiny by the scruff of the neck as others
might have done to gain the Presidency no matter the cost to the
country. As an insider who was keenly aware of the tremendous
pressure that was brought to bear upon him by various groups and
interests even from the north to, by word and deed, declare the
Yar’Adua presidency over and institute a regime change even
while Yar’Adua lay dying abroad, I cannot but doff my hat to
him. Sometimes, I wonder privately what many other Nigerians
would have done were they to find
themselves in his shoes. I would not want to dwell too much on
the subject because these are issues my memoirs will deal with
extensively and I think it is early days yet.
Your predecessor, Segun Adeniyi, has written his own account of
the Yar’Adua years. Have you read the book and what is your take
on it?
Unfortunately I have not read the book even though I have
requested for an advance copy of it. I am however sure that in
his usual inimitable style my brother and friend, Segun would do
justice to the subject, seeing that he was himself part and
parcel of the Yar’Adua Presidency and I do not know anyone
better positioned than himself to write this book especially
from the perspective and angle of Yar’Adua and that wing of the
presidency at the time.
How would you compare the President Jonathan of that time and
the President Jonathan of now?
I see him as basically the same person, even though the
circumstances have changed tremendously. As an individual,
President Jonathan remains calm and focused even if sometimes
inscrutable, that is, it is difficult for anyone to readily read
his mind and the direction he may go next. As it stands today,
the circumstances have changed because from a loyal deputy he
has emerged in his own right as substantive President of the
country with an outstanding mandate through a free and fair
election that remains unparalleled in the annals of our nation.
Jonathan garnered votes from every nook and cranny of the
country; from Nigerians North, South, East, and West who wanted
a new nation, a new vision and a new way of doing things. The
day the election results rolled in was one of the happiest days
of my life. It still remains one of the happiest days of my life
because finally Nigerians were able to, in a free and fair
election, decide who would lead them. Since those elections till
now there have of course been challenges but no matter what,
Nigerians must constantly remember that President Jonathan
remains the one and the same person they voted massively for. He
has not changed. He is a hands-on President who has rolled up
his sleeves and is ready to work to liberate this country from
the shackles of poverty, despair and want. Knowing Jonathan’s
mind, he would wish every Nigerian to have three square meals, a
roof over their heads and a car or two in their garage. He would
wish every Nigerian child had access to education and
health-care. I was a witness to his determined move against
polio even before the recent visit of Bill and Melinda Gates to
Africa for the same cause; his passion for the eradication of
small arms and light weapons which cause tremendous loss of life
and limb not just across
Africa but also in Nigeria. You see in Jonathan a President who
has a passion for his people and understands the pain they are
going through. The biggest challenge the country faces today is
the challenge of poverty and the biggest cause of poverty in
Nigeria is the absence of power. Lack of power has led to the
shut-down of thousands of businesses across the country. From
the manufacturing plants in Kano to the textile industries in
Kaduna, and the industrial estates of Agbara, Ota, Port Harcourt
and Aba, factories
and multi-billion naira businesses
have hummed to a tragic stop. Thousands if not millions of jobs
have been lost. Without power, even the barber and the
hairdresser cannot maintain their corner shops not to mention
the vulcanizer who hopelessly resorts to buying petrol regularly
to pump your tires. Power is central to industrialisation and
industrialisation is at the heart of employment generation and
the eradication of poverty. This is why from the beginning the
President’s main focus was power, power, power, and there has
been tremendous improvements in the sector. Hopefully in the
weeks, months and years ahead, if the information at my disposal
is correct, things
will only get better and better.
Are you convinced that President Jonathan can cope with the
multiplicity of challenges he is facing as leader of the nation
today?
I am convinced beyond any iota of doubt that President Jonathan
can and shall
continue to cope and surmount
the myriad of challenges confronting the nation. Like I
noted in an earlier interview, Nigerians have gotten used to
rule by dictation rather than to rule of consensus building. I
dare say that it will take Nigerians a considerable length of
time to completely shed the
arbitrariness of the past. Having said this, I must note
that every epoch has its own unique challenges. Sharia was
Obasanjo’s challenge, Niger Delta was Yar’Adua’s challenge and
Boko Haram is Jonathan’s challenge and in view of recent
developments, we can all see that the Boko Haram challenge will
be surmounted like the Niger Delta challenge was, and like the
Sharia conundrum was. I must commend the National Security
Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi, for his forthright, hands-on
approach to the current challenges that face the
nation. He is gone about his task with candour and tremendous
experience. Being the only intelligence officer of the Nigerian
military that rose to the height he did in his career, Gen.
Azazi has demonstrated his knowledge of the country in its
various sensitivities and proclivities that make Nigeria both a
challenge and an exciting prospect.
Why
do many criticise President Jonathan over the issue of Boko
Haram?
It is because they expected him to roll the tanks into Borno,
Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi and environs, sack the governors and
appoint military administrators as would have most likely
happened in the past. But that practice was completely against
the law. The legal principle of state of emergency
in the Nigerian constitution, envisages sacking of the
legislature of the states concerned and giving the sitting
governors absolute powers as chief security officers of those
states. But like we saw in the case of Borno, the problem wasn’t
the Assembly. The problem seemed to be the governor himself,
because apparently, Boko Haram as a group had problems with the
governor and wanted him out of power at all costs. This even led
to the assassination of his anointed successor. How do you solve
that kind of problem by sacking the state House of Assembly
since removing the governor would be illegal and
unconstitutional? So, as was the case with the Niger Delta, Boko
Haram presents what on the surface appears to be criminal but
which is keenly socio-political in content and context, and a
solution can only be through the carrot and the stick, the size
of carrot and stick being determined by the objective
circumstances of the day. But as far as I am concerned Boko
Haram is a political issue and must be dealt with politically,
very much like the Niger Delta issue was dealt with politically.
Another contentious issue for the Jonathan administration
presently is that of the removal of fuel subsidy. Do you agree
that fuel subsidy should be removed?
Before I answer that question, I would like to tell you a story.
When we came on board in 2007 - I was then Senior Special
Assistant on Media and Publicity to the then Vice President -
the first issue that the government was confronted with was the
sale of refineries and the Nigerian Labour Congress
had gone on strike to protest the sale. The then Vice
President Jonathan was saddled with the task of chairing the
Federal Government committee that negotiated with Labour on the
issue of the strike. We held series of meetings but I remember
one of those meetings very clearly. The then GMD of the NNPC,
Engr. Yar’Adua, sat on my left and another official of
government whom I would not name sat on my right. During that
meeting, Engr. Yar’Adua made a passionate presentation on how
NNPC has concluded arrangements to make the refineries work and
how selling the refineries was counter-productive. He was very
convincing. But the fellow on my right kept shaking his head all
the while Engr. Yar’Adua was speaking, and he whispered to me,
“These are the same lies they told Obasanjo. We are here again,
a new GMD is saying the same thing. Four years from now, the
refineries would be as dead as they are now.” Somehow, I wanted
to believe Engr. Yar’Adua, but the reporter in me told me to
believe the fellow on my right, and as things turned out, he was
right. Over four years down the line, are the refineries
producing? Now back
to your question, why fuel subsidy in the first instance?
Because we are unable to locally produce what we require we have
to import and we do so at the prevailing international rates
determined by the price of crude, cost of refining and cost of
shipping, etc, back to Nigeria and to our fuel pumps. The
official pump price is N65 per litre, but often times the
landing cost of petrol at the pump is well over N120 per litre.
Government absorbs the extra over the N65 per litre and pays it
back to the importers as subsidy. So the question is
straightforward, do we keep subsidising these products and
paying off the importers trillions of naira, or we deregulate
the sector, license importers to bring in petrol and sell at
prevailing market rates? On the surface it is easy to argue that
Nigeria being a crude oil producing country can sacrifice this
as part of the benefits that Nigerians should be entitled to. It
is only when you realize that payments to these "importers" have
virtually wiped out the entire excess crude account and is
threatening to wipe out the Federation account, that you know
why the President is worried. If the subsidy payments go on for
one more year, Nigeria would ground to a halt. So the question
is what is the way out? There is no doubt that deregulating
importation will have tremendous impact on ordinary people. But
what really is the way out? My greatest concern in this matter
is that responsible government officials have left the President
standing alone to defend the issue of removal of fuel subsidy.
Subsidy removal is not a Jonathan issue, it is a Federal
Government issue which even the state governments admit is the
way to go. Why are they leaving the issue for the President
alone? Why is everyone silent? The truth remains that no matter
the government in power, subsidy would remain an issue. It is a
bottomless pit that drains the national economy. It is a
blackhole ofsorts... Anything that goes into it disappears.
Sooner or later, Nigerians would have to deal with this artful
scam. Because a scam it is. If there was another way out,
Jonathan would not be insisting on removing subsidy. I know him
that well.
Th
This is the document referred to in the Witness
Statement on Oath of Clifford O. Kokogho as
“Exhibit
COK.2”
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