Former Niger governor, Babangida Aliyu, who was chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum for eight years, has stated that despite the gale of defections by governors into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), God will eventually have His way in the Nigerian polity.
He pointed out that there must be a viral opposition for democracy to thrive, stressing that Nigeria will be a one-party state without an opposition that can question government’s processes, the nature of the discussion and the conclusions and the actions.
The Peoples Democratic Party bigwig, who spoke in an interview with Leadership, pointed out that every society is deserving of the kind of government it gets, and that until the citizenry act responsibly, they won’t get a responsible government.
Aliyu said, “And we must go back to that adage, an adage or a dictum or whatever, that says people get the kind of government they desire, meaning (and we have it also in Islam), that says God says He cannot change your situation unless you change yourself.
“So we are in a situation now where we feel very bad about what’s happening, or we feel threatened or whatever, unless we look back and change our perception. If you look at Nigeria, it’s like virtually, if you use the term, virtually everybody is corrupt.
“So you cannot have corrupt people and honest leaders at the same time. It’s not possible, because the leaders are coming from the same society, you know. So, one-party state, multi-party state, I think, depends on how the people feel about it.
“And my understanding is that you cannot, no matter how many governors you have, guarantee that you will win an election.”
On what he thinks the Tinubu government should do, Aliyu recommended, “Convincing Nigerians that the government is for the people. He needs to come out, let the people feel him, let the people understand him, let the people really know that he is for them.”
