•Ex-Deputy Speaker, House Of Reps, Rt. Hon. LASUN YUSUF
A few days ago, City People Deputy Managing Director, MR. FRANCIS OWOJORI and Reporter JAMIU ABUBAKAR engaged the former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representative, Rt. Hon. Lasun Sulaiman Yusuf, in a very insightful and thought-provoking interview where he gave his thoughts on the July 11, 2024 Supreme Court landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Councils. The highly experienced and distinguished lawmaker gave a number of reasons why it will be difficult for local government autonomy to work in the country. He went further to state what needs to be done to put the country back on the right track. Below are the excerpts:
What’s your stand on the newly granted Local Government Autonomy?
It’s complex. As a Lawmaker, I will tell you why it is complex. The constitution of Nigeria is couched in a way that the Supreme Court Judgement does not amount to Local Government autonomy. The AG that took that case to court is mischievous. The judges that say pay the local governments, let me tell you what they really know. Why they were able to advocate on that case was basically because of one thing and that is the fact that there are 774 local governments in Nigeria, and those 774 local governments are listed in the constitution. So, if you now say, pay this entity directly, so they have a right to sit on the case. But these are the questions we have not been able to answer. Is local government a third tier of government? I don’t know, I’m just asking. Those who think they are more knowledgeable than me can answer the question. But my question is, is it a third tier of government? Because the constitution of Nigeria says it is the state that can determine the creation, establishment and administration of local government. That’s one section of the constitution. It’s the same constitution that says there has to be a joint account committee at the state level. And it’s the same constitution that created the state independent electoral commission for the state to conduct local government elections. Have you deleted all these three sections from the constitution? So, where is the autonomy you are talking about?
What’s the way forward?
I don’t know. The problem we have in Nigeria is that when people like us are interviewed, you think you can say this is way forward. Nobody, no one person is capable of saying this is the way forward. Society that gets way forward always comes together, collective leadership.
It is in discussion that the way forward will now be managed. I cannot tell you.
Are you saying that there is a need for a referendum on the constitution itself, that the constitution needs to be amended and applied to the current situation in Nigeria?
What referendum? Is Nigeria a political state or an economic state? I’ll ask that question again. Let those who think they know Nigeria and know politics and everything, let them answer. Is Nigeria a political or an economic state? But let me tell you, Nigeria since independence has always been treated as an economic space, not a political space. And referendums are a political way. How can you chart a political way to an economic entity? So if Nigeria is a political entity, then referendum will be an answer. But Nigeria is an Economic State. Everybody wants a share of the cake. Nobody is talking about politics. The one we call politics is not politics. Nigeria has been an economic state since independence. It’s not a political state.
How do you assess the government of President Tinubu so far?
I won’t assess the government directly, but I will say this.
All over the world, there are five sectors of economy that are compulsory that the government must subsidize. Five. It’s compulsory. One; Agriculture, Two; Energy, Three; Housing, Four; Exportation of raw materials or goods, and five; Entrepreneurship. Individuals who have capacity to have ideas, concepts, it’s the government that must rally around them to make sure the ideas and concepts come to fruition. When you leave these five areas unattended to and not subsidized, that government cannot move forward. So that alone will tell you the rating of the government. So how can the government say it does not want to subsidize? If you don’t want to subsidize because it is corruption, go there and fight the corruption because you must subsidize.
So, that is the brief explanation I can give on the present government. And that’s the way I see it. When people say policy, quit policy. And one other one that is trickish. Yes, it is true that the government is run by tax. The basis of the budget is tax. But when you begin to tax a non-productive economy, the consequences turn everybody to pauper. We have a non-productive economy. Then there is nothing like a tax revolution here.
You are just deceiving yourself. What are you taxing? You have an economy that is not productive. So what are you taxing? You are only pauperizing people. So those are the two things I would say about the present government. And so if they like they should stop all these shenanigans of tax, tax, tax because this is not a productive economy.
What is your final take on Local government autonomy?
I’ve said it. Let me tell you, before you can solve the Nigerian problem of local government, we have to first of all determine whether Nigeria is an economic state or a political state. This is wide. That’s why those who are agitating for a referendum will eventually get it wrong. You know why? By the time they do one, two, three sittings, they will not be going to economic matters whereas it is a political matter that first of all must be solved. So I can’t say much about local government because as far as I’m concerned, I’m a lawmaker. People want us to think it’s a third tier of government. But the Nigerian constitution has not said it’s a third of the government. Because in one breath, it says there shall be local government. In another breath, it says it’s the state that must create a local government. And In another breath, when receiving money from Abuja, it says the state has to do joint accounts. So, where are we? Is that not confusion? I don’t know why people are celebrating that judgment. It shows we are very low in critical thinking in Nigeria.
But do you think President Tinubu can fix this economy?
No, he cannot fix the economy. He cannot. Why? Because he doesn’t think in terms of production. I’m not talking about the kind of production Obi is talking about. I’m talking about real reproduction. If you want to do production, you know what to do. First of all, make sure you can feed your people. All over the world, the first thing every economy does to get out of poverty is to first of all solve the issue of food scarcity. So anybody that’s not thinking about how to feed his citizens cannot take a country out of economic doldrums. So he cannot fix it. He cannot. I know he cannot fix it. It’s as simple as that. As I sit with you this afternoon, in the last one year, I’ve taken Fulani Herdsmen to police stations more than ten times. And I’m only lucky because I do palm plantation. If it had not been arable crops, they would have sent me back home. So if you cannot solve insecurity on farms, if you are not thinking of who the farmers are in Nigeria, if you are not thinking of what we are producing, how do you want to get out of the economy? Everybody is behaving smart on crude oil. You and I, and those who are in government, everybody is behaving smart as if we are knowledgeable on crude oil that God has given to us. What have we created ourselves? Nothing. So anybody that does not know the simple mechanism of how to transit to production by feeding the people, by adding value to your raw materials, cannot fix any economy. If you begin to do all the economic summits in the world, it’s not going to give you any result.
So where lies the hope at this point we are now?
Hope is a very delicate thing, and I won’t say it. I’ve said it in another form. First, go and make sure that Nigeria is a political state, not an economic state. Nigeria is an economic state. Everybody is just dividing money. And money is a means of exchange, whereas it’s a means of stored value. What stored value does naira have? Money is a measure of stored value. What’s stored value? Do you know how your money can have value? Do you know? One, production. Two, science and technology. Three, bringing up the middle class. Those are the things you must have before your money can have the stored value.
When you miss all those things, your money cannot have a stored value. And when your money does not have stored value, it’s just a paper for means of exchange.
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