Abdoulbaq Ladi Balogun, is the MD/ CEO; Lagos Ferry Services Company. As the Director, Grassroots Mobilization of APC, Independent Campaign Council, ICC, Balogun alongside his group worked assiduously to ensure that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the President and governor Sanwo-Olu was re-elected as the Lagos state governor. Balogun in this interview with Edward Ndukwe and Orji Onyekwere speaks more on his political ambition and the Tinubu presidency.
You just celebrated your birthday, what’s the next step in terms of service to the people?
Mine is a life of service. Anywhere I find myself, I try to make positive impact on the people; I also try to leave behind a legacy in whatever I am doing and I am not going to change. I will continue to live my life of service and my people should expect us to be together and also join me in serving the people because that’s the career I have chosen. I thank God today that we have a democrat as the president of this country and a very courageous and compassionate leader as the governor of this state. The combination of these two gentlemen boils down to excellent service to the people in terms of provision of welfare, security and good governance to the people. Once you are able to do that the people will do their business without any hindrances. Our philosophy has not changed and we will continue to be progressive.
With the energy you brought at the last general election both at the state and federal levels, people expect that you will be compensated with a political appointment either at the state or federal level.
I thank God and our leaders. As afar as am concerned, I am holding a public office and I have not served out my tenure before I will start looking for something else or my leaders will now ask me to come and serve again in another capacity. I am contented and comfortable where I am, and I am still serving the state in that position.
You talked about the work we did during the election. We are trying to change the narrative because we don’t want any negative thing to be attached to Ajeromi- Ifelodun. We want to prove our worth and also tell our leaders that Ajeromi- Ifelodun is progressive. So, it’s now for the political leaders to reward us with the appointments. Whoever is going to be the candidate, it is left for the leaders to decide and they have done that. They have picked Jamiu Tolani Alli – Balogun as the commissioner nominee. We have never had it so good for the past 12 years. That means we are changing the narrative positively and Ajeromi -Ifelodun is being reckoned with now.
It cannot be me all the time as long as we have other qualified people who can do the job. We always want to prove to our leaders that we can do it and that’s the course I have been fighting for. They have rewarded us for our hard work by giving us a slot in the cabinet and it should not necessarily be Ladi Balogun. We are praying for more because we know some local governments got two, some got three. We can equally be rewarded with that number going by the result we achieved here and we will be motivated by this to make this place a fortress for the opposition. They will not be able to defeat us. For the person that has been chosen in the cabinet, it’s now left for him to prove himself. May God guide him?
What else are you and other political leaders doing to change the wrong impression people have had about Ajeromi- Ifelodun over the years?
This place used to be volatile accepted, but we have changed the narrative in the last decade. Rome was not built in a day, it’s a gradual process. You and I are products of Ajeromi- Ifelodun. We have various diverse professionals in their own rights including you. I am also a professional in my own right. What am I doing to change the narrative in my immediate community and what are you doing in your immediate community? This responsibility is beholding on all of us, not just on one person or the political class; it concerns all of us. We all live and do our businesses in Ajegunle. I want to challenge you as a journalist, set an agenda for the progress of this local government because there is no society you will not see vices.
In the USA, they shoot themselves almost on a daily basis. As civilized as UK and South Africa are, there is still crime. The issue of drug abuse is still rampart in some of these places. So, in all these; people need to come together and bring their resources to tackle it. If you set the agenda as media practitioners, call the NGO’s, the civil society and the political class, bring us together so that we can pool our resources together to change the narrative from where it used to be to where we want to it to be. Whether we are we going to get there, it will involve everyone and we have to contribute our quota to make the place great?
However, I want to let you know and put it on record that Ajeromi- Ifelodun of 20-10 years ago is different from Ajegunle of today. We have found our purposes and people are now in their different endeavors, doing everything to fulfill them and give back to the society. Ajegunle made you; think about the society and plough back to the same Ajegunle that made you. That’s your root, what legacy are you going to live for the people coming behind to help lift them up. How would you bring succor to the less privileged in the society? That’s what we have been telling the privileged ones like us that may have found themselves in one position or the other.
People believe that your Alalubarika team is only confined to your constituency, that’s Alayabiagba. So, are you going to expand in this new dispensation?
We started this family as a group called Alalubarika family. We have in recent times transformed from being a family to a nation and this means we are beyond Alayabiagba or Ajegunle. We have extended all over Lagos state and beyond Lagos. We are in Oyo, Ogun and Kwara state as at today. Alalubarika Nation is expanding and growing and we have a philosophy that we don’t compromise anywhere we are, it could be: America, London, Kwara, Osun, Ogun or Oyo state, anywhere you are and you hear about Alalubarika Nation, just know that we are still the same, with the same philosophy. What is that philosophy, we are for others and not for ourselves in terms of service to the people. That’s the meaning of the Latin word (Non Nobis Soium) in our logo, ‘’we are for others, not for ourselves and we are selfless in all our operations’’.
Are you thinking of going back to contest in maybe Kwara state soon?
I just told you that I am contented with the position I have for now. I am still serving my term and so my leaders will determine where they want me to be of service to them or the nation. For now, I am okay in Ajegunle and in Lagos state. I am not desperate for anything and I believe in God. I believe that the God I serve will compensate me with the right thing at the right time.
With the current economic hardship the removal of fuel subsidy has brought to Nigerians, and the diplomatic row going on between ECOWAS and the Niger military junta, what would be your advice to the president? Is to follow the route suggested by the NLC and TUC that the refineries should be put in order before removing the subsidy or you believe the timing is right with the removal?
As a media professional I want us to expand our dragnet to look at what is happening in other countries of the world. We should not limit this to Nigeria alone. I want us to research about our neighbor Ghana and Venezuela. They are both oil producing countries and as I am talking to you now, Venezuela as a country is bankrupt. Ghana got $500b from IMF and World Bank to bail them out of their financial crisis. We are sitting here today with the hope that things will be better because we have a leader that took the courageous decision. With continuous subsidy there would not have been any Nigeria anymore because the country would have been in the pockets of few people.
So, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the right decision at the right time and he is backed by the law. In the appropriation law of 2023, subsidy ended on June 30th. The petroleum industry bill, PIB, stated that 18 months after being signed into law there will not be subsidy on fuel. So, he has three legislation backing him. He could have gone political just to curry the favor of the people, but you and I would be the ones to suffer it later. He took the right decision at the right time. Though it’s very painful, but with time, in another couple of months everyone will benefit from the decision he has taken in terms of subsidy removal and floating of the naira. These two things are making few people billionaires and depriving a lot of people opportunities. These economic decisions taken by the president is the best for us and the best for the country.
Concerning the palliative measure he put in place, I want us to categorize it. We are talking about giving out money to the poorest of the poor. Remember there was a loan of $800m from the World Bank. It was not the government of Tinubu that secured that loan, it was the government of former president Muhammadu Buhari and it was stated clearly in the MoU what this money is meant for. All these financial institutions will not give you loan without telling you what to use them for. I was a law maker in the Lagos State House of Assembly and I was there when we were trying to pass the state procurement law. All the conditions given to us by the World Bank and the IMF is what we put into the provisions of the procurement law in the state and we have been trying to adhere to it. The Lagos state procurement agency is the benchmark agency for everybody in Nigeria and other African countries that come around to study how the procurement process is working in Lagos state.
Look at the multi-dimensional scope of the palliative; you will see that it touches various areas of the economy. Apart from the individual households that will benefit from some of the cash bail out, there are interventions for the SME’s, minimum wage and manufacturing sector among others. We have some that will take care of the public transport which is the CNG conversion for the bus and about three thousand buses are coming to be shared among the 36 states and Abuja. All these things will bring relief at the end of the day. We should be weary that subsidy payment is no longer sustainable for the economy of this county. Its better we let it go and forget about it.
If there is going to be subsidy, it should come in the transport and the food we are eating. That’s how you and I will benefit. The people at the bottom of the pyramid will benefit not the one that goes into the pocket of few people who are controlling the entire economy. You are also talking about manufacturing sector.
This is my personal opinion. I have worked in the oil and gas industry and so I will prefer that the four refineries, two in Port Harcourt, the ones in Warri and Kaduna should be concessioned to people that have the capacity and competence to manage them. There are individuals and companies that have been in this business for a long time and if you concession it, they will pay you the proceeds just like they did with the NNPC and the NLNG. Look at what NNPC contributed to Federation account. If you talk of the NLNG, look at what they are bringing in to the economy because they are being driven by cooperate entities. Nigeria as a nation is not directly in charge of that business and that’s why they are making profits. So, if you see a model that’s working why can’t you duplicate it?
If you are talking again about the turnaround maintenance, I will tell you that its money for the boys and that’s my personal opinion. PENGASSON, are the oil workers and they are the ones in charge of the refinery. They are collecting salary on monthly basis and nothing is working, no drop of oil is being refined. So, do I want to continue to sustain that model? No. So, why can’t they give Port Harcourt refinery to Oando plc., Warri to Sahara Energy and Kaduna to Seplat, let them take over and run it on their own and maintain them and be paying certain amount of money to the government.
In two months since the removal of the fuel subsidy, the federation account, FAC, recorded #2trillion. You have an economist as the leader of the country who knows that if you put all the money in circulation it will lead to inflation, so he removed 1trillion naira and put it into the country’s savings to boast our foreign reserves. This will have positive impact on the naira which will appreciate. The decision he took has a multiplier effect. When you have #1 trillion naira savings and you have #990b shared among the states and other tiers of the government, why do you think some states have added #10,000 to the salaries of the civil servants because they have surplus. Some of them were owing 36months salary, why have they started off setting some of those debts.
President Bola Tinubu is thinking about the future not immediate or about himself. He is not there to enrich himself nor his cronies, that’s what one fact I want everyone to know. He wants to build a legacy, the same he did in Lagos state that everyone is talking about; he wants to replicate same at the federal level. Look at the coloration of his cabinet. He will tell you that power is not served ‘alacarte’. You need to struggle, work and sweat for power. He also believes that there should be reward for loyalty. Look at the coloration of his cabinet; he rewarded some people that were loyal to him, some that worked for his victory, not forgetting competency and merit.
That’s why you have somebody who openly castigated Asiwaju Tinubu and former president Buhari and the country of his birth, that’s Dr Bosun Tijani, the CEO and co-founder of CcHub as part of the ministerial nominee. He did not look at that because he saw what he needed in the man that will be useful to this country. He has forgiven him because he has a large heart. If you are close to him, you will know this because he forgives people easily.
Someone like Nasir el rufai has been in government since 1999. When do they want to give the young ones like you a chance?
We are learning. Nasir el rufai was about to go for a professorial course at Oxford University, UK before the president told him to stay back because he is needed in his cabinet. He has to defer his fellowship at Oxford University just for him to serve the country. President Tinubu told el rufai that he wants him to help fix the power sector. If the power sector is fixed, the small scale industries will thrive, the same with the manufacturing sector and there will be employment. If the power sector could be fixed, you have solved 50% of the country’s problem. The president is counting on the experience and competence of people like el-rufai to help him fix the sector. The same way he is looking up on Wale Edun. He was Tinubu’s Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State and he has experience haven’t worked in World Bank and other international institutions.
Your senior in this profession is Dele Alake. He was Editor of Concord Newspaper for a long time before he joined the NADECO bandwagon. We saw how he handled the information sector during the Tinubu administration in Lagos state. Look at Professor Alli Pate; he resigned his appointment with an international organization to come and serve the country. You want to talk about Dr Tunji Alausa based in Chicago USA, Dr Betta Edu, another medical doctor in the house and also the national woman leader of the party. Give it to him when it comes to discovering talents and putting them to maximum use.
We also have some people who got there because they worked for the party and his victory, but you have to take note that he did not neglect competence and merit. It’s a mixture of technocrats, the youths, the women and the politicians. So, no constituency will say we are being deprived of our chances in the cabinet and for the first time we are getting 48 ministers.
Are 48 ministers necessary when we are talking about cutting down the cost of governance?
Go to our ministries you will see 10 people doing one job. You don’t need to recruit more people; you will have to create efficiency. Where 10 people are doing one job before, you will limit it to two people doing the same job and the remaining eight will be assigned to other places. This does not increase the pay role. Creating additional ministries does not mean that we are incurring more costs. Barrister Festus Keyamo (SAN) said something when he was Minister of State for Labour, he said, there is no need for Minister of State because they just muddle things up. Sometimes they ostracize the Minister of State or they make them redundant because you have just one Permanent Secretary. Whatever assignment given to you by your minister is what you will do and if he does not give you anything you will remain redundant. He suggested that they should remove Minster of State.
Why are we having Minister of Trade and Investment? Why can’t we create ministry that will deal with the small scale industry, the SME alone and you will have a focus. When you are talking about trading between West Africans and Africans as a whole that’s the African Continental Free Trade Act. If it’s trading opportunity with America and other European countries you will be talking about the Ministry of Trade And Investment. However carve out the ministry that will deal with SME’s alone. Whether you like it or not, SME is the back bone of the American economy. The same way, if you create a conducive environment for SME here, we will not be where we are today.
Why can’t we have a ministry that will deal with health institutions? We lost a life last week in a Lagos State General Hospital because of infrastructure decay. Why can’t you have a ministry that will deal separately with health personnel, the doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, radiographers, technicians, and laboratory scientists among others? Then you have another ministry that will deal with health institutions, the teaching hospitals and the primary health care centers and that’s talking about the infrastructure. You will also have a separate one that will deal on emoluments and workers welfare and this will reduce the frequency of strikes.
It’s stated in the constitution that the states, local government and the federal government have responsibilities for education. Why can’t you create a ministry that will deal separately with tertiary institutions? You will have the one that deal with basic education which concerns the states and local governments. In the history of Nigeria, which ministry is dealing with human resources like we have the Lagos State Ministry of Establishment and Training which deals with man power development, human resources training and all that? There is no ministry like that at the federal level, everything is under Labour Ministry.
This man that gave 48 names to the national assembly for screening and confirmation knows what he is doing. He did it in Lagos; he brought transformation and innovation into governance. Why are you having Ministry Of Rural Development in Lagos State, while it’s merged with the Ministry Of Agriculture at the federal level? They have nothing to do with each other. Agriculture and food security should be alone same with rural development.
Look at what is happening in Niger Republic; you need to have a ministry that will deal with integration in Africa. Obasanjo did it, he established the Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa, put a minster there and then have a Minister for Foreign Affairs that will deal with the western allies, the Europe, Asia and other parts of other world.
So, for the Ministry for Corporation and Integration in Africa with a minister, his focus will be on African policy. President Tinubu is the ECOWAS chairman and the next step maybe AU chairman, so there is need to be a focus on Africa. But why can’t we have a common currency in Africa, this will bring down the influence of dollars. We will not benchmark naira against dollars and our products will not be dollarized. Assuming we are using Eco for West African countries, that’s the currency we will be using for transaction instead of dollars. That way our local currency will be strengthened and have less dependency on dollars. Let’s support Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for our own benefit.
