Tinubu Has Not Renewed Our Hope Yet – Edoro

Bishop Dr Joseph Ighalo Edoro is an Edo State-born cleric and public affairs commentator. In this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, he speaks on the crisis over the national minimum wage, the change of the national anthem as well as Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, among other crucial issues.

How do you see the just suspended nationwide strike over the national minimum wage?

The beauty of democracy is in agitation. You do not maltreat citizens over their agitations. Everybody has something of pain to share or seek a solution to. It is beautiful to see the La­bour Movement agitating for solutions to the poor condition of Nigerians workers. The Ni­gerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have the right to seek better wages for workers in the midst of the poor economic situation of the workers. The agitation is long overdue. The workers, since the inception of this administration, have borne the brunt of the economic crisis this country is facing today. If you take it to the lower ladder of citizens, how much does the average worker earn vis a vis the top officers of the government. The government at the centre has been trampling on the peo­ple. Leave and allowances are no longer in existence. With the removal of fuel subsidies, it is difficult for the citizens to sur­vive. Inflation and cost of living have skyrocketed, affecting ev­ery citizen. Within the frame­work workers interact, they take care of their food, health, education, etc. If the minimum wage is N45,000 as the govern­ment earlier stated, what will they do with the N45,000? From the amount, you will remove the amount for feeding. To cook the smallest pot of soup will take N5,000. What about the medi­cals, school fees? The truth is that the ruling class has been selfish and wicked against the common man. The removal of the fuel subsidy led to high in­flation. What is the sincerity of the government to the agitation? What is the pay of those in the executive and the legislature? If there is removal of subsidy, the government should have come up with sincere palliatives. Government should not have allowed the agitation of Labour to get to such a boiling point be­fore acting. I seriously fault the government team at the negoti­ation. Labour has been going for negotiation, but the government kept dilly dallying. Even the Na­tional Assembly waited for too long before intervening.

What do you think should be the minimum wage considering the realities of the period?

The only amount I will recom­mend that is okay is N400,000. Anything less is not fair. When the gap between the lifestyle of the ruling class and the ordinary people is too wide, it will one day lead to a crisis. N400,000 is not too much. How does the govern­ment expect someone to earn N60,000 which is how far they have gone? How much is trans­port, housing, and the cost of education? The government has already increased school fees. If you give someone N60,000 and he falls under Band A, how can he survive the hike in electricity tariff ? The government officials maintain their ostentatious life­style, while they take away the minimum lifestyle of the poor. The Nigerian Employment Con­sultative Association (NECA) and the Manufacturing Associ­ation of Nigeria (MAN), State and the Federal Governments are insincere and unpatriotic in thinking of N60,000 as mini­mum wage. The MAN and NECA are the most insincere bodies. It is easier for the rich to fight themselves, but the battle will be fierce the day they decide to fight the poor. It cannot be fath­omed. Families and marriages are crumbling because of the high cost of living. Many do not even have money for medica­ments and hospital bills.

Do you think the change of the national anthem to the old and formerly rejected one drafted by a Briton was wise?

The issue of the national an­them is diversionary. They just want Nigerians to be talking. It coincided with the first anni­versary of the Tinubu adminis­tration. They wanted to divert the attention of Nigerians from scoring President Tinubu. Look­ing at the anthem, we are still suffering from the fact Lord Lugard’s girlfriend gave us the name, Nigeria. It was another British woman who gave us the anthem. You cannot compare the two anthems. With due respect to the president, he might have had plans to change the anthem, but Nigerians would have made input. Let the National Assem­bly sit, deliberate and sign a bet­ter minimum wage and let the president sign it by fiat as they did the anthem. Look at the co­lossal loss of the anthem. Every­one, both local and foreign will start to learn that old anthem again. What are we ‘hailing’ Nigeria for? Is it for insecurity, poverty, inflation? Are there no native lands still? Are Nigerians not brothers anymore? When we say sovereign, it means we excel in everything. Welfare package is excellent. There is national­istic feeling everywhere. What we have now is not a national anthem. What you will get is outright disobedience. The oth­er I saw someone sitting while the anthem was being played. However, since the president has signed the bill, I will call on Nigerians to accept it. I encour­age everyone to love it and sing it. Maybe, someday, a president will come who will listen to the people.

After one year in office, would you say that the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working?

You can only renew a hope that is dim or drawing towards extinction. President Tinubu caught the mantra sequel to the feeling of Nigerians towards former President Muhamma­du Buhari. He knew that hopes were dimming under Buhari. In the Renewed Hope Agenda, how many of the components do we see? People are hungry. Where is energy? When will the hike come? Where is the renewed hope? Is it when the costs of to­matoes, housing, and transpor­tation have all gone high? How many government vehicles that are locally made are on the road? We have not seen any Renewed Hope within one year. Maybe we will see it later. What we see is government propaganda. There are no dividends yet. Dol­lar was N450 a year ago. Now it is N1,600. A sack of beans was N25,000. Now it is N60,000. Even the cost of noodles has gone up. You now need between N20,000 and N25,000 to cook a good pot of soup. How much is toothpaste? The least is N1,000. How much is Band A?

What would you consider the major achievements of the Tinubu admin­istration?

The first achievement of the administration, sincerely speaking, is that they have lofty policies that can lead Nigeria to glory. His policies are capable of galvanising a dying country to a living one. The problem of the policies is two-fold. There is a lack of understanding of the philosophy of slow release. Secondly, based on this, it seems they are anti-people. Lastly, the implementations are poor. Why should we have multiple tax­ation? The country takes too much from the people and gives nothing. The fuel subsidy re­moval is another achievement. It takes someone with the heart of a bull or a lion to remove fuel subsidies. Removal of subsidy was good, but whatever palli­atives were for a selected few, even at the state level. The fact that Tinubu listened to the call for the withdrawal of the cyber security levy was a good omen. The suspension of Betta Edu was an achievement. Someone like Buhari would not have sus­pended her. If Tinubu continues like this, maybe he will become a good president. If the maxi­mum mark is 25, I score Tinubu 15. On ministerial level, the FCT Minister is doing well. Tinubu should be praised for the choice of Wike. Wike is doing well as the FCT Minister. Umahi, the Works Minister, is doing well in Badagry – Sokoto is under construction. Ikorodu – Itokin is still being done. Keyamo has done well in Aviation. He has projected his ministry well. Tinubu has done well in appoint­ing him. The choice of Bunmi Ojo is good. Dele Alake is doing well too and he scores high.

Would you say the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway should be a prior­ity of the government and will not turn a white elephant project?

I don’t see it as a white ele­phant project. It has been on the drawing board. The government knows how to source the funds for it. It will bring positive de­velopment. It is one of the best things that would happen to gov­ernance. It will bring more de­velopment. The construction of the road is proper. There should be prudence and accountability. There should be good supervi­sion. Let there not be sentiment or bad blood in payment of com­pensation. There are coastal roads all over the world.

What do you think should be the priorities of the candidates in the Edo governorship election?

In the area of education, I ex­pect the candidates to retrospect. Education is the lifewire of Edo. They do not joke with education. The candidates should go back to the template of Ambrose Ali, the template of bursary for all, free books, free tuition. It is the tem­plate of Awolowo’s UPN and Am­brose Ali. That is the template I expect the candidates to adopt. If they let the people know that they can implement them, the people will love them. Edo is a cultural centre. When there are theatres, the people will like it because it will bring tourists and investment s. Edo people need roads and infrastructures. The people in the interior need roads too. If the candidates make strong statements on this, the people will love them. Why can’t there be markets like Ari­aria in Edo? People convey their goods through Edo to Ariaria in Aba, or to Onitsha. If the candi­dates can promise to build two or three of such markets in Edo, it will gladden the hearts of Edo people. There is nothing as good as market development. It has multiplier effects on develop­ment of places.

What is your advice to Nigerians as things are at this period?

It is one year of President Tinubu and things are seri­ously rough. No one is finding things easy. But, I encourage Nigerians to give those poli­cies time. They will mature and bring progress. The pres­ident and his policies should have a human face. He should have a listening ear. The peo­ple down the ladder are looking up at him. Lastly, all Nigerians should continue to pray for the President and his cabinet. Let us continue to be hopeful for good things that will come.

This post originally appeared in IndependentNg