EXCLUSIVE! Late ex-Kaduna gov’s last interview:

Buhari lacks political will to change Nigeria, I’m pained – Balarabe Musa

When our correspondent called him on the phone for this interview that turned out to be his last, about three weeks ago, he did not give any inkling of an illness as he expressly granted the request. But very much unlike him, he insisted on making the interview “very briefly” to enable him to attend to some other very important matters. And within a few minutes, the interview was over. But he was poignant and combative as ever in his trade mark matter-of-fact manner in answering questions.

Alhaji Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, 84, died early Wednesday, but he did not bid the world goodbye without expressing his frustration and disappointment, as he’s wont to do throughout his lifetime, with the situation of things in the country, especially under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, which came into power with the promise to Nigerians to make the needed change from the status quo ante a reality.

The progressive, radical and left-wing politician, in this interview with our correspondent, ADE ADEBAYO, agonised about his disappointment with the President Muhammadu Buhari administration over its inability to address fundamental problems confronting Nigerians.

Here are the excerpts:

As an elder statesman from the Northern part of Nigeria, what is your view about Buhari’s government?

The administration of Buhari is full of disappointment. People are not encouraged at all. I am saying this, because, to me, he has not changed fundamentally up till now. I am yet to see anything tangible that we can point at that this administration has done.

It is believed that this administration has fought corruption to a certain level. What is your take on this?

Anyone that wishes this country well will, of course, support the anti-corruption fight, but if I will be sincere with you, this administration is not serious about it at all and this has created a lot of worries in many Nigerians that put their trust in this government. And from the look of things, I don’t see any seriousness in this current government on the fight against corruption they have been shouting about. You can do your own findings if I am making mistakes with my comment. Since they have been making noise about this cause, is there any case they have seen to the conclusive end? When you look at it critically, you will realise that this government is not serious about anything.

Do you mean Buhari’s anti-graft war has not achieved any tangible result?

I have said it earlier, there is no serious indication that they are serious because if they are truly serious, we would have all seen what they have achieved. But instead, all they are doing is deceiving people. How will you say you are fighting corruption all this while and no single case you can say you have really dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others? All what they are doing is far from seriousness, and that is why we don’t believe in this government as a particular one to help this nation.

In what areas will you say this government has really failed the citizens?

There are many of them, starting from the area of the economy where he has not done anything. Another is the area of reconciliation, because Nigeria needs to be reconciled so that we can all make efforts to achieve a united Nigeria. We need to be reconciled in this country at this critical time that nothing is working. But unfortunately, Buhari is not doing anything on that. The only area where he seems to have made an effort is in the area of security. And when you look at it critically, you will see that he has not done much because there is no guarantee of our security. And apparently, he needs a lot to do to make the country safe for both citizens and foreigners that come here for business. If I may tell you, insecurity in this country is the product of something and the roots of the insecurity in this country has not been touched by this government. Apart from this, another area where Nigerians are suffering and government is not doing anything, is power supply. Since Buhari emerged the President of this country with promises to Nigerians to help fix power and other things, nothing has been achieved.

But Nigerian government has said Boko Haram has been defeated.

No, they should not be celebrating. There is no doubt about it that Boko Haram had been degraded in this country, but that does not guarantee that we have total security in this country. For instance, we have some other criminals terrorising the peace of this country who have replaced Boko haram, like Militants in Niger Delta, Fulani herdsmen, kidnapers, armed robbers and others. So, they need to do more. Defeating Boko Haram alone is not the total security that we need in Nigeria. Even on the Boko Haram, have we seen the Chilbok girls? For me, it will be improper for them to say they have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls. But there is no doubt that Boko haram has been degraded since Buhari came into power, but that is not the height of the security that Nigerians need in this country.

There are agitations by some people in the country that the appointment made so far by the President is dominated by Northerners. Do you share their sentiment?

Of course, some people will tell you that, but at the same time, they have to accept that the North shares the larger part of the country. But that does not mean there should be predominance in a government by Northern personalities, because if we are to go by democratic tenets, by voting power, by the number of population, you will see that the North has 51 per cent, but that does not mean that any sensible leader should let his tribe dominate the government. There are times when the North will have even less appointment when the president is from the North. But if the president is from the South, he will expect 51% from the North. And this is natural. But to me, good governance is my concern, not who is appointed. So, that is not an issue that determines the success of this country.