"Tinubu's First Year in Office Undemocratic"*

Could you give a brief assessment of the one year of President Bola Tinubu administration ?

Tinubu himself gave the clearest perspective for appraising his administration at the so-called G20 compact with Africa economic conference in Berlin last November. Addressing German investors at conference, he boasted that he deserves the Guinness World Records recognition for neoliberal reforms.  Tinubu has been the most effective presidential tool of the capitalist class and imperialism in Nigeria’s history. That is why the IMF and rating agencies like Standard and Poor’s have showered him with praises.

Under Tinubu’s watch, big capitalists and multinational corporations have been able to extend their capacity to exploit the working people and natural resources. Tinubu and his cronies are of course beneficiaries as well, as you can see with the award of the Lagos-Calabar superhighway contract. But poor working people and the already squeezed middle class have been the worse off. The removal of the fuel subsidy on day one of his administration has had a multiplier effect on pauperising the people. The floating of the naira has also made further nonsense of whatever purchasing power working people had with the naira.

Tinubu’s APC regime has also showed its anti-democratic spirit with attacks on the press. We have seen journalists arrested at the drop of the hat as if we were still in a military era. He also gave the military full reign to repress communities like Okuoma, in a manner reminiscent of Obasanjo’s razing Odi to the ground. The impact of the occupation of that community after the killing of soldiers there will not be appreciated for a while as it was sealed off from the world. We have also recently seen Banex plaza shutdown by the military and nothing happened. Meanwhile, the regime has not been able to address the spiralling state of insecurity bedevilling the country. Meanwhile, the administration is not ready to pay workers a new minimum wage pay that can take them home.

So, my assessment of the administration one year after it took over power is that it has been and continues to be a major success for big exploiters and oppressors. But for the poor working class, it is a disaster. And I fear that the worst is yet to come, if the working masses do not mobilise and fight. The good thing is that we have embers of resistance burst out as flames of protest, like the #NoToHardship movement that unfurled spontaneously in February and March.

 

How do you see the escalation of the crisis in Rivers State?

The escalation is not surprising, really. Politics is about interests.  In a predatory capitalist society, which is under-industrialised, neopatrimonialism becomes the main means of accumulation of wealth. Politics thus becomes do or die. And of course, the stakes are exceedingly high in Rivers state with the oil wealth that those who control the state there have access to.  What would have otherwise seemed surprising in all this is that the PDP has not called Nyesom Wike’s bluff. However, it is not so surprising. A lot of the bigwigs of that party are indebted to him and he probably has dossiers on them. Thus, on the one hand, PDP cannot boldly break his wings. On the other, he has the support of the ruling party at the centre.

That is why you hear former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan calling for a ceasefire. Wike has become the bull in Port Harcourt’s China shop. Unfortunately, governance, for what it is worth, takes a back seat in this situation.

Don't you think that the so-called Aso Rock agreement between the Wike and the Fubara was a disservice to the River people as it seems to have boxed their governor to a corner?

The agreement was a farce. Indeed it was a disservice to the poor working people in Rivers state. But it is not simply about Fubara being boxed into a corner or no. It is a case of “thief carry am, thief keep am.” Fubara is not a saint here, even if Wike is probably the bigger of the two contending crooks. But it is understandable that President Tinubu pushed, or should I say tried to push that concoction down Fubara’s throat. It was clearly a Wike formula. And it was payback for his being the APC joker in the PDP pack.

 

What is your take on the order of the president for the stoppage of the Cyber Security Levy?

One thing you must give Tinubu is that he is very smart. And he knows how to tax out money from stone, using any and every means. That is what you see with his dusting up the almost ten-year-old Cybersecurity Act, and amending it to, amongst other things, levy the people. I think that the stoppage of the levy might be more of a suspension. He is paying attention whilst consolidating his hand. He has several irons of levies, tariffs and inflation in the fire for squeezing life out of the masses. A tactical withdrawal of one of them enables him to pass off his administration as a listening government while perfecting new ways of getting the same thing done. Mark my word, we have not heard the last word about this levy, except further pushback is even more robust than the one that made him pay attention earlier this month.

Nigerians have been crying out over the hike of tariff on electricity. What is your view on the NERC's adamance in withdrawing the hike?

The impact of the electricity tariff hike is tremendous. Health facilities, including tertiary hospitals, have pointed out that it is undermining their ability to deliver healthcare services. Businesses, including small-scale businesses who have already been sweating under the costs of fuel for power generation are now caught in between the anvil of fuel pump price hike and the hammer of electricity tariff hike. Living has become a hell for people, as they try to manage the unmanageable with electricity. Nigerians have indeed been crying out, but we need to do more. NERC will not revert the hike or introduce significant reduction of the new tariff regime, if it is faced with just lamentation.

Some analysts have consistently maintained that the current administration has been exhibiting high level of incompetence  How do you see this assertion and how do you think it could be reversed?

Incompetence? It is competently making life worse for the people. It is competently pushing through anti-poor policies that make the rich richer. It is a competent Babylon system with regards to sucking the blood of the sufferers.

 

How do you see the coming Edo and Ondo governorship elections? Do you foresee some upsets in the two elections?

The African Action Congress (AAC) is contesting in both elections. Dr Oberiafoh Udo is the party’s gubernatorial candidate for Edo state, while Comrade Kunle Wizeman Ajayi who is also the National Chairperson of the Socialist Workers League and a longstanding revolutionary activist is the candidate in Ondo state. They bring alternative politics into the fray. The politics of struggle for total liberation at the polls and beyond. This is one of the most important development in the forthcoming elections, to me. It provides the opportunity of reaching a broad cross section of working people and youth to build power from the grassroots. Unfortunately, to think that the ruling class will not manipulate the system, with money and electoral mago mago would be like imagining that the leopard could become vegetarian. They will however be living on borrowed time. We will expose them and fight until we win.

 

What is your take on the recent local government elections in Oyo State? Do you agree that the elections were far from being free and fair?

The Oyo election is a good example of what I was just saying about the inherent element of wayo in electoralist politics. The elections were neither free nor fair. Thugs intimidated voters and supporters of parties like the AAC. Rigging was blatantly carried out in broad daylight. We must continue exposing vagabonds in power like Seyi Makinde and his classmates for what they are; well-dressed thugs arming and guiding the street thugs to make nonsense of even the rules of their own democracy.

* interview by Ejikeme Omenazu in the Sunday Independent (p.19), 2 June 2024