President Buhari’s Ministers Are Dishing Out Jaundice Advice-Prophet

Spiritual Leader of Christ Worshippers Church Worldwide, Prophet Duromola Adedayo Samuel exploded his thoughts on the state of the nation, identifying poverty, hunger and starvation as the root cause of crises in the country; he proffered solution to the various socioeconomic and political challenges in this interview with CityMirrorNews Excerpts:

There is so much talks on the economic recession and it is getting to the critical point in Nigeria, as a man of God observing the developments in the country, when, why and how did the country get to this point and what is the way out?

It is true that there is global economic recession which ordinarily should not have a pronounced biting effect on Nigeria considering the natural endowment that God has blessed us with. However, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on assumption of office embarked on policies that dragged the country into economic crisis that marked the beginning of chronic economic recession and depression. When the administration got to power, it gave a directive ending the deposit of different currencies in the commercial banks and in effect, emptying their vaults loaded with foreign currencies. Most depositors with foreign currencies like Pounds Sterling, Euros, Dollars, Yen and several others operating domiciliary accounts started withdrawing their funds from the banks and the economy. This was what can be considered as the greatest blunder committed by the administration at onset. And this marked the beginning of scarcity of foreign currencies and that affected our balance of trade in a country that is heavily dependent on importation of goods.

Prophet Duromola Adedayo

Not done with this, the administration wound up the operations of the Bureau de Change which was the only alternative to procure foreign currencies. This further affected access to foreign currencies for exchange. This could be likened to the sudden stoppage of breast feeding for an infant; it could lead to his or her death. Following these controversial monetary policy directives, the foreign investors like the American JPMorgan, CitiBank as well as the Europeans withdrew their investments. The first two American investors alone allegedly withdrew about US$90Billion out of the Nigerian economy at once. With this began the foreign exchange shortfall to service the industries. This is coupled with the fact that the administration also embarked on constant threats to the elites; querying their huge funds deposited in the Nigerian banks. And some of them are partners to the foreign investors while others with big businesses overseas started withdrawing their investments from the economy out of fear for their funds and investments. This in a way has been killing free enterprise capable of stimulating economic growth.

Inconsistency of monetary policy has equally played some vital role. When this administration came on board, it strangulated the States of fund, arguing that there was no money in the coffers of the Federation accounts. When there were uproars from the states as most of them could no longer pay salaries to the civil servants, the administration suddenly changed tactics and started giving out funds to some states classified as bail-out funds. Above all, when the administration was accused of not fulfilling its electioneering promise of doling out N5,000 to unemployed youths, it has started something in that direction which is a misplaced priority. This is aside the fact that when this social security net-worth was conceptualized, a dollar exchanged for N180 is now almost N500. As a solution, the government should instead of sharing or doling out money running into billions of naira to the unemployed youths, establish industries and revive the dead ones with such money to provide employment opportunities. Such industries should mostly be agro-allied ones in tandem with the climate and vegetation reality of each state or geopolitical entity. The administration should endeavour to run an all-inclusive system whereby those who had excelled in the past but are now sidelined or selected as enemies of the ruling party should be brought on board.

President Buhari should give priority consideration to the choice of technocrats who have always been in Government in the past because he has been out of government for too long. This is because experience cannot be gathered or bought overnight. Ministers should participate more actively in running the government. This is because the present crop of ministers is just dishing out jaundiced advice which the Head of State is carrying out jealously. Most of them have good ideas but are afraid of losing their jobs. Moreover, they are politicians that have interests to protect. My advice is based on experiences of economic situations studied in about 28 countries that I have visited in the past. But I am not entirely blaming this government for the recession because it did not just start under Buhari. The build-up had started before Buhari. Remember the former minister of finance; Ngozi Okonjo Iweala warned that hard times awaited Nigeria. The problem was that there was no savings. She begged the governors that they should save but the governors refused, insisting that they should share the money. So, Nigeria did not save for the rainy days. Some governors then said they insisted that the money should be shared because they did not want the federal government to squander the money. Granted! Now, why didn’t the governors save their share of the money? They ended up squandering it. Now, they blame Jonathan and it is needless because they collected the money and squandered it, yet they were in need of bail-out when Buhari came on board. What did they do with the money? We are not asking governors’ questions and that is why they steal easily.

Prophet Duromola Adedayo

What do you see about Nigeria? With crises in many parts, are you still confident about her corporate existence as a nation?

Nigeria’s future is very bright and great; it is a country loved by God. If our leaders can cry to God and listen to the lonely voice in the wilderness, God will release the country’s greatness and take it to the promise land. I have said several times in most of my media interviews that Nigeria cannot break-up. There can be no war. There can be no military solution to the Niger Delta crisis but dialogue. The same goes for the Biafran agitators. These agitators are not comparable to terrorists as they are not killing their people; they blow up public installations which is affecting the national economy. Poverty, hunger and starvation are tormenting the ordinary man in Nigeria today. Thus, the only crisis in the country now is economic which has led to crimes like stealing by tricks otherwise known as 419, Yahoo-yahoo, kidnappings, armed robbery as well as other numerous crimes. A hungry man is an angry man. Many are disillusioned with the whole system at all levels and have lost hope of a greater and better tomorrow. Those in government now are just pretending, they too don’t like what is happening. President Buhari has spent half of his first term in office. Even, if he gets elected for another 4-year term in office after the first term, making it 8 years, others coming after him would upturn most of his policies that he thinks he has put in place. Everything in life is as dynamic as change which is inevitable; it is the only thing that is permanent in life. The administration has been talking about diversification of the economic mainstay but more funds are daily channeled to oil prospecting and exploration in the Northern part of the country, precisely the Chad Basin.

How would you assess President Buhar’s administration’s fight against corruption?

The fight against corruption is good but it should be holistic and not a one-sided affair. There are so many whistle blowers across the country today but the administration of President Buhari has turned deaf ears to the whistles. Some top-notches, very close to Mr. President, have been accused of corrupt practices openly and nothing has happened on their matter. Whenever a man decides to carry out a revolution, the revolution does not know friends, brothers, family or any other primordial considerations. In history, the popular French and later Russian revolutions were successful because of the holistic approaches adopted by the leaders of each revolution. The present administration in Nigeria is carrying out a revolution that knows friends, acquaintances and political allies. Nigeria has been turned into a comic state of animal farm where some animals are more equal than others. Mind you sir, I don’t have sympathy for any political party or group as a pastor, but the truth must be said no matter whose ox is gored.

Senator Shehu Sani made a comment recently on the floor of the senate, criticizing the president for fighting corruption using insecticide against people outside his cabinet and using deodorant for people in his cabinet. Are you too subscribing to this notion?

What else can I say? Senator Shehu Sani is not an ordinary person. He is a member of APC from the CPC bloc as Buhari, he is also a senator of the Federal Republic. He knows about what is happening in government first hand than we do because he is part of the government. So if he comes out to say that President Buhari is fighting corruption using deodorant for people in his cabinet means he is protecting people in his cabinet. It is an indictment. So if someone who is part of the party as a senior member makes such indicting statement. It tells a story that paints a clear picture of what is really going on in the administration’s fight against corruption. So, there’s no more I can say about that because the senator has said it all. And mind you, there was no defence against that epic statement from the presidency.

How would you assess the elections conducted so far since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power?

The elections can best be summed up as ranging from inconclusive to alleged vote buying and finally violence. It would be recalled that former President Goodluck Jonathan had put in place an electoral system under Prof. Attahiru Jega as Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) capable of checkmating electoral malpractices. He put in place an electronic card reader device to stem frauds or rigging methods like multiple voting, impersonation, ballot box snatching and stuffing with ballot papers and many others. However, when the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari came to power, he appointed Prof. Mahmud Yakubu to replace Prof. Jega as the new Chairman of INEC. The electoral body conducted the first election in Kogi State and it was declared inconclusive followed by Bayelsa and Rivers State which were declared inconclusive as well. The elections conducted in Edo and Ondo States respectively were trailed by accusation and counter accusations of alleged vote buying and other fraud related vices. The legislative rerun elections conducted in Rivers were marred by accusation and counter accusations of fraudulent practices as well as massive violence leading to the maiming and death of some voters. INEC under President Buhari is performing so low and it is irritating. Simply say, INEC under Buhari is an epitome of inconclusive election.

During the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, you granted a media interview and referred to the National Assembly then as the rubber stamp of the Executives, what is your assessment of the current National Assembly?

The composition of the present National Assembly is the best that Nigeria has ever had. The present crop of Senators is full of intelligent and versatile people. The only problem that we have in the country is remodeling of politicians. We have richly intellectually endowed people in the House of Representatives too. When they were talking of padding, it is all politics. There is nothing like padding, but all of them are fighting to get projects taken to their constituencies. This is because as politicians, they are answerable to their constituencies.

What is your take on President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent holiday trips?

It is true that President Buhari has to observe frequent rest as an old man but his administration has often called on Nigerians to patronize anything Nigerian. The administration has often emphasized the need to conserve our scarce foreign exchange funds and even patronize goods made in Nigeria. However, the pertinent question that readily comes to mind is: ‘are there no good and competent doctors in Nigeria?’Is Mr. President going to spend naira in the United Kingdom? The truth is that when he gets to the United Kingdom, many Nigerians would flock to where he resides to pay him visits. The best place for him to observe and have maximum rest is Aso Rock. The securities that he would get in the United Kingdom are not actually the same with the one he would have in Nigeria. I am not surprised; it is what we bargained for that we are seeing. It is what we voted for that we are getting. If we have voted for a change, for an old man to rule Nigeria as a prototype country in an age when the whole world has become a global village, so be it. It is what we sowed that we are reaping. Mr. President, enjoy yourself, 10 days is not enough to rest, you need more time; not even now that there was an accidental bombing on an Internally Displaced Peoples’ (IDP)camp in Rann, Borno State. May God grant him long life to enjoy himself. We cannot blame Mr. President, after all, some of our pastors preached one thing and do another to the contrary. What of our numerous politicians who promise one thing in their campaigns but do the contrary after winning elections? We have voted for change, we have seen change, long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.