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In Nigeria, the poor is subsidising the rich –Yusuf

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Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf represents Taraba Central Senatorial Districts at the senate.  In this interview, he blames the selfishness of Taraba political elites for the challenges bedevilling the state, just as he declared the restructuring needed in Nigeria was redistribution of wealth, where the poor would stop subsidising the rich.  He spoke on other issues.

How will you assess the performance of the Eighth Senate for far?

I will say we have done well and have outperformed the previous senate comparatively and have summoned the courage to pass some of the bills that the previous senate could not pass. To this extent we have done well. You are aware that we have passed the Petroleum Industry Bill, at least part of it, which is one of the most difficult Bills that the previous senate could not work on. You are also aware that we now have Railway Authority instead of the Railway Corporation. We have also made doing business in the country easier. For the first time in history, we have subjected the budget to a public hearing and have made public the budget of the National Assembly, contrary to what was obtainable in the past. So to this extent, I think we have done well. We have been able to demonstrate that we truly represent our people.

The Eighth Assembly is considered to have a frosty relationship with the executive. What is your take on this?

I would not say that there is a frosty relationship, but yes in every relationship there are bound to be some challenges. The relationship between the senate and the executive is expected to have some checks and balances and you would naturally expect some challenges. But that is nothing new. It is not something out of place.

What is your assessment of the APC- led federal government after two years in office?

You see, how you perform today depends on what has happened in the past and what your projections are. In the past 16 years, the PDP government has not done well for this country. There is a lot of misinformation that has been fed to the people. When this government was coming in 2015, our promise was to fight corruption, insurgency and revive the economy. So far, the war against corruption is going on well, insurgency has been brought to its knees and work is underway to revamp the economy. So we are gradually meeting the expectations of our people in terms of the primary promises that we made.

But the fight against corruption is considered by many as been selective and ineffective, considering the number of cases that the EFCC have lost in recent times. What is your take?

Whether the fight is selective or not is not the issue. Our concern should be that, has the federal government shown enough courage to take on the fight? Once that is established in the affirmative, the issue of selectivity becomes inconsequential. We need to stop politicising the fight against corruption in this country. It affects all of us. In any case, the EFCC has said that they have won more cases than they have lost. So the war is a success so far.

You said that insurgency has been brought to its knees but the herders/ farmers’ crisis is just as bad and some believe that it is the Boko Haram that has metamorphosed into this militia herdsmen. How true?

Well I think they are wrong. We should not mix apples and oranges. The challenges of herdsmen and farmers have been there even before the advent of Boko Haram. These are two different issues altogether. One is a major security concern while the other is a matter of providing a means of livelihood both for the farmers and the herdsmen.

What is the solution to the herders/ farmers ‘crisis?

This is very simple. We should be honest with one another and we should be just. During the regional arrangement, there were clearly defined cattle routes where cattle would follow, not just in Nigeria but across the entire West African region. Over time, probably as a result of population increase or depletion of land fertility, these roads have been taken over. In this part of the world, cattle rearing are a mobile business. Grazers have to move as the seasons dictates. So if these roads are not opened up, it would be very difficult. Because of how fertile those roads had become, farmers moved in and took over these legally and clearly defined roads illegally. So we need the political will to address this issue. We need to try over time to reduce the nomadic life of the herdsmen. The people are already used to the system. I agree that ranching is the solution but that has to come gradually. It shouldn’t come abruptly.

What is your take on the anti -grazing law recently passed in your home state?

Ultimately, ranching is the best solution. There is no doubt about that but it has to be gradual like I said. You need to enlighten the people. A typical example of the benefits of ranching is Gembu where you have full ranching. But then there must be some movement of cows any way. Even when I ranch my cows, there may be need for me to move them from time to time. The political leaders must take the feelings of the nomadic herders into consideration; otherwise, this crisis would continue to reoccur. The only thing here is that it should not come up abruptly like this.

Land ownership on the Mambilla is considered to be the remote cause of the recent crisis in your zone. Do you think there is need for land ownership arrangement there to be revisited as a way out of this situation?

You see, both human and animal population is increasing without a corresponding increase in land mass and fertility. Yes, land may be an issue. The process of addressing land control is what appears to be the major problem. If I have my Certificate of Occupancy given by the government and I have been meeting my own obligations in terms of rental payments on the land and you want to take it away from me, certainly I would try to resist. But if we all sat down as stakeholders to talk instead of blackmailing and arm twisting me to do your bidding, may be it could be done.

Let us seat down and frankly talk about it. Yes I have large expanse of land and whether I bought it or it is allocated to me, once I have the titles, I am entitled to that private ownership as enshrined in the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

Now we can seat and talk about it and not by forcing me.  What have the animals done? Do animals own land? But you have situation where animals have been killed, maimed and you begin to wonder the reason for that. I think the problem is not the allocation of land or its ownership but the process of redistribution of the land that has caused so many problems and that is why I say the stakeholders, the government ought to have sat down and determine honestly what the problem was and how to solve it. That would have saved a lot of lives and trouble.

As a Senator representing Central Taraba, I was born in Ngoruje but as we talk now, I don’t have a single animal on the Plateau. I don’t have a piece of land for ranching or grazing. I have a piece of land that I bought in 2015 to start building my own house there. So you see that this thing ought to be looked into in a wider perspective rather than a parochial context. If we can sit down, we would resolve this issue and it should never have resulted into this carnage.

Even before the crisis, the state government had set up a committee headed by the deputy governor resolve the issues. Don’t you think that was enough?

Well, I think that government already knows those people who own the land, the sizes and usage. However if the government still wants to reconfirm the information and engage the stakeholders, they have to do that through advocacy. Government has the powers to do most of the things but probably, as a result of lack of involvement of the stakeholders, it may create lack of trust in the effort of the government. The people have the right to be involved in what the government was doing.

Despite the huge natural resources in Taraba, the state remains highly impoverished. What do you think is responsible?

You see, historically, we have not seen any commensurate impact in the state and I continue to say that for 16 years, the PDP government failed this country. When you talk they say its politics but let us look at what is on ground. We must begin to love ourselves and see the Taraba project as our collective responsibility. It so saddening to see how other states that are younger, less endowed and that collect less allocation are growing. Is it that we are so different that we cannot harness our collective intellect to move the state forward? Is it that we have such a fundamental issue of disunity among the leaders? The issue is with the leaders because I don’t think the followers have so much difference. I think the problem is the failure on the part of successive political leadership in the state.

Restructuring is the trending word now in the country. What is your understanding of the word as best for the Nigerian situation?

My take on restructuring is simply redistribution of resources from the rich to the poor. That is the best restructuring that we can have in this country. Devolution of power, states creation and all that are hardly the solution. Like Murtala Muhammad of blessed memory said, the more you create states, the more you highlight the problem of minority groups. And so the only solution is in identifying ourselves first and foremost as Nigerians. For us to achieve this, we must change our habits for the good of the country. Wealth is concentrated in the hands of very few while the greater majority are very port and impoverished. So in my opinion, the only form of restructuring needed is redistribution of resources so the larger majority are beneficiaries. So long as a few continue to control the wealth meant for many, the problem would persist. Devolution of power, creation of states and all other efforts would only continue to highlight the problem of minorities, in terms of religion, ethnicity, socio economic status, and age and otherwise.

What is your proposal on how such restructuring can be achieved?

Simple! You just need the political will. Only 20 percent of the population pay taxes. Why can’t we have more than that? The rich are not paying taxes. They evade tax. The government need the will to tax the wealthy for the good of the generality of the people. Luxuries are not taxed in this country. Why would the poor continue to subsidize the rich? The rich are enjoying formidable subsidies while the poor are suffering. So it is very easy. Taxation, as long as it does not discourage investment.

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