Senator Sheu Sanni
There had been complaints about President Muhammed Buhari’s frequent travels abroad, what do you think?
The travels of President Muhammadu Buhari are necessary. These travels are very necessary for him to work out a programme for the economy. All the countries that he has been to, he has secured a good deal for Nigeria. He was in Iran for the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries Forum(GEFC), because as you already know, Nigeria is a major gas exporter. He travelled to Malta for security and Agricultural development, and as you also know, Nigeria is a major agricultural country.
He also travelled to France on the issue of environment and climate change. So you cannot have a President that would simply sit at home and not travel. It doesn’t work that way. The travels are an opportunity for the President to project Nigeria and also bring the attention of the world to Nigeria. So his journeys are not as frivolous as those of President Goodluck Jonathan. We are living in an inter-dependent world, so it’s not possible for a president not to travel, so those who are complaining that he is travelling are ignorant. They don’t know what it takes to run an economy.
And I will want to say in very clear terms that, President Muhammadu Buhari is the most prudent President in terms of travels. His travels have not gulped the kind of resources, his predecessors’ travels gulped. And we should also not forget that the party in power made promises of revamping the economy, creating jobs, protecting our borders and ending corruption, and before you can fulfil all these promises, you must work with other global leaders. For example, our president wants looted funds stashed in some of these countries, to be returned home, and if we don’t cooperate with other nations around the world, these things cannot be achieved. How can we be able to repatriate the stolen funds, how can the president protect our borders without visiting those countries?
Are you going to support the creation of Special Courts to try corruption cases or do you have a suggestion in mind for accelerated justice for culprits of official corruption?
Well for me, if the special COURTS are able to address the problem of corruption, then we should go for them. But we must do is that we must constantly remind ourselves that Nigeria is a democracy and we have an obligation to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and whatever court that is going to be set up, we must ensure that corruption will be fought with the need to also show that the rights of anyone, would not be in any way breached. Special Courts are courts that use our laws to prosecute corruption.
The choice before us as a nation is simply to pursue those who looted our funds or to use a non-legal means to get back our money. But for the President who said those who have looted our funds are gradually returning the money stolen, i think we should be grateful. In the past, looted funds were never returned, but now they are returning the funds. So we should be grateful. Those who stole our money should be encouraged to return the money and then after that we decide what to do with them.
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I think the Economic and Financial C rimes Commission (EFCC) and ICPC are special units to tackle corruption, so if these agencies are able to address the scourge, then Special Courts may not be necessary. Whatever court is set up should be able to address the scourge Special courts should serve the purpose of fighting corruption. Whatever court is set up should be able to address the issue of corruption, as long as rights of any one are not violated. If special courts are set up to violate rights, then we will not agree with that. If it’s about speed, then the law must be followed, but it shouldn’t be about violation of rights.
As a reputable rights activist, do you think the proliferation of Civil Society organisations in Nigeria, would help the course of democracy, going by the motive for which some of them were formed in the first place?
We were the pioneers of Civil Society in Nigeria. The goal of civil society of that generation was to sensitize Nigeria and evict military out of power and restore democracy. Organised civil society of our time was driven by patriotism, principles and democracy. We were founded on the need to liberate Nigeria, but with the end of military rule in 1999, there have been a massive involvement of people in what i call civil society industry and this industry is all for them to make ends meet. This is sad, their proliferation is good and bad, because some of them are set up for the use of political warhorses and dogs and they are doing a lot of harm to democracy.
The civil society then, was involved and stood for the defence of human rights and the deepening of democracy. But today the motives are different, some of them are without offices, without principles and without relevance. They are just there to make money rom politicians and defend them for frivolous reasons. They move from house to house seeking for patronage. Some of them do not even have fliers to distribute.
The proliferation of civil society groups is bad and good. It’s bad because some of them are sponsored by political war horses and some political dogs and these ones are doing a lot of harm to our democracy. They are formed for negative purposes, but the proliferation of civil societies is good on the other hand, because the good ones serve in some occasions to create awareness on the rights of citizens and they can also hold governments to account to the people.
As to whether some of these civil societies should be regulated, i would want to advice that they themselves should be careful not to serve as mouthpieces or agents of political stalwarts or people who do not mean well for our country. If they decide to play the cards of politicians, then they themselves are just politicians and not rights activists, and sooner than later, the people discover what they truly are and reject them.
Civil society is too serious to be left in the hands of people who are willing to be used by dubious politicians, but again things have changed, so these kinds of organisations may gradually have to find their way out. They cannot thrive in a society where checks and balances are not just conducted by arms of government, but directly by the people themselves. So the people already know them and the society will regulate them.
In this interview with TORDUE SALEM, deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Sen. Shehu Sani, dismisses criticism from certain quarters against President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent travels abroad, insisting that the shuttle diplomacy employed by the president will shore up good will for the country’s economy. He also lampoons the multiplication of civil society organisations in the country.
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There had been complaints about President Muhammed Buhari’s frequent travels abroad, what do you think?
The travels of President Muhammadu Buhari are necessary. These travels are very necessary for him to work out a programme for the economy. All the countries that he has been to, he has secured a good deal for Nigeria. He was in Iran for the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries Forum(GEFC), because as you already know, Nigeria is a major gas exporter. He travelled to Malta for security and Agricultural development, and as you also know, Nigeria is a major agricultural country.
He also travelled to France on the issue of environment and climate change. So you cannot have a President that would simply sit at home and not travel. It doesn’t work that way. The travels are an opportunity for the President to project Nigeria and also bring the attention of the world to Nigeria. So his journeys are not as frivolous as those of President Goodluck Jonathan. We are living in an inter-dependent world, so it’s not possible for a president not to travel, so those who are complaining that he is travelling are ignorant. They don’t know what it takes to run an economy.
And I will want to say in very clear terms that, President Muhammadu Buhari is the most prudent President in terms of travels. His travels have not gulped the kind of resources, his predecessors’ travels gulped. And we should also not forget that the party in power made promises of revamping the economy, creating jobs, protecting our borders and ending corruption, and before you can fulfil all these promises, you must work with other global leaders. For example, our president wants looted funds stashed in some of these countries, to be returned home, and if we don’t cooperate with other nations around the world, these things cannot be achieved. How can we be able to repatriate the stolen funds, how can the president protect our borders without visiting those countries?
Are you going to support the creation of Special Courts to try corruption cases or do you have a suggestion in mind for accelerated justice for culprits of official corruption?
Well for me, if the special COURTS are able to address the problem of corruption, then we should go for them. But we must do is that we must constantly remind ourselves that Nigeria is a democracy and we have an obligation to protect the fundamental rights of citizens and whatever court that is going to be set up, we must ensure that corruption will be fought with the need to also show that the rights of anyone, would not be in any way breached. Special Courts are courts that use our laws to prosecute corruption.
The choice before us as a nation is simply to pursue those who looted our funds or to use a non-legal means to get back our money. But for the President who said those who have looted our funds are gradually returning the money stolen, i think we should be grateful. In the past, looted funds were never returned, but now they are returning the funds. So we should be grateful. Those who stole our money should be encouraged to return the money and then after that we decide what to do with them.
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As a reputable rights activist, do you think the proliferation of Civil Society organisations in Nigeria, would help the course of democracy, going by the motive for which some of them were formed in the first place?
We were the pioneers of Civil Society in Nigeria. The goal of civil society of that generation was to sensitize Nigeria and evict military out of power and restore democracy. Organised civil society of our time was driven by patriotism, principles and democracy. We were founded on the need to liberate Nigeria, but with the end of military rule in 1999, there have been a massive involvement of people in what i call civil society industry and this industry is all for them to make ends meet. This is sad, their proliferation is good and bad, because some of them are set up for the use of political warhorses and dogs and they are doing a lot of harm to democracy.
The civil society then, was involved and stood for the defence of human rights and the deepening of democracy. But today the motives are different, some of them are without offices, without principles and without relevance. They are just there to make money rom politicians and defend them for frivolous reasons. They move from house to house seeking for patronage. Some of them do not even have fliers to distribute.
The proliferation of civil society groups is bad and good. It’s bad because some of them are sponsored by political war horses and some political dogs and these ones are doing a lot of harm to our democracy. They are formed for negative purposes, but the proliferation of civil societies is good on the other hand, because the good ones serve in some occasions to create awareness on the rights of citizens and they can also hold governments to account to the people.
As to whether some of these civil societies should be regulated, i would want to advice that they themselves should be careful not to serve as mouthpieces or agents of political stalwarts or people who do not mean well for our country. If they decide to play the cards of politicians, then they themselves are just politicians and not rights activists, and sooner than later, the people discover what they truly are and reject them.
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