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2023 election’ll not be political party-based but personality-based – Adegbenro

…Says, NATFORCE will create .27m Jobs when in operation

Razaq Bamidele

An Abeokuta, Ogun State born High Chief, Otunba Dr. Adejare Adegbenro, is a man of many caps. Coming from the two clans of renowned  politicians (Adegbenro and Rewane), Adejare is a security and political analyst. And being a National Director with a formidable security outfit, the Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons (NATFORCE), he is a security expert. On top of it, Adejare Adegbenro is also an international business man.

In this interview, the grandson of the late first Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Dauda Soroye Adegbenro put on all his symbolic caps when fielding questions from the pressmen recently on the state of the nation.

 

 

Excerpts:

 

 

 

What are your expectations from President Muhammadu Buhari between now and 2023 that he will leave office? 

Well, first and foremost, let me start from the security challenges confronting the country. To be factual, President Muhammadu Buhari has given his best in the fight against insecurity in the country. He has adequately funded the battle against those causing security breaches across Nigeria.

And I think the Service Chiefs are also doing their best especially this new set of them including the National Security Adviser (NSA), Department of Security Service (DSS) and Police.

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So, I believe we should support them. In addition, I think we should have a community based policing system so that anybody who suspects suspicious movements in the vicinity can report to the police.

Secondly, we have different purchasing power for secret equipment that should be bought strictly with the instruction of the president so that nobody should know what we have.

If the enemies know what we are buying or what we intend to buy, they would be in a position to counter you and would have an upper hand. I believe that if all of us have to stay safe we must be vigilant.

 

 

What is your take on the issue of borrowing money to buy weapons?

Well, first of all, the present Ministry of Finance is borrowing money to make Nigerian defence stronger. The Nigerians themselves need to stop being lazy.

They should find what they can do to assist the Federal Government. We are too dependent on the Federal Government in this country which should not be so. We have to start exporting really.

We should start exporting goods, vegetables, farm products, agriculture produce and other different types of goods that we Nigerians have ability to do.

We should emphasise that we should also chip in by helping Nigerians to create what they have been creating for export and that would bring dollar that has gone hay wire down.

Again, all government assets that were seized and court has given the government judgement should be sold immediately especially houses, seized cars and vehicles by the Custom, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the ICPC and every part of the law enforcement agencies across the country that are in charge of those things especially the vehicles, should be sold.

It is an open fact that vehicles so seized and not sold would start depreciating by every single day. You see them in the bushes, you see them in the ports and some of their components like brain boxes are already being destroyed by rats.

All these things are depreciating and I don’t know why we are keeping them! For instance, the Custom has well over 50, 000 vehicles as at my last count and they are doing nothing about it.

Custom Director-General (DG), has to be asked this question, why are you keeping and not selling all those cars! Let the parastatals buy, let the government officials buy if you don’t want to sell to the  common man on the street.

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It is about boosting the economy because this is money that is being wasted. Selling and disposing them would reduce the borrowing spree we are experiencing now. I strongly believe in that.

 

2023 elections are around the corner…?

(Cuts in) Well, as far as I am concerned, election this time around from what I see is not going to be political party based. It is going to be individual based.

I mean it is going to be based on the ability and competence of individuals in the society. People are tired of voting for parties.

And I want the president to encourage the youth to have a say in the election. He should let the election be free and fair. He should let the votes of the people to count.

As far as I am concerned, Buhari has done very well for himself.

As he has done his best, now that another president who we have not known yet is coming in, all Nigerians should vet him and make sure they are voting for the right person that would convince the people that he would make an impact on the life of the citizenry positively.

On this note, I advise the youth that they should come out en masse and vote because their participation matters. They should vote and make themselves also available to be voted for. It is time we got Nigeria straight.

I don’t want to leave Nigeria because Nigeria is my country. I want to live in Nigeria and live in a safe Nigeria. I don’t want a Nigeria that would be like Ethiopia, Uganda and the likes, no, not at all.

The good thing about Nigeria is that the Muslims are praying, the Christians are praying and others are praying too for the good of the country.

We have good things for us if we put our hands together without tribal and ethnic considerations. As I always say, I have a slogan that says, ‘I am a Nigerian and my tribe comes second.’

That is what we are. We are not supposed to be talking of breaking up or anything like that. We just have to put our hands together and stop being selfish.

Don’t let us balkanise Nigeria. We are all Nigerians and whatever happens would affect every Nigerian.

So, I am advising the president to come out and put his hand firm on a lot of all of these things because if there is anybody in his cabinet that is not doing well and has not been creative, he should sack him or her immediately.

As far as I am concerned, he has all their profiles and immediately he realises that some of them are not doing well, he should just sack them without further delay.

Are you not worried that some COVID-19 vaccines got expired in Nigeria?

I was scandalized to hear that some anti COVID-19 vaccines procured were not used until they got expired! It is, in my estimation that, it is either the wrong drugs were bought, or that they were not applied on the people or that the drugs were horded out of stupidity.

It is silly to hear that some of the vaccines got expired when a lot of people are yet to be vaccinated.

I am highly disappointed in that and I want the government to look into it because at the end of the day, it is the life of the people that is being put in jeopardy.

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But on the other hand we need to find a way to see to feeding the masses and employment of the masses because this is the main issue concerning the people and they are hopeful of getting them.

Right now, it is sad and lamentable that most people don’t know where their next meal would come from. Some people take a meal a day. Idle hand is the devil’s work shop.

And I feel that it must be ensured that every Nigerian has a minimum of opportunity to have three square meals a day.

What is your security organization, the Taskforce on the Prohibition of Illegal Importation/Smuggling of Arms, Ammunition and Light Weapons (NATFORCE) doing as regards the security challenges and the rate of unemployment?

Well, as far as I am concerned, NATFORCE is going to cover and fill the gap of employment and Illegal Importation of small arms and Ammunition and chemical weapons because the outfit has the capacity to employ over 270,000 and that would solve a lot of Nigerians’ problem.

And the income generation of NATFORCE would go into the Federal Government Cover. These are things that I believe could move Nigeria forward.

Also to complement the whole security agency’s and the total staff strength of all security agency’s are about 1.1m people to protect over 200m Nigerians even alone all schools and university in Nigeria alone is about 164 thousand so you see the need for NATFORCE to operate.

And to be sincere, I want all Nigerians to retrain and reorientate, we need to teach our children because you see, it is what they take from us, learn from us that they are going to take on board.

We need to go back to the traditional institutions how Nigeria was, how was the race in our days?

It is a pity that children of nowadays are not trained and cultured like us. We have to really come together and tackle this problem.

But what is delaying the NATFORCE’s operation when it has laudable programmes on security challenges and unemployment for the people of Nigeria?

As a law abiding organization, we are waiting for the passage of the Bill put before the National Assembly for endorsement that would give us the legal teeth to operate.

And for your information, the Bill has scaled the Second Reading Stage moving to the Third Reading which is the last.

We commend the National Assembly for their understanding on the importance of the Bill for the NATFORCE.

That is the reasone we are appealing to the Legistilave Houses to expedite action on the Bill so that the benefits therein for Nigerians would not be jeopardised.

NATFORCE is out to really assist President Muhammadu Buhari in his fight against all forms of security challenges and his desire to make jobs available to the teeming youth of Nigeria.

The benefits accruable to the country from the organisation, if given green light to operate, are very significant and indeed enormous.

On a final note, I wish the President, the Federal Government and the good handlers to steer Nigeria’s ship into 2023 and hand over power to the right person.

I also wish the president a long healthy life and hope he does the right thing at the end of the day which I think he would do.

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