Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum (AYCF), spoke to The Vanguard, picking holes on insinuations that President Buhari is going to northernise Nigeria. Below is the transcript from his interview on this heated topic of discussion:
What is your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s performance so far?
To start with, 100 days is not enough to assess a government. But one would have expected that in 100 days, the government would have come up with its economic policies because you cannot run a government without a plan. It appears the country is being held to ransom without a clear direction of the present administration is going. We will not be in a hurry to conclude that the government has no plan, however, it is also wrong for the country not to have a clear-cut direction of where the country is heading to.
Do you think that anything has changed in Nigeria since Buhari came on board?
Honestly, I don’t think anything has changed in Nigeria but what I can say is the fear of Buhari has become the beginning of wisdom. His presence has actually changed so many things. To an extent, I can say that we are benefitting from that.
In terms of power, despite the fact that Buhari has not invested any fund in the sector, there has been steady power supply. I hope he sustains the tempo because as far as I am concerned, nothing has changed in Nigeria. The president has vowed to go after corrupt persons but some Nigerians hold the view that the fight against corruption is selective.
What is your view?
For me, the fight against corruption has not even started and so, it will be too early to say the fight is selective. There is an intent to fight corruption but nobody has been convicted yet. Buhari needs to buckle up or else his image will be dented. Some of those who sponsored Buhari’s campaign are corrupt. Some of those, who are seen to be his allies are corrupt and you have them across board. So, if he must fight corruption, he must be prepared to make sacrifices because the fight is going to be dirty.
Some of us are willing to support him in his fight against corruption provided it will not be bias or selective. For instance, the plan to probe past administrations should not be limited to the Jonathan administration, it should go beyond that. The president has no justification to limit the war against corruption to the last administration. If he wants to be seen as fighting corruption, he should begin from his home. All those who looted taxpayers’ money should be brought to book because you cannot have the society of your dream without sanitising the society.
Away from that, the president has assured Nigerians that he would appoint ministers before the end of September but so far, Nigerians are not satisfied with the last appointments made by the president. As far as our group is concerned, we believe that the appointments made have been lopsided. No matter the good intentions of the government are, it must be seen to be fair to all Nigerians. Buhari means well for the country, there is no doubt about it but he must checkmate the excess of his advisers, who fail to tell him the truth.
For me, Nigeria comes first but we cannot allow Buhari to fail. Having said this, he must put the country on the right track.
Are you saying he is not trying to northernise Nigeria as alleged?
Certainly not, the Buhari I know does not think in that direction. In that regard, we are determined to ensure that we commend him whenever he does right and fault him where he is found wanting. We will do it within the framework of the constitution but the most important thing is that Buhari must succeed.
What do you think should be the focus of the Buhari administration?
The first thing is that he must have the right policy in place. You cannot fight corruption when Nigerians are hungry. Nigerians deserve better than what obtained in the past.
What are your views on Boko Haram?
Boko Haram has become a threat to not only Nigerians but outside the country. What we are trying to do is to make our members conscious, especially the youth, to desist from the attempt of joining the group.
We have been in the forefront of those advocating against the insurgents in the country, we have never supported the group and that is why some of us oppose the idea of negotiating with Boko Haram. There is no way the negotiation will work. Some people, out of their selfish interest still want government to negotiate with the insurgents. I do not support the idea of negotiation with Boko Haram.