THE Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak spoke to journalists in an interactive session recently in Abuja. NKECHI ONYEDIKA was there.WHY has the deployment of troops to most states in the North East not stopped the bombings or has the government run out of ideas on how to permanently deal with the problem'The Federal Government is in control of the problem but the terrorist angle of the security crisis is new to the government and the country. All over the world, it is not easy to deal with terrorists. Investigations are going on and the security agencies are doing their best. Although terrorist activities are new, we are committed to addressing the issue. The problem is that you don't even know whom to talk with. It requires special approach to really identify those involved. However, some of them are being arrested and they are being prosecuted. We hope to address the problem.Comment on the bid to remove fuel subsidy'The issue of deregulation of the downstream sector has been on the front burner for a long time. For the past three years, the diesel component has been deregulated, only PMS and kerosene is still regulated by government. What the Federal Government is saying is that government cannot be borrowing to implement its capital projects. By the end of 2011, we would have spent N1.4 trillion on fuel subsidy. How many people benefit from that' Only a very few of Nigerians benefit from subsidy and the government is saying that this N1.4 trillion should be deployed to the capital project so that Nigerians will feel the impact of government. Most of our infrastructural developments have been hindered by this act of borrowing to execute our capital projects. The government is not listening to arguments from the other side; the government is consulting the stakeholders, civil society and labour and explaining the need and urgency in this deregulation. The government feels that since only a fraction of Nigerians enjoy this subsidy, we should deregulate. We know there will be teething problems for the ordinary Nigerians but at the end of the day, jobs will be created, infrastructure will be improved and everybody will appreciate that the time for deregulation is now so that we move ahead.There are concerns that the Government has not come out with safety nets to cushion the adverse effect of the removal of oil subsidyThe Federal Government has come out with a comprehensive programme that would be executed. There is a bond between the Federal Government and Nigerians. There is a compendium of projects that would be executed and you have to take up government on it if by the time government deregulates the downstream sector. Some of the projects include that Second Niger Bridge, the Mambilla Plateau hydroelectric power project that will generate about 2,600 mega watts of electricity, the linking of the entire country with a railway system, among others. These projects would be executed outside the normal budgetary provisions of the government and if government fails to deliver these projects after the deregulation, you can hold government to account on why those projects have not been executed but I assure you that these projects would be implemented once we allow the deregulation to be carried out. The president believes that we should not be borrowing for our children to come and pay. If the president wants to be popular, he can borrow and implement his programmes and subsequent administrations would meet the debt, but he doesn't want to do that. He wants to tackle the problem, hold the bull by the horn and solve the problem. The President intends to complete all the projects I mentioned earlier before the end of 2015. The Second Niger Bridge, the railway line are expected to be completed before 2015. If we deregulate, private refineries will come up, we will refine and sell according to market forces.What do you want Nigerians to think if fuel subsidy is removed and by 2015 these projects are not completed'The projects would be there. From 2012 to 2013, Nigerians will hold this document and score the government. If they are not executed, that is the time people will start asking questions. By 2013, if Nigerians do not begin to see these projects, they should hold government to its words.Why can't government develop other sectors of the economy that would generate more revenue like the agriculture and solid mineral sector'The Federal government is partnering with the state governments to develop the agricultural sector, part of the resources we will conserve when the subsidy is removed would be deployed to agriculture because agriculture has the capacity to provide over 50 per cent of job opportunities for this country. Government needs to deploy resources to develop the solid mineral sector and that is why government is saying that rather than spend money on subsidy, it should be allowed to deploy part of it to agriculture, solid minerals so that more revenue can be generated.There are insinuations that the Presidency will play a hand in the governorship elections in Adamawa and Sokoto states just as it did in BayelsaThe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) already has a candidate in Adamawa and will support the candidate so that he will win in a free and fair contest. As far as Sokoto is concerned, we are still in the process of a primary, there are three aspirants and as soon as a candidate emerges, the party will move to support him so that he would win. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has done its best especially looking at what happened in Kogi. We want INEC to improve on what it did in Kogi in other coming elections.What is the position of the Federal Government on the threat by some foreign countries over the passage of a bill in the Senate prohibiting same sex marriage'What these countries like the United States and Britain have failed to appreciate is that we have a different culture and the law passed by Senate is in consonant with our culture. No community in Nigeria supports same sex marriage; our laws are for our people not for Americans. Americans can allow their men to marry themselves, that is up to their culture but in Nigeria, the law is that there should be no same sex marriage and if you contravene that, you pay the penalty. It is Nigerian law, and if an American comes to Nigeria, he or she must be subjected to the laws of the land.Recently, some youths who claimed to be ex-militants blocked the Abuja-Lokoja road alleging that they were left out in the amnesty programme. Is it difficult for government to address this problem'The amnesty programme is ongoing; it is not a one-year programme. It is not that the window is closed but the Federal Government gave a time line for militants to surrender their arms and get registered and all of them were registered so that they can benefit from the amnesty programme. When you come after that period, you have to join a queue. Now a few people saw that the amnesty programme was working and some of the youths were being sent abroad for training at skill acquisition centers and that government was keeping its promise. They suddenly want to be part of it. Where were they when government asked them to drop their arms and get registered' We are not saying that the door has been closed but we are saying that they should join the queue and get registered. This is a continuous programme and skills acquisition centers are being constructed and the ex-militants are being trained. It is not for government to train them and give them job, but to train them so that they can be self-employed and employ others. Those who protested were those that didn't heed to the appeal of government, they will be accommodated but it has to be a gradual process.
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