‘2019 polls, referendum on Buhari’s performance’

Joshua Gabriel is a media practitioner and a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Prior to the last general elections, he wrote a book on the contest in Lagos and other parts of the country. In this interview with RAYMOND MORDI, he speaks on why he wrote the book, President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term and other national issues.

You wrote a book prior to the 2019 general elections about the contest in Lagos and other states of the federation. What really is the book all about?

It is centred on politics and democratic processes in the state and other states of the federation. It focuses on political parties, candidates, leadership, voters and other agencies involved. The book is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on issues before the 2019 general elections, such as campaigns, the performance of the ruling APC, voting behaviour of Lagosians, as well as those of other states. It also features tributes to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the APC National Leader, for being able to sustain his political legacy. It also previews President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term, which is more or less a message of hope for a better tomorrow. The second part of the book focuses on some of the issues that must have propelled the APC to victory in the 2019 general elections. This includes the role of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, the party’s National Chairman, the beneficiaries of the bandwagon effect and more. Besides, there are other interesting issues which I cannot go into details here.

With the benefit of hindsight, what impact did your book make on the 2019 general elections?

It made a great impact, I believe. The book as an awareness project because many Nigerians who read the book online or listened to the message through media discussions clearly saw the reason why they should vote for the APC in 2019 general elections. Nigerians are not patient with leaders. They want achievements overnight. In fact, critics argue that nothing works in this country. This was the kind of wrong impression people had about President Muhammadu Buhari after his first term. This was what prompted my letter to every Nigerian (in the book), to correct such an impression.

Are you affiliated to any political party? What is the interest of your organization in the 2019 elections?

The answer is yes. I am a card-carrying member of the APC. I joined the party in 2014. My desire to work for the APC started after the 2015 general elections, following its victory at the polls. Based on my analysis of the campaigns, I felt that there is a need for a group to complement the role of party stakeholders during campaigns. There is a popular political statement that political parties and candidates win in elections not because they are the best but because their strategies always work for them. It is really a fact. But, in all, the targets are voters and their votes. How to attract them in their majority and use them to emerge victorious becomes the paramount issue. Undoubtedly, in every target group of voters, there must be individuals who can influence other people’s electoral decisions through various means. The question then is what strategies should be adopted to win the hearts of these group leaders and consequently get them to work for the APC?

What do you really want to achieve with all these efforts?

I will tell you without hiding my feelings. I want to be seen as having achieved success through my determination to advance the cause of the APC as a political party. I would not like my efforts and those of other members of my group to end in futility. Besides, having chosen to embark can these projects, we will do it to the best of our knowledge and as I climb the rungs of my achievements ladder, I will, God willing, continue to get credit from those who are watching.

Critics say the Buhari administration has virtually failed in its fight against insurgency and the diversification of the economy. What’s your view on this?

The beauty of democracy is that it affords everyone the opportunity to freely express their feelings, including the right to criticize governments’ actions, inactions, policies, and programmes. But, people should be objective in their criticisms and recriminations. What I mean is that people should do proper research either through careful observation or truthful and reliable published works through the media before jumping into conclusions. On the issue of insurgency and the diversification of the economy, it is only those who want to economical with the truth that would say the APC-led Federal Government is not trying its best in those areas. But, jokes aside, I feel worried about the insurgency in the country. It is unfortunate because, until the advent of Boko Haram, insurgency was not in our culture. Nigerians co-existed in different parts of the country without religious or tribal sentiments. Several questions are going through my mind with regards to this issue of insecurity. How come we find ourselves in this situation? Where, when and how did we make the mistakes that led us to this menace? Is there anything we can do individually and collectively to right these wrongs? The answer is emphatically yes. In the postscript of my book, with the title ‘Nigeria in Perspective’ I called for individual and collective character-stocktaking. Every Nigerian has to check his or her memory to find out if he or she is directly or indirectly involved in the problems bedevilling the nation, including insecurity or insurgency. If yes, then he has to purge himself of those ill-motivated behaviours because a peaceful nation without insurgency begins and ends with individuals and communities. Nevertheless, I am optimistic that the level of insecurity would be reduced in a matter of months.

On the diversification of the economy, governments’ promises to diversify the economy over the years have been based on the advice of the so-called economic experts. From Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s Directorate of Food, Roads, and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI), to former President Shehu Shagari’s River Basin Development Authority and Olusegun Obasanjo’s Operation Feed the Nation (OFN) and others. These programmes existed merely on paper and ended in talk shops, without any tangible action. But, today, we see an APC-led Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, a leader who does not believe in media propaganda but allows Nigerians to see his achievements and testify to them. For the first time in the history of this nation, one can see different bags of rice produced in Nigeria and with the inscription ‘Proudly Nigerian’. It is really amasing.

Who is Joshua Gabriel? What does he do for a living?

Joshua Gabriel is a media practitioner. He is the founder and executive director (Operations) Waleson Group Projects; an APC support group based in Lagos. He makes a living through writing.