Public Affairs Commentator and General Overseer of The Faithful Assembly Church International , Dr. Tunde Oyemade, believes that President Muhammadu Buhari is honest in his anti-graft policy. He also added that the president needs the services of seasoned, honest technocrats and administrators to succeed in turning the nation around. He spoke to EJIKEME OMENAZU. Excerpts: Oyemade During the 2015 political campaigns, you were quoted as saying that both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were two sides of the same coin and that none was better than each other. Several months after the elections, to what extent have you been proved right? As I put it then, both parties are evil. If there are other major parties, Nigerian would have rejected both the PDP and APC. Look at what is happening at the National Assembly. If the two parties are not evil, the confusion we have in the National Assembly presently will not be there. God is exposing them. Both parties are engaged in blame game, accusing each other while nothing is being done to improve the lives of the masses. But, one thing is sure, Saraki’s emergence is divine. Even the emergence of Ike Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President is divine. If not, what could have held up the APC senators at the International Conference Centre (ICC) and they failed to be present to elect the persons the party leaders had wanted for the positions? What could have caused the President to write a letter to the NASS Clerk to proclaim the Assembly to elect their leaders and he could not send another letter to withdraw the earlier one if he had planned to meet with the APC senators? God could have stopped him from even making a telephone call to the Clerk to suspend action on his earlier letter. You can see the hand of God in it. None of them could explain why it happened like that and things went that way. According to the word of God, “The heart of the King is in the hand of God.” He said: “Your thoughts are not my thought”. The thoughts of God could have manifested in these things for particular purposes. But that does not mean that these people are children of God. God used Cyrus, who was an unbeliever, and called him His servant. Although Buhari is not a Christian, God has chosen him for a purpose. I hope that Buhari will manifest like the Biblical Cyrus. You also described Muhammadu Buhari as a good man, but expressed fear that the hawks in the APC might mess him up. Now that he has become the president, what advice would you offer him to ensure that he maintains his integrity in the midst of these hawks? I listened to Buhari’s interview with CNN. When he was asked about corruption, whether he could handle the people in his party, he stated that as far as corruption is concerned, there is nothing like party. I read in a magazine that he is surrounded by about 40 corrupt people. How he will do it, we are waiting to see. What I know is that if he is sincere, and I want to believe that he is sincere and God fearing, he will not spare anyone in his anti-corruption crusade, no matter how close the person may be to him. This is because the eyes of the world are on him. Those who are corrupt around him are known in the whole world. He has the mandate of the people and of God to fulfill what has been committed into his hands, without favour. He has all the powers. I pray that he will not disappoint. Truly, I said in the past that he is a man of integrity. I still stand by my word. We all know that the APC of today is a combination of ACN, CPC, APGA, ANPP and PDP. To what extent do you think that Buhari’s anti-graft campaign would work considering the fact that corruption has eaten deep into the different strata of the nation? It will work. But, it will take time. Most of all the past leaders in Nigeria, dead and alive, were corrupt. Even those who see themselves as saints are the same. We hear of civilised nations where past Heads of State were jailed for corruption. Nigeria cannot be an exception if those who are prosecuted and found guilty are jailed. Buhari should visit the records of all past leaders so that he can put Nigeria on a clean slate. He should probe the past leaders since after Shagari’s regime up till Jonathan. I know it will take time. I am not among those who say: “He is Mr. Go Slow”. I know that “Slow and steady wins the race”. Let him bring a lesson to all of us because the masses are suffering. His probe should include all the forces, every strata of administration in the country, including the states and local governments. It is not only the NNPC. The whole administrative set up in Nigeria is corrupt. In every office, right from the gateman, the cleaners, the clerks, to the top are all corrupt. The salaries and allowances of the National Assembly members are now open secret. A Nigerian legislator takes at least N353.7 million as allowances when an average Nigerian takes home N216,000 at the rate of N18,000 per month. That person will use 1,638 years to earn what a lawmaker earns in just one year. The situation is terrible. They say bail is free, but people still spend a lot of money to bail people. The Nigerian Prisons is not free of corruption. It is alleged that Prisons officers replace people serving jail sentences with innocent because of money. At times some innocent people are allegedly arrested, killed or maimed in police custody as robbers. The whole system is corrupt. Religious leaders, both Christians and Muslims, have a duty to support Buhari in this fight against corruption, although the influence of some of them is causing confusion among their followers. At a point during the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency, you also stated that no part of the Nigerian land would be taken by the terrorists. With the daily occurrence of suicide bombing in parts of the North East, would you say that the Boko Haram is not winning? I still stand by my word that no part of Nigeria would be taken by the insurgents. I asked God and He said: “Satan rules Nigeria now. But, My children are like the Biblical Goshen where I kept them.” His eyes are on His people. Insurgency is a punishment for the sins of Nigerians. What baffles me is: If Cameroon could ban women from wearing Hijab, why can’t Nigeria do so when the Boko Haram tie bombs on the bodies of women wearing Hijab? It may sound offensive to the other faith, but that is the truth. Now they are using even nine or 10-year-old girls as suicide bombers. Even the home of the Chief of Army Staff was not spared. Why should we refuse to ban the long, flowing Hijab when it serves as a cover to bomb everywhere, including mosques? The Muslim women can put on the short Hijab that covers only the face up to the shoulder, for safety. Boko Haram has no regard for anybody. But, they do not have the power to take Nigerian lands. Apart from corruption and insecurity, what other key issues do you think that President Buhari should tackle in his four-year tenure? He should try to revive all the national resources. He should allow the states to discover the mineral resources in their areas. Nigeria has bitumen, tin, bauxite and even gold. I understand that land owners do not want government to take over their lands where there are mineral resources. The government should pay attention to education and restore discipline to the nation. The WAI which Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon introduced when they were military leaders is still working up till today. He should open avenues for employment to reduce armed robbery and kidnapping. There should be drastic review of NASS members’ earnings, reduction of ministers, advisers and their aides. Once he gets things right by removing high cost of governance at the federal level, he should ensure that this flows down to the states. He should reduce wastages in the area of offices of First Ladies at federal and state levels and staging of state banquets. He should do something to improve the railway to reduce the operations of tankers on the roads, which cause fatal accidents. Although Buhari is not a Christian, he should ensure that all the religions are represented in his appointments. President Buhari has indicated that that his ministers would be unfolded by September, four months after he assumed position. Would you agree with some of his critics that he is slow? I don’t agree that he is slow. As I said earlier, slow and steady wins the race. The old system has been corrupted over the years. He has to take his time to appoint technocrats and people who are seasoned in all areas of government enterprise. I know that God will guide him to choose the right people at the right time. I have heard people asking why he had to announce in U.S. that he would appoint ministers by September. He has the right to announce it from anywhere he likes. It is not the business of anybody as far as what he is doing is right. With Buhari’s few visits to other nations so far, how do you see his foreign policy direction? He needs the cooperation of the nations and the world. There is no place in the world where there are no Nigerians. He has to beef up the image of the country and change it from the path and past of corruption to get the cooperation of the world to improve the nation’s economy so that Nigerians will be respected everywhere. So, I see his foreign policy direction as very positive.