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Redeployment from Special Duties to the FCT

It happened swiftly. I did
not know about it. The president came into the Federal Executive
Council to swear in three new ministers to complete the gap. He made
the point that there have been a lot of rumour and that we should try
to give only information we have at our disposal, as speculation would
not help. After swearing in the new ministers, he announced our names.
So, to me it was a surprise. I think he stressed the point that it was
redeployment and on my own part, even while in the military, there is
usually a movement of officers from one post to another. I want to
assure you that if the president makes me his PA tomorrow, I will
smartly go there.

High level of youth unemployment

Unemployment has been there for quite
a while and I am particularly alarmed, considering the number of
graduates that we are turning out from our universities. When I was in
Special Duties, I had the task of monitoring all federal government
projects and carrying out the evaluation of the same. I was building a
team in each zone to carry out monitoring with a central coordinating
unit to do the same in Abuja. While doing that, I was monitoring
projects and I was also insisting that the contractors who got
contracts running into billions should employ our graduates. In my
handing over notes to my successor, I urged him to continue in that
crusade. It would be senseless for us to bring foreigners for a job
Nigerians can do. I strongly believe I would do so in the FCT, to
employ more Nigerians and enforce all those contractors who got jobs
from the Federal Government to take them. Luckily there is an enabling
law that would assist us in achieving that. What has happened in the
past is that nobody had cared or bothers to enforce it.

Controversies in PDP ahead of 2011

The coast is clear for all parties
to put their houses in order ahead the 2011 election, so they are all
mapping out strategies to do that. What is of great importance to us is
that we must, irrespective of parties, try what we can to ensure that
we have a free and fair election in Nigeria. That is of paramount
importance to the president and we would drive it to its logical
conclusion irrespective of parties. If you want to know specifically
what my party is doing, we have a plan in place and we would unveil it
as time progresses. But, by and large, what is of greatest concern to
the president is that we should have a free and fair election, devoid
of violence. It is a collective effort and I buy into that.

Controversies about national honours list

All I want to say regarding
national honours is that there is no how you nominate people that there
would not be complaints. If the responsibility is given to you to
handle, some of us here would still complain. It is always like that,
but whatever happened in the last national honours, I want to
specifically say here that the name of the nominees had already been
compiled before I got to the ministry. It was meant to be released in
2009 when the late President took ill, so that ceremony could not hold.
The only part we played was just to pass it on, either to be combined
with the one of 2010. In fact, that was our position. But the president
decided to do it separately and I played no role as far as names were
concerned. I want to say that it is an inherited complaints or problem,
as far as the ministry is concerned. There is a board set up for
national honours. That board is comprised of notable citizens who are,
in their own right, men of honour. It is a standing board. They would
take application and inputs from all over the states and see whether
they are credible people. But you know, only God is the best judge.

His
action plan

Well, I am the Minister of State. I still have a Minister
there, so I would look at the Minister’s plan and see what I can infuse
into it, so that we would have good governance in FCT, and we would do
that by
showing good leadership ourselves. Any idea I have, I would always put
it before him for consideration because I believe that in a ship, there
would always be a Captain. I would not want to play the role of that
Captain because I’m not the Minister of FCT. That is the way I would
want to go along, so that we can closely work together without rancour.
I would rather behave like an Ekiti man who is decent and easy going
and, I’m sure with that, we would be able to do a lot.

Relationship
with Ekiti State government

Segun Oni and I are best of friends. I opted to serve in his
administration as the Chairman, Project Monitoring Committee. There are
many former governors who had passed through the state but I did not
opt to serve.
That I opted to serve him is because I believe it would help my state
and I am happy that Mr Oni saw it as such. When I left, we have always
been relating well. Anytime I am in the state, I make sure that I spend
some time with him. I will never have a quarrel with any political
leader in the state, no matter his party. I will always share
experience and give any advice that would make our state a better one.

Challenges of administering the FCT

I know that Nigerians would complain at different times. It is their
right to complain. My own land was taken by El Rufai. He said I did not
develop it. I wrote him a personal letter that the land was given to me
when I was in Bayelsa State as the military administrator and that I
did not have money to develop it. I told him he should not penalize me
because I did not build it. In fact I told him that if I had stolen
money in Bayelsa, I would probably have built many houses and that he
should leave that single land for me because I don’t have two. I said
if he found out that I had two, he could take the two but he should
leave that one for me. I don’t know if the letter got to him, but up
till last week the land is still there. The man whom they gave it to
could not build it. And now I’m in FCT! I was a military administrator.
I administered a state which had nothing. Bayelsa was worse than Ekiti
when I got there. The terrain was difficult and yet we built something.
We would do what is possible to make middle class and low-income
earners to own a home. That would be my personal focus and I would beg
the minister of FCT to see it in the same light.