Political activist, Umma Getso was a former Vice Presidential candidate under the platform of Young Progressives Party (YPP), in the 2019 Presidential election.
She spoke to Journalists recently on various national issues including, a looming mass revolution, insecurity, and an assessment of the Tinubu Presidency among others.
How will you assess the one year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu tenure?
Well, it’s very hard to say this but if we look at the situation of President Tinubu-led government, we cannot cover our eyes and say that the man is doing well or that his administration so far is performing. Whatever that is the figure in the papers needs to be reflected in the lives of common Nigerians, or average Nigerians, so to speak. And the way things are going, I am worried, I am very afraid the way the youths are hungry and angry, calling for agitation, and protests. See what is happening in foreign countries, even in nearby African countries. I do not think that our parents and grandparents witnessed this type of hardship that the people are experiencing. Things are tough for Nigerians and this truth must be told to those in power. Everybody is crying, businesses are dying, some international companies, multi-nationals are relocating, leaving Nigeria, and this is worrisome. We have to tell Mr. President, governors, our National Assembly members that there is urgent need for a kind of fire brigade approach to the situation or else, I am afraid we may witness what will shock all of us to the marrow. We have been calling the youths to calm down, we have been calling the masses to calm down but things seem not to be improving. There is a limit and a lot of people do not want to go back to their houses because of the biting hardship. And we cannot close our eyes and say the administration is doing well giving the excuse that they have just been there for one year. With what we suffered under former President Buhari, Nigerians expected that it cannot be worst than what we had in the previous government but they are wrong. The expectation was that with the coming of President Tinubu on board, Nigerians will be shinning and it will be bye-bye to hunger and poverty, and all the negatives that Nigerians witnessed under the Buhari regime. We can even excuse Buhari because you can say he was a novice politically but what will be the excuse for Tinubu? We expected him to bring the magic he did in Lagos to the entire Nigeria but he is failing in the challenge. We had a lot of hope on the Tinubu presidency because the feeling was that he was politically sophisticated and knows what best to do to pilot the affairs of this country to dignity, safety and prosperity. To be candid, Nigeria is not well, Nigeria is not going well and I am very afraid for us on what is going to happen next should we continue on this painful path.
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Where do you think this government made the mistake and not getting it right?
The removal of the fuel subsidy without adequate preparation for what will cushion the effect is one of it, it affected everything, the prices of everything skyrocketed. We expected him to have subsidy on food , on transportation and in some other things. I am confused on why he removed subsidy without any amenity, palliatives provided to subsidise for the common masses. So, removal of fuel subsidy is one thing, tax increment is another thing. He has to re-examine their economic reform policies because they are not giving desirable results. I have so many friends that are closing their businesses because of huge tax, multiple taxation. These are people that are creating jobs, employing people that the government cannot employ but now they cannot sustain their businesses. The FIRS is just out collecting multiple taxation, massive revenue, without considering the consequences on the businesses of the people. Let me be honest with you things are not just right and the earlier the government is aware of this deep pain Nigerians are going through and practically address the issues the better for them. As I pointed out in some other platforms where I had the opportunity to express my views, we cannot continue this way, we cannot continue on this dangerous path and if we do, I see a mass revolt coming that will shake this country the way it has never happened. It will be difficult to quench because some have vowed that it is better for them to die than continue this way. Many have been thrown out of their homes, their villages and for them there is no joy in living again. I urge the government to rise to this challenge, Nigerians are suffering, they are dying by the day and something drastic must be done to restore their hope. What is very unfortunate is that the people in government are spending money like flowing water; they are living in opulence and do not seem to care. They are dethatched from the reality of the hardship in the land. There is so many imbalance, the gap is so wide between the haves and have-nots and getting wider with each passing day. If the people in government are suffering also, feeling the pain the ordinary Nigerians are feeling, tightening their belt like the ordinary Nigerians the masses will not feel bad but they are swimming in wealth, ill-gotten wealth but want the poor citizens to continue to pay the sacrifice. Ordinary Nigerians are suffering but the people in government are spending in billions getting their comfort while the masses are dying. To be candid, the gap has never been this wide.
As you have observed organize labour is also gearing up for protest if their demands …?
(Cuts in) those ones are jokes because soon the common man will take over the struggle themselves. The language I am hearing now is that the common man is angry and they are calling for individual protests. They just want people to come out and join because many don’t want to go back to their houses and prefer to die protesting. This protest is going to be mother of all protests the way I am seeing it. We are trying our best to calm people down, to quench the fire but to be honest, if the government did not announce something, or provide something for the people, we may not be able to contain what will follow this situation. Look, many don’t want to go back to their houses, that is, those that have, after they come out. They are dejected, frustrated and hopeless. You can see the rising inflation, the spike in the prices of food. I learnt that the government announced tax removal from some commodities like rice, maize and some other products and one of the ministers came out to say it is not removed yet but that the issue is still on the table for final decision to be taken. The type of news that should be coming out now is that taxes of food commodities have been removed and that prices are crashing rather than the nonsense the minister is telling Nigerians. Such insensitive comments from some ministers or aides incite the people for protest and make them to lose hope in government. If you go to the market the prices of commodities have gone up, over 100 percent. The situation is a sad one. I hope the government brings out genuine solution, and very too, as unnecessary delay can be dangerous.
What is your take on the security challenge and the return of suicide bombers?
The funny part of it is that, we the North has been crying of insurgency, insecurity, kidnapping, banditry etc. It is the North that is suffering the insecurity most. Now the president has handed to the North the security power to tackle the menace but we are messing it up. Everybody there: Defence minister, National Security Adviser, NSA, name them, they are all from the North but there is always a fight between the governors and the ministers and Service Chiefs over lack of coordination. What is happening in the region is scary and I don’t know why the insecurity has remained high in the North even when they are the ones majorly in charge of taking the action. They are playing politics with it. The governors are crying and saying that they are doing their best but that the ministers are not supporting them. They are not in sinc in what they are doing, they are not working in synergy to curb the menace and this is worrisome.
Mr. President handed it over to us but the North is failing in using the opportunity to root out insecurity out of the region and by extension out of Nigeria. Imagine like the man from Zamfara where the insurgency is also quite high, he is supposed to be on ground putting in all measures. He should be doing more than enough to ensure that the surge is tackled but it’s sad, they appear to be playing politics with it or what can one call it. It’s always a fight between them and their governor and I do not expect such situation to arise. So as far as insecurity is concerned in Nigeria, we are now on our own. Each time I am passing through Gwarinpa, here in Abuja, you will see women in their hundreds sitting with their children by the road side. I was very angry asking why my people should be coming here to beg. I stopped one day to ask them their plight, they all told me that they did not even know how they got to Abuja, that they were dropped at Sabo, Wuse in trucks, in trailers. In fact they are just refugees, they used to sleep by the road side, they are under the scorching sun always. Most of them don’t even know where their families are, some their husbands are dead, some their sons were killed, they cannot sleep in their houses, that is those that still have because its gunshot after gunshot. So we are already at war in the North and our ministers are busy in the capital spending money, driving flashy cars, driving out of the country anytime they want, cruising life while the poor that voted for them are being neglected, and they are dying with nobody caring. It’s a horrible nation and imagine if this protest takes place, imagine what it will turn to because many are no longer happy that they are alive. They are feeling so much pain and with no improvement with the security situation, I don’t know what will happen. Initially it started with Abuja/Kano road in terms of the kidnapping stuff but now it’s beyond Kano-Abuja axis. People are on the streets, nowhere is safe.
So what do you expect the government to do immediately?
Those people in the government have desired to be there. They have been working on the project on what they will want to do. Some where there with Buhari and if you add this one year they have been there for nine years, so one should expect them to know the solution. Anybody that calls himself a leader in the last Nine years should have a solution to all these things that we are suffering from, both economy, insecurity etc. Let me be frank with you, I have a lot of confidence in President Tinubu because he has been part of the Buhari government, even since during Abacha. He is somebody with loads of experience, God used him to put President Buhari in power and he saw all the errors of Buhari, so we are now expecting him to have a blueprint, a working project on how to fix back Nigeria. He should know the errors and the solution more than me and he should just be there to fix things. It’s not me that will provide the solution for them to work on. They should know better what to do and not me telling them what to do.
Some say that President Tinubu has been hijacked by a cabal. Do you agree to it?
They were saying the same language with Buhari but it is not the cabal that took the oath of office, and we have no reason to be blaming anybody or apportioning blame to any cabal. He should take responsibility.
Tinubu was not put there by any cabal, in fact they opposed to his emergence for President. You can see the body language of Buhari then that they never wanted him. I think President Tinubu should know better and work his talk. It will be disappointing of him (Tinubu) if he allows such forces to derail his vision about what he wants to leave as legacy.. The onus rests on him to wake up and stop a looming mass revolution. It is his good governance, capacity to properly address Nigeria’s present hardship that will salvage the situation.
