Dr. Kunle Olajide is the Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders. In this interview, Olajide, a medical doctor, based in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, speaks on efforts by both the states and the Federal Government to stop the spread of Coronavirus, among other issues of national importance. AYO ESAN brings the excerpts:
What is your assessment of the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by both the states and Federal Government?
To a large extent, we must commend both tiers of government over their efforts to tackle the crisis. But what has become obvious from the whole crisis is that COVID-19 has revealed the defective nature of our so-called Federalism. For one, it is wrong that everything has to be centralised, especially in the distribution of palliative measures. Why must everything emanate from Abuja? Why must it be that it is the Presidential Task Force that will almost be in control of everything, including giving orders to states in some instances? This is a negation of what a true federal state should be. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the defective nature of Nigeria’s so-called Federalism. It has shown that we are not yet a truly federal state. Another negative impact of this is that millions of Nigerians only got to hear about announcements being made on palliative measures being taken by the Federal Government, but at the end of day, these palliatives didn’t get to the intended destinations, and this is why many Nigerians are complaining that they have yet to benefit from some of these palliative measures. The fact is that despite what the Federal Government wants us to believe, the reality is that the poor, and millions of average Nigerians, have yet to benefit from both cash, and other relief materials government wants us to believe that it is distributing to Nigerians. In fact, the general belief among Nigerians is that some officials have turned this palliative measures distribution into their own oil block, and this will be very unfortunate if that should be so. Federal Government’s efforts so far has not been the best for Nigerians; that’s talking about getting the relief measures to the grassroots.
Again, another defect that has been clearly noticeable is the violation of social distancing order when these relief measures are being given out. You see a lot of crowd, even struggling with one another at times in order to get the materials. Stampede at these centres is clearly a setback to efforts being made to contain the COVID-19 scourge.
How can we tackle this problem?
More powers should be devolved to the states. There should be decentralisation of efforts being made to tackle the crisis. Not only that, the distribution network which has now been identified to be defective should now be made more efficient, and I would like to suggest that we should use the polling booth system to distribute the relief packages to Nigerians. Voters register can be used to distribute these packages, and this will help to reduce stampede, and mobbing at the various centres, where these packages are being given out presently. The present distribution arrangement will promote corruption, and this should not be so. Again, the whole exercise must be seen to be transparent. We have six geo-political zones in the country, and, therefore, the Federal Government must ensure that there is a balance so that no geo-political zone will have a feeling of being short-changed. Any perceived lopsidedness in the distribution arrangement can boomerang, and this is why the Federal Government has to tread carefully over the matter.
How can the rising curve of COVID-19 cases in the country be flattened?
Complete lockdown would have been ideal but this will be very suicidal for a country like Nigeria, where about 80 per cent of the workforce are in the informal sector, and this is one of the reasons a total lockdown is impossible. We should also not forget the fact that about 70 per cent of Nigerians, we have been told, live below the poverty line. What this means is that the Federal Government must find a way to balance this economic reality with other steps being taken to contain the COVID-19 crisis.
This is why I commend the Federal Government for relaxing the lockdown in Lagos, Ogun, and the FCT. Although lockdown is ideal, and desirable, government must think of how to ameliorate the sufferings of the poor, especially the poor of the poor. Although Nigerians must exercise patience while efforts are being made to address the problem, Nigerians must not die of hunger, and this is why there is much responsibility on the part of the government to ensure that genuine efforts are made to make life comfortable for Nigerians in this period of national emergency.
How would you assess the efforts being made so far by members of the political class, wealthy Nigerians, and corporate bodies to provide succour to less privileged Nigerians amid the COVID-19 crisis?
Kudos must be given to those organisations and individuals who have been making efforts to cushion the effects of the crisis on average Nigerians. Honestly speaking, this is a trying period for the nation, and not even Nigeria but for the entire world. However, my quarrel with members of the political class is that what some of them have done I consider pittance, and even at this, they are even celebrating and making a propaganda out of it.
For instance, some members of the National Assembly have donated their salaries for some months to the cause. Yes, that’s good but they should have done more than that. What I expect President Muhammadu Buhari, state governors, members of the National Assembly, and other members of the political class to do is to donate their allowances for a year. What these public office holders collect as allowances is humongous, and this is why they are not always comfortable when Nigerians ask them to disclose what they earn as allowances. What these people collect as allowances are outrageous, and must be considerably reduced if Nigeria wants to make any progress as a nation. Not only that, we should jettison bi-camera legislature. There is no need for us to have the Senate and the House of Representatives. I strongly believe that uni-cameral legislature is ideal for us. We should scrap the Senate, and the House of Representatives now, and in their place have one legislative body. The rising cost of governance has become a big burden on the nation’s economy. We need to have a review, especially in this period of our national life.
What is your take on the recent approval of $850 million loan for President Buhari by members of the National Assembly?
I’m not in support of that loan. Although they told us they wanted to source it internally, I don’t see any reason for such loan, moreover at this critical period, more so when nobody is sure of what post-COVID-19 economic era will look like for us in Nigeria. Why the rush for any loan now, either domestic or foreign, when the future of crude oil looks bleak, and Nigeria is a mono-economy that depends on oil for survival? One lesson that we must learn from the COVID-19 palaver is that we have to diversify our economy to reduce our over-dependence on oil. We have to focus on agriculture, and also explore and exploit the various mineral resources that nature has endowed us with.
There is no part of the country that is not endowed with one resource or the other, and they will fetch us good revenue if we exploit them. If we have done this in the past, it would have cushioned the economic effects of COVID-19 on us as a nation.
Let me also warn through this medium on the so-called plans to renovate the National Assembly. What’s the wisdom in allocating hundreds of millions of naira for the renovation of the National Assembly at this period? What’s so special about the renovation of the National Assembly that can’t be delayed or be suspended for now? We should be taking measures that will portray us as a nation of serious people.
