This legislator reveals real things we are not getting right in Nigeria

– Jimoh believes that the major solution to the myriad of problems that have enveloped Nigeria is true federalism or restructuring

– The deputy majority leader also thinks immunity for principal officers of the legislative arm of government is necessary, but he gives a new perspective into this

– He also believes that the country under President Muhammadu Buhari is actually on the right path with the fight against corruption

The deputy majority leader and representative of Apapa constituency 2 at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Olumuyiwa Jimoh, says Nigeria can only meet the desires of its citizens and become great if it is restructured. He also speaks on other issues of national importance in this interview with Eromosele Ebhomele

There are growing cases of kidnapping in the country. Does this not cause fear to you and other politicians?

It does not necessarily cause fear; it is just incumbent on us as a government to do something about this because any society where such things are happening would not grow. We need to secure our society as much as possible.

But Lagos state has invested so much on security. Is there more the government needs to do?

Certainly, there is more the government should do about this. We have said it severally, there are no two ways to this. In any true federal system of government, there is nothing stopping us from having state police. The fears of a lot of people is that it would be used against members of the opposition parties. Even if that is so, you have to weigh the merits against the demerits. People feel the Governor would be too powerful and use the state police against the opposition. State police would facilitate employment, people would be committed to revealing information to the police and there would be more policing of the society, and it would preoccupy some minds.

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Immediately you step into the United Kingdom from Heathrow Airport, the people you would see are the police after the customs and immigration, and you will not be able to differentiate between the federal and the metropolitan police, who are local government police. It is when you look through their badges that you would see the difference and they all carry arms and work all round the airport and in the community.

Our democracy was fashioned after that of the British system of government. I discovered through studies that our local government was fashioned after that of Britain, so nothing is stopping us from having state police. When you bring a police officer from the north to come and police Lagos, how would he cope? This is one of the issues we should address.

But the desire for state police is beyond a governor because he is not the one to establish it. What do you think can be done by the Lagos state government in this regard?

We have already passed a bill on Neighbourhood Watch, which is a pseudo police. So, we expect the governor to sign it into law in order to give support to the police. The commitment of the people to the development of the society is important. If I know that something is inimical to the development of our society, I should not do it. It is the nature of any human being all over the world to disobey the law. So, the protection of our society is a collective responsibility.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo reportedly said that we don’t need restructuring in Nigeria now. Do you support this line of thought?

I have not heard the vice president say we don’t need restructuring now, but I have heard people saying he said it. I think we need restructuring; we even need it more now than before. If the vice president is saying that what is constituted is government, he is right, but we still need restructuring. There are so many imbalances in our federal system and if we don’t restructure, we will not get much things done.

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On that note, the outcome of the 2014 constitutional conference is being debated in both the print and electronic media. But, I have not taken my time to see the report, however with what I have heard from analysts, I think it would do us a lot of good by even examining the report for our collective existence. There is nothing stopping us from looking at the report, seeing the items that will favour us and look at what we can absorb.

The Senate is considering immunity for principal officers of the legislature in the country. But with Senate President Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu facing forgery allegation, do you think this is right?

We should know that those who put the immunity clause in place were those in government when there was no legislature. This is why it was not extended to the legislature, but limited to the president, vice president, governors and deputy governors. If it can protect the governor, I think it should also protect the Senate president and other principal officers even if it is not extended to other members.

During the military intervention, it was only the executive and the judiciary that were in office. That is why a commissioner that I screened would have orderly, why I don’t have. He has a cook, but I don’t have. I was elected by the people and I have to go back to them regularly while he might not need to do that unless he has an ambition. I derive my mandate from the people, I am responsible to the people, yet I don’t have access to what a commissioner has access to. The constitution makes provision for them to have budget, but I don’t have budget even though I passed his budget.

And some think that the gains of these offices make them attractive and promotes corruption. Does this not amount to failure of the system?

It is not a failure of the system, there is a wrong perception of what the government is all about. Most of the phone calls I receive daily are about demands by the people. The perception of the people is that you are in office to make money. They always make demands from you. They expect you to make as much money as possible; that perception needs to be corrected. So, getting our priorities right is a gradual process, else you would be forced to do what you are not supposed to do.

Some Nigerians are of the opinion that a lot of things have been left undone by President Muhammadu Buhari. He is only facing corruption…

President Buhari is working. The anti-graft agencies were established by laws. They have power to arrest, investigate and prosecute and they take the cases to the judiciary for adjudication. It is the responsibility of the judiciary to now determine the cases based on the evidences against the accused.  It is either to condemn or to set the accused free. The argument is that it is only the PDP members that are being prosecuted, but has it been proven that they did not steal money? Even as the anti-graft agencies are starting with the opposition party, they would still shift to the ruling party.

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Also, the opposition members were the ones in the ruling party then, so they have more money to refund. We know how much has been realised since then and this is one of the cardinal campaigns of this government. Why must we now do otherwise?

Yes, the economy is in shambles, but it is the same all over the world. Things are so tough in Britain now. The person you would be staying with in Britain that would not ask you to contribute to house keeping must be your parent, not even your brother or sister. When the dollar and pounds sky-rocketed, I called some friends over there and jokingly reminded them that it was time for their business, but they told me that it was even more difficult to get pounds in Britain now than before. There are things that would take the money away from you over there except you decide to stay under the bridge, which is not possible. You will buy heater during winter, buy foodstuff and pay heavy taxes; even if you are the owner of your house, you would pay tax on the building. For an average person in the western world to go on holiday, he would have to save money for one year. So, when you see them spending money during holidays, it is what they have saved for a year.

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