Mrs. Kofo Akerele Bucknor is the former Deputy Governor of Lagos State. She is also a strong South West Leader and member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with Olusesan Laoye, she believes that agitations over marginalization and threats going on all over the country from one ethnic group to the other would not stop until the government listen to the people and proffer solutions to the issues. She was also of the opinion that the solution to the problems of agitation is in the recommendations of the 2014 National conference which the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is not ready to release or implement.
How will you describe the present political situations in Nigeria today?
The political situation in Nigeria now is very chaotic and hazardous. Couple with this, we have a government at the centre that appears does not to know what it’s doing. The people now at the centre made some ridiculous promises which they have not been able to keep. I don’t think they are listening to the people. They have not been listening to the people and I ask if you don’t listen to the people how then you will be able to govern properly?
Well there are insinuations that Lagos State in particular has been dominated by one man and this has been bothering the people especially those of you in the opposition, how do you think the state could get out of this?
The only way to get out of the one man show is to get out from the clutches of money politics. What is happening is that this one man show derives his success on money politics. It is also up to the people to decide whether they are going take money and vote for a particular party and bear the consequences or they want real change. I believe that time has come for one man show or one man dominating the politics of Lagos to come to an end.
The issue of agitations in different s parts of the country, over marginalization and threat to existence by some ethnic groups against others in their domain are becoming rampant and going unabated. The fear is that this could lead to another national up rising across the country if not curtailed. As one of the leaders in the South West and in the country how, can we put an end to this?
It is a known fact that there are various societies that are maginalised and there is no doubt about this. I think that was why former President GoodLuck Jonathan who felt the agitations from the people decided to set up the 2014 National Conference, to address some of the issues causing the agitations and put an end to them. But this present federal government, instead of examining the recommendations of that conference, which looked at the agitations, the economic issues and other areas, decided to keep the document and has not said anything about it, since it has been in power two years ago. The people who were at the conference were know legible people across the country, who proffer certain solutions but from what we are seen, it looks like the APC Government wants to confine this recommendations to the archives. Let us face the truth; people are not going to stop agitating for what they think is their right, just because the documents are kept away. They will continue to do so until you listen to them and start making the changes which they require. The only solution to the agitations is to sit down and look at what the agitations are all about and make sure that they are solved.
Will you then say that the South West is marginalized too?
Yes; the region is marginalized. You cannot say that because the South West has produced the Vice President, it has all. When you look at the composition of those in government you will see that all the key appointments are from the North. Even there are some areas in the North too, feeling that they are marginalized. That is why it is necessary that the government should go back to the resolutions of the 2014 national conference which catered for some of these problems.
Right now the National Assembly is calling on the Federal government to revisit the report of the conference what is your take on this?
I support the National Assembly on this move, because I was part of that conference and know that I gave up six months of my life to be at that conference. There are others too, who gave up their time to attend the conference to find solutions to many of the issues bedeviling Nigeria. I don’t see why the sacrifice of the people with best brains in the country should just be thrown aw
Looking at the situations in the country, what then is your assessment of the present federal government which has been in office for two years?
Let us first evaluate what is happening within the APC ruling the country. As a matter of fact, things are not well within the party. Even right in the party, some members are calling for a change and that is why the party has not been able to focus properly on governance. The party has been in disarray right from day one that it took over from former president Jonathan. They have been fighting themselves over trivia issues,which now affect the people. They have not had the time to focus on what they need to do. As far as I am concerned, they have not done better than the government they took over from. The performance of the government is one of the reasons why there are agitations all over the country.
As a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, based on what is on ground and the factor of money politics, do you think the PDP can win the Governorship election in the state?
Why not? The party can win the state going by its performance in the last election. In the last elections you can see that the party made an impressive outing because we now have members in the state Assembly which used to be dominating by one political party. We also have Representatives at the National Assembly. If the tempo and the performance of the party in the last election are followed, with the PDP and other political parties coming together, there would be an end to the one man show, in Lagos politics.
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