Govt lacks political will to tackle Nigeria’s problems –Moro

Village Reporter

2 years ago

Senator Abba Moro represents Benue South Senatorial District in the National Assembly on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with CHUKWU DAVID, he speaks on the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), urging the Federal Government to treat it as a national emergency. He also warns of the country faces imminent collapse, if drastic actions are not taken to heal the ailing system

You were a lecturer before joining active politics, what is your take on the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and what is your advice to the Federal Government on how to end it?

There is no doubt that the lingering crisis between government and ASUU is avoidable. There is also no doubt that the hub of any national development of any country is education. If we want a knowledge driven society, then certainly we must prioritize education. The lingering crisis between ASUU and government is a s a result of lack of respect for agreements; lack of respect by the parties for the parties.

Year-in-year out, ASUU and government will reach agreement on fundamental issues on education, be it on allowances or on infrastructural development of the universities, yet these agreements have been executed more in the breach than implementation. And so, who is fooling who if you are saying that you don’t have enough money to develop your education? Look at what is happening among the political class; individual aspirants to offices have been said to have donated 200 cars to delegates and some other things of monumental proportions. That results from the fact that our electoral process is not properly regulated.

It also tells a story of a society that is more recognized in profligacy than prudence. I can tell you that more than half of our national resources end more in private pockets than in the open pool for the execution of public good, and that is our problem. Unless we stand up to these problems, we will not have the space and the resources with which to do what we are supposed to do.

It is not that people don’t know what to do; it is not that people don’t know the right thing to do, it is just simply that individuals will be poorer if they do the right things. That’s the problem that we have. How do you explain the fact that students, our children are out of school for months, for years and nobody cares? There is a Minister of Education and there are commissioners for Education. Are they not aware that our children have not resumed schools; what have you heard them say? What actions have they taken? In other countries, that should be an emergency but here, nobody cares.

They can be at home as long as they want; who cares! That is the attitude that we are developing and we are endangering the future of our country and the future of our children because the future of our children is the future of our country.

So, I think that government should rise up to its responsibility and settle issues with ASUU. Sometimes I am tempted to appeal to ASUU but how do you appeal to a body that has been virtually emasculated; whose relevance in our society has been completely ignored? Like I said, in other societies, this situation between ASUU and the Federal Government is supposed to be regarded as emergency, requiring emergency solutions.

But here we are, nobody cares. I don’t know the reason but I think it is very unfortunate for the development of education in this country. And in the interest of this country, something has to be done, so that we are not made a laughing stock in the international community. The earlier this crisis is resolved the better for the country.

Your bill, seeking to establish College of Agricultural Technology Opialu-Ojapo, in Benue South Senatorial District, passed second reading recently in the Senate. What informed your decision to propose the bill, when the Federal Government is finding it difficult to fund its existing education institutions?

I understand that we have serious financial challenges here and there but that will not make us run away from our needs. That will also not make us to run away from the fact that we need some of these institutions to even generate the money that we are talking about because like I said in my presentation on the floor of the Senate, we have serious security challenges and these security challenges are threatening our food security. As a country, we must feed ourselves and don’t forget that agriculture boost very significantly to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). So, if we sit idle by because we have security challenges: banditry, terrorism and we don’t do what is needed to be done as a nation, definitely the future is going to be bleaker than we have now.

Talking about the choice of location for the proposed agricultural institution; why did you choose Benue State and your senatorial district in particular and not another place?

Yes, like somebody made contribution during the debate on the bill, there is no gainsaying that Nigerians and of course the international community, see what is on ground in Nigeria, they recognise Benue State as the food basket of the nation. So, I think that this institution should be located in Ojapo, which is the hub of agricultural production is in Benue State at the moment. I believe sincerely that if we locate the agricultural institution where the need is most felt, it will create more opportunities for those who are directly involved because as it is now, we cannot depend on primitive agricultural practice to contribute the quantum of food and funds that we require.

Don’t forget also that we are in an era, where the clamour is diversification of our economy. Agriculture and its value chain readily come to mind when you talk about economic diversification. And so, today, we are in a digital era, and the trend in other climes, especially in other democracies, is knowledge driven agricultural practice. Here in Nigeria, because of our attitudes, you discover that people have some level of disdain for agriculture and farming but in America for instance, some of the proudest and richest persons you can find are farmers. So, I think the problem with this country is that we are refusing to face reality that is on ground.

We must take hard decisions to be able to arrive at where we want to be, otherwise, we will just be going in circles. I was sharing an opinion with one of my friends recently, I was on the road and I bought fuel for N255 per litre. Recently, I repaired my generator that uses diesel, and I bought diesel for N800 per litre. Nigerians have become so docile, that they don’t even look around and listen to their environments and the drumbeats. Isn’t it unimaginable that in Nigeria where the pump price of fuel for instance, was raised to N145 and there was agitation and protest but today, we are buying fuel for N255 per liter and nobody is raising a voice? We are buying diesel for as much as N800 and nobody is raising any eyebrow.

So, where are we going from here? Factories that depend on generators to operate are folding up, thereby compounding an already existing bad situation; creating serious unemployment. Many of these institutions are folding up in Nigeria and going to other neighbouring and less favoured countries of West Africa.

I think it is something we should worry about. I am pained to say that most of these problems we are confronting now are problems generated due to our inability to come up with the political will to tackle these problems head-long. Take it or leave it, that is the situation because people have abandoned leadership; people have abandoned governance and it has become like a situation of everybody for himself and God for us all. Today, you hear that 200 people have been killed here; 30 people are killed there, 20 people are killed there. I went to bury 11 people in my community recently who were killed by bandits, and it has become music as usual. Who says that we don’t have money? We have money that has been grossly misused. If you recall, I said six months or one year after President Goodluck Jonathan left office that all of a sudden the critical press, the Save Nigeria Group, have all gone to sleep. Why is everybody keeping quiet now? Why are we behaving as if nothing is going wrong? The whole system is going to collapse completely very soon.

You are proposing a bill for agricultural technology but people cannot go to farm. Are you in support of self-defence being canvassed by some Nigerians?

We have talked about Nigerian challenges being hydra-headed. So, it’s coming from all angles. Let’s give credence to the fact that some of us have said that if nothing drastic is done, this country that we call Nigeria will collapse. There are no two ways about it. You are a journalist and you are asking me this question; which means that you want to take it from my mouth.

There is killing everywhere; you can’t sleep with your two eyes closed. Are you asking me to turn the other cheek still; are you asking me to fold my hands when they want to kill me? If the situation as we see it now does not call for self-defence, I don’t know which situation that will call for that. How can Nigerians defend themselves when they are not equipped; is that not tantamount to asking the citizens to commit suicide? Is it not self-defeatism to talk about being equipped, equipped by who? Who is going to equip you to defend yourself ?

The tenure of Ninth Senate will soon elapse. What is the guarantee that the bill will be processed and passed before the end of the session?

Yes, we don’t have much time but why do you think that a bill cannot be processed? The President of the Senate said that the bill was referred to the Committee on Agriculture and to report within four weeks. Is the Senate coming to an end in four weeks? Whether the President signs it or not is not my concern. My responsibility here is legislative intervention. If the President doesn’t sign it, that’s not my business.

I am passionate about the bill but there is a limit to what I can do about it. I am not going to act as a legislator and executor at the same time. I am not going to pass the bill and assent to it at the same time. But I can assure you that we have the Committee on Legislative Compliance; and as soon as this bill is passed, that committee will take over, and I think something reasonable will be done. In any serious situation where we are thinking about the challenges confronting the ordinary Nigerians, I don’t see how that bill cannot be passed and assented to by Mr. President.