A former Aso Villa chaplain and General Overseer, All Christians Fellowship Mission, Rev. (Dr) William Okoye, appraises the state of the nation in this interview with Kassim Omomia and Ketura Elija.

You were the Aso Villa chaplain during former President Olusegun Obasanjo administration. How would you describe Obasanjo’s style of administration and that of President Muhammadu Buhari?

For the records, I was also chaplain to former President Goodluck Jonathan for a period of one year, in order to put through my successor. To your question, well, I am not an expert in such matters, trying to compare Obasanjo and Buhari. They are two unique individuals who govern the nation according to their own personalities and perception of governance. So, it is difficult for me to compare and contrast.

Did you fall out with Obasanjo, which was why you left as chaplain?

No, I did not. I was there until the end of his tenure and then continued for one more year into the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan to allow for a smooth transition.

It seems that democracy is not working in Nigeria, what is your take on this?

When democracy returned to the country in 1999, we made some significant progress. But recently, we have engaged the reverse gear that has now almost brought the nation to its knees. I believe it will take us a long time to recover. It is unfortunate.

The Christian community and their leaders have cried out over continuous killings in the country. Don’t you think the authorities are not taking the calls seriously?

I believe they are not taking us seriously. In fact, some of us believe that talking to this administration is like having a dialogue with the deaf. Our problem, as most Christian leaders perceive it, is not lack of capacity to check these things. It is the unwillingness on the part of our political leaders to do the needful.

For instance, we talk of farmers/ herders’ clashes, and many Nigerians have come out repeatedly to say let us embrace ranching, which is the modern way of rearing animals. But the government appears not to be listening. We need to embrace ranching because we need both the herders and farmers and the great work they are doing. If we embrace ranching, these animals will be well taken care of. In fact, they will be healthy enough to produce milk and more tender meat for consumption.

If we fail to intervene in this situation now, I am afraid within a few more years, we are going to have serious food crisis in the country. Again, we have hypocritical political leaders, who seem to be supporting what is going on, telling stories while people are being murdered. Simply introducing ranching can solve this problem, which is the modern practice all over the world. So, it is a shame.

How can we stop the killings by suspected herdsmen? Is the solution, state police, restructuring Nigeria or asking the Fulani to return to the North?

The solution lies in what I said earlier. If we do this, the genuine herdsmen will thrive. It is important to point out that many of the people parading themselves as herdsmen are not really herdsmen. They are terrorists, because herdsmen will, at least, have cows. Many of these people do not have any cow. They are going about killing people and we call them herdsmen?

I do not believe the Fulani returning to the North is the answer. The answer is restructuring, and restructuring includes state police and even local government police, among other policy initiatives. If we restructure the country and implement the policy called devolution of power, we will be able to have the opportunity to concentrate on the areas of comparative advantage and develop each state’s resources.

I was shocked some time ago, when I read what the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, said about the Federal Government printing billions of Naira in order to have money to share to the states and other tiers of government in the month of March. This is a warning that our economy is in trouble.

So how can we continue to do that, come together every month to Abuja, cap in hand to share money, when we have a lot of unique resources that God have deposited in our various states where we can concentrate, develop, and build our economy.

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I believe that devolution of power or restructuring which people are seeking is the way to go. Because, if we do not, it is more likely we are going to continue like this for a long time.

Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping and recently food war, do all these point to ineffective governance by the APC administration? Can there be an alternative to the party in 2023?

It is not really a question of who to blame; we are looking for answers. I think that generally speaking,we have to blame bad governance and insincerity on the part of those who govern us to do the right thing. I wish we could have an alternative to both All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party.

But knowing the kind of people we are, I find it difficult to see that coming, unless God intervenes. We do not have too many men and women of character and integrity. People who would stand and pay whatever price that needs to be paid for things to be done right. I am only trusting that God in his own way will bring us out of this situation.

What is your take on the abduction of pupils?

It is for every school to make their arrangement for security. If they do not have the capacity to do that, then they should liaise with other schools and work together to provide their security. If you are depending on the government, how many policemen do we have? What is the strength of our police force that would look after no fewer than 200 million people? What is the strength of our armed forces? So, how will they police everywhere?

It is difficult. That is why people are calling for state police, local government police and the rest of it. So, I am thinking that in the interim, schools should in addition to whatever government does for them, fend for themselves. One is aware of how communities across the country are crying for government help and my heart goes out to them.

But why can’t they organise youths at whatever level, wherever they are, organise young people, give them help, give them some basic security training, and let them help. Whatever help they get from government, will be complimentary. How can communities just fold their hands and allow these criminals to be slaughtering them like cows?