Saturday 9, November,2024

 

A Northern Elder and former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf has said that the arraignment of minors who participated in the "EndBadGovernance" protests for treason has negatively affected Nigeria’s international standing. He called for payment of compensation to the victims and their families for the pain and sufferings they went through.

In an interview with *Vincent Kalu published in the November 9, 2024 edition of Saturday Sun Newspaper,* the Professor of Haematology-Oncology and Bone Marrow Transplantation noted that President Bola Tinubu has inflicted unbearable hardship on the citizens of this country. He also highlighted why a return to regional government will not work.

 *What was your reaction when you saw the video clip of under aged malnourished children arraigned in court for treasonable felony?* 

I did not see the clips until they were sent to me by 2 unknown Journalists from far away Chicago in the USA and Brisbane Australia. They wanted to know if there was another mass school abduction in Nigeria and if these were children rescued from bandits. Of course I told them that what they saw was the handiwork of our government’s attempt to stifle any dissent by terrorizing the most vulnerable group in the society, our children. 

It was heart wrenching watching these obviously sick and malnourished children in court, some too sick to stand.

Over 2000 protesters including women and children were arrested during the EndBadGovernance protests on August 1-10 which happened mostly in the northern states of the country.

These protesters’ crime was that they were exercising their constitutionally protected right of protest and free assembly. They were held incommunicado, blind folded, starved, tortured and transported in Black Maria to Abuja from Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Gombe and Jos. 

They were held together including the children less than 18 years in inhuman police jails for over 90 days before being arraigned before a federal high court Judge in Abuja. 

On the day of their arraignment in court, they clearly looked malnourished, weak and sick with some unable to stand and collapsing on the floor of the courtroom.

These children needed to be treated in a Paediatric emergency unit not a federal high court. They were charged with adult offenses like treasonable felonies for waving Russian flags, inciting mutiny and calling for the military to take over the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

These trumped up charges brought against minors was a clear sign of a government that is jumpy, afraid of its citizens and insecure of itself because of the hardships it has imposed on the citizenry. 

The treatment meted out to these minors was a cruel and shameful act perpetrated by the federal government with full complicity of the Nigerian Police Force and the Judiciary.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) under whose watch this shameful act happened must bear full responsibility. He was credited with saying that the children that collapsed in the courtroom were acting out a script rehearsed with their Lawyers.

This statement, coming from him, was unbecoming and insensitive. We call for a full investigation of the role of the IGP and all those involved under his watch.

The Law is a noble profession and all in the judiciary swore to uphold the law and dispense Justice to all citizens. 

I must commend the professionalism and dogged determination of the Lawyers of these victims for their pro bono compassionate services. Without their insistence on having these victims arraigned in court after illegal detention for over 3 months, the world would not have known about them and they would have died or left to languish in detention forever. 

Conversely, I strongly condemn the lack of common sense and compassion of the prosecuting Lawyers and the presiding Judge. I call on the Nigerian Judicial Council to sanction them both for their unprofessional conduct that brought the Nigerian judiciary to disrepute in the eyes of the world.

President Tinubu’s government finally succumbed to citizens’ pressure by dismissing all charges and releasing these victims. As a face saving measure, they were treated to a reception at the Villa as guests of the Vice President who handed them over to their respective governors and flown back to their home states.

We call for a thorough investigation of these sad and shameful act, payment of full compensation to the victims and their families for the pain and sufferings this cruel illegality caused them. 

Our hope is that both the state and federal governments have learnt the lessons that power belongs to the people and that protests and the rights of assembly are constitutionally protected rights of citizens and that the voice of the people cannot be silenced.

 

Most importantly, the widespread hunger, hardships and bad governance which were the original reasons for the protests, must be addressed for peace to reign in this country.

 *What do you think will be the perception of the international community on Nigeria over the trial of those minors?* 

The world is watching as evidenced by how foreign journalists from the United States of America and Australia reached out to me even before I saw the clips. 

Nigeria is a signatory to many international treaties that protect the rights of children and President Tinubu in addition to being our President is also the current Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Nelson Mandela once said that “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”  

The shameful and cruel treatment of these minors has no doubt inflicted a huge dent on Nigeria’s international standing.

 *Eighteen months later, how can you rate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government?* 

No Nigerian needs reminding that President Tinubu’s government has inflicted unbearable hardships on all citizens particularly the most vulnerable amongst us.

 *The government says that its economic reforms have started yielding fruits. What is your take on this?* 

I don't know which Planet members of this government are living to think that anything is yielding fruits. Those of us that live in Nigeria on this Planet Earth know differently. 

I have raised my voice again and again to warn the government that there is hunger and anger all across the land. 

The fear of impending anarchy is real if urgent steps are not taken by the government to ameliorate the sufferings of citizens.

 

President Tinubu’s blind acceptance of the World Bank’s economic prescription of removal of fuel subsidy and floatation of the Naira in an important dependent country like Nigeria was misguided. To make matters worse and in his eagerness to please the Western World, he had no plans to mitigate the predictable consequences of these reckless policies.

These misguided economic policies have caused runaway inflation never seen in Nigeria in 28 years, food inflation of over 40% and skyrocketing cost of everything particularly energy and medications.

Millions of Nigerians have stopped taking their life saving medications resulting in increasing mortalities from treatable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. 

Hospitals are now mere consulting clinics resulting in mass exodus of healthcare workers to the UK, Canada and the United States.

 *The President has called on Nigerians to be patient and make sacrifices. But the extravagant lifestyle of leaders like buying new Presidential Jet, luxury presidential convoys, NASS members living large etc. Are the leaders showing good examples?* 

It is a case of do as I say not as I do. Good and patriotic leaders always lead by example especially when their country and citizens are going through challenges like Nigeria and Nigerians are going through. The impunity and arrogance of power exhibited by our leaders in both states and the federal government is nauseating. 

At a time when the country is experiencing the worst insecurity of our lifetime and hunger imposed by President Tinubu’s policies, these leaders are living it up as if all is well. 

They clearly are totally disconnected from the daily sufferings that people all across the country are going through.

 *The North has rejected the Tax Reform bill that Tinubu has sent to the NASS. What does the region disagree with in the bill and how will it affect the region?* 

All 19 Northern Governors and some prominent Traditional rulers met recently in Kaduna the old Capital of the region to discuss many issues affecting the region. What made the headlines was their rejection of the tax bill President Tinubu sent to the House of Representatives. The bill proposes to change the sharing formula of the Value Added Tax (VAT) collected. It proposes to give more to states where the VAT is collected. What this means is that Northern states will be short changed because all these major companies will pay their VAT to Lagos state where their headquarters are instead of the states where they have their operations. 

I agree completely with the position of the Northern governors. Those that know have explained that VAT is a consumption tax which should be paid at the point of consumption not to the state where the company is headquartered. An example is Dangote Cement is produced in Kogi state but pays VAT in its headquarters in Lagos. All oil companies operate in the Niger Delta regions but they pay their VATs in Lagos not the states they operate. Another example is all national banks who make their profits from all 36 states and the FCT where they operate but do not pay VATs to these state but Lagos. So also do all Telecom companies who make their money all across the country but pay VAT in their headquarters located in Lagos.

Lagos is what it is today because of the massive investment of Nigeria’s commonwealth in building all its major infrastructures of roads, bridges, sea and airports, and real estates etc. but the rest of the country is not grumbling and demanding for their fair share of what accrues from these investments. 

President Tinubu’s economic and tax policies and his unapologetic lopsided appointments of his tribesmen and women mostly from Lagos to head all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) where money is collected or spent is viewed in the North as a calculated and premeditated attempt to corral federal resources to the Southwest region at the expense of the rest of the country.

This is not only dangerous but an existential threat to Nigeria’s national security and unity.

 *There is this clamour for Regional Autonomy, what is your view on this?* 

I don’t know who is clamoring for regional autonomy. At a time when serious countries are looking ahead, some selfish shallow minded Nigerian politicians are looking to go backwards. What they fail to realise is that the good old days they are yearning for were good because of the quality of leadership that governed these regions. 

All the regions were led by patriotic men and women that served their people with the fear of God. We can’t say the same of the current crop of selfish leaders at the helm of affairs all over this country who only care for themselves and their families.

 *Some political analysts reason that the creation of Regional Development Commission is a plan to actualise regional government, do you share in their sentiments?* 

Nigeria is bigger and stronger than the selfish machinations of any leader. As a constitutional democracy, no leader can impose his will on the people without their consent through their elected representatives. We are watching our elected representatives very closely and will continue to do our part as citizens to protect the rights of our people.

 *What is your opinion on the Supreme Court ruling on the fiscal Autonomy for Local Governments?* 

This is long overdue and I must commend President Tinubu for getting the legal backing through the ruling of the highest court in the land.

Local governments are in my opinion more important and relevant to the people than states or federal governments. The Governors have over the years emasculated the local governments by holding onto their finances making all the 774 local governments in the country mere shells just paying salaries and doing nothing for the people. 

Financial autonomy for the local governments is critical in  poverty reduction, stemming rural to urban migration, reducing youth unemployment and checkmating the insecurity bedeviling the country.

 *There has been outcries over the conduct of LG elections by the state governors. How can the Councils work with full Autonomy?* 

All state Governors recently rushed to conduct local government elections to beat the deadline of October 31, 2024  imposed by the Supreme Court’s ruling that no state would be paid its local government subventions if it does not have an elected local government council.

Unfortunately, none of the states conducted anything near free and fair elections. What we saw instead was a disgraceful sham and daylight robbery of citizens' right to vote.

Such brazen acts of executive impunity and rascality by the governors does not bode well for our hard worn and fragile democracy.

 *Businesses are closing, SMEs are dying, throwing more people in to the already saturated labour market.* 

Yes, it is scary that President Tinubu’s economic policies are not only anti people but hostile to businesses. That is why we are seeing companies shutting down, businesses leaving the country and workers being retrenched. No economy, no matter how powerful can withstand the sudden shocks of fuel subsidy removal, high energy cost, runaway inflation, high interest rates and massive devaluation of the currency in a country that is entirely import dependent.

President Tinubu is hell-bent on replicating on the national stage the tax, tax, tax model he used in governing Lagos over 20 years ago. He forgot that it is now 2024 and that taxation does not grow economies, only production does.

Taxing citizens beyond their abilities to pay is just voodoo economics. The real fear is that things will just slowly grind to a halt if corrective measures are not urgently taken.

 **What should Nigerians do in the face of it?** 

Power belongs to the people and all citizens must get involved in holding our leaders accountable. I have never been more worried for our country than I am today. That is why I continue to call on all citizens to stand up and speak up against the tyranny of governments.