2015: PDP has all it takes to wrest power from APC in Lagos---- Dosunmu

By Ikenna Asomba

Dr. Ade Dosunmu

Lagos State Governorship Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2011 election and former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Ade Dosunmu, in this interview says that his party has all it takes to wrest power from the ruling APC in the 2015 Lagos State gubernatorial election.

He also says there is nothing wrong if Nigeria's international friends offer to help the country contain the Boko-Haram insurgency, among other issues. Excerpts:
 

Looking at the current outrage in the country over the abduction of 234 female students of Chibok Government Girls College, international communities like the United States of America, United Kingdom, France and lately Israel have offered a hand of help, but there are insinuations that their offers are Greek gifts, what do you make of this? 

Well, it is very unfortunate that we are in this type of situation. We have over 200 of our girls being abducted by terrorists. It is very sad and heart-broken. Honestly, I can feel the pains of most Nigerians, particularly parents. But the fact remains that the situation has gotten into a stage where government has no choice than to accept any offer of assistance coming from our international friends. We have to realize one thing, terrorism is a global problem. It is not limited to Nigeria. If the US, UK, France, Israel decides to help Nigeria, what is wrong with that. After all, Nigeria has also helped other countries in the past.

We have moved into Sierra-Leone, Sudan and other countries that have problems, we did not go there to impose our position or economic interest on them. So, if our international friends decide to assist Nigeria, what is wrong with that. So, with the insinuations here and there, you will understand that it is very difficult to satisfy everybody as a government. If the government says no, don't come, tongues would wag, if the government says come, people will still say, they want to surrender our sovereignty. What do you want government to do under these circumstances? So, I think it is the right step in the right direction and it is a welcome development.

During the 2011 Presidential election, some political opponents of the the incumbent President made some statements, which your party's national publicity secretary have always blamed for the recent Boko Haram insurgency, how do you react to this?

By my training, I don't do with assumptions. I like to deal with statements of facts and for that reason, I would not want to point accusing fingers on anybody, because I believe that the current instability being witnessed in the country, the activities of the terrorists is not something anybody could have had control over. I don 't think it is something some one will sit at one corner of his room to sponsor. Yes, there may be some external forces, but I don't think any Nigerian politician in his wildest imagination or even in his right senses will sit down and inflict this type of pain on the country. I don't believe it and I don't think it is right for us to start to apportion blames, pointing accusing fingers. We will not help the situation. I think it is a common problem that we should all join hands together and confront frontally.

You were your party's flag-bearer at the 2011 gubernatorial election of Lagos State, where you lost to the incumbent governor. Just few months to the end of the administration, how can you assess his performance?

Well, I always try to run away from that, because I contested against him and I am from the PDP. Whatever I say, people will say, oh, he is talking politics. But honestly, in my own view, I feel if you take a general sample of the opinions of Lagosians as to what is their perception about the current administration, you will be able to make some deductions, and that will tell you to a large extent whether they are satisfied with the government or not. But from my own angle, if I were the governor, there are certain things I would have done differently. The issue of school fees in the Lagos State University. In talking about public education, there is no how you can justify increasing the fees of a public university like LASU to between N193, 750 and N348, 750. There is no way you can justify it.

How can LASU be the most expensive public university in Nigeria. It's not acceptable. It has even defeated the objectives of the founding fathers of the university. Don't forget that when this school fees was hiked astronomically, Alhaji Lateef Jakande, who founded the university stood up to appeal to the government to do something about it, as well as well-meaning Lagosians and Nigerians. The students have gone on strikes severally to express their pains, but the governor remained adamant.

Infact, it's not even acceptable that you have two universities in a state, one is federal and the other is state-owned, and the federal-owned is still paying N20, 000, while the state-owned is paying a minimum of N193, 750. It's unacceptable.

People should realize that there are certain things that are basic responsibilities of government. Public education is one, public health, public infrastructure are also part of it. You can't go and tell a private university that why did you increase your money to N300, 000 because people have alternatives, but you can challenge the government for increasing the fees to that level. Mind you, LASU is supposed to be funded from the tax payers money. So, I would have done that differently.

Public infrastructures too, I would have done that differently. I don't see any reason, why government must be collecting taxes from the people and at the same time be tolling roads. How can you have two to three toll gates in one local council area? That in itself is bringing about inequality. If two people are working in the same office, one lives in Surulere and the other lives in Lekki, they are earning the same income, pays the same tax to the government, you have further reduced the income of the man living in Lekki on the amount he would spend on toll fees. And these are roads built with public funds.

The Lekki-Ikoyi bridge, the Ikoyi bridge are federal government lands built with public funds, so, why are you tolling it. I would have done that differently. My background will not allow me run a government that will not be masses friendly or one that will not be to the benefit of the majority. I feel so many things needed to be done in order to b ring government closer to the people, as stipulated by democracy. The unfortunate thing is that in Lagos today, the people are now being alienated from government.

2015 is around the corner, what next for you?

Yes, 2015 is around the corner, but one thing you are very conscious of politically, is that no individual can personally put himself forward for election. Even the President needs the nomination and support of members of his party, to be able to come out for party primaries and being the flag-bearer of his party. The same for me. All I can say is that, if members of my party still consider worthy of flying the party's flag, I will graciously accept it.

Ahead of next year's general elections, do you think your party, the PDP has all what it takes to wrest power from the ruling APC in Lagos, especially as your party is perceived to be 'disunited' in Lagos and South-West in general?

Well, one thing that is very clear is that, there is no political party that does not have internal crisis. If you have been monitoring events, even the All Progressives Congress, APC, are currently having crises as a result of their ward congresses nationwide. Some people are threatening to break away from the party. Look at Ogun state, Edo state, look at everywhere. You see, that is a common thing in political parties, because political parties are made up of group of people who come from different backgrounds to form government or to wrestle power. So, if that is common to all parties, why is it that they are painting PDP as a disunited party. APC is not united.

So, all I know is that because PDP is very big and because of the size of PDP, there is bound to be some crises. ACN was a smaller party, that was why they didn't have that kind of problem, but now that they are also trying to grow big like the PDP, you can see what is happening to them. I can tell you that what PDP has passed through is what they are just trying to go through now and only God knows how they will survive. I don't see any disunity in PDP, we are one united party.

Yes, we may have different interests, everybody is trying to pursue his own interest but that does not mean we are not under the same umbrella. The umbrella is intact and we are still under it, and I can assure you that the platform is getting stronger and stronger and we have all what it takes to wrest

power from the APC. But until 2015, a lot of people may not know what is currently going on inside PDP. We are doing some organizational reforms, we are strategising and by the time we come out for election in 2015, you will see a different PDP.