Nigeria will never be same after Buhari –Tejuoso

Lanre Tejuoso prince

 Nigeria will never be same after Buhari –Tejuoso

By Our Reporter  on December 18, 2015   Politics
By Remi Adefulu

SENATOR Lanre Tejuoso, Egba Prince and scion of the renowned Tejuoso dynasty represents Ogun Central Senatorial District in the senate. In this interview, he speaks on a variety of issues, declaring that President Muhammadu Buhari’s pedigree saved in-coming Ministers before the Senate. Excerpts.
What is your assessment of the Buhari administration?
Well, this is peculiar because it is an administration that has its life line on the integrity of just one person. The trust that the people have in the government is based on the trust they have in just one per- son. He is the leader of the party. He is driving the interest of the party based on his antecedents and because of that, even if an armed robber is appointed today to work under president Buhari, the people will be ready to work with the armed robber because they know they have a leader that they can trust in president Buhari. Even the (ministerial) screening is secondary. Anyone that Buhari feels is competent to work under him, because of his antecedents, screening that person will be an exercise in futility. He’s like a Mandela. Anything Mandela said then in South Africa will go. Anything Buhari says will go because of what he has achieved.
Critics say his administration suffers from policy deficit, what is your take?
The previous administrations that we are complaining about today, was it policies that made them fail? Didn’t they have policies? Why must we keep on doing the same thing the same way if we want to get result? Nigeria is a peculiar country. We’ve been having good policies before. Jonathan had good policies. Obasanjo had good policies, but people are complaining that the last 16 years have been terrible, despite all these so-called good policies, but we should not put it in the front burner. We have policies, but what is important now is who will drive that policy? Even if it’s Jonathan’s policy that Buhari drives, we are in order. Jonathan had good policies but he just could not drive it properly. He was not capable to drive it properly. Now we have someone that you don’t even need him to give you a new policy. Nobody complained about the managers. Policy is not what we are lacking. Even if this govern- ment does not come out with any new policy, even if it is Jonathan’s policy, Buhari will drive it, because we know we have a clear direction. Of course policies will be amend- ed, but the emphasis now is who is going to drive it that is what we have lacking over the years. This is somebody that we know. If he says good morning, you know it is morning. That is what we have been lacking, and that is what Buhari is bringing afresh. Are you saying the different senate we have been having have not been giving us good bills?
 We have been having many good bills on paper, but they are not implemented.
We have had many conferences, but nobody implements. So we need somebody that will implement, not just playing to the gallery because you want to favour a section of society, you will say you will do it, and you will not do it, so we need a very honest leader.
How would you rate the new ministers in terms of quality?
Well, I will say the quality of a follower is related to the quality of a leader. I told you earlier that even it is an armed robber that works under Buhari now, he will think deeply. You can see what has been happening in the last four months. People have been changing even without Buhari saying anything be- cause they know they have a leader who won’t take nonsense. They are trying to copy what he is doing. likewise, what we need from the new ministers is for them to be able to follow the direction of their lead- er. Everyday human beings evolve. Even if they were bad before, they just have to become good. Anyone that works with Buhari now is having an added advantage that he is going to be learning integrity. Now, they are mixing with a man of in- tegrity and they know they are in the public eye. All the ministers now are under a teacher of integrity, somebody known internationally as a man of integrity, and there is nobody with him now that will not want to become like him. If I were in their shoes, what I will be looking for now is to repair what- ever damage I might have done. What I believe the screening is all about is to know whether you have the capacity to be a team player, capacity to lead an institution, to be a member of cabinet.
Don’t you think the senate only hyped its intention to do a thor- ough screening then?
I believe that the senate generally was guided by the integrity of the man that sent the list to us. Things would have been so tedious if it was a list that was not from somebody that was Buhari. That minimized whatever pressure that we wanted to exercise on these nominees. Meanwhile, all of us respect Buhari, all of us believe in him. I believe it’s not been business as usual. Business as usual means that there is no ‘Ghana must go’, coming. Nobody brought ‘Ghana must go’ to any senator. We used to hear that they brought millions to approve this and that. Nothing like that again. Everybody is acting according to his conscience. Nobody was paid one kobo, even if you bring it, nobody was ready to collect one kobo from anybody. Luckily all of us believe in this man, Buhari. All of us, both the PDP and the APC. Everybody believes in the change we are talking about, because of that everything went smoothly.
Will you say the 8th senate has returned to the path of stability?
I personally believe that we do not have crisis with the 8th senate. As an institution, we had crisis with individuals. Every problem we’ve had ever since we were sworn in had to do with the yearnings of individuals for certain positions inside the institution. It has nothing to do with provision of water for the people, it has nothing to do with what we were voted for. So, I believe that every senator must realize that he is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not senator of any party. If we have that at the back of our minds, we will just focus on Nigeria which I have decided to do. Every personal thing should be behind now, it should be about how we give our people back home infrastructure, and to ensure that at the end of four years, we have made a difference in the lives of our people.
Tell us the lessons you have learnt so far?
On a personal note, I believe every person in life must have who they are looking up to and aspire to be like. The only thing I am thank- ing God for today is that I started my political life with Amosun and Buhari. I started with them 10 years ago in ANPP. Buhari was my national leader, Amosun my state leader. I went with Buhari to CPC, I was the chairman of the convention in 2011. I was the one that raised up his hand at Eagle Square. I am following Buhari because he is the one I want to be like in terms of integrity. Amosun is a miniature Buhari. He respects his name. I believe in learning so much from Buhari himself, I am learning from both of them. Buhari’s past is what we are benefiting from. I was part of his past, and I am striving to be like him.
Don’t you see APC facing chal- lenges after the post-Buhari era? Well, I just told you that we have people who are good stu- dents of Buhari, people whose past will speak for them. I am talking of people like Amosun of Ogun State, who like Buhari is delivering dividends of democracy. Amosun is not giving out money to the people. That he won a second term, is not because of money. It’s be- cause people saw that he delivered on promises. Buhari does not give money to the people. He does not even have money to give anyway, but in the history of campaigns in this country, I have not seen any crowd or followership more than that of Buhari.
The PIB has somewhat become controversial, do you see the 8th NASS passing it into law?
Did you listen to one of the ministerial nominees when he spoke about what we are losing yearly? It is mind boggling. He said about $15 billion, all because the PIB is not in place. He is a nominee of President Buhari. He advised that if the 8th senate mean well for the country, the major aspect of the PIB should be implemented. I believe we are going to go in that direction.
Don’t you think different interests in the National Assembly may stall the PIB once again?
Again, what gives me the conviction is president Buhari. He is not a selfish person. He is very objective. He believes in superior arguments. I am more than convinced that it is this direction we are going to fol- low.
What future do you see in Ogun APC in view of recent challenges?
I will look at it like looking at Nigeria. It’s just like looking at what Buhari is doing today. Do you think Nigeria will be the same after him? Even the PDP if they come back will not be the same PDP because of what they have seen. It is only one man that made the change possible. It was the quality of that man. The same thing will happen in Ogun State. People are seeing the benefits of upholding integrity. People are gradually seeing that it’s not all about money. At the end of the day, it may not be a party is- sue. Wherever that individual goes, they will follow him. That was why somebody like Buhari moved to an unknown party like CPC and he was still able to garner about 12 million votes. So it’s more of an in- dividual issue.
What do you hope to achieve as a senator representing Ogun central?
I am not in the Executive. I was in the Executive for four years and I know the problems of the people. Very simple. Problems of water, food, housing, power. Basic needs. They need to benefit from the federal government which has the largest purse, who can guarantee foreign investors. Ogun State government for example, cannot just go and meet a power company in UK, though we have a population next to Lagos. We have a captive market for different projects, yet we were unable to achieve much because we needed the Federal Government to guarantee us. Of course, if the Federal Government is not in the same party as you, they will block all the avenues. Now, we are not in op- position, I want to ensure that our people benefit from these opportunities because whether we like it or not, we will still need funding from abroad.