Tinubu has enslaved Nigerians, Nigerian children to international lenders – Onovo

A former presidential candidate of the defunct National Conscience Party (NCP), Engr. Martin Onovo, in this interview, says Tinubu has enslaved Nigerians and Nigerian children to international lenders. He scores the administration of President Bola Tinubu low on performance after two years in office. He berated the President for the high turnover of loans, saying that the debt burden has enslaved Nigerians and the children to international lenders.  Onovo argues that the more Nigeria borrows, the worse for the country.

What is your assessment of the Tinubu administration, two years after?

The irrefutable empirical evidence very clearly shows that this ad hoc Tinubu regime is the worst regime ever in the history of Nigeria. Currently, insecurity is unprecedented, poverty is unprecedented, inflation is unprecedented, unemployment is unprecedented, the devaluation of the Naira is unprecedented and national debt is unprecedented.

The performance of the ad hoc ‘emi lo kan’ Tinubu regime is even more catastrophic than we predicted in 2023. According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Nigeria is one of the worst governed in Africa. According to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, this is the worst government ever. According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Tinubu is the third most corrupt ruler in the world.

Beyond incompetence, the regime is also very destructive. The capacity of the Jagaban Tinubu regime for destruction is phenomenal. It has destroyed national security, it has destroyed democracy, it has destroyed the judiciary, it has destroyed national cohesion and it has destroyed public morality.

Specifically, over 2.2 million persons were kidnapped in just a one year period. Over 614,930 persons were killed in the same period. That is over 50,000 persons killed every month on the average. Bandits control more territory now than ever. Nigeria that was the largest economy in Africa is now fifth.

Also, Nigeria is now 43rd of 54 African countries by GDP/capita. The Jagaban Tinubu regime is a catastrophic failure.

Would you consider President Bola Tinubu’s request for fresh loans of 21.5 billion dollars, EUR 2.1 billion and 15 billion yen; a grant of 65 million euros, rational for approval of the National Assembly?

The request for fresh loans is most definitely irrational, reckless, prodigal and unpatriotic. This same ad hoc regime had asked Nigerians to celebrate its partial payment of $3 billion to the IMF, only to immediately request for approval for about ten times more loans.

We did not want the National Assembly to approve such unpatriotic requests but the slavish National Assembly quickly approved it as usual. Nigerian activists have devised a new phrase, “Borrow and steal”, for the current, irrational, reckless, prodigal and unpatriotic borrowing.

The Holy Bible is clear that, “The borrower is a slave to the lender”. Clearly, Tinubu has enslaved Nigerians and Nigerian children to international lenders. We are now trans-generational slaves to international lenders.

What is your take on the consequences of removal of petrol subsidy by President Tinubu, any benefit?

There is absolutely no benefit. The consequences included the hyper-inflation that beset us, the rise in unemployment rate, constrained GDP and mass poverty that followed. The subsidy was mostly on waste, incompetence and corruption.

What was required was simply to repair our refineries and put them back in efficient operations. Then, with both public and private refineries operating, we will refine all crude oil produced in Nigeria, supply the domestic market and export the surplus petroleum products.

That will reduce FOREX demand for the importation of petroleum products. That will also reduce petroleum products costs in Nigeria and increase FOREX revenue from the exports of the more valuable petroleum products. The reduction in the costs of petroleum products will reduce fuel costs which will reduce domestic production and transportation costs and thereby reduce inflation.

Do you think the Nigerian economy can perform better under huge debt burden?

Debts must be serviced and recently Nigeria has been borrowing with the worst terms because of the incompetence and corruption of recent Nigerian rulers. It is called a debt “burden” because it constrains development severely. The more we borrow, the worse for us.

In your view, are the reforms of President Tinubu yielding positive results; can the reforms minimize rising inflation, unemployment, hardship in the country?

What you called “reforms” are very destructive schemes of incompetence and corruption. Presently, inflation is unprecedented, unemployment is unprecedented and poverty is unprecedented. There cannot be positive results from destructive schemes.

How would you evaluate the fight against insecurity and corruption in the Tinubu administration?

The ad hoc Tinubu regime has failed catastrophically in all areas. It is a lawless regime. It surely cannot fight insecurity as the ruling party is the direct sponsor of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria. It cannot fight corruption as it promotes corruption with shameless impunity.

A clear case of lawlessness, corruption and shameless impunity is the Lagos coastal road. There was no competitive bid contrary to the Procurement Act. It was awarded to a company owned by Jagaban Tinubu’s friend and partner. It was not in the budget contrary to the Nigerian Constitution and it was awarded at over ten times the project value. N1.06 trillion was paid for the 47km section: that is about N22B/km.

Afenifere has called for the impeachment of Jagaban Tinubu over this contract. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar called the project an highway to fraud and former President Obasanjo called the contract ‘corrupt and wasteful’.

Negotiation for coalition is in progress, how effective do you think such coalition would be in 2027?

The coalition will be very effective. It will be even more effective than the CUPP was in 2019.

Can such coalition result in emergence of better leadership in the country?

We are optimistic that the coalition will produce a better leadership for the country.

Do you foresee transparent elections in 2027?

Yes, because the Nigerian people will enforce transparent elections in 2027. According to a former presidential candidate, Dr. Kwakwanso, the ruling party will be unable to rig the 2027 elections. We will ensure that.

What level of confidence should Nigerians have on the INEC?

Zero! We have no confidence in INEC. Nigerian voters will enforce free and fair conduct on INEC.