Senator Muktar Aruwa represented Kaduna Central under the ANPP from 1999 to 2007. Today, he is on his way back to the Senate on the platform of the PDP, a move he said was necessitated by calls from the people of the senatorial district – who had approached him to help salvage the poor representation of the district at the National Assembly. In this exclusive interview with NASIR DAMBATTA, he bares his mind on what is believed to be the campaign of calumny against the PDP and its president by the opposition parties; why agriculture and mining should be vigorously pursued as started by President Jonathan, among other issues.
Sir, Nigeria has few days left to go to polls, what is your assessment of the situation on ground?
Thank God for His mercies. The situation is very dicey as far as the polity is concerned. The people are all set and ready, despite the fact that not all of them have gotten their voter cards. The postponement of the election has by six weeks has created a great opportunity for people to re-assess where all the political parties are headed.
It has provided the opportunity for the people to further assess the candidates for the various offices. Most importantly, the postponement has made Nigerians to understand the need for peace in the conduct of the elections.
In general, the respect for peace is far greater now than it was before the postponement.
What would you say is the status of the PDP now at the grassroots level?
Well, unfortunately, our party has been swooped into an unfortunate situation where false propaganda, false accusations against the party and its leadership have been hung around the neck for a long time.
Nowhere is the propaganda more damaging than in the rural areas. Imagine the accusation against PDP, of involvement in the unfortunate Boko Haram incident; imagine this being hung around the neck of the president. It’s unfortunate. It appears the APC has been singing song on this; hinging it on our party and our president.
But the situation is changing gradually now. People are beginning to understand what is at stake, as we could see during our campaign at the grassroots – from wards to local governments. We enlightened them about the spurious propaganda that President Jonathan is the cause of the killings in the North-east.
We drew the people’s attention that Jonathan is not the one in Pakistan, in Yemen, Libya or Iraq and Egypt. How would they allow themselves to be deceived that Jonathan is behind the mayhem in the North-east? People have now begun to think deeper, especially when we gave them the examples of Egypt or Mali.
We drew their attention to the fact that this is an unfortunate situation happening in some parts of the world. We have to therefore be looking inwards and not be blaming a particular individual or political party for a situation on one would ever wish to happen to the people. So, we have to look inwards to find a solution rather than blaming the wrong people. By and large, it is a herculean task.
People have been misled to believe it’s the work of PDP or its president. It is also unfortunate that our leaders in the PDP allowed the rural dwellers to be hoodwinked into believing that the president has a hand in the killings of his own people. I am happy now that we are doing our damn best and it’s paying off.
What is your take on the recent endorsement of President Jonathan by the South-west political elite under the banner of Afenifere, Yoruba Council of Elders, Oodua People’s Congress etc?
First of all, as a relatively informed Nigerian, the peace, tranquility and harmonious co-existence amongst Nigerians rest squarely on the PDP.
And Jonathan being the head of PDP, giving him support is automatically giving support to the PDP, and I think that decision was informed by their love for peace for their kith and kin in particular and for the nation in general. I do not see their endorsement of Jonathan as anything extraordinary as it is the right thing to do; or the right path to follow. I salute their thinking.
President Jonathan’s government has been blamed for wrecking Nigeria’s economy. What is your immediate reaction to this?
Well, you don’t expect the opposition to give green score card to the PDP as a ruling party or the person of its president. The economic downturn is a global phenomenon and therefore not peculiar to Nigeria.
If I remember correctly, in 1999 the price of oil was below what it is today. In 1999, when we returned to civil rule, I was fortunately a senator then, we battled because oil price
was going under $35 per barrel. So we took off at very low level of income base and our income is predicated on oil.
Of course, the economy was managed until the global situation changed and oil price started going upwards gradually, up to $100 or $110. You see, it’s like a life cycle – the graph is either up or down – at one point or the other.
So, the graph is now pointing downwards and it may point upwards in due course, it’s not a new thing. Therefore, to accuse the PDP government or its president over this is unfair. In fact, it beats anybody’s imagination to hear this kind of blame game.
What would you say is the way forward for Nigeria?
My hope has always been that we look towards mining and agriculture, which would support the petroleum products. There is far more money to make in agriculture than in petroleum products. When we were in the Senate in the 90s, it was my thought that government would have focused on revamping agriculture and turning it into a huge source of foreign exchange earner for the country. Unfortunately, until recently, the Jonathan administration really hit the point that we should have a national policy on that.
But thank God the file is being dusted and the idea is being put in place and if we maintain the tempo of what is on ground, in terms of agriculture today and of course mining, it would indeed be great.
Look at the prices of commodities today at the New York Stock Exchange. How much is a ton of corn today and how much is a barrel of fuel? The ton of corn is over $600 against 50-something dollars of oil barrel. So, we are risking $600 against $50.
We have to look through the needle’s eye, we must come back to agriculture, and we must come back to mining. I believe the tempo, this time around, would be reinvigorated as the Jonathan administration had started already. There is nothing wrong with coming back to agriculture and mining; and we should be able to coast home with some pleasant stories.
As the PDP flagbearer for the seat of Kaduna Central Senatorial district in the forthcoming polls, how are your campaigns going, especially in the rural communities?
Well, my style of campaign has changed this time. In my constituency, it is no longer about long convoy of vehicles and so many crowds. We adopted the strategy of neighbor-to-neighbour, house-to-house campaign for the past three, four months.
We do know that the strategy might be quiet, but underneath it is a success story; we have never had any incidence and we have electoral canvassers spread across my constituency. Things are getting much better for the PDP and we thank God for achieving so much within the little period of the extension of polls date.
We in the PDP have had enough time for re-strategising, re-invigorating the campaign machinery. Most importantly, the initial tensions about the elections have now given way to calmness amongst the citizenry.