We’re where we ought to be – Enang

Ita Enang is the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate). In this interview with National Assembly Correspondents, the former lawmaker spoke on Nigeria’s 56th Independence Anniversary, recession being experienced by the country, the need for diversification of the economy, Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), Senate’s rejection of the proposed sale of national assets and reports of the Emergency Powers Bill said to be with the Senate. OWEDE AGBAJILEKE was there. Excerpts:

As the nation marks 56 years of Independence, how has she fared so far?

Let me use the opportunity to congratulate Nigeria on her 56th Independence anniversary and to congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari that he is the person presiding over Nigeria at the time we are celebrating the 56th Independence anniversary.
I hold the opinion that we are where we ought to be at this time. Given the challenges of recession, I hold the view that Nigeria is not in economic recession in actual fact, it is Nigeria is undergoing oil recession because every other sector of the economy which ought to have been developed were not developed in due time and so those same sectors are what we have to develop: solid minerals, agriculture, technology and the intellectual capital, therefore we are where we ought to be.
I want Nigeria to celebrate. This recession is coming at a time like this and Nigeria is not as hit as other countries of the world. When you see what is happening in Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries and where they are and I think Nigeria’s position is a little bit better. And I want to also say that it is a blessing when you have challenges because it is those challenges that bring out the greatest potential in man. The challenge of the recession we are now which I call oil recession should give us an opportunity to challenge ourselves to develop other potentials in agriculture and now to export.
The challenge of the dwindling oil price should also be a celebration for us. We should take it as opportunity for us to develop other sectors of the economy. I want us to remember that coal was very important in this country in the 60s and early 70s and when coal cease to be important we moved on to oil and we did not pray for coal to recover and become important; all we did is to exploit other sectors of the economy. We should exploit all those other sectors of the economy mainly and importantly solid minerals. But more importantly, agriculture because in agriculture we don’t need a lot of foreign investments because the land is there.
I want us to run away from this attitude of we need fertilizer because fertilizer is good enough in agriculture but it is not every land that needs fertilizer because the land is fertile enough. Most of the people who engage in fertilizer or who talk about fertilizer are those who talk about fertilizer for the purpose of commercialising or trading in it and making money from fertilizer not that it should be applied for agriculture and I know it is needed, therefore Nigeria should celebrate.
Most importantly again, we are still one country, united and no matter our differences in dialect and opinion nobody wants Nigeria to disintegrate. So we are still one united country and we should celebrate.

What is your reaction to the Senate’s rejection of the proposed sale of national assets?
I am not aware of the details where government has proposed to sell national assets and I rely on the words given by Senator Udoma Udo Udoma that there is no proposal. I also rely on the words given by the Minister of Information Lai Mohammed that these are all in the realm of speculation. We take the Senate and National Assembly very seriously. We don’t talk back at it and what they say is communicated and we respect the Senate because Nigerians should also know that the National Assembly is the institution that will approve what you will do.
Before we talk of assets sale, let us look at the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which was submitted for 2016. Again let us look at the funding items for the 2016 budget and see whether what we proposed was realistic.
The question of assets will only arise when the funding items of other budgets are submitted and so you will see that nothing by the Executive won’t be done against the law. We wouldn’t want to get into details about it.
Can you confirm if the Emergency Powers Bill is already before the Senate?

If and when it is communicated you will hear it on the floor and so I do not speak on communication unless it is read and I am only aware when it is read by the floor of the Senate and House of Representatives.

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE