Olawepo-Hashim recalls what happened to Gowon, NPN, hopes to retire Tinubu

2026-02-21 - 06:36

•APC crippled economy by 60%, doesn’t want credible polls •Says killings in Nigeria worse than civil war – 500 killed weekly By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor As insecurity spirals and the economy groans under biting hardship, former presidential candidate and 2027 presidential aspirant on the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has raised the alarm that Nigeria is at “real war,” with killings on a scale he says surpasses the civil war era. In this explosive interview, the frontline politician accuses the administration of President Bola Tinubu of incompetence and unwillingness to decisively confront terror groups allegedly seeking to carve out an extremist enclave in parts of the North. He insists that stopping the killings cannot wait for the next election cycle. On state of the economy In the 10 years of mismanagement under the All Progressives Congress, APC, the economy has contracted by over 60 per cent. During the years of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, from 2003, we recorded exponential growth — about 9.5 per cent in 2003 — and moved into double digits subsequently. That growth trajectory was sustained until President Jonathan’s era when Nigeria’s GDP became the largest in Africa. In 2014, our GDP was about $574 billion. There was a contraction in 2015 to about $400 billion. However, under 10 years of APC rule, the economy has shrunk drastically. What we are seeing in terms of social crisis is the result of economic collapse — a massive depression. It is a disaster. There are wars on multiple fronts. The North-Central Zone is encircled by terrorist forces. From Kwara, going that corridor, Niger, right into the southern part of the North-West, which is Kenya. That whole corridor is controlled by a more ferocious terrorist group than Boko Haram. It is a direct group that has a link with ISIS. Operating on their doctrine and propagating the extreme version of militant Islamic ideology. A type that we have never seen in this climes before. Now, many of you guys who are here are reporting these stories from afar. Nigeria is at a real war. A kind of war we have never seen before. And the enemy is so ferocious. The numbers of victims are at an astronomical level. It looks like the lives of Nigerians are becoming so cheap that this does not prick anybody’s conscience anymore. We are getting too used to dead bodies and photographs of them. If you have 50 people killed in one day in Europe, the United Nations Security Council will meet. So, the lives of our people are becoming too cheap now. It does not even warrant a comment from some countries. We have to do something about this immediately. Not in 2027. 2027 is too long. This is a matter for today. This is a matter for now. Let’s pause a while and look at where we are right now, what our people, particularly in the North-West and North-Central, are currently experiencing. In fact, in the North-East, the insecurity is a child’s play to what is happening in the North-Central. In the first two years of Tinubu’s administration, 10,250 people were killed according to Amnesty International’s report; 80% of them were from Plateau and Benue. This year alone, thousands have been added to that list. In one week, Nigeria has lost over 500 people. In Woro, 200 people were killed. In Taraba, 300 people were killed. Plus those who were killed -5, 10, 15, 20 every day, not reported. I have many pictures, videos of people killed in various locations in Nigeria, in northern Nigeria today, that are not reported in the media because there is an official policy of suppressing information about those who are killed. Denial cannot be a solution. There is a need to stop the killings now. This is beyond politics. This is survival of the fittest. You mean what is going on now is worse than the civil war? 500 people are murdered weekly. And many other hundreds are unreported. I have never seen this before in terms of its scale and ferociousness. And these are not soldiers in active combat. They are children, women and men sleeping on their beds. Communities burnt, taken over by terrorists. People are not just being killed, they are burnt alive. During the civil war, the Nigerian army was not incinerating Biafrans. And they were not fighting civilians. They fought with soldiers in active combat. This war is against the civilian population – defenseless people. What can we call this war? Is it because of politics? Struggle for power? Is it a religious war? These are terrorists with very strange and stupid ideas. Can we summarize it as barbarism? I don’t think any of the religious doctrines that we are familiar with supports this kind of rage. But there must be a reason for it. Is it to occupy or what? The agenda of the terrorists is to create a caliphate. I have said this in my statements many, many times. The agenda is to create a caliphate out of Nigeria. That is going to be run through an extremist ideology. A caliphate like ISIS. This is the objective. And the challenge is to wreak terror and make people lose confidence in the ability of the Nigerian state to govern its territory. And so that they can transfer their loyalty to the terrorists. This is the objective. I have said this time without number. The terrorists have the capacity to, in the first instance before 2027, create a terror state between some North-West states plus some of the border states of the North-Central, some parts of Niger, Kwara, Zamfara and Kaduna. They are softening those places. Even up to Sokoto. They are softening those places. They collect taxes and are already functioning as a government. I think this was what drew the interest of the U.S. Even when they talk about Christian genocide and bombed parts of Sokoto. You are saying the solution should be now, not 2027.... Yes, the solution has to be now. The Nigerian government has demonstrated complete incompetence to protect Nigerian citizens. And we have also seen acts that border on complicity and compromise. The government is interested more in public relations to stay in power than to solve the problem. Every action they have been taking is to give a semblance of response and to convince the international community that something is being done so as to hang on to power, but not with the intent to take the battle to the terrorists. Our army is not fighting. A fight means you go, attack their camps, make arrests, destroy their assets.That’s what a fight means. A fight is not when they attack, you come after the attack and bring a condolence message and give explanation. That is not how to fight. What is the solution? We first have to find a solution to address the absence of a willing government to fight. This is the first solution. You need a government that is willing to fight. This government is not willing to fight. This government is maintaining the status quo, trying to maintain the status quo which is already in favour of the terrorists. The status quo is that you can go kill people, we will come and condole the people. And if you abduct some people, we will pay you some money. That’s not how to fight. So we need to solve first the problem of having a government that has no willingness to fight. One of the solutions that is also open to Nigerians is political. Which is, you change government through the political system. Do you see the possibility of that in the prevailing situation? The government in power is unwilling to be changed through democratic means. That is why they have stiff resistance to the idea of a transparent ballot. And that’s why they have put all their resources to frustrate electronic transmission of results.. Now, those who make peaceful change impossible, make violent change inevitable. This is one of the most quoted statements in history. But let me be clear. From our own history, the government gets into trouble in Nigeria when it shows, evidently, its unwillingness to seek power through civil process. General Gowon ruled for nine years and was promising transition to civil rule. After he said he had no date to exit, his government ended in a matter of months. When the NPN government was not ready for transparent election, within three months of a rigged election, that government ended. General Sani Abacha wanted to transmute, and had been adopted by the five political parties but he did not succeed. I hear that some people have 30 governors but they are still afraid. We have been through this path before. So, I am a believer that God loves Nigeria, and He will handle it for the purpose of healing this country. So what role do you want to play going forward? In this search for a Nigeria that will work. I am going to run for presidency by the grace of God. And this is the only way, democratically, to bring an end to this evil that we have. But like I said, this is an agenda for 2027. But as an agenda for now, one way or the other we have to find a way to end killings. I am putting myself at the disposal of that objective. To talk with Nigerian leaders across all regions. And this consultation has been going on. We also have friends globally. We need help. Not just help to occasionally come and bomb some areas. We need more serious help than that. And this help has to be done creatively in such a way that it does not undermine the sovereignty of our country but at the same time, achieve the objective. And I have been speaking about this for four or five years. And you will understand why I am so passionate about this. I happen to come from that geographical region that is besieged now. And I have relationships across communities and political leaders. When anything happens, they call me wherever I am. They send me evidence. They say, please Oga, what can you do? I don’t have a hand. I can only talk and also persuade those who have good hands to see what they can do to help our country. But I tell you, this thing is a matter for now. It is more urgent on my own agenda. For us, politicians from the southern zone, it looks far-fetched. But for us, this is the daily reality of our people. And it is something we cannot really postpone. Some people can be talking about 2027. But what will happen between now and 2027? The people are dying, 500 per week or more that is reported. Who is going to vote? Most of the people are displaced. In the IDPs camp in Makurdi, you have over 600,000 people. The votes that President Tinubu scored in Lagos in 2023 were not up to 600,000. So this matter cannot wait for 2027 political optics. It is for now. You mentioned complexity. Can we put the entire blame on the incompetence of the government? Or do we look at other factors? The most important duty of the government is to ensure security of lives and property. That is the elementary function. What defines a state is the exclusive control of the instrument of organized violence. That is the character of a state. Nobody else can provide that role but the state. So the question about any other factor does not arise. If you are incapable of controlling the means of violence in your environment, you have ceased to become a state. That is what is called state failure. You cannot be looking for any other factor responsible for why a state cannot provide security in its territory. That is a non-starter. You said the government is not willing, who will fight this war against insecurity? This is what you and I will have to find a solution to as soon as possible. Not in 2027. We need more consultations to be able to achieve the answer. Consultation is one way. In the past two months, I have visited a lot of former heads of state. I was not just talking about 2027. I was talking to people who took bullets. Two of them still have bullets lodged in their bodies. Even in their old age, some of them are nursing the wound that they took to keep Nigeria one. I am also talking to friends of Nigeria, meeting with very important leaders in the world and policy formulators. Nigeria, a country of 230 million people with a young population, is too important to be allowed to fail. On perceived weakness of the opposition and existence of many factions The internal contradictions in all the parties, not just LP and PDP are created by the APC. When Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, defected to Accord, the following day we found out that Accord had a faction. We didn’t know they had any faction before Adeleke’s defection. Even if you register a new party, they will manufacture a faction immediately. They want victory by destabilization. For us to have an orderly transition, the government in power must be willing to be part of that orderly transition. Where the government in power shows unwillingness, it cancels its right to act within that transition, and other parties reserve the right to exclude it. Very simple. The government is the one orchestrating all the crises. And we will continue to put it at their doorstep Now in the PDP, where I am comforted by the fact that we have moved to a situation where about two months ago no faction was recognized by INEC to now that there is a faction that has been recognized that can nominate candidates. In the various states apart from the South-West, the people are very united behind the PDP And they are not interested in any of the factions. They just like the PDP. There is no polling unit in Nigeria where you don’t have 10 to 20 members of PDP in this country. And for most people at the local level, PDP is a cultural symbol that has been passed from father to children in the past 30 years or thereabouts. When I go to some of these states, they tell me: ‘You people are at the top, just find a way of solving it (crisis). You know here, we are still PDP. We are not going anywhere. Although the governor has gone, this one has gone, that one has gone but we are not going. We cannot go with those people. What did they do for us? During Obasanjo, our teachers were buying cars for the first time. They didn’t buy under the military. When Obasanjo came, they started buying cars,.they started having car loans. They started buying houses. They were given loans to buy government houses. We are not going to join them. And we don’t know any other party. It is PDP that we know.” That’s how strong the PDP is In Nigeria. Those who claim they already have 30 governors are still afraid of the PDP that they still don’t want the PDP to have the capacity to produce a candidate. If you have 30 governors, why are you afraid of PDP? They said PDP is nothing but they know PDP is everything that can take them out of power. They know it. Let no one deceive anybody. But like I said. God is going to be the ultimate decider. Nobody can play God over the destiny of other people. I know that President Trump and most international partners are seriously concerned about not having another ISIS in Nigeria. That is a strategic national security interest of the United States and the Western world. So, I want to believe that everyone that is interested in international peace and security knows that we cannot afford an ISIS state in Nigeria. So, that gives me some comfort that we’re on the same page with most of Nigeria’s friends and international partners on how to drive the security agenda for Nigeria. I don’t hate Tinubu And just to be clear, I don’t hate President Timubu’s face. I like it. And we used to be close until recently. You can put that on record. So, I don’t hate him. I’m not one of his haters or those who are cursing him or who have personal problems with him. I’m just appalled about his incompetence. I’m shocked about his inability to provide simple solutions. We cannot look at anybody’s face when it comes to this kind of matter, especially a serious national security threat, where I have seen not just incompetence, but complicity in vital institutions of state. So, when we are screaming, we are talking because our people are dying in high numbers. So, just to be clear, it’s not to settle scores with President Tinubu or whatever. If I were him and I know I cannot do this job, I would resign. What is wrong in resigning if you cannot do a job? How is that a problem? I don’t hate President Timugu. I don’t have a personal problem with him. In fact, I like him. And if I’m president today, I will give him a decent retirement. I’m not going to harass him because I respect people who, one way or the other, played a role at one point or the other in this country. I’m not going to treat him roughly. Just to be clear. But the point is, he is incapable of doing this job. Economy failed woefully. National security is disastrous. These are the two issues. Talking about incompetence, Tinubu did well as governor of Lagos .... One thing. Timugu was in his 50s when he governed Lagos. Today this man is almost 80 or more Depending on the age you are choosing, he is old. And the issues that are here now are more complex, requiring alertness. And sometimes, when it comes to national security, you have to be hands on, not something you delegate to your aides. Commander-in-chief means to command the troops. I observed, when we had some security crises during President Obasanjo, he would be calling the Brigade of Guard, the GOC, the Chief of Guard. They would be giving him real-time reports and he would give specific instructions. Even President Trump, who is a civilian, that’s how to be commander-in-chief.. President Timubu is not commander-in-chief. He is just a political warlord.