Anyone Complaining About Hardship In Nigeria Is Not Being Realistic – Isa-Onilu

Newly-appointed Director General of National Orientation Agency (NOA) and former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Isa-Onilu, is a man of many parts. He is an entrepreneur and journalist, who has served as party administrator for a period spanning over two decades.

He spoke to Sunday Sun on why President Bola Tinubu has not instituted a probe panel against former President Muhammadu Buhari, and why the administration of both Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and Abdullahi Adamu as chairmen of APC was tempestuous and unsuccessful.

The former APC spokesman equally commented on the perceived insensitivity of the ruling party to the suffering of many Nigerians, stressing that only unrealistic persons are talking about hardship in the country. He also described those accusing the APC of planning a one-party state as anarchists and undemocratic elements.

How challenging is the responsibility ahead of you as DG, National Orientation Agency?

It is as challenging as the need for us to have stability, togetherness, and unity in this country. If we know what it takes to achieve that, then that is as humongous as it is difficult for human beings to change their position from what they have become entrenched in. Change, they say, is the most difficult thing for human beings. It is very difficult for us to respond to change. I have found myself in a situation where I have to do just that, to put in place a strategy for Nigerians to change their attitudes. And that is a humongous task, but not a situation that cannot be achieved. We can achieve it.

What reorientation do you intend to give to Nigerians about the insensitivity of the government to the harsh situation confronting them?

The first thing is not even orientation or reorientation. It is a wrong premise to say that you want to orient Nigerians. For you to make a Christian, a better Christian, Christianity itself has put principles in place. The pastor can mentor them toward the best of those principles. It is the same way Islam puts principles in place. So, for somebody to reorient a Muslim, the Islamic principles are already in place. But, we don’t have such principles as a country, and on what principle are we going to reorient people? If you say that you want to make somebody a better Nigerian, what exactly do you mean? Who is a better Nigeria, and how do you define him? What is the definition of a better Nigeria? We don’t have one. If you leave it to me as the DG, then I use whatever perspective of who is a better Nigerian to orientate Nigerians towards that. And another DG will do the same thing depending on what he thinks Nigeria should look like. But, no country does that. We have not been able to create a national culture and that is why we found ourselves where we are. We have subnational cultures, the Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Efik, Ibibio, Igbira, Igala, Nupe, Kanuri cultures. Every culture in Nigeria is subnational and that is why we are clinging to them because there is no one with national spread to cling to. We are supposed to take elements of all these subnational cultures to create a national one where every Nigerian will see themselves reflected in it. If any tribe does not see themselves reflected in the national culture, they are not going to be psychologically connected to the country. It is the same way to Yoruba, Hausa and other tribes that didn’t see themselves reflected in the national culture will not be connected. As Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa, we have a lifestyle, but we don’t have a lifestyle as Nigerians. The first thing we need to do is to have a national value charter as Nigerians so that we can say this is what our values are as Nigerians. Then NOA can invite strategists to move people towards imbibing those values. We don’t have national values as we speak. That is where we are going to start from and the president will be unveiling what we call the National Lifestyle Charter very soon. This charter is not just about the citizens because we are always quick to say that Nigerians are not patriotic and don’t love their country. Love and patriotism are emotional issues. They are stimulated and there must be an attraction to love something. It is the same thing with patriotism, there must be an attraction. Nigeria must be attractive to us. What does Nigeria put in place that will make it attractive for us to be loyal? That attraction is what we need to create. It is not going to be complete harmony, complete prosperity, complete enjoyment, development, or growth. No! No country in the world has that. What Nigerians want to see is a sincere effort that there is hope. And that the country has concretely started working towards it. Then, in exchange for that, they will begin to take responsibility. The National Lifestyle Charter has two components. The first is the Nigeria promise. What does Nigeria promise citizens? If there is no promise there is no hope. Just like Christianity and Islam promised the faithful heaven, Nigeria should promise the citizens something in reward for certain commitments. The first component is the Nigeria promise. I didn’t mean promises from the government or political campaign promises from President Tinubu, I didn’t also say the ruling party. I mean Nigeria. The promise remains the promise and any government coming in no matter which party brings in, it will be the minimum promise. In America, you have the American dream, which is over 100 years old, whether Republican or Democrat, the American dream remains intact. That is what has made them the America they are. There are seven pillars to the promise. And the promises, as I said, are about the country. In exchange for that, the country is asking the citizens for seven codes of conduct that we call the citizen codes. It is seven for seven. The country is giving us seven and it is asking us for seven. As the country is striving for true people who come into government offices to accomplish this promise, the citizens will also be striving to accomplish their seven codes so that the country progresses. We have America, China, and France, because they have their national value system, a lifestyle the government and the people must keep.

How will the Nigeria promise change the lifestyle and hardship Nigerians are currently going through?

That is an entirely different thing. The first promise is hope and when you have hope, you know that progress is being made to attract others. Anybody who is talking about hardship now is not being realistic. Why? Nigeria is like a building or a house with multiple cracks for several years, but all we do is to patch the cracks with cement while more continue to widen. When a new buyer or new tenant comes and decides to bring down and rebuild the building so that it won’t collapse, in the process of rebuilding, people will not have shelter. Sun and rain will beat them and regardless of whatever arrangement they make as palliatives, it cannot be concrete enough to replace what this would have. The choice for the people is to say they prefer the house to continue cracking until it collapses on our heads or be ready to sacrifice to ensure that there is a proper foundation for the new building better than what we have ever put in place. What they need is to see that sincere effort that truly a new building is coming so that the sacrifice will make meaning. But if in the process, some people refuse to acknowledge the situation, and keep complaining, that is not realistic, because the other choice was to remain in that same building that was eventually going to collapse on their heads.

What about the casualties that would be consumed because of the rebuilding?

We would wish that there were no casualties, but even if, they cannot be compared to the one we would have had should the entire building be allowed to collapse?

Will you say that President Tinubu is coasting in governance?

For me and for many Nigerians who know where we are coming from, and what the fundamental issues are, namely, the issue of subsidies, which many past governments have demonstrated a lack of political will to confront, he has confronted it with bravery and courage of a leader that we so much have waited for. There is again the issue of foreign exchange that people have continued to turn the country upside down because of the money they are making, messed up all the economic policies, and really took us several years back. They have to do the needful. This is the process of demolishing the building. He has done those two very important issues since he came in. One of our biggest problems is that we are no longer attractive to foreign investors. The effort he has made since he came in is to reverse the trend and make Nigeria look attractive to investors because we need money to turn our situation around. All the trips he has made since he came in are fundamental to achieving this objective and we can see a clear direction of where we are going.

Will you say that operating as an APC spokesperson under an embattled chairman like Oshiomhole was your most challenging job?

Maybe it is my fate to be taking up challenging jobs. When I was the National Public Secretary, APC was a turbulent party. I am happy that God put us in a situation where we had to play a role in ensuring that the ship never sank. I remember the day we were dissolved and the option was to go to court, because everything done to us was illegal, factionalise the party structures, and fight the case all the way to the Supreme Court which will take two years, three years during which time the government cannot focus on what they are supposed to do, and we will not even have a party to prepare for the election of 2023. I remember when we met that same day and everybody said we must go to court; I was the only person who said no. It was not worth it. I was the first person to issue a statement to disassociate myself from anything to hurt the party. I was happy that a few days later, a group came up with a statement along the same line as what I had done and that is why we didn’t have any faction in the party. I am thankful to God that we were able to play a positive role in surmounting the challenges that came.

In which areas did the Oshiomhole-led NWC get it all wrong that led to the dissolution?

We didn’t get many things right because we saw it coming and did our best to ensure that we called our attention to the fact that things were going wrong. Things went wrong because we were not just focused at a stage. That lack of focus created room for those who had other motives to come in. However, those are gone now, we have other things that happened after that, wounds have also been healed, and we are all happy. I absolutely don’t have any regret taking over the job of the spokesperson of our party during that turbulent period. I can only thank God for giving me that opportunity to be part of it.

Didn’t it come to you as a surprise that your party experienced successive leadership crises after your exco?

Life is about learning lessons, but once you refuse to learn the lessons, you will face the same consequences. Right from the beginning, we did not support the candidacy and emergence of Abdullahi Adamu as the national chairman. Our candidate was Al Makura, but somebody, for whatever reason, brought Adamu. We knew that he did not have the temperament to manage the party that was negotiating a transition of power. That was key, we needed somebody with the capacity to transit the party from one government to another during an election year. That was not the best time to bring in somebody we know has temperament. The only regret is that the party didn’t listen, even though we were still able to manage it. I was involved in the process of his exit. I was drafted and it is good that we were able to manage the crisis better than the PDP that could not manage their only.

How far can Ganduje take APC?

He will take the APC very far and the assurance is his antecedent. He has managed Kano in a way that he cannot be faulted for in terms of the way he has turned things around in the state. He created a kind of cohesion in Kano APC and has been a very good defender of the party that powerful politicians like Kwankwaso could not even penetrate. He kept the party intact. And all you need from your chairman is the ability to keep your party intact. It is all we need for the government to succeed and to get to 2027 as one peaceful family.

What is your take on the feeling that APC is on a trajectory to make Nigeria a one-party state judging by the way it is procuring victory from both the court and polling units?

I don’t know which country you are referring to, but certainly not Nigeria. If it is part of the last election, then Nigeria didn’t start in 2023. In 2019, we had an election in Zamfara State where we won 100 per cent from the governor to the National and State Assemblies, but the same court Nigerians are vilifying now reversed the whole thing and gave everything to the PDP. At that time, it was not going to be a party state, the judiciary was okay and democracy very good. We had an election, an APC candidate in Bayelsa won and on the eve of swearing him in, for no fault of his, it was taken away and given to the PDP. As far as Nigerians complaining are concerned, the judiciary was excellent. Even in this 2023 general election, there have been many places that APC won and nobody has been able to sit down and tabulate how many APC and PDP won. So, why will it be only when APC wins in court that democracy is in jeopardy and that the judiciary must be vilified? Are you sure those people are themselves democrats or anarchists?

Won’t APC be worse than PDP after spending 16 years in power so far judging by the way the party is going?

I don’t think APC will be worse than PDP after 16 years. I don’t think so. The first thing we have been able to achieve is to manage the party and even when we have conflict, we don’t allow it to graduate to crisis. We have successfully managed ourselves over time to get out of trouble and keep the party intact. That is very important. Secondly, from one government to another, we are not shying away from whatever mistakes we have made for those eight years. President Muhammadu Buhari, say whatever you want to say, achieved a lot in this country. However, there are glaring areas of fault as well, and this new government is not shying away from it. We are not running away from it. We are confronting it because from one government to another, there must be that consciousness to inherit both assets and liabilities. But on the long run, put it on the table, the chart is showing upward movement.

Why is it difficult for the Tinubu-led government to probe Buhari or is it because it is not a PDP government?

I don’t know what you mean by probing the Buhari government and I also don’t know what you mean by mismanagement of funds. However, what I can tell you is that no president comes in with the responsibility on his table to probe the previous government. It is Nigerians that have the rights to raise petitions to the EFCC. What I want to hear is that there have been petitions submitted to the EFCC or ICPC and they refused to work on them. But, don’t forget that this same government, within its first three months, has arrested the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria who served the APC government for eight years on this same issue of corruption. The court has not proven him innocent and we are not saying he is guilty yet, but a suspect. It is left for the lawyers to prove that he was just a messenger. They should tell the court that it is not Emefiele who did it, but Buhari. However, so long as they have not done that, the person whose hand was found in the soup pot has been arrested.

Are you implying that with petitions from Nigerians, Tinubu can probe Buhari?

I am not saying anybody can probe anybody. I am only telling you of the process. I said that it is the responsibility of the lawyers to prove in court why it should not be Emefiele, but Buhari who should be tried. If that happens, then you can now complain. But if the lawyers have not come to court to say no, it is not Emefiele, he was the one caught red-handed and arrested. He is not the only one, even the man who was the chairman of the anti-corruption agents, Bawa was arrested for the same reason. And the same person was appointed by the Buhari-led APC government. It is the government that has taken that step against him. What are Nigerians doing, especially those with the fact that Buhari stole money?

Are you saying that the Nigeria Air scandal is not yet on Tinubu’s table?

His table is not where it should be. That is why we have the EFCC and ICPC. So, anybody who feels there was scandal should take their evidence to the relevant quarters.

Did it bother you that almost all the national chairmen of APC had accountability problems?

The last time I checked, I know you are still a journalist not a lawyer lest be a judge. Now, you have accused somebody, prosecuted the person and have sentenced the person and yet you are a journalist. Anybody with such evidence knows where to go.

Is your office planning any jingle to pacify angry Nigerians over harsh conditions they are going through?

Jingles don’t calm people down, it can rather become noise to them. You cannot use jingles to tell a hungry person that there is hope. There are other methods to use to get the information across to the people and that is why I said that this agency cannot even begin to carry out any orientation because we don’t have any objective or goal to orient people. We have to put a goal, an objective in place first.