By: Umunna Kalu

Engr.Martin Onovo, is a human rights activist and  2015 Presidential Candidate, of the National Conscience Party, NCP, in this chat, he speaks on President Tinubu’s performance which he described as catastrophic and lawless. He speaks also on the planned protest, minimum wage, Samoa agreement,  among other sensitive ssues.

Excerpt

What is your assessment of the President Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC government?

It is not a government, please. It is an ad hoc regime. Their performance has been catastrophic. It is incompetent, it is corrupt, it is lawless and it is also deceitful, divisive, dictatorial and deliberately destructive. Clearly, it is the worst government in Nigeria since independence. The constitutional purpose of government is the security and welfare of the people but the purpose of the Tinubu ad hoc regime is feasting on corruption and lawlessness. It has done everything poorly and failed on all indices. Corruption is worse, impunity is worse, public morality has been perverted, national unity has been degraded, insecurity is worse and the economy has been ruined.  Currently, Nigeria has dropped from the largest economy in Africa to the fourth. Unemployment is unprecedented, inflation is unprecedented and total national debt is unprecedented. Relatively, Nigeria is clearly the global capital of extreme poverty. Looking at the case of the Lagos Coastal Road, we see the innate incompetence, corruption and lawlessness of the ad hoc regime that is itself founded on lawlessness. The contract for the Lagos coastal road was not competitively bid in violation of the national procurement act. The bill of materials and the detailed cost breakdown has not been published in violation of public transparency requirements. The actual cost of the 47km concrete road is estimated at less than N87B. But it was awarded for N1.06T, about thirteen (13) times the actual cost. This is a clear violation of the constitutional prohibition against corruption. The N1.06T paid for the contract is not in the 2024 budget. This is a blatant violation of the 2024 Appropriation Act.  Awfully, it was awarded to Hi Tech Construction that is owned by the Chagourys who are Jagaban Tinubu’s business partners! So, David Umahi, Tinubu’s Minister awarded a contract corruptly to Tinubu’s partner!! This is a violation of the Oath of office which is an impeachment offence. Tinubu should go because he has destroyed almost everything he met, which is better than what he is giving us today.

How do you use see the organized labor negotiation and the expected outcome ?

Do you think anything more will come out of it given the government position to settle at 62K? Edo State has already gone to N70K.  We cannot go below that. And if he settles for 70k, what is the value of the money when you go to the market? This simple matter has been complicated by the profligacy, lawlessness, corruption and incompetence of ad hoc Tinubu regime. With the incompetence of the regime and their mismanagement of the economy, inflation is unprecedented so, it becomes impossible for workers to survive on their current wages. However, increased wages will spur further inflation in the economy. Further inflation will erode the value of the new minimum wage and that will not mitigate the poverty of the workers. Consider that, in 1982 when the minimum wage was N125/month it was equivalent to $185/month. In May 2024 when the minimum wage was N30,000/month it was equivalent to $20/month. So you can see, that with over two hundred times increase in the minimum wage, the workers are still poorer. Therefore, it is not the higher Naira amount that workers need but the higher value of the Naira they earn. Consequently, it would have been better if the labour centres stood against electoral fraud, lawlessness, corruption and incompetence which are the root causes of the plight of Nigerian workers. The insistence of the labour centres on an inflation-adjusted minimum wage is intensified by the lawless profligacy of the ad hoc Tinubu regime.

What is your advice to labour?

Our advice to Labour is to consider that, with over two hundred times increase in the minimum wage from 1982, the workers are still poorer so, it is not the higher Naira amount that workers need but the higher value of the Naira they earn. Consequently, it would have been better if the labour centres stood against electoral fraud, lawlessness, corruption and incompetence which are the root causes of their plight. The amount so far offered by the Tinubu-led government has no market value when you go to market to buy things.

The elections in Edo and Ondo states are fast approaching, do you have the confidence that INEC will do a good job this time?

INEC with Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman has shown itself to be fraudulent and incapable of conducting a democratic election. INEC has conducted many elections since Mahmood Yakubu became the Chairman. The worst was the shameless declaration of fraudulent results for the 2023 presidential election at irregular hours, before daybreak. The subsequent elections in Kogi and Imo States were also undemocratic. INEC with Mahmood Yakubu as the Chairman is the greatest enemy of democracy in Nigeria. Edo and Ondo States elections will probably go the same lawless ways of the Imo and Kogi State elections. Tinubu has already promised to give Edo State to APC. He said, “As the president of Nigeria, I will give Edo back to you”. So, it is now for him to give. That is the impunity that some call democracy in Nigeria. This is certainly a civilian dictatorship or a kleptocracy.

What is your take on some federal lawmakers calling for return to regional government and a 6 year single tenure for the presidential office?

Clearly they have their democratic rights to make such calls. However, our position is slightly different. We want the country restructured in line with the 1963 republican Constitution with some relevant additions from the 1999 Constitution. We prefer the four year tenure renewable once to their six year single tenure. We must restructure Nigeria most urgently or it will collapse. The people are the sovereign. Nigeria is collapsing and the people want the country restructured. The country must be restructured. We cannot continue like this. The country is sliding by the day.

Nigerians are passing through serious hardship and there are calls for national protest. Do you share in the idea of a national protest?

Peaceful protests are our democratic rights as citizens. Many of us have been protesting in sundry ways against the corruption, lawlessness and impunity that have become the norm. Nigerians must protest against the corruption, incompetence and lawlessness that have become the norm. We support the proposed national protests. We support peaceful protest but the irony is that it is the government that will sponsor those to disturb a peaceful protest.

Comment on the controversial approval of some GMO seeds for planting in Nigeria?

As I stated earlier, the ad hoc Tinubu regime is deliberately destructive. GMO plants are very destructive. They are very dangerous to human health. Studies have shown that the human body sees them as toxic and responds to them as such. They are reported to cause tumours, cancers and death. They destroy the entire environment by destroying animals, other plants and the soil. Seeds from GMO plants cannot be planted. Farmers must always go back to buy seeds every planting season from the suppliers and are thereby enslaved by the suppliers. GMO seeds are the new way for the complete enslavement of our people. Reports confirm that over 10,000 GMO farmers commit suicide yearly in India due to the destruction of their farms by GMO seeds. GMO seeds are classified as terrorism in Russia and are banned or have strict prohibitions in almost every country.

Comment on the signing of the Samoa agreement?

On the Samoa agreement, it clearly promotes abortion-on-demand and LGBTQ contrary to Nigerian laws and in violation of our sovereignty. Nigeria must denounce the Samoa agreement and withdraw from the agreement