Muhammad Hassan Saleh is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former member of the Presidential Campaign Council. In this interview, Saleh, who is also the national leader of the One Nigeria Group (ONG), a unity, peace and progress advocate, said protest was not the solution to the insecurity plaguing the country. He also noted that every Nigerian had roles to play in the struggle to proffer solution to the crisis instead of embarking on protests, which are capable of aggravating the situation.
Protests have been going on in some parts of the North, including Abuja, due to the spate of insecurity in the country, which has resulted to incessant killings; what is your take?
Protests can never be the solution to the crisis. There is a saying that two wrongs cannot make a right. It is unarguable that some of these so-called protests are not genuine because some protesters don’t even know why they are protesting. Come to think of it, there are situations when some protesters can’t even read the inscriptions on placards, while others don’t even bother to read them before they join the protests. Some of them just join the bandwagon of protesters. That is why even when a protest is supposed to be peaceful, it becomes violent. Others take advantage of it to cause chaos and mayhem.
There is no need to blame the president for the crisis because there is no leader that would be happy to see his people being killed. President Muhammadu Buhari has fought for the peace and unity of this country. He is trying his best to ensure that security and peace return to the country. The situation does not call for protests but prayers and proactive measures.
We should not forget the consequences of last year’s EndSARS protests across the country in a hurry. When it started like a joke, it later spread like a hurricane fire and degenerated into an alarming proportion, leaving anguish and horror in its wake. Some lives and a lot of property worth billions of naira were lost, so much that the country is still struggling to recover. Therefore, our people in the North should ignore calls for protests because it is not in the best interest of the North, the people and the country. All we need to do is pray for our leaders, just as our Christian, Muslim and traditional leaders are preaching peace, praying and urging us to pray for them (our leaders) and not wish them evil. We cannot afford such crisis again, especially because it cannot solve the insecurity problem. Peace should be our watchword because protest is capable of causing distraction from efforts that are supposed to be made to find a lasting solution to the problem.
You said government could not fight the battle alone as every Nigerian has roles to play. What roles do you think people should play?
In places where banditry, kidnapping and insurgency are rife, people should stop compromising by giving bandits information or shielding them from security forces. Doing so would give them more confidence and ground to perpetrate their nefarious activities. Instead, they should give information to security personnel who are out to neutralise them.
Security is everybody’s business. If they have any information about the people causing the problem, they should give it to security agencies. Bandits or kidnappers are not from any other planet. They are people within. So there is no need to hide them and say, ‘they are neighbours’ or friend’s children. If I give information about them, they will attack me.’
The traditional institution seems to be under siege as many monarchs have been attacked and killed in some parts of the country. Recently, some of them were kidnapped while some were killed in the South-East, particularly Imo. What is your message to traditional rulers in the country under this situation?
The problem is due to the failure of the local government, which functions have been swallowed by state governments. Buhari has just signed local government autonomy, judicial autonomy and legislative autonomy. If the state governors had followed the dictates of the local government autonomy, there would have been effective governance at the grassroots since it is the arm of government that is closest to the people.
Local governments are not functioning effectively in this country. People should stop blaming the centre because it is doing its best to give power to the people. Buhari is going to sign an electoral bill to give room for direct primary election, with a view to empowering people more. If there is no local government authority, it becomes difficult for traditional rulers to have much influence at the local level.
Also, the authority of local government chairmen is annihilated. That is why there is so much pressure on the state government, as well as the federal government. The governors should give local governments their autonomy. They should be allowed to operate independently as provided by the constitution. If the local government is given independence, I believe strongly that people at the grassroots would begin to have a sense of belonging and join in the fight against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping, especially by giving security agencies information about the perpetrators.
The crisis is festering because a lot of people don’t have jobs despite that the federal government has been empowering people with some lifelines, such as tradermoni, N-power etc.
Also, traditional rulers should go back to the drawing board and find out how their forefathers administered their localities in their days. They should also remove their hands from politics, especially dirty politics. They should stop hobnobbing with politicians that are causing these problems. When a traditional ruler becomes partisan instead of playing the roles of a father, what do you expect? He becomes a target of attack.
They should remain in their palaces as custodians of the cultures and traditions of their people, work for their wellbeing and peace in the land and not to allow themselves to be distracted by engaging in politics.
There are reports that bandits move freely in some communities and hold residents to ransom by imposing levies on them. What do you think community leaders and the people should do?
They have to report to security forces. The security agencies need the support of the people in fighting banditry. There is no need to hide them if they need peace in their communities. If people continue to compromise their security by hiding bandits, giving them information and serving them as errand boys by buying them foodstuff and providing them with other services and keep complaining that their communities are not safe, how do you expect the government to proffer solution to banditry overnight?
There are insinuations that the federal government will remove fuel subsidy and increase the price to either N320 or N340 in 2022. It is also mulling N5,000 palliative as transport fare for the vulnerable as social responsibility. Don’t you think this is a threat to peace as labour leaders may call for protest, which you said is never a solution to problems?
The truth of the matter is that fuel subsidy is very high on the government. Globally, Nigerian fuel is the cheapest. But even if fuel price is increased to take away the subsidy burden, which is aimed at improving the economy in the interest of the people, there is no need for protest. Nigeria has to do what is obtainable globally. And if she must do that, then fuel price has to be increased. However, government must come up with lifeline or empowerment programmes to make life easy for Nigerians. I recall that government once had a plan to come up with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which is a fuel gas made of petrol. It is stored and distributed in hard containers and used as traditional petrol. Government should revisit this and reduce pressure on petrol. He government is also working towards ensuring more gas supply to reduce the price.
Dangote Refinery and Port Harcourt Refinery are also receiving attention. Once our refineries start working, the importation of fuel shall reduce and our economy would improve.
If Warri and Kaduna refineries too, get resuscitated, the economy would also improve. Minimum wage is also there for workers to improve their poor incomes. The government is also mulling N5,000 as transport fare for the vulnerable poor to assuage the fuel increase if it eventually takes effect.
As I have always emphasised, protest can never be the solution to any problem. It would rather put peace at stake with so many consequences.
What needs to be done is for labour leaders to go to a round table with the government and jaw-jaw on the way out, which is always better than war-war.
