A social crusader and zonal coordinator of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Lagos, Comrade Oludare Abolurin, speaks with IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI on why the present administration of President Bola Tinubu cannot exonerate itself from the failures of its predecessor.
WHAT is your take on the new blame game of the President Bola Tinubu government that its predecessor caused the country’s current economic debacle?
Blame game has always been the stock-in-trade of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governments and the present government is on track with the practice. It is awfully shameless because it is the same party changing baton of governance. Nigerians could understand if it were the opposition that handed over to APC. Yes, President Muhammadu Buhari left the country in a very bad shape for his successor, but it is not enough for the successor to cry wolf because both ran the government whether directly or indirectly. PMB’s government failed on all fronts except in the areas of buck-passing and shadow-chasing of perceived enemies of state. All success indices recorded by the preceding Goodluck Jonathan’s government turned negative fastly during the PMB’s governance.
Like I have said, PMB performed gruesomely in all facets of governance except in the areas of buck passing and shadow chasing. But the present government is in continuum of PMB’s government which was frankly prophesied by President Tinubu during his campaigns. I have always said it that Bola Tinubu can’t outperform PMB because he was his chief marketer and he sat for eight unfortunate years watching the performance of his product without any good ‘after sales’ effort. It will be absolutely absurd for this government to exonerate itself from the woes of APC. It is six and half a dozen.
Do you mean that Tinubu’s government cannot exonerate itself from the blames and failures of the Buhari’s administration?
He can, but should never try to. In fact, that was what many of us had against Tinubu when he was campaigning. He was the one who foisted PMB on us and we could not come to terms with the fact that he abandoned [his government] and allowed him to brazenly rip the country apart with his obnoxious type of governance. Lest we forget, during the campaigns he told us that he would be “building on the foundation laid by PMB”. This was a most uncharitable and unbelievable statement. This alone was an assurance for Nigerians to expect worse.
But some ardent supporters of the Tinubu’s government have argued that the Buhari’s administration should be solely blamed for the present economic turmoil?
The former administration should not be solely blamed for the current economic woes. It is a contributory negligence on both the former and the current since they are both from same party. Many of the old hands are being recycled to serve the new government hence, nothing outstanding should be expected.
But some observers have also counter argued saying the current government should be held responsible for the present situation; do you agree with them?
Yes, they are right! Talking about how the government policies have played out, what we have presently is rhetoric without positive and identifiable impact on the common man. There have been protests in virtually all major cities with rates of crime escalating. The situation is fast resembling a civil war situation. Imagine the rise in suicide cases and other hunger associated crimes.
To change the country’s fortune, the present administration has carried out a series of measures, but how far do you think they can go in addressing the existing challenges, especially as regards naira’s devaluation and inflation?
The measures so far are mere political gimmicks. They lack true mechanisms to achieve results. Imagine the government saying that “we shall lift a particular millions of people out of poverty,” yet they won’t tell us the strategy to apply. Remember how former Minister of State for Labour deceived Nigerians about engaging 774,000 youths across Nigeria during PMB’s government
