•Dennis Adikwuru
Dennis Adikwuru is a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Imo State. Adikwuru a member of Imo State Presidential Campaign Council under Media and Publicity Sub-committee in the 2023 elections and erstwhile State Publicity Secretary, Imo State Professionals for Atiku, is also the State Coordinator, Imo PDP Grassroots Movement. He spoke to Sunday Independent on the politics of fuel in the country, the national grid collapse and protection of national infrastructures, among others.
Excerpts:
Military sources have traced frequent collapse of the national grid to terrorist actions. Would you agree to this assertion?
The National Grid collapses have become synonymous with the present regime because of the frequency. Well, the military says terrorism is traceable to this national embarrassment. Asking if I agree with the military assertion is equally asking the military to arrest the perpetrators of the heinous crime. If the Military arrests the culprits, then we will believe them but if they fail to arrest the people being accused of the crime, then we shall disagree with them.
How would you reconcile the military view to that of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss who attributed the frequent grid collapse to corruption?
The EFCC has played its own drama on the incessant collapse of the national grid. Like the military, like EFCC. While the military has a principal role of protecting the country’s territorial integrity, terrorists are ravaging the country’s territorial integrity while the military only spots them without carrying out expected action. On the EFCC side, that Commission was set up to curb corruption by arresting and prosecuting corrupt persons. EFCC has also attributed the collapse of the national grid to corruption, a principal responsibility of the Commission to get rid of. Again, I will posit that if EFCC fails to identify, arrest and prosecute the corrupt persons responsible for the national grid collapses, then nobody will believe the Commission.
Some political stakeholders have suggested the decentralisation of the grid to possibly the six geopolitical zones. Do you think this will help solve the problem of the grid collapse?
The issue of decentralisation should be taken holistically and not selectively. If governance and resource control were decentralised, Nigeria’s problems would be solved by 60%. So, I can say that decentralisation is key to resolving Nigeria’s perennial problems.
The National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu recently inaugurated a team for the protection of national infrastructures. What is your take on this development?
You see, Nigeria has a bad luck of recycled, dubious and incompetent leaders. What goes on in these committees and appointments is political patronage which boosts corruption through siphoning of our commonwealth. What kind of protection of national infrastructure? Are there no personnel responsible for the protection of the infrastructure in the various government agencies? Will Nuhu Ribadu’s Committee curb or increase the stealing of National infrastructure? The answer is that there will be an increase in the stealing of national infrastructure and that will add to Ribadu’s contribution to the wasting of national infrastructure.
Several Nigerians have raised fears over the planned shift to CNG cars considering the nature of the Nigerian environment, the heat, bumpy roads, traffic jams even as Malaysia has banned it. Do you think it is safe for the current federal administration to be campaigning for adoption of CNG cars by citizens?
The issue of CNG cars will not see the light of the day. What they are doing is to do a test run, make a huge budget running into trillions and get the National Assembly to put it into the budget for themselves. Thereafter, the budgetary allocations will be spread among the corruption gladiators and that will be the end of project CNG cars. That is my analysis and forecast
What is your take on the conduct of local government elections in the country?
As long as Local Government Elections are conducted by state electoral bodies, the autonomy of the local governments remains a dream to come in the future. The corruption in the system does not permit a clear-cut legislation or Judicial rulings otherwise the Supreme Court would have asserted the authority of a National Electoral Commission to conduct Local Government elections in Nigeria. The outcome is what is happening in Edo State where a newly sworn in governor has ordered Local Government Chairmen, who were elected like himself and who occupy the third tier of government, to submit their bank statements within 48 hours. I am waiting to hear just one of the LG Chairmen who knows his autonomy from the governor, to challenge the ignorant, exuberant and over excited Edo governor.
The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) GMD, Mene Kyari, has said that Nigeria will no longer import refined petroleum products. As cheery as the news appears, with the controversy trailing the reported take off of the old Port Harcourt refinery, do you think the nation can rely on Dangote Refinery alone when the state of the other refineries is uncertain?
It pains to the marrow discussing the issue of NNPCL, Dangote Refinery and associated matters. It is very unfortunate that Nigeria’s resources were used to build Dangote Refinery, while Nigeria’s refineries are shut out of production to pave way for a monopolistic control of the oil sector by the cabal fronting Dangote. For a single drop of petrol sold in Nigeria today, Dangote decides on the price. The phantom story of resumption of Port Harcourt refinery is yet another confirmation of the NNPCL being a subsidiary of Dangote Refinery and in fact, Mene Kyari has become one of Dangote’s spokespersons.
What do you see as the dangers of having only the Dangote Refinery in the country?
The dangers of allowing Dangote to control Nigeria’s largest resource sector, the oil industry, is as good as surrendering the country’s sovereignty to Dangote. As it stands, the name, Dangote, translates to the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria’s commonwealth. It is unfortunate.
How can the nation free itself from the grip of foreign experts when it has been unable to attract Nigerian experts in other countries?
Neocolonialism is still in vogue in Nigeria wherein the big nations extort Nigeria’s resources through the imposition of foreign technical persons. One would ask what expert services these countries provide while our Nigerian professionals flood foreign countries, providing first class services which grow foreign economies. The only way to stop this is to elect and ensure the election of a government of the Nigerian spirit and not IMF/ World Bank cronies.
Would you say the federal cabinet, as currently constituted, raises hope for advancement of the country?
The federal cabinet is the making of the Tinubu government and there is nothing good to expect from them. The Tinubu cabinet is to carry out Tinubu’s draconian policies which have been ocularly seen as anti-people.
How would you explain the political situation in your state, Imo State, presently?
The political situation in Imo State is that of a stateless society witnessing the absence of government and placing hopelessness on the people who are struggling on their own and having God as the last hope. We are looking forward to the presence of government in Imo State.
