Prince Mustafa Abubakar Audu is the son of late Governor Abubakar Audu of Kogi state. In this interview with Uji Abdullahi Illiyasu the Kogi prince speaks on his philosophy, aspirations and vision for his people.
What is your view on the reported victory of the President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office?
It is a victory foretold. I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Mr President on this victory as it is well deserved. Congratulations, Mr President.
What do you think should be the main focus of Kogi state now?
In the developed world, they would tell you categorically, “It is the economy, stupid”. Our major concern in Kogi state right now is economic development. As I talk to you, our economy is in a shambles. The state cannot pay its workforce. Kogi state is one of the states that depends largely on federal allocation for survival. The dwindling oil revenue has caused a sharp decline proceed from the federation account. Therefore, we can no longer afford a leadership in Kogi state that is not innovative. Innovation the world over is one of the qualities needed in the leadership recruitment process. We need to get our economic concept right and we need a leader that can give the state an economic policy and an implementation compass. Basically, in all fronts in the economic indices of development, the state is lacking behind all its peers and this is shameful due to the potentials inherent in our state.
Can you enumerate some of the areas of comparative advantage of Kogi state, economically?
Oh! So many. Potentially the state of Kogi has abundant areas of economic comparative advantages than most states in Nigeria – agriculture, mineral deposits like steel and limestone for the production of cement, pulp for the production of papers and, above all, oil. I can tell you, and it is there for all to see, Kogi state is supposed to be the tourism hub of the nation. The greatest resource of Kogi state is its people. The potential of our people are infinite and what they need is a leadership that can aggregate and harness this great potential for the development of the state. I can proudly tell you that the easiest state in Nigeria to lead and develop is Kogi. The resources are there, the people are educated and skilled and the soil is fertile for agriculture. Kogi state needs a leader that is a dealer of hope and the people will then arise and follow the leader to that land of development.
What will be your priority if voted as governor of Kogi state?
Our focus will be the sensitisation of our people. Our people have been so battered and depressed by the kind of leadership that has been imposed on them by elite contraption in Kogi state. Secondly, when you move around the state, the people have commonly agreed that we have done the best we can as a political movement in the state to give them some respite. Our kind of leadership is the one that will wrest governance from the elite and give it back to the people of Kogi state. That is our immediate priority. Governance is about the people but in Kogi state, since the advent of this political dispensation, it is about the elite, for the elite and in the interest of the elite. The menace of the politics of the elite called godfatherism has hampered the growth and development of this state. The people at the local level have never seen development because of this vested interest. We want to first of all eliminate these vested interests from the system, trust me, and in the process give the people back the paraphernalia of government. Presently, in Kogi state, paraphernalia of governance is with the elite and in the process they distort the governance structure of the state. As difficult as this pledge of ours is, with the help of God and the assistance of the people, it shall be done.
Beautiful. Then what are the next stages of your restructuring plans?
The next stage of our development agenda for the state is about the building of our institutions.
We need to build very strong institutions that can give quality services to the people. Today in Kogi state, the institutions for development are so weak that they are at the behest of strong personalities. The fact that nothing is working in Kogi state means that our public institutions are weak and dead. In fact, our government shall work with the people to clean the Augeans stable in Kogi state. This is the bane of our development and it stinks. When the system stinks development is absent.
Let’s focus on the economy. The story about economy of Kogi state is sad. What are your plans for the economy?
The economy of the state is defined based on the focus of the leadership of the state. I believe in “HOPE” and I believe Kogi state is that place called hope. I am hopeful for the economy of Kogi state because of the resources God in His grace has placed at our disposal. I believe in the talent and tenacity of our people (T&T). Our people have for so long swallowed the bitter pills for the sake of the development of the state and for that we shall focus all our economic policies and prescriptions on the people and their development. The main trust of our change agenda are: clean the system of elitist machinations; give the system and the governance structure to the people; build and revamp state institutions; create and implement an economic system that is all inclusive for the people’s development; build and create an enabling environment for investment; and eliminate waste and corruption from the system.
This shall be our priority for our state in the first four years of our administration.
You spoke about agriculture as a cardinal focus. What are your plans?
Incentives, incentives, incentives. We plan to incentivise the agricultural production process in the state. The main stay of our economy from the medieval times to modern day is agriculture. No state, no matter how developed or industrialised can do without the development of it agricultural sector. States that cannot feed their citizens do not deserve to be called a state, no matter the development in other sectors. We need to be the agricultural hub of the North-central, and if we want to achieve that with the cardinal aim of feeding our people, we need to incentivised agriculture. Our government shall build a fertiliser company in the state, this we shall commission in our first two years in office. The need for farm inputs like tractors and seedlings shall be taken care of. The state shall establish a tractor assembly factory in the state in conjunction with its parent company overseas and in the process boost agricultural activities in the state. In the final analysis, these processes shall, when fully implemented, achieve our goals of feeding our people and provide employment to our teeming youth.
What are your plans for the civil service?
The civil service of a state mirrors the state. Today the morale in the civil service is low and this has adversely affected its productivity. The sub-structures affect the super-structures. We intend to restructure the service to conform to the development need of our people. The state civil service as the implementing arm of the state development structure is weak and corrupt. There is, therefore, the need for urgent reforms and professionalism. Our government will try all it can to pay the workers their entitlements and salaries as at when due. We shall also remove the bad eggs from the system to enable the system work for the good of our people. I therefore salute the resolute workforce of our state, be hopeful as hope is coming to kogi state.
Some people are of the opinion that this is not the best period of being a governor in Kogi state. What is your view?
Indeed, these are opinions of lazy politicians who see political offices as comfort zones and an office to seek only the perquisite of office. I agree with the opinion that the state is in economic mess, but we can make it become an advantage in favour of the state economically. The world is in recession so also is the country, and Kogi state is part of the country. This recession, I see it as an opportunity to taste the ingenuity of leadership in all tiers of government in the country, and it is an opportunity to break new frontiers of economic activities for the development of our people and the economy of the state. We have the plans and because of this we can proudly tell you this is the best time to govern a state like Kogi.
What gives you this kind of confidence?
We have a lot to learn from the Asian tigers of Japan and China. When developed nations are mentioned, Nigeria, Venezuela, Angola, Ghana, Sudan, Libya, etc are not mentioned even with the quantum of oil resources at their disposal. Japan and China are two examples of countries that even without oil made it to the rank of developed economies of the world. They use other sources such as technology and industrial viability to make their economies one of the best in the world. Look at even Lagos state, it is not one of the oil producing states, but it used its advantageous location, population and good leadership pyramid as built by Senator Bola Tinubu to become one of the few states in Nigeria that can do without federal allocations. We will replicate this in Kogi state. We have the people, the revenue base potential, the technocrats, the mineral resources and above all the tourism potential which are the gold of the future. We shall aggregate these to make Kogi state one of the best economies in Nigeria. This is a pledge you can take to the bank.
