A former Senator Representing Katsina East Senatorial Zone, Alhaji Kanti
Bello is dead. Bello died in a hospital in Abuja early morning of Tuesday
at the age of 72 after a brief illness.
He would be buried in the evening in Katsina Town according to Islamic
rites. The Senator was the former General Manager of Katsina Steel Rolling
Mills and Served as the manager for over 10 years.
Senator Kanti Bello is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
and a two- term senator representing Katsina East at the National
Assembly.
The Senator graduated from faculty of Engineering at the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria. He was on several times a gubernatorial candidate under
the Defunct SDP, ANPP and APC.
He is survived by a wife, several children and many grandchildren. Among
his children is the Katsina State Commissioner for Resource Development,
Alhaji Mustafa Kanti Bello.
Read Below his Interview of July 2017 on his views of the Buhari’s Govt
BUHARI HAS FAILED, NO HOPE, SENATOR KANTI BELLO, SAYS APC LIED AGAINST
JONATHAN, PDP
Senator Kanti Bello is a former Senate Majority Whip, who represented
Katsina North Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) before joining the defunct Congress for Progressive
Change (CPC), one of the legacy parties that formed the APC.
*How will you assess the Buhari administration in the last two years?*
I will be frank with you. This is the first interview I am giving in the
last two years. I have decided to be quiet. The reason is simple: this is
our government and I contributed a lot for the government to be formed,
both at the state and national level. I did it not for personal gain, but
I thought it would be the government that would assist the ordinary
people; a government that will turn round the economy.
I am a very practical person. I thought that a government, when it comes
to Buhari, will be able to put smiles on the faces of Nigerians. I know
that there are some difficulties; I know that the price of oil has gone
down. I know all that but the human expectations, of the ordinary people,
the way the government works, I can say 90 per cent of Nigerians are
disappointed. And the simple reason is this; when we voted for this
government, we believed, it was not only corruption that we wanted it to
stop. We also felt that ordinary people should have enough to eat; they
should have work to do. We expected some of our factories, especially up
North here, would be revitalised. But look at what is happening. I can
tell you, no nation with 120 million people can live and be a great nation
when it has to import the food it will eat and it has to import clothing.
We have the land, a favourable climate. We have sunshine. So, there is no
reason we should be importing food and there is no reason why we shouldn’t
be clothing ourselves. The reason is simple; there is no agenda to get
things done.
*Are you still an APC member?*
Yes
*Are you saying your party didn’t have a blueprint of what to do when it
took over power?*
Well, I don’t see its implementation. Tell me one. For example, power
generation and transmission is one of the problems met by Buhari. Up till
today, how much are we generating? 4,000 megawatts? It hasn’t gone beyond
that! Is it not a disgrace for a government that is supposed to be moving
forward? Up till now, our factories, our industries are dead, our people
are poorer. Look at our economy, it has been so bad; the exchange rate,
they say it has been improving. Improving? From N160 to a dollar, now it
is N368 to a dollar. Is that an improvement? Two years ago, it was N160 to
the dollar. Is that something to be proud of? It reached almost N500. We
thank the acting president, because each time he comes in, there seems to
be some improvements in the way things are done. We don’t know why it is
happening that way. Maybe it is his luck, but there are some little
improvements.
*You mean, each time the vice-president takes charge in acting capacity,
you see improvement in governance?*
Yes, I see little improvement.
*Are you insinuating that Buhari lacks the capacity for the office?*
Well, even if he has the capacity to do it, he didn’t do it. Look, some of
us have to be honest with ourselves, I have nothing against Buhari but the
ordinary people of this country are suffering today.
Let me be frank with you, in Katsina, where I come from, people are
finding it difficult to eat three times a day, not even two times. Things
are difficult. The economy is so bad, whatever you are buying, and
inflation has tripled. A bag of maize that used to sell at N4,000 when
Buhari took over is now selling at N16,000 and at that price, people
aren’t getting it to buy.
I am a practical person. Do we look at all these and continue to praise
the government? No! Yes, we praise the government when it comes to Boko
Haram, it has reduced its activities in the North-East and there is some
stability in parts of the North with regards to the bombings—it has
reduced drastically or virtually gone. Yes, there is something good there
but then after it has gone, there is kidnapping. People are being
kidnapped and murdered. We aren’t safe, you cannot even travel from here
to Kaduna without feeling that something can happen to you. You see, we
have got rid of one evil and another has come in.
So, all we are saying is that Buhari and his APC government hasn’t solved
our problems. I am part of that government and I apologise to the masses
that our economic policy is a failure. We have scored 50 per cent on
security but certainly the economic policy of the government has failed
the masses, because I am part of the masses. People aren’t living well in
this country. That’s the truth.
*But, your party always attributes the poor state of the economy to
mismanagement by the immediate past administration; it claimed it
inherited huge liabilities from the PDP. What is your take?*
No, come on! That’s not true. We kept quiet about it, because we thought
they were saying the truth. Look, how much money has the APC government
now collected from the anti-corruption they are doing.
Where is the money? Nobody is accounting for the amount of money they have
retrieved from people. Each time you hear so much billions. With that,
there should have been some improvement. So, you cannot continue to blame
the PDP. After two years, you are still blaming the previous government
and you have only four years. Now, we have spent over 50 per cent of the
time blaming PDP. I think something is wrong with us. So, I think it is
high time our party stopped blaming [Goodluck] Jonathan, because the
ordinary people somewhere with their anger are even saying that the
Jonathan government was better. That’s the truth. We are afraid to come
out and that’s why some of us don’t even speak, we worked hard and we
believed in what we were doing, we thought things would be better, but
incompetent people are put in charge and of course some people are behind
the scene controlling Buhari.
*You are making insinuation about a cabal, but the Presidency has always
insisted that there is no cabal*
What the hell are you talking about there? No cabal? Well, if there is no
cabal, the Buhari I know, I always wonder if he can behave the way these
people are behaving. My reason: I have known Buhari since 1960, when I was
a very small boy. He was my head boy in secondary school and the Buhari I
knew, the Buhari I invited to come and play politics, I think he shouldn’t
have been behaving the way he is behaving.
The people that are appointed into positions, everybody knew in this
country, they aren’t the first class. For example, even this
anti-corruption, the very first day it was reported that Babachir Lawal,
the suspended Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF) was
allegedly involved in a shady deal and there was evidence to that effect,
the Buhari I knew would have sacked him but he couldn’t do it. It was
later I learnt that the man was suspended by the acting president.
The Buhari I knew has no reason to keep Ibrahim Magu. If Magu was alleged
to be corrupt by the DSS report, so many people have been investigated and
jailed because of DSS report, so is the DSS report supposed to be
implemented, half-heartedly and selectively? For some people, it is
right, for others it isn’t. And nobody is saying anything. Now, the same
DSS is saying that Magu has a case to answer and the Senate is saying it
cannot confirm Magu and the government, the one I thought is honest
enough, is still keeping that man. What for? Is he the only Nigerian that
can do the job? I have nothing against Magu; I don’t even know him but is
he the only Nigerian that can occupy that office? There is supposed to be
credibility in what government does. You keep telling me that they
inherited a bad economy, why did Nigerians elect Buhari in the first
place? Is it not because we felt Jonathan wasn’t doing the job and that he
should come and correct it? That’s the reason why we elected him. We
didn’t elect him for jokes; we didn’t elect him to give excuses. We
elected him to correct things. Why is he not doing it? You see, we were
quiet, because we didn’t want to talk, not because we thought what they
were doing was right, but because we believed we should give him a chance
for two years, if there will be improvement. But I am sorry to say I am
disappointed.
*Why are you so pessimistic? You mean you don’t see hope of improvement in
Buhari’s administration, in terms of performance?*
No, I don’t think there is much we can achieve. Look, two years into an
administration is enough to make a landmark, because he has been looking
for this job for so many years. Four times and he came in without an
agenda, only to bring in some little boys who know nothing?. Incompetent
people were given appointments.
*Incompetent people? Can you be specific?*
No. You think about the people he appointed, from the ministers, to heads
of parastatal-agencies. Are they the best? I don’t have to name anybody.
Why should I?
*You are saying Buhari cannot effect positive changes, but the national
chairman of your party, John Odigie-Oyegun, keeps saying the man is the
best; that the 2019 ticket has been reserved for him. What do you have to
say?*
Oyegun can be as sycophantic as he wants, but the truth of the matter is
that some of us are going to look for a Nigerian that’s going to address
the economy. Our problem is the economy and we are going to shop for a
Nigerian who can help us solve it. You see, every generation has to face
some challenges and our challenge now in this country is the economy. It
isn’t a question of Buhari coming to fight insecurity; it isn’t corruption
anymore, because you can only be corrupt when there is something to eat.
Yes, it still thrives because nothing is going on and there is an
allegation that it is thriving under Buhari, only people that they dislike
are being arrested. Let me give you a typical example. Even this fight
against corruption, it seems to be one-sided. They said they arrested a
former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, because he collected
N100 million campaign money, but the same campaign money, I was made to
understand, was collected by Tony Anenih and he wasn’t arrested. Is
Anenih’s own different from that of Bafarawa? I don’t like anything that
looks sectional and we are going to look for a Nigerian with no vendetta
at all that wants to serve this country.
*You are from Katsina. Can you mount the podium in your state and tell the
people to reject Buhari at the poll?*
Of course, why not? I was the one who went to Katsina to say Buhari was
the best. Are the Katsina people not hungry now? Are they rich, because
Buhari is the president? Look, I have told you, I have nothing against
Buhari as a person, get that very clear. But his government hasn’t worked
the way it should and we should be honest enough to say it. Are you saying
because Buhari is president, Katsina people are now buying a bag of maize
for N4,000? Are they very happy that bag of rice is now cheaper? Are they
happy because the cloths they are wearing are now cheaper? Look, we are
talking about reality and I am a practical realist. We have nothing
against Buhari, we like him, he is from our state, but we also like
ourselves more than Buhari. Our children have to live well, have to get
better education. Why am I not accusing Katsina State government, because
it is doing their best but unfortunately at the federal level, things
aren’t working the way they should. The Federal Government is supposed to
show the way for the states to follow and it is most unfortunate that they
aren’t doing it and some of us have to say it. That’s the truth; I don’t
care what they say on the social media when they read this interview. We
are going to look for a Nigerian that’s going to change this economy and
help the masses.
*Do you think the APC can still win election, repeat the 2015 success story?*
The way they are going, I don’t think so. What APC are you talking about?
I have been there and I contributed a lot to the development of the party.
But from day one when they formed the government, neither the government
nor the party has invited us for a meeting. I think people are fed up with
the party, let me be frank with you. They are just living in a fool’s
paradise, thinking that people are very happy.
Let me tell you, we have a vice-president, who is now acting president;
let me be frank with you, if there is no Buhari, he becomes the president
and that’s what the constitution says. Let us give him the opportunity to
serve. I am not judging Buhari on a tribal basis, if I wanted to be
tribalistic, I will say he is the best thing that ever happened to Nigeria
like some people have been saying but that’s not the truth. I repeat, I
have nothing personal against Buhari but the system is drifting; the
government is sinking. We are in a mess.
*You have dismissed your party, the APC as a failure. Is there an
alternative platform, because all the dominant opposition parties are in
crises?*
You are wrong. Look, I am telling you what is a party? If you want to
define a party, it is a congregation of people. Of course, we accused PDP
as a congregation of corrupt people, who were clueless. But some of these
clueless people, some of these corrupt people are now in APC. They are
there and they have taken over the party. So, if some of us decide to go
and do something else and we get the right congregation of people to come
in, then we have a party. Party is about people. There is a saying that
the number of people in the market defines its importance, not the number
of stalls in the market. So, that’s the truth. People will decide, it
isn’t a question of party now. Nigeria has to be salvaged, economically.
We cannot continue this way, because if we continue this way, where are we
heading? We have to get people with the right economic sense, patriotic
people who will come and solve this problem.
*You said “the Buhari I knew’’ the other time.Are you of the opinion that
he is being held captive by certain people?*
I suspect so. It hasn’t made sense to me, because there are certain things
I personally discussed with him and he told me, “okay, it will be done.”
The Buhari I knew, if he gave you his word before, he would do it. But, he
has changed. So, I believe that something is wrong. Maybe, his mind is no
longer the one I knew, but I cannot determine, because since he got to
power I haven’t been to the Villa. I only met him once in Katsina and we
discussed.
*Have you been shut out or you refused to pay him a visit?*
Do you walk into the Villa just like that? You have to seek for
appointment, isn’t it? Nobody will ever give Kanti Bello appointment; they
don’t want to see my face there, because I had been a PDP person. After
working for APC for four solid years: from PDP to APC. After working so
hard for it, I was shut out. That’s the type of government we have.
*What is your take on agitations for the restructuring of the country?
Certain groups like IPOB and MASSOB are actually demanding for its
outright balkanisation.*
Let us be honest with ourselves, we have seen it in Southern Sudan now
which is a new country. Are they better off? The truth is that, they
aren’t. Why people are agitating for restructuring is simple: if you are
hungry and you aren’t sure of the future of your children, then you start
calling for restructuring. You have to look for an alternative. So, they
think the country will be better, if restructured. That’s their thinking.
I have no grudge against that but I believe it is wrong.
Some of us thought once we had Buhari, this talk won’t happen again. But
unfortunately, it has remained with us, because people aren’t happy and we
need somebody who is going to help the economy to be better. It isn’t
impossible. We need somebody who is a detribalised Nigerian. Maybe it is
difficult to get but we will, with a lot of hard work, efforts that can
heal the wounds, so that after 2019, nobody will be thinking about
restructuring again. That’s what we need
*Any regrets inviting Buhari to politics?*
I really regret it now, because I thought it is going to be better than
what we are having now. That’s why I couldn’t speak for two years,
because you cannot bring somebody and say he is the best, work hard for
him and after one year you say he isn’t good. Is it fair? But after two
years and looking at it, I can talk. I hope he gets well, come back and
finish his two years. Whichever way, I don’t see much out of it anyway,
because the first two years have been wasted, nothing to show for it. My
regret is what I would tell the ordinary people I convinced to vote for
Buhari.
*What if he says, he is seeking a fresh mandate in 2019?*
Let him come back and be well. We pray for him to come back in good
health. He has every right to seek for our mandate, but some of us also
have a right to look for who will give Nigerians the best.
*What if he reaches out to you and assures you that he would make amends?
Will you support him in 2019?*
That’s too theoretical. I don’t want to answer that question, it is too
theoretical. The truth of the matter is that, we are now in a mess. You
don’t seem to understand how difficult it is for the masses. Is it because
you live in Abuja? Look, I know what people are passing through in my
village, this fasting period. People cannot eat. Now, you want me to go
and tell people to forget what happened in the last two years; that it is
going to be better. No, I am going to tell my people to look for an
alternative, what will help your kids to go to school and be able to live
a better life. The middle class is now wiped out. This country is in a
hole, deep hole