Just 14 months to the general elections in Nigeria, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who is believed to be interested in the governorship of Lagos State, states his next political move, in this interview
We all know that so much is happening in the country, what is your message to the people as we celebrate Sallah?
It is time for all of us to come together and imbibe the teachings of the two religions that we profess in the country. There is none of the religions that does not preach peace and orderliness. We are supposed to be our brothers’ keepers, which is the teaching of Christianity and Islam. No God ever sent anyone to kill on his behalf. We cannot say we want to serve God without serving his children. We all need to get our acts right. The Almighty God has brought all of us together for a purpose. If it had pleased God, He would have led the Hausas to the Sudan and not to where they are in Nigeria. If it had pleased Him, he would have led the Ibos to Gabon, not to where they are in Nigeria. If it pleased Him, he would create the Ibibios of Nigeria and locate them in Cote D’Ivoire or Guinea.
But, in His wisdom, He has brought us here together and we should all work to have the advantage of unity in diversity. Other nations that are multinational in nature, when you look at them, they develop faster and they get things done better; they take advantage of the variety that is within their territory. We can do the same here. God has given us lots of resources; He has blessed us beyond the level that He blessed other nations. Why then can’t we take advantage of it? I think it is time for all of us to really come together, think together and find a lasting solution to our problems. The problems we have were not really created by God; they were created by a few selfish individuals amongst us. I don’t understand why the few, very few, could just have their ways over the rest.
What is your opinion on the proposed national conference?
It is a good idea to have a national conference, but the fear is: why is the president coming with a national conference barely 14 months to another general election? To have a conference to decide on the future of a local government, not to talk of a state, takes months to organise, to get meaningful results. How do you bring the different groups we have in the country together just 14 months to a general election? When will the campaign for a general election start? How many months will we spend on this? When are we starting the national conference; when are we getting to the end of the conference? And when will the president implement the solutions? If the president is serious about it, I think this should have come into the forefront right in 2011, when President Goodluck Jonathan came into office from May 29th to 31 December 2011. He had enough time to think about a national conference and give us a direction and we would have felt that he was sincere. But with the way it is now, with the disarray in the camp of the so-called biggest party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is fast becoming the smallest party in Africa, I don’t think anybody in the nation will take the Presidency serious.
But Chief Ayo Adebanjo said that it doesn’t matter even if it causes a delay in the election…
I don’t think that is democratic; there should be no delay in the general elections. You want to elongate the tenure of the present governments across the nation? You can’t do that. By May 29, 2015, we must have a new government in Abuja and in most of the states, which also had elections on May 29, 2011; you cannot elongate the tenure of any government in any way.
Why do you think the disarray in the PDP will create further distrust for the dialogue?
It is not only the disarray in the PDP that would make people not to believe in the national conference. We are all human beings. Even your own association in the House, with about 30 members, if the leadership failed you overtime and then few months to the end of their tenure, they now decide to bring some of the things you had canvassed for, which they said they didn’t believe in initially, it is natural that you won’t have any trust in them. How many Nigerians trust our government? How many Nigerians believe any of their pronouncements even if they say they want to build a road here or there? Look at Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, they have been promising to take care of it over the past 18 months, but it has not been possible. Many serious leaders across the world have built thousands of kilometres of roads within the same period, but just a little above 100 kilometres of road has not been tarred by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Looking at the state of our security, it is obvious that all is not well despite all the money being pumped into it. How would you react to it?
My reaction is the same; you are talking of security, is there any sector of our national life that is in proper shape? The amount of money pumped on security is what you are talking about, what of the amount of money pumped into energy generation? What has come out of it? What of the volume of money that has gone into oil production, what has come out of it? When people have headache now, they would rather go to South Africa or fly to Europe, and you look at the budget, national and state, and look at the amount of money that goes into the health sector. Do we have enough to show for it? We have failed ourselves and we all just need to come together and think of exactly what we want of this nation.
It is not just the question of leadership alone; every one of us has his own portion of the blame. Even the drains in front of people’s houses, they are waiting for the government to come and clear the gutter, to come and clear the backyard for them. You will hear people tell you that this road has this problem or that problem and you find multi-millionaires living on the road, a small road that people used to come together as a community to do something about. My secondary school at the other side of my gate was built by a few people, and the school would be 60 years old in February 2014. You ask yourself that those of us who passed through the school, what has been our contributions to its development? Most of those who built the school in their early 30s and 40s did not even go through secondary school, and those of us who benefited from it don’t find it necessary to go there and do something; we are all waiting for the government. Some members of this community, the so-called enlightened ones then, about four or five of them gave us the school, which is the first in the entire Epe Division of Lagos State. What is happening to those of us who benefited from it? It is a national problem, the orientation is upside down. We need to retrace our steps, we need to go back to our roots and do something about the way we think, sleep, talk, walk; every area needs to be taken care of. When we do that, things would be done better.
There is controversy over the state of our economy. While Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Sanusi Lamido is saying it is weak, Finance Minister, Okonjo Iweala is saying it is strong. What is your take on this?
That is not even a question for me; it is a question for you and every other Nigerian on the streets to answer. Do you see the economy better than what it was three or four years ago? If you say it is better, then it is better. If you feel things are not going right, then you already have the answer to the question.
2015 is around the corner. What is the next step for you?
When I left the United States of America to come and contest election in 2003, the number one thing on my agenda was to be Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, and after winning the election on May 3, 2003, from May 4, 2003 and through the month of May, I ran a campaign that had never been so for the position of Speaker.
But interestingly, I was the one who raised the hand of the person that eventually became Speaker of the House then, during a meeting before the first sitting of the House. Why did I do that? I said he should be the next speaker of the House because I saw clearly that God had not really designed me to be Speaker on June 2, 2003. But when it was His time for me to be Speaker, I became Speaker at the second half of our tenure. You would agree with me; it is not a question of boasting or singing one’s praise. I feel grateful to God that I was not Speaker on June 2, 2003. I became Speaker when it pleased Him for me to be Speaker and I have been Speaker since 2005 till today, which is a feat that has never been achieved by anyone in this state. You will also agree with me that what God has done for Lagos State, as far as the legislative arm is concerned, through me, has no parallel in the nation. So, as a believer, I know that when the time comes, the Almighty God will show the light and He will make it clear that ‘this is your next direction; this is your next move.’ And no matter the noise, the plotting, the coup and counter coup, what God has planned to do for me, no man can stop Him.
