INTERVIEW: Opposition, Nigerians Must Be Proactive To Stop Tinubu— Adeyanju

As Nigeria approaches another election year, the political atmosphere is getting charged. Despite the economic hardship facing the people as a result of government policies, the ruling party is sitting pretty while the opposition is in chaos with no rallying figure.

To compound the problem, opposition parties are seeing their elected state governors defecting to the ruling party, stoking the fear of a one-party state.

Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer and human rights activist x-rays the range of challenges facing the country, including an egotistic but spineless opposition.

From street activism to draw government’s attention to bad policies, Adeyanju has transformed into a human rights advocate using his law practice to fight for those whose rights have been breached.

In this interview with ISUMA MARK and JUSTINA SIMON of THE WHISTLER, the often combative Adeyanju argues that the opposition is not ready to challenge the ruling party and that it would fail in its bid to stop Tinubu’s reelection in 2027.

But he also has a controversial advice for the youths working hard to make a living: don’t wait for government to give you anything.

Excerpts:

What’s your assessment of the President Bola Tinubu administration? What has he done right, and what has he done wrong?

The government has failed in all ramifications. If we are doing a grading system, we would see the government does not even have a pass mark. The economy has been completely balkanized.

Because there’s practically no opposition in the country, the APC-led government is having a field day, just enjoying and having a great time. Atiku Abubakar sits on Twitter and tweets. Joined by his colleague, Obi, they think the opposition is tweeting and ranting on social media. That’s not opposition.

Opposition is, you have to get into the field, do the hard work and oppose the government in terms of policy opposition and other issues. But, alas, that is not the case in Nigeria. If you look at the inflation figures in the country, the removal of fuel subsidies is one of the greater albatrosses of all the economic problems that we’re having today.

The subsidy we used to cushion the effect of unemployment and other sundry issues because ours is a consumption economy. We are not producing. So, you cannot remove the thing that is cushioning the economy and expect the economy to still survive.

Also, the concurrent floating of the Naira adversely affected our legal tender, the Naira, which invariably affected the prices of commodities because we import almost everything into the country. So, if you remove a subsidy that was cushioning the economy, and you also float the Naira, you know, then the inevitable is what we are currently witnessing in Nigeria.

Insecurity has not improved. I would say it has been stagnant because the Buhari administration abandoned governance for almost eight years. Yes, these people are not the root cause of the problem. You could say that the issue of insecurity was inherited from previous governments.

But what has been done to turn the tide, where this government, in particular, has been reacting instead of being on the offensive? You know, the strategy we want to see is a situation where we can actually be on the offensive. But what does it take to just choose areas? Yes, we know that the terrorists have scattered around the country now.

We’re now witnessing serious uprisings and increasing terrorist activities in the Middle Belts, which was not the case until the second term of the Buhari regime. Before insecurity was restricted to just Borno, Yobe and parts of Adamawa. They were eventually pushed back under Goodluck Jonathan and largely restricted to Borno on the fringes of Borno. But Buhari came.

Someone who said ‘I was a general’ said that he would handle security while Osinbajo would handle the economy. He came and worsened the whole situation in the country, exported insecurity to all parts of the Northwest, even his state, Katsina. Insecurity became the order of the day.

Ransom-taking, kidnapping – kidnappers had fun for eight years. Non-state actors were particularly in charge.

In fact, Buhari abandoned the entire Kaduna state, bringing the Abuja-Kaduna express route to bandits. And the bushes in Kachia, almost everywhere, were taken over by insurgents under Buhari. Benue, Taraba, Yobi, and Plateau became a Killing field under Buhari.

Kogi became included. Kwara became included. Oyo became included. The entire part of Edo states, linking Edo, Benue, and Kogi, were taken over by criminal gangs. So yes, while it can be excused that this government is not the one that caused the problem, what are you doing to solve the problem? You are elected not to give excuses but to provide solutions.

I think there was a video of a police officer that was talking about internal sabotage a few days ago, that people in the government have a hand in all that is going on. I’m inclined to agree because if somebody who is in the field is alleging this kind of thing, making this kind of remark, then I’m inclined to agree that, indeed. After all, it’s abnormal to find a situation where you find, yes, while the terrorist groups are scattered around the country, there must be a strategy in place to curtail the excesses.

Even if it is a region-by-region-based approach, let’s all say, let’s face the terrorist groups, the Lakurawas in the Northwest, another terrorist group in the Northwest, let’s face them squarely and deal with them.

Once we finish dealing with them, then we’ll move to the North Central or the North East. But the way things are going in the country, it appears to me that, once again, the entire country is going to be engulfed in insecurity, and that would be bad for the economy and for investors.

Do you agree with the accusation that this is a clear abdication of responsibility;  that the government, President Tinubu, is not in charge?

Well, under Goodluck Jonathan, he blamed the president and said to the Goodluck Jonathan government that the buck stops at the table of the president.

So, what has changed? The buck must certainly stop on the table of the president. He is the one that is called president and commander in chief. The governors don’t even have the power to put security checks in place in their states.

They are only executive governors. But in action, it is the president who commands the police, the SSS, the army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The president is in charge of internal security in the country.

And even when we are to go to war externally, the president is in charge. So, the buck truly stops at the table of the president and the president cannot shift this responsibility. He must take charge.

He must be the one to lead the charge against insurgents in the country and violent terrorist groups. If I were in the president’s shoes, I would lead by example lead troops to some of these states and crush the criminal elements that are terrorizing this country.

He has charged the security agencies to deal decisively with insecurity but are you concerned in the direction the country is headed?

We are not even seeing any charge. We are not seeing it because we need to see people who adopt people, who kill people, who massacre children and mothers in their sleep being held accountable for their actions.

There must be repercussions for bad behaviour. We are not currently seeing that in the country today. What we are seeing is a situation where people do wrong and they get away with it.

So, other people who are doing good are discouraged from continuing to do the right thing. So since evil people are doing evil things and getting away with it, criminality is profitable. So, people are encouraged and urged indirectly to continue or join those who are perpetrating crimes.

So, until this government and the president are decisive enough about people who violate the law break the law, then we will continue to see issues like this persist.

What do you think the administration is doing wrong?

I think they are doing everything wrong. From the economy to issues around unemployment, inflation, almost everything. They are not getting anything right. The only thing I would say they’ve gotten right in recent times is the issue of the decision to give free caesarean section and some of the health care initiatives to women. Yes, I have seen one or two instances where abducted people have been rescued and reunited with their families. That one is commendable, but that is a reactionary approach. You must take the war to where the terrorists are. You must stop waiting for a situation where people are abducted.

Then you go on a rescue mission and rescue them. You know, that is not the best way to tackle insecurity. Tackling insecurity, you must provide employment. Unemployment and social inequality are the reasons why people, young men with energy and fresh blood running in their veins are joining insecurity and terrorist gangs. So, you must cut the bloodstream, the blood flow that encourages young, agile men to join extremist groups by providing the needed employment opportunities for the citizenry.

No nation can develop if the legal framework is not put in place. Today, businesses are dying. Why? Because interest rates are too high. We need a solution where we can have single-digit interest rates so that factories and economic hubs can begin to spring up all over the country. Businesses are closing down and citizens are doing ‘japaing’ instead of ‘jackpada’.  These are the only ways you can reduce insecurity and develop the economy.

Should the president be talking about 2027 already?

The difference between politicians and we, the ordinary people, is that politicians reason differently. You think that he has not done what is needed to earn a second term? He thinks that he has delivered. His supporters feel that he has delivered. The political actors, you can see, it’s a situation where, okay, they remove electricity tariffs. They increase electricity tariffs. We move for a subsidy. Other issues, even data, were increased by the telecom companies. Have you ever seen any political actors in the National Assembly protest? Have you ever seen the governors show any concern? So, the political actors, as they win an election, they’re already preparing for the next.

So, it is not out of place for him to be seeking re-election. But have you seen members of the opposition? Have they done their work as opposition? Oh, no, they are waiting for civil society. Oh, they can go and use their chests to collect bullets at Eagle Square, at Unity Fountain so that once they dislodge the government, we just come in, we stroll into Aso Rock.

Do you think that is how opposition is done? Is this how opposition was done in America by Donald Trump? Didn’t Donald Trump challenge the establishment and do what was required to take back power? The current opposition in Nigeria is practically non-existent. So, that’s why you see the government getting away with almost everywhere.

All over the world, in Kenya, everywhere, in Ghana, anywhere you see opposition displacing the government in power, it’s because they put in the hard work. They put their boots on the ground, they get their hands dirty. The opposition here does not want to get their hands dirty.

All of them, you can see, are in a hibernation mood. Kwankwaso is silent. Wait six months, five months to the election; they will all dust their boots. You will see them, they will flood their posters and start campaigning all over the place and hiring crowds, doing rallies all over the place. To them, that is what they call opposition.

See, every government needs a credible opposition. Credible, strong opposition will challenge the government to hold the government accountable for the economy, security, job creation, education, health, and almost every facet of governance. But alas, that is not our case.

The opposition is always sleeping. They wait six months for the election and start crowdfunding. They’ve turned politics to almost like revenue generation. That is why you see people like Atiku Abubakar, perpetual contestant. He will always contest every election. What is wrong? Look at the last election, it was a golden opportunity for the opposition to have taken over power.

Both Atiku and Peter Obi, what stopped them from uniting to defeat the APC? Because the body language of the then-president suggested that he was even willing and ready to work with them. He allowed the naira redesign. It was targeted at Tinubu.

The other policy that they did, all the policies they did were targeted against Tinubu. All they needed, all that was needed in that last election, was the unification of the ticket of the opposition. But they were so engrossed in their ego. Atiku went his way, Peter Obi went his way. These are people who have contested together before on the same joint ticket. They were being sanctimonious.

Sincerely speaking, I do not see anybody stopping Tinubu in the next election. Because in my view, Tinubu will not lose an election that Tinubu conducts.

Assuming the opposition comes together and brings back the 2019 ticket of Atiku/Obi, what are their chances?

It’s too late. It’s already too late. That should have been an option in 2023 when Tinubu was outside the system. If Tinubu, who was outside the system, and the naira design was done against all kinds of policy was done against, the incumbent president was not willing to emerge, even on the ticket of the APC, but he emerged from outside. If he emerged, and he didn’t emerge ordinarily, he emerged in a mafia way. You saw the policies that played out, where people were stepping down for him at the presidential primaries of the APC. And not only did he, the marginalisation of the then government, that didn’t want him to emerge, with the popularity of Obi, both online and offline, and with the political sagacity of Atiku and the northern blocs, and the critical stakeholders, he’s in now that he’s president, he’s the one sitting on the chair. He’s the one that will appoint the next chairman. And look at the elections that have taken place under him. Edo, you have seen what happened in Ondo. You can see that there’s no hope.

If you want me to tell you the truth, I will tell you the truth. But if you want me to be politically correct, I can also be politically correct and say, oh, there’s hope for the opposition. The opposition is going to win. Even if they are fragmented into four units. Atiku on one end, Obi on the other end, Kwankwaso on another end, and maybe even a fourth person. Oh, one of the four of them will defeat Tinubu. I can speak like a motivational speaker and talk to you in the language you want to hear. But if it is the truth you want from me, Tinubu is going to win the second time.

Can you factor in the position of the north? They have moved to oppose the president, warning he dare not rig the 2027 election. What if they work with the opposition to make the votes count?

So, if Obi and Atiku’s ticket is actualised, who are the people who will help them bring their numbers to the north? Are they not politicians? Are they not the governors? Are they not the senators? Are they not the House of Representatives? Do they have them? They don’t. Look at the key states in the north and the people who control the political architecture in the north.

Look at Zamfara, even where the opposition holds sway. Are they not PDP stakeholders controlling local government, what’s there? Are they not APC people? Have you not seen the body language of the PDP governors that they are working for Tinubu, the majority of these governors? We’re even hearing that the Delta State Governor and Okowa, all of, are moving to APC. The governor of Akwa Ibom has come out openly to say Tinubu’s second time is guaranteed.

It’s a fraud. These opposition people are not serious-minded. It will surprise you that even the governor of Atiku’s home state, Adamawa, is working with Tinubu.

The governor in Peter Obi’s home state is allegedly working with Tinubu because he wants a second term. That’s Professor Soludo. So, who are the people? The people in my village, in Kogi? We know the people that are stakeholders, that if an election happens today, they are the ones that will sit around the town square and say, oh, this is the person we are voting for.

So, forget the politics that you and I were discussing here. We are too elitist. At the grassroots, the critical stakeholders that determine the elections are known figures. These are people who are known. Who are they going to work with? That is why when I discuss politics, I don’t discuss politics emotionally. I discuss politics based on the fact that Nigeria is peculiar. The peculiarity of US politics is different from that of Nigeria and that of Ghana. So, every nation has its own peculiarities. So, I have looked at all the factors, the political factors and the determinant factors in electioneering and politicking in Nigeria. Unfortunately, and this is something we must focus on going forward, that we must do politics of ideology, which is currently lacking in Nigeria.

That is why you can see people jumping from party A to party B. For them, it’s just all about ambition. Ambition simplifies: it’s not about competence; it’s not about delivering the goods. Atiku is saying, oh, if I can just get into Aso Rock now, or how do I grab power? Obi is, how do I grab power? Kwankwaso, Tinubu, how do I grab power? Not how do I grab power to develop the country.

The reason why we are doing this is because we believe in so-so-so-so ideology. Okay, what is the ideology of Tinubu? What is the ideology of Obi? What is the ideology of Atiku? What is the ideology of Kwankwaso as I’m grabbing power? There’s no known political ideology. That is one of our problems.

And that is why people usually when they are faced with options, people go for the stomach infrastructure option. And unfortunately, that is still predominant in our polity. This idea of tokenism, and that is why, ideologically speaking, in my view, I believe that the political ideology of Nigeria is sharing rice. Rice is our political ideology. Anybody who can share the most rice during electioneering season, pre-election, and post-election season is the most popular person. And that is why our leaders believe that rice is the solution to all of our problems.

And unfortunately, until a superior ideology is conversed and applied, you know, passed across the length and breadth of the country, rice will still remain our political ideology.

You speak with complete pessimism. There is just no optimism at all. Are you saying there’s no possibility at all to salvage the situation, particularly starting from the 2027 election?

Not only will Tinubu win in 2027, Tinubu will install a successor after he finishes his second term. That’s how bad our situation is. If you look at what happened in Edo, where results were changed entirely nothing happened. A governor has been suspended unconstitutionally. Nigerians have moved on. So, is it me? Do you want to turn me into a motivational speaker who will be encouraging you that, oh, there’s a utopian dream somewhere, or that because of this, the concept of Ubuntu, I should preach optimism to you. I should preach pessimism so that the people can know the challenges ahead, the dangers, and the insurmountable obstacles that they are facing.

So that maybe when they listen to my preaching of pessimism, they can become angered enough to react. But you can see as you move the length and breadth of this country, there’s no anger. There’s none; you would have thought that with the removal of Sim Fubara, there would have been a reaction across the country, even if not by the citizens but by the political class. No reaction, nothing happened.

No reaction till today. And so, there will be nothing, nothing will happen, Nigerians have moved on. He will install a successor; nothing will happen, and Nigerians will move on. Unfortunately, that is a situation we have found ourselves in.

One important thing that I also need to add is that not only is this pessimism only in politics, it’s even in the economy. If anybody had told you that subsidies would be removed, fuel would be selling for above 1,000, and Nigerians would move on, would you have believed? From a hundred and something naira.

So, nothing happened, is it the election that will make people react? So, my brother, I’m not trying to give up on the country, but I’m saying things the way they are, that Nigeria of today, I do not see any way forward, politically speaking. I do not see any way forward. I wish I saw a way forward. You know, if I saw a way forward, I would have said so. But unfortunately, I do not see any way forward.

Does it mean we are moving towards a unitary system of government?

Yes, almost a one-party state, kind of. And we are almost in the realm of ‘to your tent oh Israel’. How do you explain it when everybody has become a hallelujah boy in the national assembly? Everybody’s singing on your mandate. When the entire national assembly was singing on your mandate we shall stand during the budget presentation – APC, PDP, Labour Party, everybody including YPP, everybody was singing on your mandate we shall stand.

Governor Sherif has just been singing on your mandate, we shall stand. The PDP governors were practically singing, on your mandate, we shall stand when they communicated at their last meeting. So, what do you expect? I have told myself that I would no longer cry more than the bereaved. This idea of me being a town crier, perpetual town crier, no. Nigerians must get to the point where you must show them that you don’t care anymore. So that they begin to care for themselves.

The reason why the country is this bad is that the looters outside the government who are praying in the queue to get to the government to loot are more than the looters within the government. And that is why you see me sounding so pessimistic. When you go to a typical ministry in Nigeria, almost the look on the faces of everybody is, ‘When will it be my turn to loot?’.

So, if you see anybody within the ministry unhappy, fighting the system, it’s not because he wants the system to work. It’s because he’s not been carried along. It’s because he’s not getting his own share of the loot.

Parents tell their children that they should go and date people who have the capacity. What do you mean? Someone who can buy you an iPhone 16 Pro Max? Someone that can give you money to bring home to your parents? Is that the kind of country where you expect political change to take place? It’s a societal issue where we elevate get-rich-syndrome at all costs, by all means. People don’t care how you make money. Just make money. Just have money. So, it’s a societal problem and until we solve that problem, the political issues and the political dynamics that we are facing will persist.

Give the opposition some hope, what should they do?

I’m not giving them any hope. If they don’t want to challenge the government, so be it. I’m not going to be anybody’s motivational speaker. Let us all remain like this. If the country is favouring all of us, let the country continue. If buying fuel at almost N1,000 per litre is good, let us all continue.

I’m not giving anybody hope. Nigerians deserve what they are getting. This is what Nigerians want.

This is what Nigerians voted for in the last election. They should repeat it again in 2027. I have gone past that time that I’ll be telling somebody that, oh, please, let’s challenge this.

No, no, no. Let’s leave things the way they are. Was it Buba Galadima who said Nigerians deserve suffering? That there’s nothing that he needed to say that he didn’t tell Nigerians during the electioneering period.

But Nigerians were adamant. When I go to my village on election day, people tell me that they are going to collect money and vote for a particular candidate. I try to tell them, they tell me that, ‘bros, respect yourself. Respect yourself. We don’t want to disrespect you. We’ve got respect for you.

And when people that are supposed to be your kid brothers start pointing fingers in your hand if you are not careful, they will put it in your eye. So, the truth of the matter is that Nigerians know what they are doing. Stop trying to say that, oh, Nigerians are politically naive. Nigerians are not politically naive. Nigerians know exactly what they are doing. They are enjoying the government.

So let the enjoyment continue. I’m not going to advise the opposition. The opposition, they are in bed with the government in power. Even if I advise them, it would be akin to me pouring water into a leaking basket. So, I will not advise them. They should continue what they are doing. The strategy they are employing is good. So let this governance and this system of government continue.

What of the leaders of tomorrow, the youth, based on what is going on, what can you say to them?

Sincerely, my greatest advice to young people and entrepreneurs is to plan your lives outside of government and politics. This is the only solution and the way out. Because if you do not, you will learn the hard way. The truth is if you are waiting for the government to do anything for you, either provide light, water, or basic amenities, you are wasting your time.

Because nothing like that is going to happen. So, the earlier, the better for you; you plan your life outside the government so that you will not get unexpected shocks and so that you will be prepared for the challenges ahead. When you plan your life outside government and politics, things become easier and you can now predetermine the foreseeable and the unforeseeable.

For me, I think that is what works for me and I feel that young people and young entrepreneurs should do this and adopt it as a strategy.

-Isuma MARK & Justina SIMON

INTERVIEW: Opposition, Nigerians Must Be Proactive To Stop Tinubu— Adeyanju is first published on The Whistler Newspaper