Buhari left a lot of problems for Tinubu to resolve – Olumo OPC leader

Comrade Rotimi Olumo is one of the coordinators of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) in the South Western Nigeria, who oversees Oyo State.

Olumo, who has always been very vocal on national issues, was one of the coordinators, alleged to have collected N35 millions from the new President, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, during his presidential election.

The issue became controversial and has now caused a big crisis in OPC, which is threatening its disintegration and causing a vote on no confidence in their National leader, Iba Gani Adams, who is the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland.

In this interview with Business Hallmark, Olusesan Laoye, he bares his mind on various national issues and what Tinubu should do to ensure that he is serious to govern. He also spoke on the attitude of President Buhari towards Nigerians while in office and the crisis the OPC is facing now in the South West.

Excerpts:

Now that Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu has stepped into the shoes of President Muhammadu Buhari, what are your expectations from him ?

There is nobody you ask this question that will not have a lot to say because one could see that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, has left Nigeria in comatose with the issue of insecurity. So, what should be paramount in the mind of the new President, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu, is how to tackle insecurity, which is bothering all Nigerians.

If Tinubu wants to make Nigeria a better place for both Nigerians and non Nigerians, he should first tackle the issue of insecurity. As I said before, which I am still saying now, the insecurity has brought famine to Nigeria because there is now scarcity of food everywhere. We are all aware that the insecurity has been on before former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan left office and the expectations of Nigerians when Buhari came, was that, as a Military man and some one who had even served Nigeria as Head of State before he became a civilian President, he would be able to tackle this, but Nigerians were surprised that it was during his tenure that the situation got worse.

You know, this started from the North East and it has spread to all parts of the country. Even the South West, which was regarded then, as the most peaceful, is now not left out. If Tinubu is able to solve the issue of insecurity, it would give the entire Nigerians hope that he is capable and and they will not regret his coming to govern them.

Tinubu should know that insecurity has affected farmers, who are being terrorized, killed and kidnapped on daily basis, as such, many are scared to go to farm and that is why Nigeria is suffering from food scarcity. Farmers are not working optimally as before, to produce farm produce and this has also made the prices of food items to skyrocket beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians. This has even encouraged begging across the country because in Nigeria today, corporate begging has become the order of the day.

One other critical issue, which the government of Tinubu should look into, is the creation of employment for the youths. Right now, millions of youths are unemployed and that is why there is increase in the rate of crimes in Nigeria. Lack of employment has thrown many youths into the business of kidnapping, where they go into Yahoo Yahoo, which is now denting the image of Nigerians and Nigeria across the world.

President Buhari apologized to Nigerians that he should be forgiven for whatever he must have done to offend them. Looking back, from your own point of view, what are the things you think he should have done, which he did not do to warrant that kind of apology?

Well, for the mere fact that Buhari begged for apology from Nigerians, it was an admittance of failure on his part. No one expected that under his regime Nigeria would be this bad. He is leaving Nigeria as a confused nation and he has left so many legacies, such has insecurity, high rate of unemployment, scarcity of food and and even serious debt. He has become the President that Nigeria would not forget. His tenure brought a serious uprising in terms of End SARS, and the most devastating one is the cashless policy, which made Nigerians to groaned in pains.

These are all the things Tinubu should be aware of and ensure that his government fares better, for Nigerians to have sense of belonging and patriotism. Buhari has left a lot of work for Tinubu to do. He must show that his government would not be like that of Buhari in the same political party with him. I will therefore, say Tinubu is a lucky man to emerge as the President of Nigeria and he must make us happy

What Nigerians went through under Buhari was enough to reject the APC but God knew his plans for Nigeria, that is why we now have Tinubu and he too must be aware that he should not let the people down.

Tinubu’s election caused misunderstanding among Yoruba leaders, what do you think he should do now that he has become President?

Let me say this clearly, Tinubu is going to be the President of all Nigerians and not that of the people in the South West alone. It is not the South West alone that people were divided over his presidency. The division cut across the entire Nigeria. What I will expect him to do is to embrace all, whether they supported him or not while contesting for the post.

For the issue in Yorubaland, he has more work to do there because that is his primary base and launch pad to the top. He must make sure that the leaders come together because if the house, where he comes from, is divided, it is not going to be all right for him, as the leader of Nigeria to see the roof of his own house leaking. This is the time to make sure that there is unity in the region and the whole Nigeria.

To me, Nigeria has come to a stage that, who ever rules should not put sentiment and ethnicity into governance and consideration, because all tribes are now interwoven in so many ways.

Now that Tinubu, from the South west, a region, which has been clamouring and championing the agitations for the restructuring of Nigeria, what should he do?

I believe that Nigeria is now ripe for restructuring, if we must remain as a nation. We should not forget that the country so called Nigeria is a combination of many nationalities fused into one. As far as I am concerned, we have to restructure, because some part of the country believes that they are born to rule and I believe that one section of the country dominating others would no longer work.

If we must stay together as a nation, Tinubu should ensure that the country is restructured. This is the only legacy, if he is bold enough to do, that he would be remembered for life. Doing so, he would have averted what could have led to a bloodshed in Nigeria in future.

If Tinubu wants to do the restructuring, it should not be difficult for him because the template to do that has been created by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, through the 2014 National conference, where all notable Nigerians sat to brainstorm and came out with what I will describe as a beautiful paper on how to move Nigeria forward and which restructuring was there in their recommendations.

What pained Nigerians most was the attitude of President Buhari to the recommendations of the 2014 national conference and I am strongly convinced that if Buhari had looked into that, there won’t be the serious agitations for self determinations by different ethnic nationalities, going on in Nigeria presently. Tinubu should write his name in gold in the history of Nigeria by being bold enough to restructure Nigeria.

The the 10th National Assembly is about to take off and members are fighting for positions, even when they are yet to come on board, what is your advice for them?

Firstly, they should not start with crisis and hatred over who gets what. What they were elected to do is to represent their various constituencies and they must make sure that they fulfill this obligation. Again they should not see themselves as a body to destabilise the new government through their selfish interests. They should realise that things are now different in Nigeria now and that Nigerians can’t be taken for granted anymore.

They should be focused and work for the progress and development of Nigeria. They all take constituency allowance and the money should be used for the advantage of those, who elected them.

What do think of the statement by President Buhari that if anybody wants to do anything to him he would run to Niger, Chad or Cameroon, and that they would defend him?

Just as it was argued by many Nigerians, Buhari’s statement was an indication that he was not committed to the Nigerian project all along. It was also an indication that he did not see himself as a Nigeria. With that statement, he disappointed Nigerians the more because that should not have come from a person, who had held various positions in the Nigerian military and who rose to be military Head of state and a civilian President, the kind opportunities, which other more committed Nigerians never got.

With that statement, he would make Nigerians regret that they elected a man, who cared less about them to govern the country.This is the reason why some people are saying that he became helpless with the banditry all over the country, especially in the North.

No former president ever offered that kind of statement, even, those who ruled in uniform. People like former President Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalam Abubakar, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan are out of office but they are still committed to the the Nigerian project.

To me, what Buhari is telling us indirectly is that he is done with Nigeria. Honestly, the statement was bad and if he is a serious leader he should specially tender another unreserved apology to Nigerians because without that move, he would not be forgiven.

Let us now come down to Oyo State where you are the OPC coordinator. Governor Seyi Makinde has come back for another four years, what should he do in this second term that could make the people of Oyo State happy?

I will urge him to intensify more efforts on the security of the state. He should, this time around, use all the security apparatus available in the state, to his advantage. There are the police, Civil Defense Corps, Amontekun, OPC, the Hunters and the Peace Corps, ready to work to secure the state and protect the people.

He should also look into the issue of the Road Transport Workers and ensure that the Union is moderated and not monopolized by just only one group.

This is one area that peace could be accomplished in Oyo State. I will also want Governor Makinde to look into the area of agriculture. Oyo State is blessed with expanse of land, especially in Ibaraba and Okeogun areas, of the State. Makinde should this time around, make Agriculture his priority, because this would go a long way in alleviating the problems of the people because food is essential.

If Makinde concentrates on these two areas, he would have left a legacy, which the generations not yet born, would cherish.

Just some weeks ago, there was a serious crisis in the OPC, particularly over the presidential election, which some of you were alleged to have collected money from the incoming President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. What is the situation of things now, has the crisis been resolved?

The crisis is not yet resolved. Rather than the issue being resolved, it is getting worse and it is like the OPC is now in total disarray. Iba Gani Adams is not willing at all to calm down or see reasons why there should not be a division in the organisation. In fact the crisis has gone viral and it has affected more states in the South West now.

As I speak now, there is a serious revolts going on underground and, which if Gani Adams is not careful, it could consume him as the leader. It is getting to a stage, which could lead to members across the six Yoruba Speaking states of Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti and Lagos State are planning to stage a protest against his leadership and at the end of the day they may pass a vote of no confidence in his leadership. You know what that means. That is why he should be careful so that the situations would not get to that stage of no return.

People are appealing to him now, he should not let it get to a stage, where he would be the one appealing to people because if it gets to a stage, where the notable traditional rulers and opinion leader mediating in the crisis turn their backs against him completely, it would be disastrous.

Right now, some of us have drawn a battle line with him and we are not ready to back down and expecting the worst from him.