In this monitored Arise tv interview , the NNPP chieftain Buba Galadima argues that President Bola Tinubu prioritizes welcoming political defectors and dismantling the opposition over actual governance. Excerpts:
What is your assessment of the government’s response to the security challenges confronting the country
The government abdicated its primary responsibility of protecting and saving lives and properties of citizens, and has given 99% of its time to politics. And governance, especially in a country like Nigeria, is a serious business. It is not hard to make money, but how much sacrifice would the leaders make on behalf of the people. 
If you are a Nigerian president, or a governor, or even chairman of council, you should really have more than six hours for leisure. The remaining must be passed on the wheels. That we are not seeing.
This government is only concerned about receiving the decampees or trying to destroy opposition political parties. And I want to tell them that it is not in their interest to destroy opposition, because without opposition, there is no democracy. And if there is no democracy, it means we are gravitating to fascism, dictatorship. And this is exactly where they are taking a pass. And in fact, I want to advise right from the start that it is not even in the interest of the ordinary APC man not to have an opposition. Because if there is no opposition, he doesn’t matter to those in authority. So even the APC people should try to protect the opposition so that they become relevant in their own party.
What specific actions do you think the APC government should take to address these, for instance, mass abductions of students in Niger state and other parts of the country?
Those in authority must put up their thinking cap and do the needful. They have tried this paradigm. As I want to call it, it did not work. So it is time to use their intellect, use technology and protect our citizens. I want to tell you something that is happening in China.
Some people sat at the airport. When their flight was called, someone forgot his bag, small bag. And when it was time to board the aircraft, they asked him for boarding pass. He looked, the small bag was not there. So he rushed and reported. And the police said, ‘don’t worry. Just go.’ So they put their cameras. And discovered who picked that bag containing 11,000 dollars. And they followed him. The camera followed him to the aircraft where he wanted and took off. By the time he arrived at the next station, security people were waiting for him at the ladder of the aircraft. And they just asked him, ‘hand it over.’
We are not serious. So we are only interested in power to make money or to show that I have arrived.
But when you say we, that implies that you, as a member of the opposition, is also somebody who’s been in ruling parties before. I mean, you are part of the whole sort of mix. How would you have addressed it if you were in power? What specific measures would you take differently from what the government did?
For us in Nigeria, the President should forget about physical security. We have to use technology to detect things even before they happen, and set up special squads to deal with issues as they spring up in the next five minutes.
These people (terrorists) were seen moving towards Niger. And somebody was capturing them, that they were going towards Yawuri, that the security should move quickly. That they may attack either the town or schools. Unfortunately, they attacked a school.
And why? How can somebody not tell us anything? There were security people and soldiers in that school. Why did they leave the place? They should be court martialed and shot.
What role do you think schools and educational institutions should play in preventing or mitigating such abductions? I mean, what I’m trying to get to is how do you balance the need for security, for example, with the need for access to education in vulnerable areas?
In the first place, it is shameful to close down the schools. Shameful.
On government and on authorities at every level, you can’t close down schools. What you should do is how can you protect the schools? But obviously they don’t have a plan for how to do that. And then what they have to do in the circumstances is to take the most extreme action possible in order to prevent the possibility of another such attack. And that’s why they’re closing.
I’m sorry that I have come here to discuss the truth, not politics. Let me address more. During Jonathan’s birthday, I spoke to journalists. And I said something. I was one of the greatest critics of Jonathan’s presidency. I didn’t know that God will disgrace me to show me that Jonathan was even a saint, a better administrator than those that came after him.
During his time, the insecurity reached its highest level, six weeks, I mean some few days to election. Jonathan suspended the election, put off the election, and took another six weeks. And brought mercenaries. If this government today has that opportunity of chaos one or two weeks to election, they will allow it to continue so that they can write figures and announce themselves as winners. But Jonathan stopped that election, and he knew for sure that if there was a fair election, no incumbent, the government can get second term. This is an educated man with PhD. He knew that. But because of his humane nature, he postponed the election for six weeks, brought in mercenaries, and within six weeks, those mercenaries stabilized Nigeria, and there was no polling booth in Nigeria thar elections did not take place. If Jonathan has done that at that time, 2015, what stops this government from copying what Jonathan has done? After all, hiring mercenaries to deal with this insurgency and other pockets of insecurity across the country costs less than 10 percent of what the military takes today. So economically, it is better to have the mercenaries.
I just saw in the social media a journalist like you who talked to this man who killed the Brigadier General Musa, who got him captured and killed him. And he told him that, as I sit where I am, I have the picture of Sambisa in my palm, that even if an ant entered Sambisa that they can see it. So if a bandit or a local arm fighter has access to those equipment, what stops us from having it?
And do you remember that some few months ago at Banki, they used drones and in Martes, they used drones to kill our soldiers and officers.
Arise tv
